Dear Parents and Carers

Enrolment Period

For Catholic schools in the archdiocese, the period of May 4^th – May 22^nd is our enrolment period. Sts Peter and Paul is enrolling now for 2021, for Kindergarten and for all grade years. If I could please trouble our parent community to visit our Facebook page and view our video, and perhaps leave a recommendation or a positive comment, it would greatly assist us in our efforts to reach as many people as possible. As well as having its immediate, designated enrolment suburbs, Sts Peter and Paul is also able to enrol children from across Canberra, due to the unique location of the school. Our school website, which includes links to the enrolment pages, can be found at https://www.stpandp.act.edu.au/ and our school’s Facebook Page can be found at https://www.facebook.com/STPPGARRAN/

Return to School

A reminder to our parents that all children are returning to school next week, from Kindergarten – Grade 6. All staff are eagerly looking forward to the return of the students. We have all missed them a great deal and it will be wonderful to have them back.

The staff have been preparing for the return of the students and there are a number of operational procedures that require our attention, as the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way many things in the school run.

One of the main areas that requires communication is around cleaning and hygiene. From next week, the school will maintain its normal cleaning routine, as well as instigate the following measures for the remainder of Term 2:

School actions/preparation

• A deep clean of the whole school is taking place this weekend, in preparation for the return of all of our students.
• An additional cleaner has been contracted to clean and wipe down all surfaces, including tabletops and door handles, 3 times a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
• Our Groundsman, Kerry Marsham, will clean the playground equipment and outdoor seating areas daily.
• All classrooms and learning areas have been supplied with large quantities of hand sanitiser. Children will be asked to sanitise their hands, by their teachers, at frequent intervals throughout the day.

Home actions/preparation

• I would ask all parents to please supply each child in the family with a labelled hand towel, which they can use to dry their hands, as all children will be also using soap and water more than usual, in order to keep their hands clean.

Another aspect of the children’s return to school is around their social and emotional wellbeing. The staff are well aware of the children’s need to reconnect with their peers, after being away so long. For some children, they have been absent for almost a school term, if you are to include the 2-week holiday break. There will be a strong need to enable the children to reconnect with their peers and their teachers, and to ensure that they have a strong sense of social and emotional security. To that end, teachers are planning, with their grade and stage colleagues, to make sure that the teaching days have activities that are designed to help children connect with each other and continue to build a sense of class community.

Parents can assist with the return of children to school by talking to their children and getting them ready, in a psychological sense. I encourage all parents, between now and next Monday, to discuss next week, and what it is your child is looking forward to. Remind them of their friends, their lessons, their opportunities to play on the equipment; remind them too of Library, Music and Japanese lessons. Tell them it is ok and normal if they feel a little nervous – everyone will be feeling nervous – but those feelings will go away. Above all else, please assure your child that every staff member at Sts Peter and Paul is very excited about him or her coming back to school and we will make sure that each child has a very special week. We are in the final stages of working out celebration activities, to celebrate the fact that we are all back together.

In this matter, as in all matters, I thank you for your support of the school, the staff and the students.

Have a wonderful week with your families and we look forward to seeing all children on Monday May 18^th.

Best wishes

Cameron Johns

Principal

Sunday Gospel: Sixth Sunday of Easter, Year A John 14:15-21

This week’s Gospel passage comes from the Last Supper discourse. Next week we celebrate the Ascension of the Lord and the following week we will celebrate Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the Disciples. This week’s reading is the perfect introduction for what is about to take place. In the weeks prior to this, Jesus had told the Disciples that He would be leaving them. He alluded to that fact again in this week’s Gospel, when He says that He will ask the Father to send to the Disciples another advocate (often referred to as the Paraclete) Jesus wants His Disciples to know that the Holy Spirit is to continue the work that He has begun.

Christian people believe that Christ continues to be present in the world even though He is no longer physically present. Whilst the Spirit, (the advocate or Paraclete), will act in the world to bring about the reign of God, it is in the hearts and minds of those who believe where the Spirit will act most strongly.

Religious Education Support Website – Remote Learning

On the school’s Remote Learning website, we now have a tab that will lead to a site called “Parish of Transfiguration”.  This site will serve to connect the Transfiguration Parish School Communities of Holy Trinity and Saints Peter and Paul.

On this site you will find a variety of links relating to the Religious Life of our Parish Schools. Each week, we will share with you prayers and resources that we hope will be engaging and enriching for the families in our community. 

This week, we have included some hints and tips for parents who may wish to start reading the bible as a family, as well as a Gospel reflection for this coming week that you may wish to share with your children.

Fr John has uploaded a video for our families, and the Parish Youth Ministers Maddie and Grace have added content to the site also, so I encourage you to take a look.

