Dear Families,

It was wonderful to see so many families brave the cold and wind to join us for a picnic on Friday. I very much enjoyed catching up with parents, grandparents and other adults who play a special part in the lives of children here at St Thomas Aquinas. I must thank Mrs Thomas for organising the day, including our Mass and rotations.

I hope everyone had a wonderful long weekend and had an opportunity for some rest. We are finding that many more students are coming to the front office early in the day with headaches, sore throats, coughs and sore tummies. We are also finding that many children and staff are coming down with a variety of illnesses and needing to stay home. If your child is sick, please keep them at home. Sometimes a few days at home will help them to recover faster and they don’t feel as miserable for as long. With this year’s cold and flu season, we are also finding that staff members are becoming sick. While we do our best to cover these classes, either with casual staff or members of the school’s leadership team, we are not always able to do this. Thank you for being understanding when your child’s class does have to be split. We try to share this as much as possible across the classes.

Thank you to all of those families who completed the survey. We received 68 responses so far. The survey will be open until this Friday 16^th June. I encourage all families to hop on if you have not already and provide some feedback. These surveys will help us with future planning.

https://tellthemfromme.com/survey/splash/sta 

I would like to thank those families who have already sponsored me for the Vinnies sleepout. This year Vinnies have many more people and families to support and so they have set the challenge for us to raise double our quota for last year. If you are able to spare a few dollars and would like to help other Canberra families who are doing it tough, please donate through the following link: https://www.ceosleepout.org.au/fundraisers/leahtaylor/act

Tomorrow, we have school photos. Students are reminded to wear their full Winter uniform for photo day regardless of whether it is their usual sport day.

Take care and God bless

Please come along to our Fete Meeting on Thursday 15th June at 6pm in the school library to provide feedback on our 2023 Fete. Feedback is essential in the success of future STA events. Come along and let us know your thoughts - the good, the bad & the wonderful!  We are also calling for members for the 2024 School Fete Committee.

Being a part of the Fete Committee is a fabulous way to meet STA families, and be an active member of your child's educational journey. 

As with all successful ventures, effective organisation will minimise problems and ensure a profitable outcome.

In late term 3 the school’s finance system will be changing. As a result, the school will no longer be able to support Direct Debit as a way of paying school fees. All school fees will either need to be paid via BPay, EFTPOS or cash. All invoices for school fees will carry a unique BPay reference. While the rollover to the new system is still a few months away, we wanted to make families aware of this change so you can talk to your bank and/or the front office if you are not familiar with BPay and require support.

Please feel free to contact the front office if you have any questions or concerns regarding these changes.

Our Semester 1 reports will be available for families on Monday of Week 10 (26 June).  As a system our reports have continued to change. This Semester, the usual grading will happen for each of the learning areas, however there will again be no comments. This is in line with the majority of Primary and Secondary schools in our Archdiocese.   

We invite parents and carers to the Semester 1 - 3 Way Conference Interviews. The 3 Way Conference bookings will go live and will be available to you on COMPASS in Week 7, 5th June 2023.  It will remain open until Friday 16 June.  Please ensure that you access COMPASS to lock in a meeting time with your child’s teacher. Please note that bookings will close strictly at 3pm on Friday 16 June 2023.

Your child should also come along to this meeting. This is a great opportunity to discuss how your child is progressing in their learning and to have a real time conversation about growth and development.  

The Conferences will be held on Tuesday 21 June from 3-7 pm and Wednesday 22 June from 8:00am - 8:45am and from 3pm - 6pm. Each Conference will be for a maximum of 15 minutes.

PHOTO DAY IS HERE

ELC photos will be taken on 13th & 15th June with the Primary School on Wednesday 14th June. Photo packages are ordered with MSP via the Compass app. If you do experience any difficulties, please do not heistate to contact the front office.

Sibling order forms are available from the Front Office. 

Please note that it is expected that all students are dressed in full Winter Uniform for school photos regardless of whether or not it is their sports day

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Lamont Book Fair

The STA Library is hosting a Book Fair! There is a great range of books to choose from, and every purchase supports our school library.

Opening hours for the Book Fair are:

You can also purchase books online at https://payments.lamontauthors.com.au/ 

Thank you for your support.

Mrs Hind

Over the next several weeks students will be introduced to Ngunnawal vocabulary. This week students will be learning "Luwana" meaning Girl. Thank you Miss Evans for continuing our learning of our Ngunnawal Country.

The Seasons for Growth program will be offered to students again this year, commencing later in Term 3. The program is designed to support students who are dealing with some aspect of change, separation, loss or grief through small group discussions and activities with a Seasons for Growth Companion. If you would like your child to participate in the program this year, please see the attached nomination form. It is recommended that students who participated last year take a break this year and complete the next level program in 2024.  For more information please contact Mrs Skye McPadden (skye.mcpadden@cg.catholic.edu.au)

June Birthdays

Millie A, Maeve J, Flourish O, Leilani MH, Lucinda B, Maddison J, Samin M, Emily M, Samuel B, Phoebe S, Om B, Anna D, Zachary M, Ivy LH, Luke S, Liam M, Angok C, Mason S, Annabelle M, Violet W, Tobenna M, Emma O, Nash H, Aleisha MA, Leo W, Toi D, Georgia R, Jordan C, George B-C, Nella W-S, Mackenzie C, Lachlan M, Annabella L, Lucas G, Xavier V, Chuol C