Principal's Report

Saint Francis Xavier - Principal's Report

Term 3 - Week 7

Dear Parents and Friends of St Francis Xavier,

I'm sure everybody in our school community would agree with me when I say that everything seems like a bit of a struggle at the moment. We are all a bit flat.  I have noticed that many people who have seemed to handle previous lockdowns relatively well are also now showing signs of struggle. This lockdown feels a bit different for some reason. 

Please be kind to yourselves and to each other. Don't stress if you wake up one day and cannot face remote learning. This is normal. This was how I felt a couple of Mondays ago on my 'working from home' day . Most Mondays I have been working from home, juggling my 'S.F.X' responsibilities with my 'Dad' responsibilities.  As you are all well aware, supporting kids who are learning from home has its good days and its bad days. That particular Monday was one of the not so good ones! A couple of unexpected events meant that at 10:30am, my work simply had to become the priority for the remainder of the day.  Luckily, my daughter in Grade Six was able to complete her learning tasks independently. Unfortunately I had to say to my Grade Two son, 'we're done for the day buddy, grab your basketball and go and shoot some hoops.' It certainly wasn't the end of the world, but it did feel a bit like I was letting him down. I know however that this is the reality of remote learning. It has the good and the bad. Funnily enough, the next Monday turned out to be the polar opposite. Everything seemed to flow perfectly. We all finished what needed to be finished and then got out for a family bike ride afterwards. Happy days!

Please give yourself permission to just be. The world will go on. Let your child’s teacher know your family is going to take some time out. It will be fine. There is no judgement, we promise! Enjoy some time together doing something for fun and just for that reason.  Do so without guilt and don't give it a second thought.

Our kids really are resilient. They are tough. They continue to work their way through the many challenges that they have been presented with, primarily due to the support you are giving them. Victoria's fantastic NAPLAN results this year are a reflection of both our children's resilience and the outstanding home learning programs that our teachers are presenting. We know that we will eventually re-emerge from this lockdown, and our focus will need to be on mental health and wellbeing and on being social. Academic progress is still massively important, but we know that learning cannot take place without a positive mindframe. We will tackle things together and show our children the power of community.

With everything that is going on at the moment and the unpredictable nature of our day to day lives, it can be hard to find the time to stop and reflect. There are things taking place in the world, not necessarily on our doorstep, which we need to not lose sight of.

Can I ask you to take a moment to remember and to pray for the people of Afghanistan, especially the women and girls,  whose lives are being turned upside down as their government changes hands.

Can I ask you to take a moment to think of the families of Haiti, who over the past few weeks have been exposed to the most devastating of natural disasters.

Can I ask you to reflect on all of the things in your lives that you are grateful for, even in these most difficult of circumstances. 

If we can find a way in our hearts to pray about about the misfortune that others are suffering, I truly believe that our collective thoughts and prayers will provide positive energy and healing for our world. 

When times are dark and challenging, we need to look for the cracks of light and whenever possible, actually be the light for others. 

I want to extend one more huge thank you to all of you - our amazing parents and carers. You are still there, in Lockdown 6.0, sitting beside your children, supporting them with their engagement in Remote Learning.  At the same time, you are managing your own work commitments and keeping home life as 'normal' as possible. You are making all the difference to your child, more than you will ever know. 

On a much lighter note - if your AFL team isn't playing finals this year, feel free to jump on the Essendon bandwagon this Sunday. It's been over 6000 days since we have won a final, so we really need all the support we can get. Go Bombers!

Take care of each other.

Steve Peart

School Principal