Dear Families,

It was wonderful to see so many families at the Family Mass on Sunday. The children read and sang beautifully. Thank you also to those families who helped with the BBQ after mass. The weather was perfect and provided a wonderful opportunity for so many of us to come together again. We had hoped to be able to show students the new model for Children’s Liturgy on Sunday, but unfortunately we were not able to run this as a result of the break in to the Presbytery and Parish Centre on Saturday evening.

Many of you have asked after the parishioner who found the intruders and was struck by one of them. You will be pleased to hear that he is recovering well and is at home. Thank you for your offers for help and your prayers, they are all very much appreciated.

Update on Oval
We have had a visit from the facilities team at Catholic Education, Paul Barnett, the designer of the oval and Lentro, who built it. They assessed the grass and have said that at this stage, the soil underneath is too wet for us to be able to go on it. We are looking at giving the grass a good dose of fertiliser over the break and hope that the warmer weather and sunshine will allow it to dry out enough so that the children will be able to play on it. We have also ordered goal posts for our four new ovals which will help to define each oval space. Some children were worried that the grass had died. We planted a grass variety that browns off over winter so it is protected from frost. It is the same grass variety at Bruce Stadium, but I am told that the grass there is painted so it looks good for TV. By October, we should see a beautiful flush of green once again.

Visit to Tasmania
Tomorrow I will travel to Tasmania to attend the Catholic Education Tasmania Principal’s Conference. I will travel with Patrick Ellis, Education Leader, Trazel Scott, Senior Officer for Teaching and Learning and Michele Bezuidenhout, Program Manager - Performance and Improvement and together we will present a day on Catholic Education Canberra Goulburn’s journey with Catalyst. It is very exciting that the work teachers and support staff are doing here at St Thomas Aquinas is being noticed by other school systems.

Take care and God bless

Yours in Faith

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. 

A friendly reminder that school fees for Term 3 for 2022 are now due. Please contact the front office to arrange payment unless you already have payment arrangement in place

Thank you for your cooperation.

We look forward to seeing some amazing work presented by Year 4 when they host the next assembly on Friday 12 August 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.

There will be no assembly in Week 8 

This term, seven of our Year 5 and 6 students will be participating in the Tournament of Minds (TOM).  This competition relies on the students solving a Long Term Challenge and then completing a Spontaneous Challenge on the Day.  The enthusiastic team have chosen the STEM Long Term Challenge which is testing their creative and problem-solving thinking skills.  Already they have had some great brainstorming sessions, drawn up plans, made props and made a good start on their scenario script.  Well done and good luck team! 

Parenting is often shared by grandparents, relatives, friends and those who care for children. To shape and influence a child’s life is one of the most important things one can do. Parentline ACT offers services to enchance the development and emotional wellbeing of children by supporting parents and carers. Support can be given through telephone and face to face counselling and education. For further information please visit the Parentline website

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.

August 2022

Samuel B, Mason M, Oscar C, Joshua L-B, Ari U, Frederick N, Matilda P, Blayde O,
Liam B, Sophia H, Zoey M, Eleni M, Tyler E, Lachlan B, Summer P, Michael P, Vrishab G, Ashea K, Erin H, Adeline B