Dear Parents and Carers,

I hope you enjoyed a great long weekend. My family and I had a great time attending the Balloon Festival and other events on in Canberra last weekend. Thank you for affording me the time to attend the Principal's retreat last week from Wednesday-Friday. The Principals from all 56 Catholic schools in the diocese spent time discerning Catholic Education's Strategic plan and had input about Mercy and Justice led by our Archbishop. Thank you to Tiffany Reedy, who led the school in my absence. 

Covid Update

We have had no changes to restrictions, and our current restrictions are expected to be in place until the end of the term. This means we are still cohorting students, and Masks are still required to be worn inside school buildings for all adults and are encouraged for students in Yrs 3-6. We have received our next lot of RAT tests from the ACT Government. These will be distributed ASAP. Please note that this delivery is the nasal variety, and we do not have any saliva tests. 

I have had several parents speak with me about absences at school currently. I want to assure the community that these absences are not all Covid related. We have had a number of people with covid, also in isolation due to close contacts, a large number of people with colds & flu that are negative on PCR tests, and families who are heading away on week-long family holidays now they can travel. Overall I want to commend the community for being vigilant for symptoms and keeping students home if they are unwell. 

Playground Update

Work will begin next week on our Senior Playground and will take approximately 2 weeks to complete. We hope to have it certified and open for use by the beginning of Term 2.

Community Council

I sent a message to all families yesterday that advised of our Open Community Council Meeting on Monday Night from 6-6:30 pm in the Staffroom. The best councils have a diversity of people from different genders and year levels to provide advice and assistance to the school on behalf of parents. It would be great to get more representation from Dads in the community and parents with children in the younger grades. If you are interested in joining the council or would like to know more, please email me sean.rutledge@cg.catholic.edu.au.

Drop off and Pick-up

You may notice our drop off and pick up lines can be busy at certain times. We are finding that in the morning, most people are dropping off between 8:50 & 9 am if you are able a reminder we are on duty from 8:30 am, and students can be dropped off from this time when it is much quieter (You may even find time to get yourself a coffee on the way to work). We have a similar issue in the afternoons between 3 & 3:10 pm. We are on duty until 3:30 pm and you will find the pick-up line is empty from 3:15 pm. If you are able, consider letting your child and teacher know they don't need to go in the first lot students if you would like a quieter pick up. 

Learning Support

Karen and classroom teachers have conducted PP meetings in the last 2 weeks with students who require a high level of support. If you have not been contacted or would like to book a PP Meeting, please contact Karen directly karen.western@cg.catholic.edu.au. We recognise and apologise that not all our Learning Support programs have been able to go ahead this term and this is due to a range of factors, including Cohorting, Staff shortages etc. Arrangements are being made to ensure we are able to deliver these programs next term with greater consistency. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact me directly. 

Photo Day

We have had several enquiries about our Photo Day on Monday and student absences. Unfortunately, we are unable to reschedule the group photos but will be running a make-up session for individual and sibling photos later in the year. Please remember to wear full Summer Uniform for all grades on Monday. If you are after sibling photos, please ensure you have submitted the payment and photo form by 10 am Monday morning.  

Prayer

The situation in Ukraine continues to shock and horrify us all. This week, our Holy Father released a statement that had a short prayer calling for Peace in our World that takes lines from the St.Francis Peace Prayer. There was a story this week of the Pope driving to the Russian Embassy this week to express his concern about the fighting in Ukraine a great example of Servant Leadership in action! Pope makes surprise visit to Russian Embassy to the Vatican - ABC News (go.com

You might like to pray this short prayer with your family as we strive for Peace in our World!

Please note due to supply shortages some items are temporarily unavailable and have been taken of the the menu.

Keep checking for menu items availability, hopefully all menu items will be available soon. 

Regards

Kathy Crosbie 

Canteen