Dear Parents/Carers,

After being away from St Thomas the Apostle School for 12 weeks I can only say that it is ‘so good’ to be back. Thank you for all your warm welcomes. I have had an incredible time of sightseeing and learning while I was overseas. I shared with the students at Monday prayer, the journey I took following the footsteps of St Paul across Greece and then to Rome. It brought to life the letters of St Paul to the Corinthians, the Ephesians, the Philippians and the Thessalonians.

We were privileged to have mass in each of these historical places (often outdoors under the trees) and to just sit on a rock and look at a ruin that once was a place where St Paul himself stood and preached, was entrancing.  The experience has deepened my faith as a Christian and although it may seem clichéd, the pilgrimage has been a life changing experience for me.

Corinth

Ephesus

Philippi

Thessaloniki

As Acting Principal in my absence, I want to acknowledge and thank Judy Egan for her dedication and work throughout Term 3. I knew that I would have nothing to worry about while I took this leave, and I was right. I would also like to thank Luke Mooney who was Acting Assistant Principal and Anne Barbic who was Acting Co Coordinator.  They really stepped up to the roles and did a marvellous job. This term Judy is taking Long Service Leave, and Penny Vanzwol will be Acting Assistant Principal. I know that Penny, as always will give 100%. Rachel Kennedy will be Acting REC in her place and will undoubtedly bring her devotion and creativity to this role over Term 4.

Out of School Hours Care

During Term 3, tenders were invited for the next contract of our Out of School Hours Care Provider.  A subcommittee from the Community Council, along with Judy Egan went through a rigorous process of considering proposals and interviewing successful submissions. A letter from Carl Jenkins (SCC Chair) and myself announcing the outcome of this process, can be found further on in the newsletter.

The Fete

It’s only 3 weeks to go before the big day! This is such an immense event in our school and parish and one that brings our community together.  As you know we have an energetic team of parents and parishioners working behind the scenes to make this happen, but the success on the day depends on the parent support from the school along with the parishioners.  Further in the newsletter are all the updates of what is happening with the fete and information on how you can support it.

New Uniform Items

Next year, we will be introducing two new articles of clothing to the school uniform. The first is a fleecy polo with the school logo embroidered on it. These will be available from Savvy in Tuggeranong and we will let you know when they are in stock. We will also be introducing a blue school polo shirt with a screen-print of the school logo on it. Currently the uniform is just a plain blue polo shirt and because they are available at many retail outlets, the colour variations of blues that children are wearing means that the shirts lack conformity.  These new polo shirts  will be available to purchase through the school which also means we can offer them at a lower cost.  Paula Papandreq (canteen and uniforms) has researched the market and has sourced a shirt that is durable and reasonably priced. We plan to have these available for purchase at the Kinder Orientation day for new students and also through the front office. Again, we will let you  know when we have them in stock. There will be a two year phasing in of these items, so parents with children in the upper primary classes will not need to purchase the new articles of clothing if the current ones still fit.

I would like to remind parents that students should now be wearing the summer uniform (jumpers of course for the colder mornings). If students have grown out of their uniforms, then please make use of the Second Hand School Clothing Pool to purchase uniforms for $5 per piece. It is not acceptable to have children out of school uniform. If your child is out of the correct uniform on any given day we ask that a note from home accompany the child to school so that we know that you are aware of what your child is wearing on that day. If you child needs a new hat, they can be purchased from the Front Office: bucket hats are $10 and legionnaires are $8. It is essential that every student has a school hat. Being a student of St Thomas the Apostle school includes wearing the correct school uniform for the whole of the school year.

School Hours

At the start of each term I am obliged to remind parents that school commences at 9:00am and concludes at 3:10pm. Recess is from 10:50am until 11:30am with lunch from 1:00pm until 1:40pm. Supervision in the morning commences at 8:30am and concludes in the afternoon at 3:30pm. Children should not be on the school grounds outside of these hours, unless supervised by their parents or carers.

Catholic Schools Netball Carnival

This is the final year that this carnival will be held as a Diocesan event on a weekend.  Good luck to all our students playing on Saturday. This year the carnival is being hosted by Rosary Primary school (Watson). It is being held at the Calwell District Playing Fields and begins at 8:30am. There will be food, entertainment, raffles and amusements available to all who come along.

Boroowa Netball and Touch Football Carnival

Next Friday, we have a group of students travelling by bus to Boorowa for their annual Netball and Touch football Carnival.  We attended this last year and it was a terrific day for the students and adults who came along. Thank you to the parents who have volunteered to coach and manage the teams at both of these carnivals and to Matt Lowe for his organisation for these events.

Term 4 is always a busy term so please make sure you make time for some peace and calm in your day.

May God bless you and your families

Ursula Jamieson
Principal