Dear Families,

Despite the disruption to the beginning of this year, students are settled and learning. Last year we introduced ‘Daily Review’ into Mathematics lessons in Kindergarten, Year 3, Year 4 and Year 5. This year we have expanded this practice across all year levels in the primary school. Daily review of concepts previously taught prevents students from forgetting content over time, this process of forgetting is called - funnily enough - the forgetting curve. You may have caught yourself saying ‘but you learnt that last year’, I know I certainly hear teachers saying, ‘but I taught them that already, and they knew when I tested them!’. We may even remember back when we were at school or university, cramming for an exam and then almost instantly forgetting it as we walked out of the door. Our aim with daily review is to make it so students move new information from their short term memory into long term memory. During this period of a large number of students being away for periods of time, the Daily Review also means that students do not ‘miss’ content because they are away, because teachers will revisit content again and again.

Tomorrow marks Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. Catholics often think about what we can give up during this time, but Lent is not just a time for giving things up. The Council for Catholic School Parents reposted a Facebook post from the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney listing things Catholics can add during Lent, these include:

1. Each day tell your child something that makes them unique
2. Volunteer
3. Go to a weekday Mass
4. Say three nice things about your husband, wife, siblings, parents, colleagues and kids daily
5. Be kind
6. Donate things you don’t need to charity
7. Replace 30 minutes of TV/computer/phone time with 30 minutes of prayer/quiet time
8. Don’t complain
9. Don’t buy anything that you don’t need
10. Remember Jesus is the Reason for the Season

Staffing
Year 6 Green families were informed yesterday that Ms Sharne Vickers will be leaving us at the end of next week. Ms Vickers will be taking up a position at The Anglican School from Monday 14 March. I know Ms Vickers has been a much loved part of St Thomas Aquinas and we wish her well for her new adventure.

Mask Wearing
While mask wearing requirements are easing across the ACT, the requirement to wear masks in school and childcare settings, including the ELC, is not changing. If you are entering the ELC grounds or the school, all people over 12 years old (except students of St Thomas Aquinas) are required to wear masks. We also strongly encourage students in Year 3-6 to wear masks. As you are aware, we do have active cases of COVID in the school and mask wearing is one way of reducing the risk for your child.

Hats
We are beginning to see a large number of students who are coming to school without a hat. As a SunSmart School we require all students to have a hat on in order to be able to play in the sun. In the past we have allowed students who have forgotten to bring their hat to play in the shade, however with the large number of children coming to school without a hat this is no longer possible. Please check that your child has a hat each day. If you need to purchase a hat, school hats are available at the front office for $15.

Take care and God bless

Yours in Faith

Leah Taylor
Principal