Dear Parents and Carers,

As I am sure you are thinking as well, I certainly did not expect us to be in this position in Week 9 of Term 1. It has been an incredible couple of weeks as we watch the COVID-19 situation unfold around the world and across our own community. 

As we become more used to what our world will look like for the foreseeable future, I can’t help but think about what we are going to learn from what we are experiencing. As we all navigate this new way of life maybe we need to look at this as a time to take stock, identify what we are truly grateful for - even perhaps change our understanding of what gratitude really means, and recognise what talents we uncover that we perhaps didn’t know we had.

I am most conscious that this is a period of time where parents are feeling stressed and, in turn, children are as well. I want to give a clear message that the school does not expect you to pick up learning as it would be in the classroom environment. That is not reasonable and it is not practical. It is most important that you take the next week or so to be with your children in what will be the new normal for your family.

Many of us, as adults, are feeling disoriented, unsure, anxious or totally unfamiliar in this ‘new normal’. Our children are the most important people to us and to the future of our community and our country. The way they experience this pandemic will be the way that they learn to view the world as it comes to them in the future. So what is the answer? How will we know that we are doing the right thing? To put it simply, we won’t. 

What we can do is control the way we are - our words, our presence, our warmth and wisdom. As parents and carers you have a profound capacity to bring comfort to the world of your children. They need the same things we all do at this time, radical tenderness, play, sleep, exercise, to be held close and loved. 

Please remember that if schedules or routines fall away in favour of this, that's okay. If screen time gets a little longer and bedtimes get a little later, that's okay too. These are such extreme circumstances, and there is no formula for how to move through this. We do what we need to do, and if playing, and telling stories, and watching movies together takes the place of schedules and routines, and if that's what makes them (and you) feel more secure through this, then do that. 

This period of time has no end point - you will know when your child is ready to take on learning at home. You will know how much time to give to certain areas and how much they are able  to cope with. Trust yourselves and go with your heart - the head will follow. 

As a school we are here to support you along the way. Your children are our greatest priority in our work. We will continue to be committed to their education but we, too, are operating out of a very different space. The school has a plan in place that is ever evolving given the pace at which announcements are made and have to be accommodated. Our plan is comprehensive and ongoing - you have just seen the beginning of it. Our aim is to be slow and steady because we know that our profession is not one that can be easily handed over to you. 

We will make mistakes - and that’s okay.  We will get frustrated - and that’s okay. We will learn  to be vulnerable - and that’s okay. We will come to know more about ourselves, our children, their teachers - and that’s okay. We will come to know the importance of our faith and of prayer - and that is really okay. We will come out the other side - and that will be rewarding.

I purposefully have only put a couple of things into this newsletter. It’s here for your support, your reference and some time to check into your ‘normal’.

I will continue to look forward to communicating with you this way. It will be different - and that’s okay.

I pray that Jesus remains by your side and that your child is inspired by the strength that you are able to give and remember - we’re all in this together.

Go safely, go gently and above journey with Jesus,

Toni Sillis

Principal