Dear Parents and Carers

Welcome back to a new term. I hope you and your family had a restful and relaxing holiday period. In particular, I hope that Easter was a peaceful and blessed time. I am aware of course that we start a new term in very unusual circumstances – before addressing remote learning directly, I would like to iterate what I have just mentioned, about the blessedness of Easter. Times such as these call forth the need to be grateful for the small miracles in our lives – the thoughtfulness of a friend; the non-judgmental love of a family member; the colours of autumn; a good book – particularly as our attention can be so caught up with the understandable daily struggle that goes with the uncertainty of this period. Easter is a season that reminds us that life always follows death, be it the death of a dream, a hope, an expectation, or something or someone else that we hold dear. Easter reminds us that bitter experience does not have the final word in our lives.

Remote Learning

I would like to begin this section of the newsletter by recording my gratitude to the members of our community: the students, the teachers, and you the parents. Your support, as parents, of the school during this trying time, has been invaluable. I am very grateful for the support and I speak for all staff when I say ‘thank you’ to you all. Similarly, my gratitude for our staff is immeasurable and I am very impressed with their ability to work, learn and grow, as teachers and professionals. We have all come a long way in a relatively short period of time. Finally, the beautiful students of Sts Peter and Paul have been remarkable in their adaptability and capacity to adjust. I am sure you have all had moments at home where you have had to calm anxieties and fears. No doubt some of these moments have caused you stress and worry in your own right. Nonetheless, your children are embracing the remote learning program and the different way of learning that it calls for and this is a credit to their families, the staff and their own innate capacity.

Yesterday was our trial day and included, as inevitably it must, some bumps. On the whole, however, it was a very successful day. All teachers met their students as a class on Microsoft Teams at least twice and most teachers were able to report that most students completed their set tasks. Tomorrow we begin more formally. All children should have their Teams logins and passwords, and other login details for Seesaw and the like. If you are encountering any difficulties, please contact your child’s teacher via email in the first instance and Sean or I if technical issues are unable to be resolved.

Due to the unique teaching configuration of this period, the school requires your particular support in one or two key areas. Online good behaviour is clearly very important. Where a child may choose to interact inappropriately with his or her peers, your child’s teacher will contact you and ask if you could please support the school, and your child’s learning, by speaking with him or her. (If your child is at school, your child’s teacher will speak to him or her.) If the situation was serious, Sean Rutledge or I will call. I do not anticipate the need for this, but thought it worthwhile to make clear the process and ask for your support, in the very unlikely event that a phone call is made by a member of staff. Just as teachers establish boundaries and rules for their physical classrooms, so they are too for their digital classrooms. This ensures everyone’s safety and wellbeing. Thank you for your support.

Catholic Schools Enrolment Period

The enrolment period for all Catholic schools in the Archdiocese begins next week and runs for 3 weeks, from May the 4^th to 22^nd. The normal processes that take place for this period (information nights, open days, and the like) cannot happen in the normal fashion, due to restrictions around social distancing. The school is finalising details around online tours and similar mediums of communication and we will make these known to the community shortly. In the meantime, interest in Sts Peter and Paul is very positive and this is a reflection of the wonderful community that it is.

Please contact me at school if I can be of any assistance with any inquiries or areas of concern. Have a wonderful week with your families.

Best wishes

Cameron Johns

Principal