Below is a link to the site.

http://parishoftransfiguration.weebly.com/

 

Stay safe, and take care of each other,

Stephanie Burns

Religious Education Coordinator

Week 4, Term 2

Learning Support Hub awards: Ethan W 3/4Y; Nicholas V 1W; Mr Jenkins

Principal's awards: Ola A; Dev B 5/6M

Special School Award: Mr Johns for outstanding leadership

Due to the redeployment of Registered Nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic response and the closure of schools, the 2020 physical component of the Kindergarten Health Check has been cancelled.  The Academic Unit of General Practice questionnaire data, completed by parents at the beginning of the 2020 school year, has been collected as usual. The results of the questionnaire will be sent to the GP if consent has been given to do so. If parents have concerns regarding the physical check we recommend they see their GP for assessment. For more information please contact the School Health Team on 5124 1585.

On Tuesday, 19th of May, a small group of Sts Peter and Paul Students began participating in the Seasons for Growth Program. 

Please keep these students in your thoughts and prayers as they journey through the Seasons for Growth program, exploring the impact of change and loss on every-day life and learning new ways to respond to these changes.

Transition Back to School

If you find that your child is experiencing some difficulties transitioning back to the routine of school, here are some ideas to assist your child with the transition:

• Be guided by your child as to their needs
• Be open to having conversations and listen to their concerns
• Talk to them in order to start preparing them for the change
• Use a calendar to count down the days
• Stick to a routine
• Focus on what you are doing to stay safe, it helps the children to feel like they have some control over the situation.
• Read stories about going to school
• Look after yourself! 
  • The following external resources are also available to support your mental health and wellbeing: 
    • Headspace https://headspace.org.au/covid-19/
    • Beyondblue – COVID19 https://coronavirus.beyondblue.org.au/
    • Lifeline – Mental health and wellbeing during the COVID-19 outbreak https://www.lifeline.org.au/get-help/topics/mental-health-and-wellbeing-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak

For further information, please feel free to contact me on melissa.neit@cg.catholic.edu.au

Take Care

Melissa Neit

Stage 3 Teacher/ School Chaplain

Mrs de Jongh is lookiing forward to seeing everyone next week. 

Don't forget to bring your library books in and return them to the library. 

Then you can borrow more!

NO CASH COUNTER SALES AT LUNCHTIME

Canteen will not be accepting cash during these current times.

Families can make contactless payment via Qkr!

Purchase counter sale items (snacks & treats) for your child/children in a lunch order

which will be delivered to them or you can purchase a “counter sales voucher” on Qkr!

for your child/children to go to the canteen to collect something at lunchtime. 

 Lauretta Raccosta,

Canteen

Lauretta.Raccosta@cg.catholic.edu.au

Healthy Kids, Healthy Bodies, Healthy Canteens

8.30 – 9.30AM

 The Uniform Shop is a service for the parents and children.  We sell New & Quality Second-hand school clothing, and all money raised goes back to the school to provide resources for the children.

You can place an order via Qkr! Order on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday and the item/s will be delivered to your child’s classroom. Orders need to be placed before 8.45am.

Please see our website for the Winter Uniform price list.

https://stpandp.act.edu.au/uniform-shop

It is usual practice for most schools to offer second-hand clothing at the uniform shop to families at a discounted price. Quality second-hand clothing can only be purchased during uniform hours.  We do understand that this may not be convenient for some families so please feel free to send me an email if you are unable to get to the uniform shop during its’ hours and I will do my best to attend your needs.

 DUE TO COVID19,  the Uniform Shop is asking for NO more second-hand donations during this time please.

POTATO & PUMPKIN CRISPS

Ingredients

4 large potatoes, washed and peeled

250g pumpkin, washed and peeled

2-3tbs olive oil

Pinch sea salt

Method

Preheat oven to 180 degrees and line trays with baking paper (or, instead, prepare non-stick baking mats if you have them).

Take potato peeler and shave thin layers of potato and pumpkin into a bowl.

Toss shavings with the olive oil, making sure that all surfaces are covered. Place shavings on prepared trays (or mats) in a single layer.

Bake veggie shavings for about 10 minutes, check and turn if needed.

When light brown and crispy, take out of the oven and blot with paper towel.

Season with salt before serving.

As much as we all enjoyed having our little ones at home during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is great that they will be able to go back to school on Monday 18 May and reunite with their friends.  The lack of social interaction for the children has been one of the hardest things about this. I am sure they are all looking forward to coming back and getting back to "normal" routines.

On behalf of the school council and wider school community I would like to offer heartfelt thanks to the teachers and staff at the school for the amazing job they have done in enabling the continued education of the children through these difficult times. It has enabled the children to stay connected with their classmates and continue to learn. I know all of the staff are very much looking forward to the return of the children and being able to interact with them face to face. Once again, thank you for your efforts and enjoy the children being back at school.

Regards

Thomas