Dear Members of the Community,

I hope that families were able to enjoy the Easter weekend and had time to reflect and remember the sacrifices Jesus made as He suffered, died and rose so that we may have new life. Today we visited the church as a whole school for our Easter Liturgy which was presented by our Year 4 classes.

Progress reports will be sent home with students on Monday next week. These reports indicate the effort and progress in term 1. Parents will have the opportunity to meet with teachers to discuss progress and goals after the Semester 1 report in term 2.

The Athletics Carnival will be held on Friday 5^th April 2024. I thank Mrs Megan Thomas for her organisation of this event and those who have already volunteered. Once again, the SCC will put on a sausage sizzle for students. I will hope that the good weather returns for Friday so that we will all have a wonderful day.

Finally, you will see below news from the SCC regarding just how successful this year’s fete was. Such a wonderful effort by all involved.  From a school perspective and additional to the many notes of thanks already expressed, I would like to especially thank Carmen Myles, our Assistant Principal, for her extraordinary energy and oversight of the fete. Carmen’s contribution to the overall success of the fete was exceptional.

April Birthdays

Chaia L, Charles M, James K, Indie-Rose H, Mia B, Kaylee W, Yuvraji A, Benjamin S, Harjit S, Georgie R, Charlotte S, Jessica J, Keeva R, Kael S, Parker W, Estelle W,
Larra D, Eva K, Eva E, Eric H, Tyler D, Sophia S, Hudson K, Anon D, Emma B, Joshua N, Henry Polglase

Congratulations to all our white token recipients. It is so wonderful to see so many students striving to achieve a white token and displaying kindness, gratitude, respect and responsibility.

The White Token lunch invites were sent home last week. Lunch will be held on Friday 12th April 2024. Please note that RSVP's MUST be returned by Monday 8th April 2024 for catering purposes. 

If you have any concerns please do not heistate to contact the front office. 

Thank you. 

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

Some families will have noticed that we have implemented a new safety feature on our front office doors. To exit the front office doors you will now need to press the green button to the right on the brick wall and then simply push the glass door to exit. There is no need to turn the door handle to exit.  Entry remains the same, using the door handle. 

It was a real privilege to attend the 2024 Teaching Matters Conference in Hobart last week (Sunday – Tuesday) where the Science of Learning was further explored and explained. How gratifying it was to see our own Education Lead, Patrick Ellis and Director, Ross Fox speaking at the welcome gathering and to know that our schools are at the forefront of an educational revolution.

Teaching using explicit, direct instruction lessons, and our Daily Review practices, are elements of teaching using high impact practices that align with the research done in the Science of Learning. Over the two and a half days I was lucky enough to hear from, and actually meet, the keynote speaker, Dr Jan Hasbrouck, a leading researcher, author and educational consultant in the field of reading and literacy as well as reconnect with Dr Lorraine Hammond, eminent author, professor and researcher – a definite fangirl moment for me! ?

Dr Hasbrouck’s keynote address spoke mostly to the importance of reading fluency for comprehension. In class we practise regularly with fluency pairs and similar activities that allow children to rehearse and practise what good reading fluency sounds and feels like. This supports students to really understand what they are reading. Good pace is your usual speaking voice. When listening to your children read at home it is vital that you model good reading pace and then regularly listen to your children read aloud – even older readers.

The guest speaker line-up was phenomenal and included Brendan Lee and Dr Nathanial Swaine –two podcast and research favourites of mine. Both were passionate about the importance of breaking learning tasks down into sequentially taught fragments and using frequent check-ins to confirm student understanding – teaching practices now embedded at St Thomas Aquinas.

The SCC would again like to thank everyone involved in the fete, particularly the wonderful fete committee and all those who volunteered on the day (and before, and after).

The fete was a resounding success and, as well as being a great day out, raised just under $31,000 for the school community. 

The SCC will be looking to use the money to support a range of initiatives in the school, potentially including facility upgrades, assistance to families in need, priorities identified by the Student Representative Council, teacher professional development and other events (such as the school disco). We will continue to keep the school community informed throughout the year.

The SCC would also like to invite interested parents in attending the wrap-up meeting of the fete committee in Term 2 to learn more about the fete and how to be involved in making next year’s fete bigger and better. Date to be advised.

Holy Week

A huge thank you to all staff and students who participated so reverently in liturgies last Thursday, commemorating the events of Holy Week. Each grade level gathered together to celebrate a “Last Supper” and then moved across to our church courtyard to experience a modified stations of the cross.

Easter Liturgy

4 Green were very excited to have led the school today in a special liturgy celebrating Easter. We remember that the Easter season has only just begun and will continue for 6 weeks until Pentecost.

ANZAC Liturgy

On Friday, 12^th April, the whole school will come together to commemorate ANZAC Day. ANZAC Day falls in the school holidays so we are marking this special day early. 5 Green are excitedly preparing to lead us in this service honouring all who have served their country in conflict. All families are most welcome to join us at 9:30 for our ANZAC Day liturgy. A particular welcome to all Defence personnel.

Lent – Project Compassion – thank you to everyone who is adding to the Project Compassion money boxes at home. Please remember to send them in now so we can donate all money to Caritas Australia to support the great work they are doing.

Parish Life - Sacramental Programs

Confirmation

Year 6 have received a letter from the parish about enrolment for the Confirmation program next term. Please ensure you have registered prior to the first formation session on Thursday 9^th May. To be eligible for this sacrament children must be a baptised Catholic and have already received the sacraments of Reconciliation and Eucharist.

Formation Session for Parents
Thursday 9 and 23 May—6:00pm—Parish Church
Presentation Masses
Weekend of 25/26 May
Sacrament of Confirmation Mass
Thursday 13 June—6:00pm

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