Dear Parents and Carers,

There is the small-time stuff, of course – how many of us have had a perfect run-through this morning, or, failing that, through the last week? But there is also the heavy-duty stuff, which can range all the way from things that steadily drain our energies to things that break our hearts. The first time I ever set foot in this University…a distinguished Australian poet and public intellectual told me that he thought I needn’t worry about going to find distress, because distress would probably come and find me.”

Peter Steele SJ, “She’ll Be Right”

The late Jesuit priest Peter Steele had a gift with words. It is no surprise that he was both a published poet and a lecturer in English at Melbourne University. In the paragraph quoted above, Peter Steele is writing about the fact that, given time, distress becomes a part of life, and almost always comes visited upon us, without us looking for it. He suggests that it might be helpful to remember that “…no one less or other than the Son of God lodges deep at the heart of our own personal distresses, whatever they may be.” What each of us does about that, and our own distress, is up to us – but Steele reminds us that “…all that is deathly in our experience can be made lively by his Father.” Easter itself reminds us of that fact. In these trying times, when for many of us, our resources can be strained, it can be a source of hope to remember that there is a larger canvas upon which our lives are lived. Gentleness with our own self and with each other is often a way to remember we are part of something bigger than ourselves.

Book Week

A reminder that one of the most exciting annual calendar fixtures is fast approaching: Book Week, which takes place next week. The theme for Book Week 2022 is ‘Dreaming with eyes wide open”. We have several activities planned (Competitions, Book fair) and our Costume Parade on Monday (August 22nd). It will be an exciting week. My thanks go to Mrs Cossettini for her coordination of the week.

https://cbca.org.au/cbca-book-week

BGA Update

Our Block Grant Authority Grant that was approved last year for the renovation of our Yr 2/3 block is on track. We have met architects and are finalising design choices next week. This project is on track to be delivered in 2023. I will keep you posted as new developments arise.

This week we have also submitted an application to the ACTBGA committee for an ELC to be built at St Francis. This exciting project will be reviewed in the coming weeks and members of the panel will attend to view the site to view plans and also discuss the application in greater detail. We are hopeful this project will be looked upon favourably and works can begin next year. If successful, we would look to have the first classes enrolled for T1 2024. Part of the application and future vision is an opportunity to redevelop the surrounding area around the kindergarten block and connect the two spaces via the shared garden and play areas to form an Infant’s Hub. I will keep you informed of the progress in the coming months.

Community Events and Fundraising

We held a successful community movie night last Friday night. A big thank you to Caroline Kontny who coordinated the event on behalf of the Community Council. We had a large number of families in attendance who enjoyed the movie and the food deals on offer. Thank you for coming along it was so nice to see you all there!

We also recently received delivery of our Cookie Dough drive last week. A huge thank you to all our families who helped us sell 525 tubs of Cookie Dough. Thank you also to Cecelia Reid who coordinated the Cookie Dough Drive on behalf of the Community Council.

These events and fundraisers are our major source of fundraising for the school this year with the cancellation of our school fete. We will have some more fundraisers spaced out over the next term and a half to raise money for our new Senior play equipment.

We also had a fabulous Athletics carnival last week that was well attended by the parent community. Thank you to all those parents who were able to volunteer some time on the day. Without your support, events like these can not be conducted. We were also extremely fortunate to be supported by students from Erindale College and St Mary MacKillop College, who undertook several roles on the day to support our teachers.

A shout out to our Yr 6 leaders who demonstrated outstanding leadership whilst working with younger students during novelty events. The Yr 6 students demonstrated qualities of patience, selflessness and service during the day. Well Done, Yr 6!

Also, a huge thank you to Mrs MacDonald, who coordinated the event for our school community. Next week some of our students will attend the Tuggeranong Region Carnival to represent our school. These students will be notified via the Compass Parent Portal.

Cyber Safety

In the last couple of weeks, we have had some reports of websites such as Omgele- Talk to strangers being used by students at home on personal devices. The school’s network blocks this app and website at school, but it can be accessed easily from home. The anonymous nature of the site and the functions available make it extremely unsafe for any student under the age of 13 to access. The eSafety commissioner has the following advice on their website Omegle | eSafety Commissioner.

