Dear Families,

Firstly, I thank Carmen for acting as Principal while I was attending Catholic Leaders’ day and the Principal retreat late last week. The retreat day provoked a great deal of thinking about the human person and that we are all made in the image and likeness of God, male and female. We were all asked to consider how people in our community approach one another and whether it is always with love and openness.

NAPLAN
Tomorrow, students in Years 3 and 5 will commence NAPLAN testing. The Canberra Times will be running an article about NAPLAN in our school in tomorrow’s paper. NAPLAN, along with a number of other assessments we use across Catholic Education and within the school, provides us with one measure of students learning. It is a helpful measure because it allows us to assess the effectiveness of programs we are using at St Thomas Aquinas, to assess student’s learning and progress when compared with students across the country, and to triangulate other data we collect. We know that any assessment can make some students feel nervous and also know that the hype around NAPLAN can make students feel particularly nervous. While we want the students to take this test, along with all tests and learning seriously, NAPLAN is neither more of less important than anything we do here at St Thomas Aquinas. I wish our Year 3 and Year 5 students all the very best for the next three days.

Fete
The fete is approaching very fast. It is wonderful to be able to bring the community back together for this event after more than three years. While I have slowly been getting to know the community in the midst of lockdowns, this will be the first time I have been able to be a full part of this community event. I have been excited to hear about the various stalls, entertainment and events planned. Thank you for your support so far, our raffle books are almost completely sold, so if you wanted to buy a few more tickets, make sure you get in quick! This year, we will be looking to use money raised to improve our outdoor spaces including the basketball courts and other play spaces. If you would like to become involved, it is not too late to reach out to the fete committee.

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

DON'T FORGET TO RETURN YOUR SOLD RAFFLE TICKET BOOKLETS AND PAYMENT BEFORE THE FETE

Remember the 2023 registration forms for Sacramental Candidates in Year 4 and Year 6 are due back by the 24^th March. Notes can be returned to the school or presbytery along with the $50 cash registration fee per family.  If you have any question, you can contact Mrs Skye McPadden (skye.mcpadden@cg.catholic.edu.au), Miss Ella Barry (ella.barry@cg.catholic.edu.au) or Fr Gerard McCormack directly through the parish email charnwood@cg.org.au or by phone (02) 6258 1563.

ICAS will return to STA this year. We encourage you to consider entering your child in ICAS. This fantastic assessment program allows students to challenge themselves and be recognised for their academic efforts. The assessment is now fully online and sitting dates will commence in Term 3. Learn more by visiting icasassessments.com.

What is ICAS?  

ICAS is an online academic competition that gives students the opportunity to challenge their higher order thinking and problem-solving skills in English, Mathematics, Science, Writing, Spelling Bee, and Digital Technologies.

Every student who participates is celebrated and recognised with a printed certificate in each subject area, and an online results report to track development each year. Top performers are eligible for one of the highly coveted ICAS medals.

To learn more about this year’s exciting ICAS competition, visit: (icasassessments.com/products-icas/)

How to participate in ICAS  

If you wish for your child to participate in ICAS this year, please:  

1. Read about ICAS subjects and prices here:  
2. Read the Privacy Collection Statement below.
3. Read the terms and conditions here: 
4. Go to the Parent Portal to sign up to chosen subject areas here:
5. Enter our school’s access code –TNQ609
6. Enter your child’s details, select the subject areas your child would like to participate in, then proceed to payment.  

Please note that the ICAS subject areas shown for selection are at the school’s discretion.   

After payment is made via the Parent Payment System, you will receive an order confirmation email, please keep this for your records.  

ICAS results and certificates
All assessments will be conducted online, at school. We will notify you of the date(s) that we will run ICAS assessments, and when your child’s ICAS results are ready. Your child’s ICAS certificates will be delivered to school. Once we have received them, we will present them to your child to bring home. The back of the certificate will show your child’s ICAS results and the login details, “TAP ID and Pin”. - Use these to enter the Results Portal. 

Privacy Collection Statement  

The following information is a privacy notification about how your child’s data is kept private and secure.  

Janison is aware of our responsibility to protect the identity of, and all information relating to, children, and students in general, from disclosure and consequently Janison does not:  

• collect any personal information or data of children other than as required for the purposes of completion of the assessment, test or exam; 
• transfer any personal information or data obtained during the delivery of assessments, tests or exams conducted in Australia to any jurisdiction outside of Australia other than with the specific consent of the person, or his or her parent or guardian; 
• transfer any personal information or data obtained during the delivery of assessments, tests or exams conducted in other international regions out of the child’s jurisdiction other than with the specific consent of the person, or his or her parent or guardian; 
• share any personal information or data relating to children or students with any third parties (other than a third party whose services are necessary for servicing our products, g. print/distribution companies, medal engraving, etc.) except with the specific consent of the person, or his or her parent or guardian; 
• use any personal information or data relating to children or students for marketing purposes. 

Janison may retain personal information and data relevant to a child for their future purposes or for research purposes by Janison for the duration of the school life cycle of the child. However, if you or your child at any time wish to have their personal information or data removed from our systems, they or you may opt out by simply contacting our Privacy Officer at privacy@janison.com.  

We are proud to offer ICAS and look forward to some fantastic results later in the year. 

Please do not hesitate to contact your Classroom Teacher if you have any questions.  

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 is out now. All orders need to be placed before 22nd March for delivery before the holidays.

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

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

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.