Dear Families,

Welcome back to Term 3! I hope you had some opportunity to either have a break or at the very least, to have a change from the routine. Many of you may have seen the Canberra Times article highlighting the work we are doing in our school as part of the Archdiocesean Catalyst program. This article showcased the work of our teachers and support staff. As many of you are already aware, our system-wide Catalyst program encompasses a number of programs here at school, including Initialit, The Writing Revolution, Spelling Mastery, the Multilit intervention programs, coaching, Daily Review and Explicit Direct Instruction. There has been a great deal of interest from an increasing number of schools in how we are teaching at St Thomas Aquinas. If you have not yet seen the article, I encourage you to jump onto our facebook page and have a look at the post.

During the break, we appointed Mrs Sarah Irvin to the teaching position in the ELC. Sarah will start with us in Week 2. We also welcome back Mr Liam Unwin, Liam will return as a CSA three days per week. I am sure you will make them feel very welcome.

This week, I will accompany Years 5 and 6 on camp. This will be a great opportunity for students to step outside of their comfort zones and test their limits. It will also be great time for them to make connections with each other outside of school and create some wonderful memories.

As many of you are aware the COVID situation is impacting on all sectors, including education. With new variants as well as the standard flu circulating, staffing is becoming a challenge in many workplaces. We were very fortunate last term and were able to manage staffing so that we did not have to close year groups or the school due to staff illness. While we hope we will have the same luck this term, it may be necessary to close all or part of the school. If this does occur, we will notify families via COMPASS.

Increasing case numbers also mean that there will once again be changes to school’s operation and visitors onsite. A full roadmap of COVID-safe measures is included in this newsletter. Some of the most significant changes include:

• Only essential visitors are allowed onsite - at this stage this includes parent volunteers in class
• All parent meetings must be held remotely
• Students who are a close or household contact MUST stay home for 7 days or until the household is free of COVID (whichever is greater)

You may also notice that on this map, school camps are to be cancelled until Term 4. Fortunately, we were able to gain a special exemption given our 5 & 6 camp left today. However, it does mean that gala days and other sporting events will not be able to go ahead this term.

Due to the prevalence of COVID and other illnesses, and the impact this has on staffing, any child who presents as sick to school will be sent home regardless of RAT results. I ask you to support us with this so we can continue to keep the school operating as normal. Unfortunately, if too many teachers become sick, we will need to close year groups and possibly the school. I understand that this situation has been going on for a long time and it has been incredibly draining, but for the sake of the whole school community, I ask you to work with us and keep sick children at home until they are well.

Take care and God bless

Yours in Faith

Leah Taylor
Principal

Note from Mr Ross Fox, Director CECG

Acknowledging the unprecedented situation we face, and following consultation, I have authorised two additional pupil free days in Term 3. The timing of these days for ACT schools will align with times set by the ACT Education Directorate – Friday in Week 3 and Friday in Week 8. NSW schools will set dates for these these pupil free days in consultation with nearby schools. I hope this additional time will assist teachers and staff in term 3.

In accordance with the abovementioned and in line wth all ACT Schools, we note that the two additional pupil free days for Term 3 are:

• Week 3, Friday 5th August 2022 
• Week 8, Friday 9th September 2022

We, again, thank our community for supporting and working with us to enable our school to hopefully remain appropriately staffed and open and our amazing learning to continue. 

Congratulations to all our Principal Award & White Token recipients. It is so wonderful to see so many students striving to achieve such a high standard and displaying kindness, gratitude, respect and responsibility.

We look forward to celebrating the Principal Awards Assembly on Friday 22^nd July at 9am and the student celebratory lunch at 11am. In accordance with the new COVID Management plan, the Awards Assembly will now be held in the Courtyard on Friday and we hope families will join us in our celebrations. In the event of wet weather, Awards will be handed out in class and our family assembly will unfortunately be cancelled. 

If your child has received a White Token this term, they will have already received an invitation. If you have not done so already, please RSVP as we require final numbers for catering purposes. All permission notes that have already been provided for the White Token lunch for Thursday 30th June will be taken as permission to attend the lunch that is scheduled for Friday 22nd July. If you have any concerns, please do not hesitate to contact the front office.

Thank you. 

Dear Parents/Carers of Year 6 Blue,

On Friday, 22nd July 2022, Year 6 Blue will be having a ‘Survivor Challenge’ style class party with a range of activities, games, and foods to play and eat. 

The students will be allowed to wear free clothes, but please remember that we are a Sun Safe school, so no singlets are to be worn and please remember a water bottle, hat, and enclosed shoes. 

Please bring pre-packaged, individually wrapped food to share. 

If you have any questions about the day, please contact me at: matthew.smith@cg.catholic.edu.au

Yours sincerely,

Matthew Smith

We look forward to seeing some amazing work presented by Year 5 when they host the next assembly on Friday 29th July 2022. Sadly, we are unable to welcome families to the assembly, in accordance with the COVID Management Plan but we hope that families will have discussions surrounding their child’s involvement in their assemblies. 

Did you know that applying for a Working with Vulnerable People (WWVP) card is free when volunteering? All visitors volunteering within the school require a current WWVP card which must be recorded upon entry into the school.  

We encourage family involvement in your child’s education. This can be achieved in many ways such as class reading, attending excursions or sporting events, just to name a few. Please consider applying for your free WWVP card by visiting https://www.accesscanberra.act.gov.au/s/article/working-with-vulnerable-people-wwvp-registration-tab-overview

Online orders for Issue 5 due by 4 August 2022.

Scholastic Book Club Order Forms will be arriving home this week.

No cash orders will be accepted at the Front Office for Scholastic Book Club.

The school will still get credits and the books will still be delivered to school for us to distribute, unless parents have requested they be delivered to their home.

Please download the INLOOP App
on your device or order from the online website.

https://mybookclubs.scholastic.com.au/Parent/Login.aspx

 Any questions please contact me via email ksligar@bigpond.net.au

CANTEEN

The Canteen is open from Wednesdays to Fridays - for the first 10 minutes of each break.  We sell a limited selection of healthy canteen approved chips and ice blocks.

SUBWAY

Parents and staff are able to place Subway Orders Online.  Click on the link below to place an order and payment as well. 

Cut-off time is 9:15 AM for same day delivery.
Call on 02 6259 9101 to place your order after this time

Subway Lunch Orders can also be made, via Subway Envelope, at school.  Subway envelopes, including cash, need to be placed in the Lunch Order Subway box, located outside the Front Office,  by 9:30am on the day before the lunch is required.  For example, if you would like a lunch order on Wednesday, the lunch order needs to be manually submitted by Tuesday 9:30am.

Here is a sample of the Subway ordering envelope.  Envelopes are available from the Front Office or the classroom.

July 2022

Grace C, Marlenna K, Sitaleki T, Nedo M, Alexis J, Oliver F, Jaime H, Abigail S, Isla Mc, Marko CC, Lukas M, Natalia O, Darcy A, Athena W, Romeo CC, Hannah M, Ruby T, Ajah A, Annabelle P, Ruhaab J, Noel GT, Levi T, Leo W, Addyson W, Sebastian M, Mila M, Tazmyn L, Samuel S, Thomas B, Stefford R, Adam H, Layla L