Welcome from CSPWA's President
Dear parents and caregivers,
Welcome to our end of term 1 newsletter!
Did we ever think at the beginning of this term that it would end in this way?
We find ourselves in an ever evolving environment, one of which we have never seen before. Now more than ever we need to support our families and each other. As schools close and we are all unsure of what next term will look like, be sure to take time to care for yourselves and those around you, this is by far the most important thing we can be doing at the moment (besides washing our hands and social distancing!!) It can be difficult to keep up with school work and working from home yourself – look for some joy in everyday and write it down, share it or simply allow yourself to smile, you may be surprised where you find it (just a hug from your child when you really needed it can lift your mood). If you are in self isolation this may be more challenging (mine will finish at Easter after travelling interstate for a wedding and a chance to see family – we didn’t get to see my Dad as the nursing home went into lockdown the day before we arrived) look after yourself and stay connected with others. I’ve heard some great stories of people caring, sharing and connecting with others.
Thank you to all who took on positions in their P&F and to those who support the work done. Your plans may be on hold for now but it is a good idea to stay connected and support each other in whatever way you can. Please make sure you are using multiple platforms as you may not be reaching all if you just rely on one way (not everybody may be on face book for example).
But down to some practicalities. The staff in the office will be available by phone or email all through these turbulent times, offering support and advice as always. It is therefore essential that we have contact details for your P&F/Parent group executive members. We will continue with our newsletters to keep everyone informed as to what's going on, but in particular with advice and support regarding how to stay in touch with each other over the next couple of months. If you are unsure whether we have your contact details, just send them again, our system has the capability to delete duplicates. Your details can then be added to our database which will make it easier to keep in touch. Please do this ASAP. You can either send them to admin@csp.wa.edu.au or go to our website at www.csp.wa.edu.au where you will find an office bearers form on the front page. If there are parents at your school who would like to hear from us and who are not office bearers they are more than welcome to send their details to the admin address above.
We thank sincerely those school parent groups who have paid their affiliation fee for this year. This will ensure that we can continue to provide a support service to all who need it.
CSPWA staff and council members are very disappointed to announce that our conference to be held in June has now been cancelled due to the current situation. We would like to thank those who have been in contact regarding the conference particularly those of you from schools outside the Perth metropolitan area and who were hoping to attend through the Lotterywest grant. We are in communication with Lotterywest currently and hope that we will be in a position to offer similar assistance when our conference goes ahead in May 2021. We look forward to hosting you all then!
In this newsletter we are including some ideas for ways in which we can make learning from home a positive experience. We are starting with some ideas to keep our children connected to their faith. Siobhan and Theresa have been telling us all about the 'May Altars' which they used to create in their homes during the month of May in honour of Our Lady. Apparently this was an Irish tradition which many children engaged in and which inspired the article further down in this newsletter.
The Churches may be closed but there are many great ways to stay connected and nourish our spirit, which in these times is so important. There are some great websites for example www.catholicaustralia.com.au & www.catholic.org.au , Praying the rosary as a family, watch an online Mass, instagram- I follow Pope Francis (franciscus) along with 6.8 million others and Australian Catholic Bishops (acbc1). I would like to share Pope Francis’s post from 29th March which I found quite powerful-
“Embracing his cross means finding the courage to embrace all the hardships of the present time, abandoning for a moment our eagerness for power and possessions in order to make room for the Holy Spirit.”
For ideas on how we can maintain our spiritual focus at a time when our churches are not available to us, the Archbishop of Perth, the Most Rev Timothy Costelloe SDB DD has asked that we visit the archdiocesan website on a regular basis at www.perthcatholic.org.au.
The holy season of Easter is nearly upon us and many of our plans will have changed. Easter without church services or family gatherings will be very strange indeed however it does bring us the very important message that after darkness, comes light! We urge you to take time out to see what may be available for you and your family to particpate in some way with Easter activities.
When seeking information on COVID -19 make sure you are getting it from a trusted source as not everything you read may be correct.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the many who have been impacted by COVID-19 whether that is through illness, job losses or financial hardship.
As we have heard so often “we are all in this together”.
Be safe, take care and God bless.
Helen Anderson
President CSPWA