Dear Members of the Community,

I hope this newsletter finds you well. I wanted to take a moment to express my deepest gratitude for your wonderful contributions to our upcoming fete on Saturday, March 23rd. Your support and dedication have truly made a difference, and I am confident that this year's event will be a tremendous success.

I would also like to take this opportunity to share with you some highlights from our recent Principal's Retreat, which was held last week. It was a truly transformative experience, providing us with a great opportunity for connection and reflection. I am grateful to all the participants for their active engagement and open minds.

One of the highlights of the retreat was our guest speaker, Fr Timothy Radcliffe. His insightful words and profound wisdom left a lasting impact on all of us. Fr Radcliffe shared his thoughts on faith and the importance of fostering faith-filled communities. His message was thought-provoking and inspiring, encouraging us to reflect on our own roles within our school community.

As we continue to move forward, let us carry the lessons learned from the retreat and Fr Radcliffe's words with us. Together, we can create a nurturing and inclusive environment where faith thrives and our students flourish.

Students in Years 3 and 5 will commence NAPLAN testing next week. NAPLAN, along with a number of other assessments we use across Catholic Education and within the school, provide 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. We know that any assessment can make some students feel nervous. While we want the students to take this test seriously and try their best, it is important that our students are not stressed about NAPLAN. It is just a small snapshot of students learning. I wish our Year 3 and Year 5 students all the very best for the next week.

The fete is approaching very fast. 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 Friday we have our ‘Socks 4 Blocks’ day where students can dress in their favourite non uniform socks and bring in a chocolate block donation for the Fete. If you would like to become involved, it is not too late to reach out to the fete committee.

Once again, thank you for your incredible contributions to our upcoming fete. Your support is invaluable, and I am truly grateful for your continued dedication.

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 

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

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! 

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