We are also increasingly hearing about students using Snapchat on personal devices. A reminder this app is recommended for students 13+. The eSafety commissioner website has great advice on the use of Snapchat, including how to report abuse. Snapchat | eSafety Commissioner

Blessings and best wishes for the week ahead.

Kind regards

Sean Rutledge

Principal

Yesterday the school gathered at Mass to celebrate the Feast of the Assumption. The assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into heaven has long been held as an important Catholic belief. The belief was not defined as dogma, however, until 1950 by Pope Piuss XII. The dogma teaches that Mary, who was without sin, was taken, body and soul, into the glory of heaven.

The Gospel for this holy day recalls Mary's actions after the announcement of Jesus' birth by the Angel Gabriel. Mary goes to visit her cousin Elizabeth who is also with child. Elizabeth greets Mary with full recognition of the roles they and their unborn children will play in God's plan for salvation. Mary responds to Elizabeth's greeting with her song of praise, the Magnificatt. Both women recall and echo God's history of showing favourr upon the people of Israel. The Gospel for this day reminds us that Mary's Assumption into heaven is best understood with regard for the full spectrum of Catholic beliefs about the person of Christ and the person of Mary. Mary is the first to receive the fullness of the redemption that her son has won for all of humanity. The Church, therefore, recognizes Mary as the sign of the salvation promised to all.

Today's Gospel highlights Mary's faith. Mary's faith enabled her to recognize the work of God in her people's history and in her own life. Her openness to God allowed God to work through her so that salvation might come to all. Mary is a model and symbol of the Church. May we be like Mary, open and cooperative in God's plan of salvation.

FROM THE PARISH

Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults RCIAA)

Our next program will commence on Wed 31 August at 7pm in the Parish Centre Gowrie. The meeting will go for approximately one hour and light refreshments will be provided. If you, or someone you know is interested in becoming Catholic or learning more about the Catholic faith, please come along for the introductory meeting. The commitment for the program is one meeting (1 hour) per week in school terms and attendance at mass where possible. George Nulley will facilitate the program again this year. Please contact the Parish Office for any questions and to advise you would like to attend (call 6291 6688 or email Corpus Christi Parish).

Young Adventurers Youth Group

Today all students in Year 5 & 6 met the wonderful Lucy, our Corpus Christi Youth Ministerr and were invited to attend the Parish 'Young Adventurers' Group. The group is held every second Sunday from 9-10am. Please contact Lucy on lucykoelmyerr@cgorgg.au for further information. 

Catholic Education has adopted more stringent Covid measures for Term 3 to minimise the transmission of Covid and ensure our schools remain open. As reported in the media there is a predicted Covid peak forecast in weeks 4 and 8 of this term which could see triple the number of Covid cases currently being seen in the community. This would significantly affect school operations and the continuity of Teaching and Learning in Schools. To try and minimise the impact on school operations, Catholic Education has taken a risk-averse approach to ensure the maximum number of staff are available in schools. This means the following measures are being undertaken:

• Any event that could take extra staff away from the school in Term 3 should be reconsidered and if possible, postponed. This includes planned excursions and camps. For Term 3 we will not be charging the excursion levy to parents. Where possible and in a Covid safe way, we will continue to host incursions for our students.
• We are still planning on hosting our Athletics Carnival in Week 3 as it is in the local area and completely outdoors, more information will follow shortly.
• Parents will be notified if 25% of a cohort contracts Covid in a 7-day period. It is extremely important you notify the school if your child contracts covid via email stfranciscalwell@cg.catholic.edu.au or by submitting an absence note on Compass. These will be tracked to notify parents if we reach the 25% threshold.
• Current ACT health advice is for close or household contacts to not attend school if practicable. If students do need to attend, they can as long as they are asymptomatic, conduct a RAT test 24 hours before returning to school and then again, every 48 hours while they are a close/household contact.
• If students are symptomatic, they are not to attend school. If students present with unexplained symptoms at school, they will be isolated and parents contacted to pick them up from school.
• Schools are to limit the number of visitors they have onsite. This unfortunately, includes parents attending assemblies. Those who were able to attend an assembly last term will know that this decision is one I am particularly saddened by.
• We can continue our morning and afternoon pick-up and drop-off arrangements; however, we will need to be stricter with the number of people we can accommodate in the hall. This may mean a longer wait time to pick up your children. My advice is to grab a coffee and if possible, come a little later when the flow of parents is greatly diminished. We are staffed to provide supervision until 3:30 pm.
• Any meetings between staff and parents should be conducted remotely wherever possible.
• The school will continue to use all resources available to ensure adequate supervision ratios at school. In the event a significant number of staff are unavailable, there may be a time when we may need to keep cohorts at home, provide minimal supervision or most unlikely close the school under the direction of the Director of Catholic Education. In any of these cases, we will endeavour to provide parents with as much advance warning as possible.
• Unlike Term 1, we will be unable to provide work for students who are required to learn from home this term. To support students who are required to learn from home, the following resource has been put together to use while students are not in attendance at school.

