Dear Families,

It has been wonderful to have an opportunity to meet with families and welcome some of our youngest students to the school with the Kinder and ELC orientations occurring this week. I know there have been many hours of work in preparing packs, getting classrooms ready and organising activities for the students. Thank you to the Kinder and ELC teams as well as our Front Office and Leadership team for their work in this area. I am looking forward to meeting our final ELC group tomorrow.

Reports will be sent home in a few weeks. It is important to remember that a school report is not the definitive measure of your child’s abilities. It is only one measure amid a wide range of opportunities, experiences and activities. Setting a pattern of constructive support should help make report time a productive and positive experience that will help your child make progress at school. A few tips:

• Find the positive aspects of the report and praise your child;
• Take into consideration that the A-E grading scale is very different to the one you would have experienced;
• Discuss what your child found difficult. Look at work habits, routines, diet, sleep patterns, etc; and
• Discuss how things could be improved. Offer some constructive/criticism and attainable goals for next year.

Special thanks to the teachers for the many hours of work, outside school time, that go into marking assessments, preparing, editing and finalising the written reports.

I’ve noticed that some students are starting to come into school in the incorrect uniform. Families are reminded that their children should be coming into school wearing the correct uniform every day. There seems to be a few groups of students who are wearing the incorrect socks in particular. Please support the school by ensuring your child is walking out the door in the correct uniform for the day.

Take care and God bless

November Birthdays

Andrew M, Regan L, Taigh R, Rebecca J, Zoe P, Jewel J, Jett B, Niklaus T, Geoffrey F, Cody H, Kuzivakwashe M, Ava G, Jadyn W, Aiden M, Hudson T, Harpreet S, Benjamin S, Grace S, Ella T, Mikayla M, Faith M, Isabel P, Darcy A, Georgia B

Students are introduced to new Ngunnawal vocabulary weekly. Special thanks to Miss Evans for continuing our learning of our Ngunnawal Country.

If your child/ren is leaving St Thomas Aquinas at the end of 2023 please advise the school in writing.  This does not apply to students in Year 6 this year.

Attached here is the Student Transfer Notification form which needs to be returned to the school by 8 December 2023.

Thank you

We invite parents and carers to the optional Semester 2 - 3 Way Conference Interviews. The 3 Way Conference bookings are now live and will be available to you on COMPASS.  It will remain open until Friday 1 December 2023.  If you would like to meet with your child/rens teacher please ensure that you access COMPASS to lock in a meeting time. Please note that bookings will close strictly at 3pm on Friday 1 December 2023. 

The Conferences will be held on Tuesday 5th December from 3-7 pm and Wednesday 6th December from 8:00am - 8:45am and from 3pm - 6pm. Each Conference will be for a maximum of 15 minutes.

Please keep up to date by visiting our weekly newsletter.

Further information surrounding these events will be distributed within the coming days and weeks. We hope families and students enjoy celebrating and farewelling our wonderful Year 6 students & families.

Kindergarten Health Checks were carried out at school last Term. If your child missed their check up, catch-up appointments are available at City Health Centre, 1 Moore Street Canberra City on the second floor.

Appointments can be made by ringing Community Health Intake on 51249977.

If you have any questions, please contact the School Health Team office on 51241585.

Parents and carers are offered access to free online parenting courses developed in Australian by the Triple P – Positive Parenting Program, thanks to Australian Government funding.

Via the following link you can choose from specific programs and online resources, assisting with the everyday challenges parents and carers face raising calm, resilient and happy children.

Link: https://www.triplep-parenting.net.au/au/triple-p/

The Christmas/Festive season is fast approaching, and along with it is the additional Christmas/Festive preparation expenses, not to mention the bills that will start rolling in come the New Year!

Care continues to facilitate the ACT Government’s Rent Relief program for those who rent privately in the ACT.  Eligible renters can apply for the one off grant of 4 weeks rent up to a maximum of $2,500.

Please note: The current turn around for applications is 2-3 weeks, but could increase depending on the volume of applications received.

For more information, eligibility criteria and application form head to our website – www.carefcs.org/rent-relief-scheme

Care will be closed for Christmas from Friday 22nd December 2023 reopening Tuesday 2nd January 2024