Dear Parents and Carers

This week, we have held our Semester 1 Parent and Teacher interviews. The response from parents has been excellent and I would like to thank the parent body for their support of this process. The interviews, via the Zoom platform, have been very successful and appear to have met a need. My thanks to Sean Rutledge for organising the interviews and for coordinating the links between home and school. My thanks to all teachers for their support and for their commitment to the students' learning.

Next week, on Wednesday, we will send home the reports. As I have written previously, the reports are written under a new format (common to all A.C.T. Catholic primary schools) and they reflect the realities of education during the COVID-19 pandemic. Four subjects are graded using the A – E grading and other subjects are marked as ‘Not Assessed’. This does not mean, however, that they were not taught; nor that teachers are unable to discuss your child’s growth in one subject or another. What it does mean is that there was an insufficient amount of evidence collected to ensure a mark or grade could be given without the integrity of the process being compromised. It is anticipated that the Semester 2 reports will reflect all grades receiving an A – E grade. Please contact me at school if you have any questions.

Canteen Special Lunch

Today we held a special canteen lunch day as a special treat for all the children. The canteen was well patronised and all the children enjoyed the day. My thanks to Lauretta Raccosta for her efforts and for doing such a fine job in running our school canteen.

Sts Peter and Paul Feast Day

Next Monday is the Feast Day of Sts Peter and Paul and it is fitting that we end what has been a very busy term and semester with an event that marks our two patrons and celebrates our school. Both St Peter and St Paul were extraordinary leaders, courageous and single minded in their love of God. They both started from humble beginnings and remind us that greatness is measured by our capacity to let something bigger than us fill our lives. In our faith tradition, we call that ‘something’ God. Both Peter and Paul stand as emblems of lives given to service and as such, both men had their lives enlarged bigger than they could have imagined. We will celebrate our Feast Day on Monday in a modified way, mindful of the restrictions placed on us by COVID-19. Students will gather in grade or stage teams and celebrate a prayer liturgy. After recess, teachers will take groups of students grouped vertically (e.g., K – 6) and do some fun activities with them. We hope it is a day that the children thoroughly enjoy and remember. My thanks to Steph Burns for organising the day and to all staff for their support.

Have a wonderful week with your children.

Best wishes

Cameron Johns

Principal