Sts Peter and Paul Primary School

PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE

Yesterday I emailed to announce the appointment of Mr Gareth Wigg as our Acting Assistant Principal for the remainder of the school year. Mr Wigg brings a wealth of knowledge and experience, and we are excited to have him join us. There will be opportunities over the next two weeks for the students to meet Mr Wigg before his formal commencement at the beginning of Term 3.

First Eucharist

On Sunday, many of our Year 4 students received their first Eucharist during a beautiful Parish Mass. Thank you to the teachers and Mrs Burns for preparing our students for this important sacrament.

Often our faith is experienced through invisible signs, only felt by the individual, and it can lack some tangibility. This can be challenging for younger students to understand as they are very tactile learners. The sacrament of Eucharist is the physical sign of our faith, universally celebrated across the globe. It is a ritual that was first celebrated between Jesus and his disciples, and a physical connection to our faith; something I am sure our students will forever treasure.

BGA

Yesterday our school hosted a Block Grant Authority panel who are assessing an application we have put forward to redevelop the senior end of the school. The application will look to enlarge classrooms by reclaiming underutilised spaces and turn these spaces into contemporary classrooms with breakout spaces and flexible furniture. This development will also see the introduction of an AV area with tiered seating, makerspace wet areas, staff workspaces & redeveloped courtyard. It is an exciting project that if successful, will occur in 2020 and totally transform our learning environments for senior students.

Leaving Students

If you are leaving our school at the end of this year can you please email the office to let us know your intentions. I know at this time, many parents toss up the idea of changing schooling in favour of single-sex education.

If this is you, I would love to meet with you to discuss these plans, dispel some myths, speak about the benefits of co-educational learning, leadership opportinities and our plans for the future, particularly in the STEM space. Please email or call the office to book in a time.

I would also love to hear from any parents who have been through this process and chosen to stay at our school. Your voice might be the reassurance that many parents need during this time.

In noting this, we have many parents who have recently discussed in their enrolment interview, their choice of school was connected to our school reputation of maintaining co-educational classes beyond Year 4. This is not always the case with other schools in the area. I look forward to hearing from you.

Lock on the Front door

We have recently installed a magnetic lock on our front door to continue to provide the safest learning experiences for the children at our school. The lock will engage during the school day, and people wishing to gain access will need to be buzzed into the school from the office. We will have a buzzer installed in the coming days to alert Trish that people wish to gain entry.

Review of Counselling and Wellbeing Services

In the interests of ensuring our students have access to high-quality programs and systems to support their wellbeing, Catholic Education is conducting a review of the wellbeing services and programs that are currently available in our schools.

As a key stakeholder, we seek your input into this process of review. We therefore invite you to complete an online survey which may be accessed by following the hyperlink:

https://forms.gle/tV3PRYh4VVVprMyQ9

In advance, we thank you for taking the time to share your insights and perspectives.

At the conclusion of the process, we will report to you on our findings and related plans for the future to ensure that the services available to our students are of the highest quality.

CENSUS – Special Circumstances

If your family is going on an extended holiday and will be absent from school for the whole period 24^th June, 2019 to the 2^nd August, 2019 inclusive, please forward a written explanation of absence to the child’s teacher before you leave. Please include the date student will be on leave and the date the student will return to school. We require this information to comply with Government Census obligations. Thank you.

Blessings and best wishes

Sean Rutledge

Principal (Acting)