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

Sunday Gospel: The Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ, John 6:51-58

The feast of the Body and Blood of Christ, also known as Corpus Christi, celebrates and commemorates the institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper. Although the liturgy on Holy Thursday remembers the celebration of the Last Supper, its focus tends to be more aligned with the events of the Passion, rather than on the institution of the Eucharist. In the 13th Century, Pope Urban IV established the feast of Corpus Christi (the Body of Christ) and it was St Thomas Aquinas who composed the official prayers of the Church for the feast day. In 1970 the feast was changed to the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ. In some countries it is celebrated on the Thursday following Trinity Sunday and in others on the following Sunday.

The gospel passage comes from the 6th chapter of the Gospel of John, in which the gospel writer has Jesus deliver an extended discourse on the image of himself as the Bread of Life. This passage comes from the end of that discourse and, in this relatively short passage, Jesus repeatedly demands that his followers must eat his flesh and drink his blood. It is through these actions that his followers will share in eternal life. Jesus says that whoever does this will live in him and he will live in them. That is one of the fundamental beliefs about the Eucharist. When we receive the body and blood of Jesus in the Eucharist we become what we receive – we become Christ’s body in the world. When Jesus called his disciples, he called them to be like himself. He reissues that call to be like him every time we receive his body and blood in Eucharist.

(Gospel Reflection by Greg Sunter)

Sacrament of First Reconciliation

With the restrictions placed on large gatherings due to COVID-19, we were unable to join together to celebrate the First Reconciliation of the Candidates within our Parish.

We acknowledge the effort that families had put into preparing candidates to receive the Sacrament, and we want to ensure that students are given the opportunity to receive their First Reconciliation as soon as possible.

As such, Fr John will be inviting families to attend Holy Trinity Church, Curtin at an allocated time, for the children to receive the sacrament in smaller groups.

Candidates have been sent a letter with a link to a Google Doc that allows families to view the times available, and indicate the time they would like. If you have not received this document, or you are having any issues accessing it, please contact me.

Reconciliation Retreat Day

Tomorrow, all Year 3 students will participate in a mini retreat day at Sts Peter and Paul. Students are welcome to wear free dress.

Year One Values Assembly – Compassion

Thank you to the Year One teachers and students who so beautifully introduced us to the value that we will be focussing on for the next 5 weeks: Compassion. The Children shared with us some wonderful examples of how we can live with compassion and show kindness to those around us, I think the highlight for everyone was the beautiful song and actions that the children shared with us. Well done!

Religious Education Website - Transfiguration Parish

Although we are no longer Remote Learning, the “Parish of Transfiguration” website is still being updated weekly and features the Sunday Gospel of the coming week, as well as reflection questions, and other resources and ideas for families who want to grow in faith together. This week, we look at the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ. We hope the site will be engaging and enriching for the families in our communities of Holy Trinity and Saints Peter and Paul.

You will also find on the website information from our Parish, including the bulletin and Prayers of Intercession to share at home, as well as a video that Fr John has uploaded for our families. The Parish Youth Ministers, Maddie and Grace have added content to the site also, so I encourage you to take a look.

 

God bless,

Stephanie Burns

Religious Education Coordinator

Week 8, Term 2

Principal's Awards: Charlotte M 3/4Y; George S 3/4M

Learning Hub: Abby E; Kuna J

Reconciliation Week started on the 27^th of May and finishedy on the 3^rd of June. The theme of Reconciliation Week was “In This Together.”

“The National Reconciliation Week 2020 theme reinforces that we all have a role to play when it comes to reconciliation, and in playing our part we collectively build relationships and communities that value Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, histories and cultures,” she said.

“When we come together to build mutual respect and understanding, we shape a better future for all Australians.” Karen Mundine

At Saints Peter and Paul, we have designed a Message Stick for NAIDOC Mass on 24^th of July.  Our Indigenous students have contributed their own designs for our Message Stick that represent our school’s story. We have combined their designs onto the on Message Stick, which will decorate a special Cross for the Mass.

The Message Stick is one of the many ways Aboriginal people communicated and sometimes the stick was used as a teaching stick for drawing boundaries, sacred ceremonial places, totems and tracking animals throughout the land. When a Message Stick is handed to you from another person, you then become the Messenger.

Traditionally, Message Sticks were passed between different clans and language groups to establish information and transmit messages. They were often used to invite neighbouring groups to corroborees, initiation ceremonies, rite of entry to country and as an invitation to religious rituals.

Our Message Stick, pictured below, tells the story of familes travelling together to food and nourishment.

Regional and ACT Sport
Please see this email below sent to us from Liz Yuen, who is the School Sport ACT Executive Officer. Hopefully it will provide you with the most up to date information that we have in relation to the potential start up of some sport in Term 3 and 4. Please note that this is an edited version of the email that was sent out.

Hello Everyone,

With some restrictions easing there is still no clear indication as to when students will be able to once again leave school on excursions and intermingle with students from a differing school for a sport participation day or regional event.

