Dear Parents and Carers

How wonderful it was to have almost all of our students back yesterday! We have all missed their smiling faces these past few months and it was lovely to get back to what we all do best. As I walked around to classes yesterday, I could see that students were excited to be able to catch up with their friends face-to-face and were very happy to see their teachers once again. There was a definite buzz in the air which we had really missed. 

Safety Measures for Students returning
As I mentioned in the letter sent home last week, we have increased cleaning and hygiene practices at school to help protect students. Students who are showing signs of illness will be isolated in a space away from other students and adults until they are collected to go home. The ACT Department of Health has released a video to help parents understand the need for social distancing in schools. In the video it talks about some parents being able to come onto school grounds, but schools making decisions on how this might occur to keep all safe. The school and Catholic Education has determined that the best way to ensure this safety is for parents to drop-off and pick-up their children without getting out of the car (except for parents and carers of ELC) and to book appointments to come into the school building. Here is the video link to help you understand the kinds of things you can do to help.

Drop-off and Pick-up
While school is back and restrictions are easing, we still have a long way to go before the whole nation is able to relax completely. We are still bound by government to maintain social distancing between adults at the school. This means we will have to continue with drop-off and pick-up procedures for the foreseeable future. I want to thank parents and carers for working with us during this time to help make this process as smooth as possible. Ultimately, we are working to keep our children safe and your cooperation is much appreciated.

Students can be dropped off from 8:30am. A teacher will be on duty to assist students who require support to get out of the car. Students will then walk around to the courtyard where they will be supervised by a teacher on duty until school begins.

At the end of the day, students who are being picked up will be walked around to the pick-up area by their teachers at 3pm and divided according to their surname. Teachers will be there to support students getting into their cars if required. Parents and carers will not be able to get out of their cars unless they are collecting children from the ELC.  A video of the new arrangements is available here.

I urge everyone not to arrive for pick-up too early. Yesterday cars had already blocked Lhotsky St by 2:35pm. We will not be walking students from classrooms to the pick-up area until 3pm. We were able to have all cars cleared before 3:20pm yesterday and, with a little practice, hope to be able to have all cars cleared by 3:15pm by the end of the week.

Parents in the school
I am pleased that parents are now able to make an appointment to come into the school. If you need to meet with your child’s teacher please contact them via email to make a time to meet. If you need to purchase uniforms from the secondhand uniform store, then please call the Front Office to organise a time. Meetings with Carmen or myself can be organised by calling the Front Office to arrange an appointment.

New Behaviour Policy
We have taken this quieter time at school to rewrite our Student Behaviour Policy. There have been a number of changes and I encourage you to take some time to have a look at the new policy, attached below, and available on the school’s website under Communication/Policies. The school has been working with Ian Luscombe from Behaviourability to firm up some of the expectations of students at school. Ian will work this us again next week.

I wish you all a wonderful few weeks.

Online enrolments for STA in 2021 are now open and will close on 22 May 2020. 

Note for ELC Parents  
If you would like your ELC child to attend Kindergarten at St Thomas Aquinas in 2021, please complete the CE Primary School enrolment application below.

You can now enrol online, through the following links:

If you are unable to enrol online, please contact the Front Office to obtain a paper copy of the Enrolment Form.  

Please pass on our enrolment details to friends and families who may be interested in attending St Thomas Aquinas in 2021.

In this current climate, no child is to attend school if they are showing any cold or
flu-like symptoms. They must remain at home, and stay away from school, until they are no longer showing symptoms or have attended a GP who has instructed that they are fit and safe to return.  If you child has vomiting or diarrhoea, please do not send them to school for at least 24 hours after the symptoms have ceased. 

As a school community we all understand the difficulties of having a sick child, but please do not send your child to school if they are ill or if they have not fully recovered from an illness.  Keeping a child at home, when they are not well, not only helps them recover more quickly with rest, but it also prevents the spread of illnesses in the school community.

Also, if contacted by the school, please pick up your child up as quickly as possible in order to reduce stress for your child.

All students are required to bring their own drink bottle, containing water, to school as bubblers are closed during this period. 

Please label all drink bottles clearly with the student's name. 
Thank you for your cooperation.

Subway lunch orders are available on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.  
Please submit orders via the Subway Box at the Front Office by 9:30am
on the day before the order is required or directly to Subway Charnwood by 8:30am
on the day the order is required.
Spare envelopes are available at the Front Office.

Catholic Education is committed to supporting families during this challenging period. As schools transition to remote learning, if you lack the necessary resources to continue your child's learning remotely, please complete this form here pertaining to ICT support required. This application will be reviewed by the Catholic Education ICT team and you will be kept informed of the outcome. This will be valid for Term 2 2020, at the end of which the criteria and your individual circumstances will be re-assessed.  Please follow this link

Below is a printable version of the survey.

Due to the redeployment of Registered Nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic response and the closure of schools, the 2020 physical component of the Kindergarten Health Check has been cancelled.  The Academic Unit of General Practice questionnaire data, completed by parents at the beginning of the 2020 school year, has been collected as usual. The results of the questionnaire will be sent to the GP if consent has been given to do so. If parents have concerns regarding the physical check we recommend they see their GP for assessment. For more information please contact the School Health Team on 5124 1585.

Dear Parents and 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. 

The health, safety and wellbeing of our communities and our people remains our highest priority. Due to the ongoing uncertainty surrounding coronavirus, the School Banking program will remain on hold. We will continue to monitor the situation and keep you informed with any updates including how we will be managing Dollarmite tokens for students. 

In the meantime, here are some handy online resources for parents who wish to maintain momentum with their child’s financial education: 

• Start Smart: these resources have been created to improve children’s money management skills, and is aligned to the Australian Curriculum and the National Consumer Financial Literacy Framework. 
• The Beanstalk: offers videos and fun activities for children to learn about money.

Community News is now located on our website.

MacDonalds Schoolwear Jamison Trading Hours 

MAY 2021
Congratulations to the following students who will be celebrating their birthday this month:

Jackson L;  Aubree C;  Oliver H;  Emily L-B;  Toby B;  Jess R;  Cooper K;  Rohan T;  Lorelei M;  Anderson M;  Clarence G;  Kohen H;  Alice T;  Jared C;  Kaitlyn H;  Dominic G;  Nikola G;  William S;  Amelia M;  Lewis T;  Hunter B;  Brooklyn S;  Ashan H;  Hayley G;  Jacie L;  Scarlett F;  Achiek A;  Shaela S;  Patrick S-P;  Lachlan R;  Mitchell R;  Nuer D;  Emily R