Dear Parents and Carers

“You can have flaws, be anxious, and even angry, but do not forget that your life is the greatest enterprise in the world. Only you can stop it from going bust. Many appreciate you, admire you and love you. Remember that to be happy is not to have a sky without a storm, a road without accidents, work without fatigue, relationships without disappointments. To be happy is to find strength in forgiveness, hope in battles, security in the stage of fear, love in discord. It is not only to enjoy the smile, but also to reflect on the sadness. It is not only to celebrate the successes, but to learn lessons from the failures. It is not only to feel happy with the applause, but to be happy in anonymity. Being happy is not a fatality of destiny, but an achievement for those who can travel within themselves.”

Pope Francis, Homily, 2018

All of us at times in our lives need to read something or be told something that will lift us up or remind us that we are not alone on the journey. Pope Francis’ words clearly come from a life well versed in struggle, but what is also very clear is that he has found joy in it all. I would like to affirm all of you, as a parent body, individually and collectively, and say that undoubtedly many people appreciate you, admire you and love you. Your own children are obvious examples, but no doubt we could include other family members, friends, work colleagues, and some people whom you would not expect to think this way. These are trying times and they can chip away at our resilience. Be assured that all of your efforts never go unnoticed and always count.

Teaching and Learning

Today, the Leadership Team met to spend some focused time on curriculum, pedagogy and programming. The aim of today was to recalibrate the rest of the year in terms of the school’s professional growth in teaching and learning. We spent some time working through the two or three priority areas for the remainder of the year, keeping in mind our Annual Improvement Plan and other guiding frameworks such as the Australian Curriculum https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/, the National Literacy and Numeracy Progressions https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/resources/national-literacy-and-numeracy-learning-progressions/ and the Brisbane RE Curriculum https://curriculum.bne.catholic.edu.au/Curriculum/LearningArea?learningAreaName=Religious%20Education. We also prepared for today by reading other articles on coaching and instructional leadership, and in one instance, a very interesting podcast on the art of questioning in lessons, by renowned UK educator, Dylan Willems https://www.teachermagazine.com.au/articles/teacher-podcast-dylan-wiliam-on-effective-questioning-in-the-classroom I look forward to communicating the outcome of today’s meeting with the parent body in the near future.

Return to Face-to-Face Teaching

We are now entering the 4^th week of the students being back at school, and overwhelmingly, the students have come back and settled back into the routines of school life exceedingly well. This is due to the great support from the parent body, the excellent work of the teachers, and the children themselves, and what they bring to the classroom. I would also like to thank all parents for their respect and support of the school’s social restrictions, in terms of being on school grounds. My hope is that this temporary and as soon as I know of changes, I will inform all parents.

We are constantly learning and revising as we go. There are two changes or reminders I need to make to the parent body. Firstly, CE has advised that all assemblies (other than morning assemblies) should cease, for the time being. This was communicated to all Catholic schools last Friday afternoon. Hence, from now on, until we are advised otherwise, we will cease assemblies. We will still have awards and members of the Leadership Team will hand those out to students, over the PA, once a fortnight on Fridays. The second item I need to bring to everyone’s attention is a request, please, to not make cupcakes or any other baked items for children’s birthday celebrations, in classrooms. A number of children have brought in homemade birthday cakes and the like from home, to celebrate their birthdays. It pains me to make this request, but nonetheless, I need to ask all parents to please refrain from this practice, and to provide commercially brought items (like lollypops, for example), to celebrate birthdays. I recognise the joy that homemade cupcakes brings many children. Again, my hope is that this will be a temporary arrangement. Our canteen can provide birthday celebration packs, see Canteen News for details.

Gratitude

Finally, I would like to thank one of our parents, Maggie Grove. Maggie is active both within the parish and the school and has recently secured for us some Floriade bulbs, planted in a wheelbarrow outside 2M, facing the carpark. The parish attained some bulbs and split them 3 ways: the Parish Church at Garran, Sts Peter and Paul and Holy Trinity ELC. Thank you Maggie, and my thanks to the Parish Council, for their great support of the school. They will bring much colour in Spring.

Have a wonderful week with your families.

Best wishes

Cameron Johns

Principal