Dear Families,

This week, many of our Year 4 students will make their First Reconciliation and their First Communion. I know the parents and carers of these student have been working alongside the teachers to prepare the children for these two Sacraments. We were pleased to hear that Fr Tom will celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation with the children this Thursday and Fr Thomas Jin will celebrate First Eucharist on Saturday evening and Sunday morning masses. I wish all of the candidates well over this week. I would like to thank Mrs McPadden, Mrs Thomas and Mr Mackenzie for their work in preparing the students for these sacraments and also Mrs Leigh Barwell for her ongoing support to these year groups.

As I mentioned in the newsletter last week, a registration panel came to visit St Thomas Aquinas. These seven panel members completed a check of compliance requirements and provided advice for future directions to enhance school improvement. I am very pleased to say that firstly, we are compliant with the ACT regulations regarding non-government schools. The panel were also very complimentary of the welcome they received from the staff and students, and commended the school on the hospitality shown to them. They also spoke glowingly of the commitment of staff regarding teaching and learning within the school. The panel commented on how settled the classrooms were and how committed everyone within the school was to St Thomas Aquinas being a place of learning. A report for the community will be released sometime next term that will outline commendations and recommendations moving forward. I wish to thank and congratulate the staff, students and members of the School Community Council who made themselves available for the panel and to the whole community for the part you play in making this school such a wonderful and welcoming school.

Last Wednesday, five students were invited to Parliament House to meet with Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs, the Honourable Andrew Giles MP to share their welcome messages for new Australian Citizens. The students represented the school so incredibly well with the Minister commenting on how touched he was by their messages.

Many of you will have heard that Thursday 22nd September is a public holiday following a period of mourning for Her Majesty the Queen. The school will re-open again on the Friday before we have two weeks term break.

Take care and God bless

Yours in Faith

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

Thank you for your cooperation.

Congratulations to all our white token recipients. It is so wonderful to see so many students striving to achieve a white token and displaying kindness, gratitude, respect and responsibility.

The White Token lunch will be held on Monday 12th December 2022 at 11am. Please note that RSVP's are to be returned by Monday 5th December for catering purposes. 

If you have any concerns please do not heistate to contact the front office. 

Thank you. 

1 Green have earnt their 50 black tokens, so are awarded with a class party.  YAY! 

It will be held on Wednesday 14th September (week 9). 

To our 1 Green families -  If you are in a position to help out, individually wrapped food to share would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

Mrs Kelly Scanlan

ELC photos will be taken on Tuesday 11 October 2022 for those student who attend the ELC at the start of the week and on Thursday 13th October 2022 for those who attend the end of the week. All primary school photo will be taken on Thursday 13th October 2022. All student should be in summer uniform.

Please keep an eye out for school photo information which families should receive directly from MSP Photography. 

On Saturday the 27^th of August the St Thomas Aquinas Tournament of Minds(TOM) Team presented their solution to a STEM challenge and worked as a team to solve a Spontaneous Challenge.  Their Long Term Challenge included many components but over five weeks the team showed dedication, ingenuity, collaboration, persistence and resilience to produce a scenario which addressed all of the criteria.  They were required to:

• present a creative scenario about the discovery of a 300g nugget, 
• identify the importance of gold over time and the significance of this discovery,
• design and make a platform to display the gold which moved at two different speeds for ten seconds and
• include a multimedia presentation of the design process!  

What a task!!

Presenting at the ANU was quite overwhelming and they were all very nervous, but they should be so proud of the way they stepped up to the challenge to present.  The team did not make it through to the next round but received the following impressive feedback from the judges:

• Use of Presentation Skill - props: Excellent
• Scientific Understandings of gold: Very Good
• STEM principles - explanation and demonstration: Good
• Overall dramatic performance: Excellent
• Comment from the judges: "This was a really thoroughly researched challenge and you were clear with your facts and reasoning within the play.  Your hard work and attention to detail was evident - well done.  Awesome props!!"

Feedback from their spontaneous challenge was: 

"Great work on your enthusiasm for the task at hand.  Thanks for the animated and energetic discussions."

We hope that there are a few Year 4's and 5's inspired to have a go at TOM next year!

We look forward to seeing some amazing work presented by Year 1 when they host the next assembly on Friday 16 September 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.

We look forward to celebrating our Principal Awards in our Week 10 assembly on Friday, 23 September 2022.

Ready-Set-Connect is an informative (and fun!) event based on a speed dating format.  It connects teachers, support coordinators, people with disability, and parents and carers with NDIS service providers.

National and local providers will be sharing information with you about their NDIS services and products.

This event will help you keep in touch and up to date with services in your local community. In the space of a little over two hours, you will build your connections and get to meet a variety of providers.

It's FREE for Attendees! Come and join us.  Let us know you are coming and register as an Attendee by going to our website www.onecommunity.net.au or using the link below.

Event details:

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.

September 2022

Jade J, Hannah M, Matilda H, William B, Edison B, Luella B, Elodie A, Jacob P, Holly B, Harper G, Zocrates CC, Charli C, Sebastian GR, Sebastian D, Aden G, Jessica B, Lincoln D, Emma S, Ebadat KS, Sarah H, Timothy R, Natalia R, Felicity W, Eleanor S, Chloe W, Harper E, Harrison G, Aleu D, Arianna D, Ethan L, Gabriel S-P