Dear Parents and Guardians,

Welcome to Term 3. It is yet again set to be a busy term.

Firstly, I would like to welcome Georgia Neilsen who will be taking over teaching 2 Blue when Mrs Culas leaves on maternity leave. Please join me in welcoming Georgia. Georgia commenced with us yesterday and is working closely with Mrs Culas and the students. It is a very exciting time for Mrs Culas and we are looking forward to hearing of the safe arrival of their new family addition.

Tomorrow, we welcome Catholic Education Director, Ross Fox to visit with staff and students of St Thomas Aquinas. This visit provides me with the opportunity to further discuss our master plan for our school site with Mr Fox as we are all very well aware that West Belconnen is an area of growth due to the fast-growing population within the area. We are working closely with Catholic Education to ensure that St Thomas Aquinas continues to be a well-resourced, modern and engaging environment for generations to come.  It is wonderful that the Director of Catholic Education in the Canberra Goulburn Archdiocese makes the time to visit all the 56 schools and ELC within our archdiocese. Mr Fox will have time to meet with me and other staff members. He will also tour the school, visit the ELC and make time to chat with students.

Parents of students in years 3 & 5 will received their NAPLAN results today. These will come home with children, so I ask that you please check school bags. An additional copy of the NAPLAN result will be posted to split families if required.

Within the coming weeks you will receive information on our upcoming Tell Them From Me Surveys (TTFM). With your help, I hope that we can lead the Catholic Education System with returned responses to the parent survey. We ask for 100% return as your responses to the surveys provide critical information to help our school as a whole. It will not take long to complete. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions surrounding the survey.

On Friday, St Thomas Aquinas will be represented by Madeline Evans and a small selection of students at the NAIDOC Mass at St. Christophers cathedral.

‘Towards Paris’ aired last night on TV with the Olympics only days away from commencing. This program highlighted the dedication and perseverance of the elite athletes who will represent Australia as they compete to qualify for the Olympic Games. If you have the opportunity to watch the program I would highly recommend it. We wish all the athletes representing Australia the best and we pray for their safety and strength.

Dunlop parents should know that there is a 750 football-field-sized solar farm being constructed on the NSW border, at Wallaroo, less than 800 metres from homes in Dunlop. In NSW there needs to be a 5km buffer between such developments and homes. Concerned residents of the ACT can contact

barr@act.gov.au or berry@act.gov.au.

Apparently, there will be 10,000 residents within 2km of this development.

In addition, there will be 36 storage container sized batteries.

Construction is about to start and there has been limited consultation with ACT residents- time to get informed of benefits v potential impacts.

As the year of the Holy Spirit comes to an end in the Diocese, let us pray for peace in the Middle East and all regions of the world. May joy and celebration bring warmth to our families and school community this term.

Warmly,