With this in mind we are preparing for a number of scenarios;

1. a) If the Federal Govt and the ACT Education Directorate does lift school sport and excursion restrictions for Term 3, first day 20 July, the SSACT and endorsed events for Primary and Secondary schools on the calendar will proceed (except for Track and Field).
2. Primary endorsed and PS/Sec community events conducted by State Sporting Organisations (SSOs) may still operate on their predetermined dates and include; Oztag, Basketball, Cricket, Rugby Union, Touch Football and Tennis. We will be contacting them all this week also to check in on their plans.
3. SSACT Regional and State Track and Field events will not be taking place as many schools did not get the chance to conduct their qualifying school carnivals and with the SSA National Championship cancelled there will be no state team selection.
4. b) If they are not lifted by the end of Term 2 and perhaps not until early in Term 3 we would be looking to collaborate with SSOs to deliver a number of participation days across late Term 3 and early Term 4 to give students the opportunity to play some sport for their school in this year of disruption. The formats for these days remain flexible and undetermined at this stage.
5. c) If school based excursions and sporting event restrictions are not lifted this year it will be a matter of being fully prepared for 2021 and when they are finally lifted. SSACT will be preparing the 2021 Calendar of Events to share in their first draft in early Term 4 as usual.

From us at school
Sporting Schools Grant: We have been successful in being awarded a grant from Sporting Schools for Term 2 at a reduced amount of $650, due to the current sporting restrictions that are in place. Please watch this space for information regarding how we will be using this money for sport in the coming weeks.

Sporting Schools Plus Grant: Earlier in the year, Mr Paul Jenkins put in an application for a Sporting Schools Plus Grant for $7,500 and we were successful in being approved for this. This grant can be spent anytime during the year. We are very excited to have received this extra funding. We will let you know in the coming weeks and months how we intend to use this money to support Health and Physical Education at our school.

This week we are very excited to hold our very first Virtual Book Fair. Due to COVID -19 restrictions, things like book fairs have also been remodelled and reinvented. 

Carnival Books, an Australian owned company are leading the way in promoting and making virtual fairs a possibility.

From Monday 8th of June, you are invited to visit the Carnival Books web-page, www.carnivalfairs.com.au/virtual and browse the fantastic range of books on offer. Books are grouped into categories such as activity books, best sellers, picture books and age-appropriate books too. 

The process is very simple. Books ordered can be delivered to the school, so that the children can still experience the excitement of bringing home their new books. 

Detailed instructions are below. Once you open up the web page you are asked to search for our school. If you can not find the school's name by typing in Sts Peter & Paul, try searching for 'Garran'. We think the Sts may confuse the system.

The fair opens on Monday 8th of June and will run until the following Monday 15th of June. 

Hopefully, this virtual platform will be easy to use and you'll enjoy browsing the many and varied titles available.

Happy reading 

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 “daily counter sales voucher” on Qkr! for your child/children to go to the canteen to collect something at lunchtime.

Do you want to win a $2 voucher to spend in the canteen? Simply purchase fresh or frozen fruit from the canteen and be in the weekly draw to WIN!!!

Fruit incentive ticket WINNER for last week was Dominic M, KM.  Congratulations Dominic, you have won a $2.00 voucher, to spend at the canteen. Please see Mrs R at the canteen to collect your voucher.

Is your child celebrating a birthday! The canteen can provide a classroom birthday pack, as an alternative to cupcakes etc.  Rainbow chocolate cookies on a stick or lolly in a pond (jelly pots) are available. Both packs can be ordered via Qkr!. At least one week's notice is required please.

Lauretta Raccosta,

Canteen

Lauretta.Raccosta@cg.catholic.edu.au

Healthy Kids, Healthy Bodies, Healthy Canteens

OPEN TUESDAY MORNINGS

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 SZapp for the Winter Uniform price list.

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.

 The uniform shop is limited with space, so as a guide, clothes should only be donated if washed and in perfect resalable order. Please give any used second-hand uniform to Mrs R in the canteen, Thank you.

Lauretta Raccosta

Uniform Shop

Lauretta.raccosta@cg.catholic.edu.au

SAUSAGE ROLLS

Ingredients

1 carrot, peeled and grated

250g lamb or beef mince

Pinch salt & pepper

1/4c chopped parsley

2 sheets puff pastry

1/4c milk

Method

Preheat oven to 180 degrees, line trays with baking paper and set aside.

Combine carrot, mince, salt, pepper and parsley in a bowl and mix well.

Slice pastry sheets in half and place in a quarter of the mixture along the long side of the pastry sheet.

Brush edges with water and roll over to seal. Cut the roll into 5 pieces and place onto the prepared tray, 2cm apart

Repeat with remaining mixture and pastry sheets and brush each roll with milk.

Bake sausage rolls for 20 minutes, until golden and crisp.

Last week 3/4M were asked to blend warm and cool water colours. This lovely painting is by Stella H.