Dear Families,

Thank you to those families who have already signed up to support the school fete this year. We know that this time of year can be busy, but even an hour of your time is helpful. It is also a great way to meet other families and to get to know people in the community.

Those of you who drop off or collect students through drive through will be pleased to know that we have finally been able to organise for the asphalt to be repaired. This work will occur between the 17th - 19th April. During this time, the entrance to the drive through, the carpark adjacent to the church and the basketball courts will be closed. Families who need to drop their children off at OSH or the ELC will need to either enter through the exit or park at the Woolworths car park and walk across to the school.

I will be away in Bowral for the rest of this week attending the Catholic Leaders’ Day and Principal Retreat. During these three days, principals from across the Archdiocese gather to learn about and discuss the strategic direction of Catholic Education in the Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn, and to take time to pray for our System. This year we will hear from Tom Rees. Tom is the Executive Director for Programs at Ambition Institute, an English education charity providing professional development for teachers, school leaders and system leaders serving children from disadvantaged backgrounds. Tom will talk to us about leading learning within our schools. Our two-day retreat will be led by Sr Margaret Ghosn.

Sr Margaret is Principal at Maronite College of the Holy Family, Sydney and will present on ‘In the Image of God - Christian Anthropology’. Mrs Carmen Myles will lead the school in my absence.

Take care and God bless

Yours in Faith

March Birthdays

Zeke F, Molly W-S, Saul G, Triumph O, Levi W, Sofia A, Isaac R, Aseem H, Jayson T, Aarav S, Aryan S, Krystof M, Samuel A, Ellie H, Layne M, Cameron C, Amboz B, Zara B, Chelsea R, Ashlyn T, Kupakwashe M, Sofia A, Archie W, Maxie M

Sora—The Student Reading App by OverDrive

Sora provides the quickest and easiest way to get started with digital titles from our school. Students can simply log in using school credentials and instantly access hundreds of eBooks and audiobooks on virtually any device. Our school is part of a consortium, so the first time you log in you will search for Australian Catholic Education Network, instead of St Thomas Aquinas Primary School.

Get started today at https://soraapp.com or download the free Sora app for Android or iOS. Please email me at rachael.hind@cg.catholic.edu.au if you require your child’s username and password.

Happy reading.

Mrs Hind
Teacher Librarian

Issue 2 will be coming home with your child very soon.
All orders are online or via the Loop app: https://mybookclubs.scholastic.com.au/Parent.aspx

Our school receives credits each time a student buys a book.  This helps with building our beautiful library collection.

Any questions please feel free to email me.

Kristie ksligar@bigpond.net.au

We wish to congratulate Emma S in Year 6 who sat the ICAS Assessment last term. 

Emma completed testing in Mathematics, Digital Technologies, Science and English. Please join us in congratulating Emma on a fabulous achievement. We look forward to presenting Emma with her Certificates at this week's assembly. 

17th, 18th & 19th APRIL 2023

CAR PARK RESTRICTIONS

We confirm that restricted access to the tar area including the entry and exit to the school car park will take place during the abovementioned dates.

Please note that this is during the School Holiday period. 

The ACT Government’s Future of Education Equity Fund for the 2023 school year is now open.

The Future of Education Equity Fund provides a one-off, annual payment to low-income families living in the ACT to help cover the costs of education expenses such as school uniforms, school excursions, sport equipment and activities and music lessons.

The following payments are available to those who meet the eligibility criteria:

• $750 high school and year 11 and 12 students
• $450 primary school students
• $400 preschool students attending a preschool attached to an ACT public school.

Applications can be made online and close 3 November 2023.

Information about the Equity Fund is available, and a link to the application form is available on the Education Directorate Website at: https://www.education.act.gov.au/support-for-our-students/financial-and-resource-assistance-for-families

We ask that you share this information with your school communities. The following text and graphic will help you do this.

Apply now for the Future of Education Equity Fund 2023

Apply now for the Future of Education Equity Fund for the 2023 school year. Eligible low-income ACT families can receive one-off payments for financial assistance to help cover the costs of their children’s educational expenses such as sport equipment and activities, music lessons, school uniforms and excursions.

The Fund is open to eligible students enrolled in preschools (attached to a school) through to Year 12 in the ACT. Further information and the online application form is available here.

As you may know, our school is subscribed to Parenting Ideas, which is now owned and run by one of Australia’s leading parenting experts, Dr Justin Coulson.  As such, the membership is now called Happy Families School Membership and there have been some exciting changes to the platform. Please take the time to read the information below so you can keep enjoying these helpful parenting resources. 

INSIGHTS ARTICLES 

We’ll keep sending out the Insight articles with our school newsletter and you’ll now also have access to the Insights library of 300+ past articles via our school’s unique URL and password (more about that below).

PARENT WEBINARS

Each term, you’ll have access to a LIVE parent webinar. 

With webinars now being run live, this means participants can ask Dr Justin (or the guest speaker) questions in real time.

Just like for Insights, you’ll be able to access the webinars via our school’s unique URL and password (no more coupons!).  The recording will be available for 12 months. 

URL & PASSWORD

https://schools.happyfamilies.com.au/login/staps

Password: happystaps

Register Here

At STA we are very lucky to have the opportunity to learn and develope our knowledge about many of our communities different cultures.

Today we were dazzled by 2 Blue's teacher, Mrs Culas as she headed to an Indian celebration.