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- Principal's Report
- St Thomas the Apostle New Cross in Hall
- RE Week 3 - Our Common Home - