Dear Parents and Carers

Welcome back to another school year. It has been excellent to see all the children again and to welcome our new Kindergarten students and our new students in Grades 1 – 6. We have 38 new Kinder students and 30 new students in Grades 1 – 6. I would like to particularly welcome our new families: Abraham, Aguilera, Batley, Bull, Chavez Leveroni, Ciancio, De Valentin, Dingwall, Dorji, Edwards, Garg, Geary, Gorham, Gutierrez, Harrison, Holm, Howker, Ibrahim, Johnson, King, Kingson, Lotfy, Marshall, Martin, Martin (there are two new Martin families), McMahon, Mhike, Miller, Murray, Nehme, Park, Ransom, Rogers, Sharma, Sindhu, Soda, Sreesan, Sullivan, Tam, Thompson, Tomy, Upton, Wright, Wynants and Yaqub.

I would also like to welcome back to school all of our staff and in particular, our new staff. New to Sts Peter and Paul are:

• Anna Williams, Assistant Principal
• Jessica Gowing, Kindergarten
• Joshua Gereis, Year 3/4
• Katie McGregor, Year 5
• Michael Washington, Year 5
• Maddie Winter, Classroom Support Assistant and School Welfare Officer
• Mel Harding, Classroom Support Assistant

Returning to Sts Peter and Paul after a year’s maternity leave are:

• Stephanie Burns, Religious Education Officer, Maths Extension (Years 5 & 6) and Kindergarten.
• Laura Lamerton, School Counsellor

I welcome all of our new and returning staff. They are an extremely talented group of educators and will make invaluable contributions to the lives of the children.

COVID

Last week Anna Williams and I hosted two meetings with parents, via Teams, that attempted to explain the 2022 school operations considering the ongoing COVID infection rates across the ACT. A letter was also sent home from me that detailed the new arrangements as well as confirming the ongoing arrangements, that have continued from Term 4 last year. Please note, in particular, the following arrangements:

• On Monday afternoon, we sent home a RAT for each child in the school; enough for each student to be tested twice this week. I encourage all parents to test their children accordingly, and if anyone returns a positive result, to please inform the school. More RAT will be sent home at the beginning of the second week.
• COVID exposures (that is, children exposed to a COVID case) will be published each day to the school community. New cases will be published. The numbers given each day will be not be cumulative cases in a particular grade or the entire school, as directed by Catholic Education.
• In terms of school operations, classes will be managed on a case-by-case basis. In simple terms, if a child has a positive result, they isolate for 7 days, and if possible, continue work from home. Teachers are being released this week to arrange for home packs to be created, containing work relevant to each grade’s Term 1 program. If a staff member returns a positive test, they will ideally be covered by a relief teacher, until they are well enough to return. In unusual circumstances, it may be that a class or grade must individually isolate at home and return to a Remote Learning Platform, for a week or 10 days. Parents will be advised accordingly. In the unlikely event of the school being closed due to an inability to run the school normally, due to COVID cases, the Director of Catholic Education would make the decision and advise the parents accordingly. I do not anticipate this happening.
• A reminder please that if your child returns a positive result to a RAT, they need to isolate for a minimum of 7 days. In order to return to school, they need to be symptom-free and return a negative result.
• Finally, a reminder of our carpark arrangements in the afternoon: Grades 3 – 6 children can be picked up at the car roundabout part of the carline; K – 2 students can be picked up at the yellow railing part of the carline, outside the Church. A reminder please that parents are to avoid coming onto the school grounds in the afternoon at the end of the day. If you need to physically come onto the grounds, please pick up your child before 3pm or after 3.30. If you would like to meet your child at the end of the day, please arrange to meet them away from the main part of the grounds e.g., on the grounds of the Church.

Thank you for all of your support in these matters.

Reconciliation PIN Night

A reminder that for parents of students in Year 3, who have children making his or her First Reconciliation this year, there will be a Parent Information Night next Monday, February 7^th, at 6pm. The meeting will be conducted via Zoom. Parents from Holy Trinity, Curtin, will also be joining us. A link to the meeting will be sent home shortly. My thanks to our Religious Education Coordinator, Stephanie Burns, for organising the night, and to Monsignor John Woods, for his support.

School PIN Night

Next Tuesday night at 6pm, there will be a Parent Information Night for all parents. The aim of the night is to provide an opportunity for parents to meet their child’s teacher or teachers, and to receive information regarding the term’s work and focus. The evening will be conducted via Teams. Links will be sent home to parents accordingly.

Schools’ Contact Officer

Finally, I would like to thank Sally Blacker, parent of 4 past and current students, who for many years has organised the Parent Contact Registry. Sally is stepping down from the role and I would like to thank Sally for her excellent work and dedication to the school. It is greatly appreciated. I am looking for a new volunteer. If you would like to volunteer to for the role, please contact the school, or me, directly. Sally is happy to assist in a handover.

Have a wonderful week with your families. I look forward to catching up with many of you over the coming days and weeks.

Best wishes

Cameron Johns

Principal