Dear Families,

How wonderful it was to welcome so many grandparents and parents into the school on Friday. One Green gave us a beautiful liturgy and I know there was more than one person with a tear in their eye as children recounted things they “saw when you weren’t watching”. The weather meant that we had to hold our special lunch indoors, which also gave parents and grandparents a chance to see children’s classrooms. We look forward to opening our classrooms again in Week 6 for Learning Journeys.

Many of you may have been aware that Mr Mackenzie’s wife was expecting twins. I am pleased to let you know that they both arrived into the world safe and sound. We wish Mr and Mrs Mackenzie well and hope they manage to get some rest over the next few weeks.

Yesterday, kindergarten students celebrated 100 days of kindergarten. This milestone was marked with children and staff in kinder dressing as Centenarians. Our latest cohort of students have settled in so well, it is hard to believe that they have only been here for 100 days! We look forward to the next 1250 days they will spend here at St Thomas Aquinas.

We also welcomed Toni Hatten-Roberts once again to work with teachers. This is our third year of working with Toni. Teachers have moved their teaching style from a predominately Inquiry focus to a more Teacher Directed focus with Inquiry occurring once the children are competent in basic skills and knowledge. Toni was pleased with the teacher’s progress and worked with everyone to give us the next step for our journey.

Today, a film crew from Catholic Education were in the school to record the school’s journey with Catalyst. Parents, students, teachers and leadership spoke about the changes they had noticed over the last three years, including improvement in students learning. I look forward to sharing the final version with you once it is available.

Parents and Carer’s of students in Years 3 and 5 would have received their child’s NAPLAN results last week. While these results are just a snapshot over a few days, they do help us to monitor student progress and give us an opportunity to compare our performance with that of similar aged children across Australia. Early results look very positive, particularly in Spelling and Reading which affirms the school’s decision to implement the Initialit and Spelling Mastery programs. These results also provide some food for thought as we move forward.

Take care and God bless

August Birthdays

Samuel B, Indyah M, Chase M, Mason M, Karen F, Ari U, Frederick N, Matilda P, Liam B, Sophia H, Zoey M, Tyler E, Lachlan B, Summer P, Jaxson P, Michael P, Meghan S, Ashea K, Gabriella S, Erin H, Adeline B

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

We have noticed that some students are bringing soft drinks to school or ordering through Subway. We really appreciate your cooperation and hope that families will work with us to ensure students are provided the best possible opportunity to learn and maintain healthy habits. The consumption of carbonated drinks during learning time is against our promotion of developing healthy habits. Please work with us and provide children with water in a labelled drink bottle. If ordering a Subway lunch the only alternative drink available is flavoured milk. 

Parenting ADHD [the Course] registrations for round 2 are OPEN. 

We've equipped hundreds of families with the tools they've needed to create a more balanced environment at home. Due to popular demand we've brought this course back, and places are getting snapped up FAST. 

Registrations close 31 July when the course kicks off, so save your spot while you can. 

Dr Justin

Think U Know aim to support you in preventing and managing safety challenges that your child may face, as well as guiding your child to understand these and feel empowered to take action.

To help you do this, we urge you to attend our Education Program delivered by the AFP at St Monica's Primary School. 

Visit the Think U Know website ThinkUKnow for further information and resources.