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,

A huge thank you to everyone for signing up to Compass. It looks like we have the majority of families on and are troubleshooting a few who are facing difficulties, but hope to have them up and running by the end of the week. Thank you.

At St Clare of Assisi we live by our motto to 'Be the Light'. As we begin the season of Spring, approach the end of remote learning in Term 3 and the holidays begin, it is still vital to care for our own well-being and that of others in our local and wider communities. 

Here are five simple ways to stay connected and to 'Be the Light'.

1. Drop a handwritten note into your neighbours’ letterbox, offering to assist with any errands they need help with. It may be as simple as picking up bread and milk, dropping off scripts at the pharmacy, or weeding their garden. 

2. Share your favourite lockdown recipes or have a virtual dinner party, inviting other families to cook the same meal and eat together via Zoom. 
3. Hold your own ‘Are you OK during lockdown’ day. Set aside a day where all families in your social circle are encouraged to call someone and ask, ‘Are you okay?’ 
4. Go for a family walk or bike ride to light up your local area. Give thanks for God’s creation and reap the health benefits of being active outdoors. 
5. Be a light in your parish and make a card or write a letter to a parishioner who lives alone and may be missing their parish family. Your parish priest may also be able to guide you to parishioners who may need this light during lockdown. 

Corpus Christi Parish Update:

We are still planning for students to celebrate the sacraments of First Eucharist and Reconciliation. We will advise families of updated plans when finalised. 

The ACT remains in lockdown and while some restrictions have been eased, the only changes to services held inside the church are: Funerals may have 20 attendees and Weddings may have 10 attendees. There are no changes to other church services and churches and parish offices remain closed at this time. If you need to get in touch with the Parish Office, Fr James or Fr Josh please email tuggeranongsouth@cg.org.au

Watch Mass livestreamed from Holy Family Church Gowrie, Sundays at 9am  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOAdf8aNPK5Vczl0GPLHixw

Dear parish family Greetings and Blessings to each of you. 

Bible: A mirror, flashlight and a sandpaper for a positive personal and Community life 

In one of my recent homilies I referred to Bible, ‘not as a tool to change others, but as a mirror to judge ourselves’. I have been following “The Bible in a Year” podcast hosted by Fr Mike Schmitz. To, those new to this, I would certainly recommend this podcast. Though I have read Bible many times, when I listened to this podcast, I could see, hear, learn, understand, meditate and live Bible from a whole new perspective. 

Flashlight is always handy to see the way forward, to discover what is hidden. It often unfolds things we haven’t noticed through our regular perspectives, especially the dark shades. 

It is said that face is the mirror of one’s heart. A mirror is always a tool to examine oneself not only in our external appearance, but also how actually we are living the word of God in our daily lives. As imperfect human beings, we are often tested in our life, and usually that arises out of our lack of trust and faith in God. Is my face reflecting my heart? 

We read in Wisdom chapter 3, “like gold in the furnace he tried them, and like a sacrificial burnt offering he accepted them”. In our brokenness, struggles and sufferings, a sandpaper approach will help us, to understand, the way in which God is purifying and cleaning us. 

When we go through the lives of Patriarchs in the Bible, especially, that of Abraham, Isaac Jacob, we can clearly see how God tests them and helps them to understand His word and His ways. In other words, Bible act as a tool of continuous improvement – Kaizen, to grow closer to God. (Kaizen: is a Japanese management theory that encourages taking incremental steps to transform habits or we can say changing method of tidying up). 

 The present lockdown and its associated difficulties help us to rely on Bible as a tool to initiate small, step-by-step changes to transform our life and to grow stronger and stronger in our faith. Thus, faith becomes a platform for us to fall-back when we are tested. Many of you have already told me, how you are finding comfort through your faith and how you value faith as a key element of your every day journey to happiness amidst the chaos created by the lockdown. 

I believe, flashlight, mirror and sandpapers are essential components for a positive personal and community life, provided we are able to look life in the light of faith. 

Fr James T Antony CMI