Dear Parents and Carers

Welcome back to Term 3!

I hope you all had a restful break but managed to stay warm. We have a very exciting and busy term ahead and we certainly hit the ground running during Week 1 with Fr Drinkwater’s 65th Anniversary Mass, Grandparents and Grand Friends Day and the Archdiocesan NAIDOC Week Mass at the Cathedral. Still to come this term we have Book Week, Learning Journeys, Publication Week, Father’s Day, Year 6 Confirmation and preparations for our School Musical are really underway.

Fun times ahead!

Mr Johns on Leave

Mr Johns continues his well deserved leave this week and will return to school from next Monday. I know he is enjoying his time with his family and in particular the warmer weather of the northern states! We look forward to him returning next week but in the mean time please don’t hesitate to contact myself or other Leadership Team members if you need to speak with someone.

Farewell Mrs Li

Sadly, last Friday we farewelled Mrs Li our Chinese teacher. Mrs Li joined us earlier in the year to take over the role of language teacher and she was a welcome addition to our staff. Mrs Li will be greatly missed, and we hope that she may return to St Thomas Aquinas sometime in the future. In the mean time we have been lucky enough to be able to employ a new Chinese teacher over the break. Miss Otise Ouyang will begin with us this week as our new Chinese teacher and she is very excited to be joining us. Miss Ouyang was able to visit St Thomas Aquinas last week and met with Mrs Li to help ensure a smooth transition. We welcome Miss Ouyang to our community!

Citizenship Ceremony

Next Tuesday 6th August, St Thomas Aquinas will be hosting a Citizenship Ceremony in our school Hall. Some members of our school community will become Australian citizens at the ceremony and our school choir will be performing on the day. There will be a performance from The Wiradjuri Echoes and there will be several groups of students attending the ceremony on the day to represent our school. A big thank you to Kristy Strangman from the Department of Home Affairs and mum of Abby in Year 2 for all of her work organising the ceremony and liaising with us at school. Parents and members of our community are invited to attend, the ceremony begins at 10am, please be seated by 9:45am.

Carpark ‘Drive-Thru’ Pick Up

Our new arrangements are working very well so a big thank you to everyone for their patience and willingness to try the new system. It means that afternoon pick up is much safer for the children as we have no children running through traffic to try and get to their cars. More and more students are using the drive-thru pick each week which is great to see. A reminder that the left lane is for parents and carers who are staying in their cars and picking up their children. If you wish to walk in and collect your children, please park your car at the edge of the tar area or in the gravel carpark. Please do not park in the line and get out of your car, this blocks traffic and holds up the line.

School Supervision

As we begin Term 3, I am concerned about the number of students who are arriving at school well before 8:30am – some as early as 8:00am – and then need to sit and wait for the teachers who begin duty at 8:30am. If students are being dropped to school or making their own way, they should not be on site prior to 8:30am. If your work commitments do not allow for a drop off after 8:30am you might like to consider accessing OSH Club’s before school care.

August is hats on again!

August is fast approaching, and although still cold, it is the month we start to witness a rise in UV levels in Canberra that warrants sensible sun protection during at least some periods of the day. In Canberra average daily UV levels reach 3 and above for part or most of every day between August and May. When UV levels reach 3 and above, the Cancer Council recommends sun protection to reduce the potential risk of skin damage which lays the ground work for skin cancer later in life, including deadly melanoma.

From August through to the end of May each year St Thomas Aquinas student will need to wear their hat as a form of sun protection. It may also be worth considering the use of sunscreen over the remaining winter and spring months.

Lost Property

Can you believe we are already over half way through the year and more importantly half way through winter! We have been blessed with some lovely warm days so far, but parents are reminded to please label all clothing. Our Lost Property is over flowing with jumpers and clothing. Thank you to Ms Gowen who did a big clean-up of this area last week.

From our School Psychologist

My name is Jaye Corkeron, and I will be at St Thomas Aquinas one day per week, generally on a Friday. I’m a registered psychologist working for CatholicCare and have previously been working as a CatholicCare Student and Family Counsellor for the past two years. Psychologists in schools may provide a range of services including psycho-educational assessments for learning issues, case management, and interventions. There is no fee to access the service, and participation is voluntary.

Parent permission is required to see the School Psychologist, as well as approval by the Principal. The Principal will generally suggest referrals, however parents can request a referral for their child by discussing their concerns with Mr Johns or Mrs Magyar, or completing a referral form, available from the front office, which will be given to Mr Johns. Once a referral is received, my first step is to arrange a time to meet with parents to provide information about the service, including confidentiality, privacy and limits to these, and to discuss their concerns. If you have any queries, please call me on a Friday, or leave a message at the school and I will return your call. I look forward to working with the St Thomas’ Aquinas community.

Thank you for your ongoing support.

God Bless,

Carmen Myles

Assistant Principal