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Dear Parents and Carers,
We are officially into the second half of the term, and although we have implemented many COVID safe measures, there is definitely a sense of us being back to normal. Many schools around us have had positive cases of COVID in the school and we hope that we continue not to be on that list.
Hall Renovations
The hall renovations are coming on well and I have included some pictures of the work so far. It is expected that it will be finished by the end of Term 1 2022, but of course that is dependent on rain for the exterior foyer extension to be completed on time.
School Fees
These were due to be finalised last week (unless you are on a Direct Debit plan). They can be paid by Qkr, cash, credit card, EFTPOS, BPay or Direct Debit. If at any time you experience difficulty in meeting your commitment in relation to fees, please don’t hesitate to come and speak with me. If you have been affected financially due to COVID, you may be entitled to have your fees paid by CE for part of Term 4. Please contact Naomi in the front office and she can provide you with the information and forms to apply for this. All COVID related applications need to be finalised by the end of next week.
Reporting and Parent Teacher Interviews
In the next week teachers will begin to look at assessment for the end of semester reporting. Because of the fact that one whole term has been Remote Learning, there will be some areas where teachers will not be able to give an A-E grade. Maths, English, RE, Music and Indonesian will all have a grade and other subject areas will be year level dependent based on what units of work have been covered since the children have returned to face-to-face teaching. Usually, we send out reports at the end of the term and then if parents request a Parent Teacher Interview, they take place in the last week of term. By that time of the year parents and carers are so busy getting ready for Christmas that the invitation is not taken up. We are doing things quite differently this year. To enable teachers and parents to have a solid opportunity to discuss this terms learning, we are holding Parent Teacher Interviews over a two-week period (Weeks 9 and 10) and they will be 15 mins in length. Dialogue is an important feature of reporting and the discussions that take place in these interviews give parents and carers a far better understanding of their child’s academic, social, spiritual and emotional progress than a written comment does. There will still be a short comment on the report from the classroom teacher. An invitation for you to book a time to meet over MS Teams with your child/ren’s teacher will be sent out next week. Interviews will be in Week 9 and 10 and reports will be sent out in Week 11. We believe that this approach will give all our parents and carers a detailed understanding of their child’s learning for Semester 2.
It looks like a wet weekend ahead but it’s so lovely to see how lush and green our lawns and gardens are.
Yours in partnership,
Ursula Jamieson
Principal
RE Week 6 - Who do you say I am?
Eucharist
Last night a group of 25 children received Eucharist for the first time. Having missed out on the event by 2 hours on the day we went into lockdown, the children were extremely excited and very well prepared. The atmosphere was reverent and the children demonstrated exemplary participation in the Mass. We are grateful to Trudie, the choir and John Kennedy for their support and participation on the night. The future of the church is in very good hands with these children.
Confirmation 2021
Confirmation will be celebrated on Wednesday 1st December and Thursday 2nd December at 6pm at St Thomas the Apostle Church. Numbers will be limited based on COVID limits regulated by ACT Health. Each candidate will be allowed to bring 6 guests. The candidates will participate in a Retreat Day on Monday 29th November. We appreciate your patience as we navigate the constrictions of our current situation and look forward to sharing this special day with you and your child.
Mini Vinnies and Youth Ministry Evening retreat
We are very excited to be running an evening retreat for the Year 5/6 Mini Vinnies Team and Youth Ministry Team. It will involve a reflective prayer time followed by some activities to enhance our understanding of social justice issues. We are hoping that this will become a regular event in th faith life of the school.
Penny Vanzwol
REC
Happy Birthday to the following students who will celebrate a birthday this week
Sports & Cultural Photos - Monday 15 November
2022 Device Program (formally BYOD)
As you would have read in the SCC report in last week's newsletter, we have been reviewing our BYOD iPad program for 2022. Upon advice from Catholic Education Canberra Goulburn (CECG), we will be moving away from a Bring Your Own Device model at St Thomas the Apostle Primary School. This initiative aligns with other education and industry sectors.
The model that we will move to will be a levy type arrangement, which will introduce a personal Chromebook or Windows laptop to every student in Years 3, 4 and 5. Students will use this same device through to Year 6. The devices will remain at school for use whilst the students are in Years 3 and 4. When students are in Years 5 and 6, they will take the device home for charging and to complete any Home Learning. The decision about which device will be made soon, dependent on technical and costings advice from CECG.
The reasons for this shift include:
Technical support and security
All Chromebooks/laptops will have a management profile installed on them by Catholic Education. This will allow the school to push out apps and security updates to all Chromebooks. It also allows our IT team to service the Chromebooks if software issues arise.
Cost
A Chromebook/laptop is cheaper than an iPad (when purchased with a bluetooth keyboard and protective case). The school will maintain ownership of the device until the end of Year 6, where students will have the opportunity take the Chromebook/laptop to high school, if families deem it fit for purpose. One of the benefits of this arrangement is that if the device is damaged at school, through insurance, a new device will be provided while the damaged one is repaired. To begin the initiative, the levy will be adjusted depending on which year the student is in for 2022. More information will be provided once we have costings sorted. We are purchasing the Chromebook\laptops through CECG, which gives us greater purchasing power to keep the price low.
All current Year 5 students will continue to use their iPad in 2022 as we transition to this new model and will also have access to a school owned Chromebook to complement the iPad. If families have already purchased a new iPad for 2022, students will still be able to use it, in conjunction with a school Chromebook.
We will be hosting a Live Online Event in the near future that will provide further details of this initiative. The details of this event will be released soon on Compass.
Kind regards,
Luke Mooney and Ursula Jamieson
The winners of the Will Lipscombe Annual Art Award will be announced when we have all staff present and a fine day that we can gather outside.
It is a very special event and we want to ensure that we give it the value it deserves.
We will let you know when a day and time has been scheduled.
Please be aware for morning dropoff and pickup that all parents and children should use the school crossings. This is to ensure the safety of everyone.
Thank you