Dear Parents and Carers

“There is the small-time stuff, of course – how many of us have had a perfect run through this morning, or, failing that, through the last week? But there is also the heavy-duty stuff, which can range all the way from things that steadily drain our energies to things that break our hearts. The first time I ever set foot in this University…a distinguished Australian poet and public intellectual told me that he thought I needn’t worry about going to find distress, because distress would probably come and find me.”

Peter Steele SJ, “She’ll Be Right”

The late Jesuit priest Peter Steele had a gift with words. It is no surprise that he was both a published poet and a lecturer in English at Melbourne University. In the paragraph quoted above, Peter Steele is writing about the fact that, given time, distress becomes a part of life, and almost always comes visited upon us, without us looking for it. He suggests that it might be helpful to remember that “…no one less or other than the Son of God lodges deep at the heart of our own personal distresses, whatever they may be.” What each of us does about that, and our own distress, is up to us – but Steele reminds us that “…all that is deathly in our experience can be made lively by his Father.” Easter itself reminds us of that fact. In these trying times, when for many of us, our resources can be strained, it can be a source of hope to remember that there is a larger canvas upon which our lives are lived. Gentleness with our own self, and with each other, is often a way into remembering we are part of something bigger than ourselves.

 South Weston Region Athletics Carnival

Next Tuesday is the South Weston Region Athletics Carnival. We have a number of students attending and representing the school in a number of events. The event is being held at Athletics Park; the same venue that sees us hold our annual school carnival. I will accompany our students, as will Cathy Shepherd. I wish all of our students the very best for the competition.

Catalyst

On Tuesday, we continue our work with Toni Hatten-Roberts, who is visiting our school and working with a number of our staff, in the delivery of a particular teaching method, or pedagogy, known as ‘Daily Review’. ‘Daily Review’ is both content focused and teacher directed – which is to say, it embodies a particular method of explicit teaching – and it seeks to build on a student’s long-term memory. Daily Review is supported by some research into the science of learning, which suggests that learning and the retention of knowledge in our long-term memory, go hand-in hand. With knowledge able to be retrieved relatively easily from our long-term memory, greater cognitive effort can go into learning newer concepts or ideas. The particular subject area we are focusing upon is Maths. My thanks to all the teachers involved, and to our Assistant Principal Anna Williams, who is coordinating our Catalyst involvement.

Book Week

A reminder that one of the most exciting annual calendar fixtures is fast approaching: Book Week, which takes place in Week 6. The theme Book Week 2022 is ‘Dreaming with eyes wide open”. We have a number of activities planned, including on the Thursday (August 25^th) our Costume Parade. It will be an exciting week. My thanks to our excellent librarian, Amanda Basedow, for coordinating the week.

https://cbca.org.au/cbca-book-week

Have a wonderful week with your families.

Best wishes

Cameron Johns

Principal