 Parent Support - Remote Learning Resources.pdf

Catholic Education has adopted more stringent Covid measures for Term 3 to minimise the transmission of Covid and ensure our schools remain open. As reported in the media there is a predicted Covid peak forecast in weeks 4 and 8 of this term which could see triple the number of Covid cases currently being seen in the community. This would significantly affect school operations and the continuity of Teaching and Learning in Schools. To try and minimise the impact on school operations, Catholic Education has taken a risk-averse approach to ensure the maximum number of staff are available in schools. This means the following measures are being undertaken:

• Any event that could take extra staff away from the school in Term 3 should be reconsidered and if possible, postponed. This includes planned excursions and camps. For Term 3 we will not be charging the excursion levy to parents. Where possible and in a Covid safe way, we will continue to host incursions for our students.
• We are still planning on hosting our Athletics Carnival in Week 3 as it is in the local area and completely outdoors, more information will follow shortly.
• Parents will be notified if 25% of a cohort contracts Covid in a 7-day period. It is extremely important you notify the school if your child contracts covid via email stfranciscalwell@cg.catholic.edu.au or by submitting an absence note on Compass. These will be tracked to notify parents if we reach the 25% threshold.
• Current ACT health advice is for close or household contacts to not attend school if practicable. If students do need to attend, they can as long as they are asymptomatic, conduct a RAT test 24 hours before returning to school and then again, every 48 hours while they are a close/household contact.
• If students are symptomatic, they are not to attend school. If students present with unexplained symptoms at school, they will be isolated and parents contacted to pick them up from school.
• Schools are to limit the number of visitors they have onsite. This unfortunately, includes parents attending assemblies. Those who were able to attend an assembly last term will know that this decision is one I am particularly saddened by.
• We can continue our morning and afternoon pick-up and drop-off arrangements; however, we will need to be stricter with the number of people we can accommodate in the hall. This may mean a longer wait time to pick up your children. My advice is to grab a coffee and if possible, come a little later when the flow of parents is greatly diminished. We are staffed to provide supervision until 3:30 pm.
• Any meetings between staff and parents should be conducted remotely wherever possible.
• The school will continue to use all resources available to ensure adequate supervision ratios at school. In the event a significant number of staff are unavailable, there may be a time when we may need to keep cohorts at home, provide minimal supervision or most unlikely close the school under the direction of the Director of Catholic Education. In any of these cases, we will endeavour to provide parents with as much advance warning as possible.
• Unlike Term 1, we will be unable to provide work for students who are required to learn from home this term. To support students who are required to learn from home, the following resource has been put together to use while students are not in attendance at school.

 Parent Support - Remote Learning Resources.pdf

Carnival Book Fair will commence Monday 22nd of August.  Children have been viewing the book fair and making wish lists during their library visits.

• Cash and EFT available
• Online ordering opens Saturday 20th August  https://parentpayments.carnivalfairs.com.au/
• Starting Monday children can visit with cash or collect online orders before school, recess, and lunch.
• Parents are welcome to visit the book fair after school.  We are limited to 10 adults in the library at one time.
  • Mon (3 - 5 pm)
  • Tues (Closed after school)
  • Wed (3 - 5 pm)
  • Thurs ( 3 - 4:30 pm)

Can your child work out the teacher's favourite childhood book?  Closes Friday 26th August

St Francis of Assisi library bags are again available to purchase via the QKR  app. 

Bags are $10.00 each and are available in a variety of colours being red, pink, yellow, green, light blue, royal blue and purple.

Thank you 

The Clothing Pool Shop will be closed today Thursday 18th August 2022 due to unforeseen circumstances.

It will be open on Friday 19th August 2022 from 8:45am - 9:15am.