Dear Parents, Guardians, and Students,

I hope this newsletter finds you all in good health and high spirits. As we further enter into the season of Lent, I would like to take this opportunity to reflect on the significance of this period in our Catholic primary school community.

Lent is a time of reflection, prayer, and self-discipline, as we prepare ourselves spiritually for the joyous celebration of Easter. Throughout this season, our students are encouraged to deepen their understanding of the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, and to embrace the values of compassion, forgiveness, and humility.

As part of our Lenten observance, we have organised various activities and initiatives to foster a sense of community, service, and sacrifice. Our students have enthusiastically participated in acts of kindness, such as donating to Project Compassion and reaching out to those in need. These acts of selflessness not only benefit the recipients but also help our students develop a greater sense of empathy and social responsibility.

In addition to these charitable endeavors, our school has organised special Lenten prayer services and reflections, where students have the opportunity to engage in quiet contemplation, express gratitude, and seek forgiveness. These moments of spiritual reflection allow our students to deepen their connection with God and develop a personal relationship with Him.

As we approach Easter, the most significant event in the Christian calendar, our school will be organising a range of activities to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. These include Holy Week liturgies, Stations of the Cross, and a special Easter celebration, where students will have the chance to participate in meaningful rituals and engage in joyful festivities.

I would like to express my deepest gratitude to our dedicated staff, supportive parents, and enthusiastic students for their commitment to making this Lenten season a truly meaningful and transformative experience. It is through your collective efforts that we can create a nurturing and faith-filled environment in our school.

It was wonderful to see so many families meeting with their children’s teachers last week for Goal Setting Meeting. Special thanks to all teachers and families for taking time out of their busy schedules to prioritise setting goals for students to strive for.

The Fete is fast approaching! There will be another Fete Meeting held this evening at 6pm in the library. There will be lots of information in the coming weeks surrounding the Fete, please keep updated by reading the weekly newsletter and Compass notifications. Thank you to everyone for your support in selling raffle tickets. If you have sold your tickets, please return the ticket buds and cash to the front office. You can also request additional books to sell. Thank you to the many families who have sold multiple books already, I think 15 sold books from one family is the current record!

God bless

Tim Cleary
Principal

March Birthdays

Zeke F, Molly W-S, Levi W, Sofia A, Sebastian C, Darcy R, Isaac R, Mary G, Aseem H, Jayson T, Ava M, A Salhotra, Krystof M, Sophie W, Ellie H, Johnathan H, Layne M, Frances H, Cameron C, Amboz B, Zara B, Chelsea R, Ashlyn T, Kupakwashe M, Sofa A, Archie W, Maxine M 

We need your help!

The St Thomas Aquinas Annual Fete has been selected as one of 3 finalists for the March Gerald Slaven Community First Program. Please support us and WOW the competitors away by voting with a WOW emoji on the Gerald Slaven Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/GeraldSlavenFord

You can vote more than once by adding an additional WOW at the Gerald Slaven VW & Gerald Slaven Jeep Facebook pages.

We need all the WOW votes to win $500 towards the upcoming STA Fete.

Get on board and vote today! 

Only 18 sleeps to go! 

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

Lent

As we enter our third week of Lent it is sometimes challenging to maintain our initial enthusiasm for our Lenten promises. How are you going with yours? If it is time to refocus here are some ideas for you:

Top Ten Lenten Promises – harder to give up than chocolate?

Things to Surrender

1. Grumpiness – irritability is a choice. We can choose to be grumpy and hang on to our right to be foul-tempered, or we can choose to be pleasant and good humored.
2. Blame – when things go wrong, stop looking for a scapegoat. Practice acceptance and responsibility.
3. Superiority – A judgmental attitude is like a rotting corpse – it spreads it’s bile over everyone in criticism and put downs.
4. Gossip – resist taking delight in someone else’s failure. Protect their reputation and let the bad news stop with you.
5. Vanity – give up self-obsession and the fantasy that the world revolves around you. Start revolving your life around God and you’ll find more joy than you ever dreamed.
6. Self-pity – everyone has to deal with setbacks and disappointments. Self-pity won’t change your circumstances; it just makes you feel powerless.
7. Resentment – unforgiveness and resentment hangs over a person’s life like dark thunder clouds. It makes your life gloomy and your presence unpleasant. It’s not worth the cost.
8. Tiredness – if you’re always tired, go to bed early. Be self-disciplined and resist the TV, internet or other recreation that steals your sleep. And if you choose not to, then at least stop whining about how tired you are! (Parents of young children exempted!)
9. Busyness – you have all the time you could ever need for the things that are important to you. Stop using a lack of time as an excuse for neglecting relationships or your health.
10. Cynicism – it’s easier to be cynical than it is to be optimistic and hope-filled. Take the path less travelled.

Things to Embrace

1. Tongue biting – practice restraint and humility. Let the criticism die in your month, let someone else speak first, give others space to voice their opinion.
2. Early Rising – If your day is too busy for God, rise early to enjoy a few quite moments together.
3. Half-serves – we really don’t need nearly as much food/clothing/music/TV/stuff as we think. Practice taking half serves and let hunger bite occasionally.
4. Secret Giving – there are so many in need – be generous, then double it …and enjoy God’s blessings.
5. Apologise – seek unity in all circumstances. Apologise when you have wronged someone… even when they started it!
6. Forgive and let live – set yourself free. Forgive someone against whom you hold a grudge. Let them go. Let yourself go. And start living again.
7. Gratitude – give thanks every day, all day. Thank God, thank others. Gratitude is one of the most effective ways to lift your spirit and increase your awareness of God’s presence.
8. Blessing – bless those you love. Bless those you dislike. Bless those you envy. Bless God for the joys. Bless God for the sorrows. In all things, bless.
9. Random Acts of Kindness (RAK) – nothing will inspire more delicious delight than doing an RAK – compliment a stranger, assist an elderly person, top up the parking meter, bring sunshine into someone’s life.
10. Listen – stop talking and listen…to your spouse, to your children, to the lonely neighbour, to the homily, to the sounds of creation, to God’s word in your life.

Lent – Project Compassion – thank you to everyone who is adding to the Project Compassion money boxes at home. Please remember to send them in as they fill up so we can donate all money to Caritas Australia to support the great work they are doing like for Leaia in Samoa:

Parish Life

Sacramental Program – How are you going with the preparation book? Hopefully you and your children are finding it an engaging way to spend time thinking about the importance of Reconciliation. Remember they are due back by Friday 15^th March to give Father time to review them and sign off on them. Please be sure to fill in the last page with parent attestation and signatures.

Year 4 will be holding a special mini Reconciliation Retreat on Friday 15^th March. It will take place between First and Second Breaks and provide children preparing for the upcoming sacrament a chance to discuss the process and for all children to deepen their knowledge of the importance of this sacrament of forgiveness. Move information coming on Compass for just Year 4 students.

 All families preparing for this sacrament of forgiveness should already be enrolled with the parish office. Please contact  Sharon at the Parish Office if you have any questions. (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.  

Catholic school families are invited to enter a treasure hunt competition being run by Catholic Schools Guide. The winner will receive $2000 worth of school fees, and runners up will receive Roblox vouchers.

We invite you to share this with families.

Details: catholicschoolsguide.com.au/competition