The Principal's Desk

Dear parents, families and friends,

What a fortnight it has been, two weeks of Olympics. If you have been like me, every spare minute was spent watching the Olympics. I love watching the big sports, but I also find it enjoyable and fascinating to watch the lesser known sports. The Olympics gives us the opportunity to witness human physical perfection, mental toughness and resilience at its peak. This is a great example of what we teach the children about goal setting, hard work and persistence over a number of years. It was different watching the Olympics with no spectators and all athletes and officials following Covid safe practises. I believe that even though it is not the same that spectators were not present, the Olympics going ahead after being delayed a year is just what the world needed at this time. Not only does it provide us with a distraction, it provides us with hope and inspiration. Some of the moments that stand out for me are the athletes, though injured were determined to complete their event, the high jump event when both athletes tied for Gold decided to share the Gold Medal rather than continue with an exhausting jump off and the Australian Swim Team.

Sunday the 8th August is the Feast Day of St. Mary of the Cross MacKillop. Local Melbourne girl, born in Fitzroy. Her impact on education in Melbourne and Australia cannot be underrated. A little Aussie battler who stood up for other Aussie Battlers. Here at St. Augustine's we have a special connection with St. Mary MacKillop as she and her Sisters of St. Joseph were instrumental in establishing our primary school. St. Mary MacKillop herself visited our school at some point from 1895 onwards. The saints are our examples of how to live our lives following the teachings of Jesus. All saints were just ordinary people who in their lives achieved extraordinary things. In many cases their achievements or influence came after their deaths. 

Preparations for the school concert are continuing to develop and progress nicely. The students at each year level have been involved in selecting the songs that they will be singing and dancing to. The Year 5/6s have their scripts and are preparing for auditions to be held over the next week.

I began writing this newsletter having just returned from Lockdown 5.0. I now finish writing this editions at the start of Lockdown 6.0. The staff have again transitioned smoothly and quickly to Remote Learning. The thing I find most challenging is the disruption to routine, just as we were getting settled back into the swing of things we are back in lockdown. It's like a race that is constantly stop start, you just can't get into rhythm. This outbreak highlights the need to follow all restrictions, as a simple mistake affects all Victorians. Unfortunately this outbreak started with a family in lockdown having come from a red zone and been directed to isolate, allowing visitors to their residence. It has then been further spread by an individual who visited relatives at different homes. These senseless and careless actions do frustrate and upset me. I thank all our school families for following all restrictions and considering the wellbeing of those in our community.

Right now I am hopeful to return to onsite learning by next Friday 13th August. I know that recent history says otherwise, however, all we can do is hope and prayer. 

I assume you have all received emails from classroom teachers providing details for the week to come. Remote Learning Lessons will begin 9.00am Monday morning. It is important and I am expecting all students to attend their scheduled Google Meet Sessions each day. The teachers are working extremely hard to ensure there is little to no interruption to learning.

Quotes of the Week:

"We must teach more by example than by word." - St. Mary MacKillop

"Find happiness in making others happy." - St. Mary MacKillop

Kind regards,

Matthew Stead

Principal