“And Christ the Way can, and does, make each of us someone else’s way to flourish, not only here and now, but through the long Spring of eternity. There is a Spanish proverb that says, ‘God writes straight with crooked lines’. All of us, to some degree, are crooked: but he can make us the straightest way to him for someone else.”

Peter Steele SJ, Bread for the Journey

The late Jesuit priest Peter Steele had a way with words and it will come as no surprise to anyone to learn that he was for many years a Professor of English at Melbourne University, as well as a published poet. The words quoted above come from a homily he gave at a Mass, post-Easter, some years ago. Their beauty lies partly in their simple summation of the Christian vocation: to be someone else’s way to human flourishing and someone else’s way to relationship with Christ. There could be no better summary of what it means to have a vocation as a teacher and educator and at Sts Peter and Paul, our vocation, to put it very simply, is to be the way – the path – to human flourishing for our students.

Return to School

It appears that on balance, things are trending in the right direction, in terms of the infection rate of the COVID-19 virus. Certainly in the A.C.T., the situation is looking very positive. I am sure you are aware that the students at Marist College and other independent schools are returning to school next week. The Director of Catholic Education, Ross Fox, has been in regular contact the Catholic systemic schools and at some point in the near future, I should be in a position where I can write to you regarding students returning to Sts Peter and Paul. I understand that this period has been stressful for many parents and families and Remote Learning has added a layer of complication to an already difficult situation. I would like to thank the parent body for their support of their children’s learning and for their support of the teachers and all of their efforts. I am very grateful, as all the staff are, for the good will of the parent body and their able assistance and encouragement. As soon as I am in a position to inform you of the next steps, I shall do so. My hope is that information will be forthcoming within the next few days.

Apple iPads

A known issue we are currently having with remote learning iPads provided by the school is around the family sharing settings. Over the Term 1 school holidays, we were scheduled to collect all iPads and install a new management system that eliminates the need for having a generic apple ID. Unfortunately, this process did not happen and is flagged for the upcoming Term 2 holidays.

This means the school iPads that are being used for remote learning can have the family sharing option turned on, which uploads the camera roll to iCloud and is viewable across devices. Our advice is not to change the family sharing settings as it takes one user to turn this on for all iPads. We have made the necessary changes to turn this off and are asking your assistance to ensure it stays off.

We would advise students to use the camera to record their work and upload onto their class’ chosen platform before deleting the photo or video from the camera roll to ensure it doesn’t upload to iCloud. Thanks in advance for your understanding and help managing our remote Learning devices. It might be a timely reminder for parents to discuss and reinforce with their children appropriate behaviours when online. Some resources that may support you doing this can be found on the e-safety website https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents.

Have a wonderful week with your families.

Best wishes

Cameron Johns

Principal