Dear SCA families,

“Jesus feels great joy in his heart because, in Simon, he recognises the hand of the Father, the work of the Holy Spirit. He recognises that God the Father has given “steadfast” faith on which He, Jesus, can build his Church, meaning his community, that is, all of us.” - Pope Francis. 

Together with Jesus, I have had the privilege of leading the St Clare of Assisi community as Principal in steadfast faith for the past term. During this time I have been so grateful to the community for their support and the wonderful work of our teachers, staff and students. 

As outlined in my correspondence earlier today, following advice from the ACT Government and Chief Health Officer, remote learning will continue for all Catholic Education primary school students during the first four weeks of Term 4 which begins on Tuesday 5 October.

Catholic Education will be working over the school holidays to develop further plans for a phased return to on-campus learning in Term 4 when it is safe to do so. Any plans will of course be completely subject to health advice, including in relation to case numbers and vaccination rates.

If you are an essential worker and your intention is for your child/ren to return to school for supervised remote learning from week 1 next term, please advise the office asap at: karen.snowball@cg.catholic.edu.au so we can ensure there is adequate supervision for students.

I appreciate the importance of evaluating our remote learning platforms and current practices. To enable our school to respond to the needs of our community, a survey will be sent out to families this week in response to our current learning model. We very much welcome your feedback.

Our Community Council met last night and together have provided some valuable feedback for consideration. Some suggestions included:

• In addition to connection sessions- small breakout sessions for learning 
• Pre-recorded sessions for explicit teaching of concepts and specialist classes
• Book packs for lower years 

As we approach our final days of term, may I take this opportunity to thank our SCA staff and teachers who have worked hard to navigate through the challenges we have faced this term whilst continuing to deliver a rigorous and meaningful remote learning  program.  Our magnificent students are  just as deserving  and we are incredibly proud of each of them. Whilst we have been faced with challenges this term, there is still so much we can celebrate. Congratulations to our students who represented SCA earlier in the term across different sporting events. Our community spirit has been very evident across the term, including the St Clare of Assisi Art competition, Teacher dunk, Be the light for your street challenge, Father’s day picture story, our Book week celebrations and Lego master challenge. What an amazing effort! 

As we approach the two weeks break from school, may we be reminded of all that we have to be grateful for. I hope each of you are able to enjoy some sunshine with your families and a well deserved break from remote learning.

Next term we welcome back Matt Egan-Richards to his Principal role. Matt and I have met this morning to undertake an extensive handover of Term 3, in preparation for a smooth transition back in term 4. Matt is very much looking forward to returning to his role and I wish Matt and the SCA community all the very best for the final term of the year.

I have very much enjoyed the opportunity to lead the SCA community and feel very blessed to have met and worked with each of you. My gratitude and special thanks to Father James, our Community Council and leadership and office team who have provided such wonderful support to me.

I leave SCA with such fond memories and much to celebrate, thank you.

With kindest regards,