Dear Members of the Community,

As we come to the end of Term 1, I would like to congratulate our students on a fantastic start to the 2024 school year. As I walk the corridors, students are engaged in classrooms, and it has been delightful to see the high impact learning that teachers are delivering on a daily basis. I am sure students are keen for the holidays to begin and I hope all families have the opportunity to stop for a moment and enjoy some well deserved family down time.

We have noticed an increase of students arriving late to school. I thank each and every family who are ensuring students are arriving on time and ready to begin their school day at 8:50am. Students who arrive late, especially those on a regular basis, are missing out on information for the day ahead and also disrupting the class as learning has already commenced. With the start of Term 2 just around the corner we ask for families support in ensuring your child is at school by 8:50am and has had breakfast which puts them in the best possible position to engage and learn. Having suitable amounts of healthy food options available in children’s lunch boxes provides children with the best abilities to learn, focus and be emotionally regulated for the school day. The school has small amounts of fruit available for emergencies however we have noticed a huge increase in students accessing the fruit and requiring lunch to be made. We ask that you support us in ensuring your child is well prepared by having adequate sleep, food and is arriving ready for the school day at 8:50am.

It was disappointing that our school Athletics Carnival was called off last Friday due to the unfortunate change in weather. We are working on a new date for Term 2 and we will advise families accordingly as soon as possible. This Friday is expected to be a busy last day of term. We have our Cross Country, White Token Celebration lunch & Principal’s Assembly. We will keep fingers crossed that the weather improves for Friday.  

Many families would have read in the weekend newspaper or heard through the community the sad news that Denis Hally-Burton, a founding member of our St Thomas Aquinas Parish, recently passed away, may he be at peace with The Risen Lord. His funeral will be held on Friday, 12^th April 2024 at 11am. It is expected to be a very well attended funeral and as such we asked that families keep this in mind if they intend to coming along to the Cross Country to support students.

Have a peaceful and joy filled break. Staff return to school on Monday 29th April 2024 which is a pupil free day. Students return on Tuesday 30^th April 2024.

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 P

May Birthdays

Ella D, Jesse R, Cooper K, Lorelei M, Charles M, Declan W, Jack P, Gurnoor K, Alice T, Zahli A, Nikola G, Amelia M, Arianna RM, Oliver H, Connor W, Emily L-B, Brooklyn S, Ashan H, Scarlett F, Nate N, Mayen K, Toby N, Theresa V, Shaela S, Ryan P, Lyla M, Aston P, Evangeline G, Isaac P, Gabriel T, Tudor C, Chimaobi M

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. 

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. 

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  

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.