Dear Parents and Carers

Firstly, I want to thank all of you for your patience and understanding regarding changes to processes and procedures at the school in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This is a dynamic situation and the school will continue to keep the community updated via sZapp. I have had many emails of support and appreciation for staff and leadership at the school which are very much welcomed at this difficult time. I have had a number of parents with particular expertise email me to offer their support to the community and have taken a number of people up on their generous offers. As one parent commented “Thank you STA teachers. I know it's tough. At the moment, I'm not too worried about hours of homeschooling - we need to be kind to our kids and set up a stable safe environment. We have weeks ahead to get on top of worksheets!” and “Our angels is what you are. We appreciate and respect you”.

It is crucial that we continue to remain in community at these difficult times. At this stage we have no idea what this may look like. However, I urge you to check-in on one another and let us know if you have concerns, particularly about any vulnerable members of our community. If you are struggling, please reach out to us, we are still here to support you in whatever way we can.

We had a video-conference with principals yesterday where we looked at what the State and Territory messaging means for Catholic schools. At this stage Catholic schools will remain open until the end of term, but parents are encouraged to keep their children home where possible. Today, teachers began planning remote learning options for students. All students whether they are at school or at home will engage in the same remote learning experience. It is highly likely that classes will be collapsed to enable teachers time to engage with students online as well as with students face-to-face if they are school. On Thursday and Friday this week, teachers will be working with others to build a remote learning package for term 2. I urge all parents to keep children home on these days to facilitate this process. Any child who attends on these two days will have limited supervision.

While we do remain open, we ask for children who have cold and flu symptoms to be kept at home until children are well again. If a child has been exposed to a person with a confirmed case of COVID-19, they will need to remain at home for 14 days. If a child presents at school with cold or flu-like symptoms they will be sent home. I thank you for your continued cooperation in this matter.

VISIT FROM IAN LUSCOMBE FROM BEHAVEABILITY
We were fortunate to be able to secure the services of Ian Luscombe from Behaveability. Ian started working with us on Friday and returned to work with us today. As a result of Ian’s work with the school, we will be reviewing our behaviour management policy to incorporate his recommendations. Ian suggested we remove white forms and replace them with immediate consequences. I will provide an updated behaviour management policy on the school’s website as soon as it is available.

CANTEEN
At this  stage we will continue to operate the canteen as normal. Subway orders can be made for Wednesday to Friday via the usual process. At this stage we are still able to sell ice blocks and chips.

COMMUNITY COUNCIL MEETING POSTPONED
In light of the current situation, the Community Council meeting has been postponed indefinitely. We may look at the possibility of an online or video conference towards the end of the term.

Prayers and Blessing

Yours in Faith

Leah Taylor
Principal

To Parents/Carers, 

In this time of uncertainty, some amount of worry will be normal for children. If you feel that your child is experiencing high anxiety, or other intense emotional reactions to the coronavirus situation, or if you would like information, support or ideas for resources for children at home please get in touch with me either by phoning the school or by emailing me at Maddison.Kennedy@catholiccare.cg.org.au. 

My days (Monday, Wednesday and Thursday) of offering support to the students and families of St Thomas Aquinas remain the same, and I am still currently based at the school.  

SZapp is our preferred form of communication for 2020.

Attached is information on SZapp Installation.  Please contact the school to obtain password.

Please note that if you already receive the school newsletter via SZapp, you do not have to subscribe to the newsletter.

Over the weekend, the Government has imposed new social distancing measures where there must be four square metres provided per person in an enclosed space. I am very saddened to say that The Music Bus will need to cease operating our regular program at your school on the bus for the safety of our staff and students and to comply with these new regulations. 

What now?
We are happy to announce that we will be moving ahead and provide online lessons for our students via our online video conferencing program, The Music Room. We aim to continue using music to inspire our students' to remain sharp and engaged to maintain the continuity of their education and development.  

We will be contacting parents regarding arrangements.

The health, safety and wellbeing of our communities and our people is our first priority. Due to the rapidly developing situation with coronavirus, School Banking has been temporarily paused from 20 March 2020 until the start of Term 2. Please don’t bring your deposit book with your weekly banking into school and we will notify you when banking will recommence.

Subway special for the month of March 2020 - Wednesday lunch orders will receive a free cookie.  Please submit this order by Tuesdays 9am.

Community News is now located on our website.

MARCH 2020
Congratulations to the following students who will be celebrating their birthday this month:

Molly; Spencer;  Evamaria;  Chloe;  Jack;  Levi;  Sofia;  Aseem;  Ella;  Aarav;  Aryan;  Krystof;  Maeve;  Samuel;  Ruby;  Layne;  Cameron;  Astrid;  Ryan;  Aidan;  Amboz;  Zara;  Alessandra;  Sofia;  Abigail;  Archie;  Maxine.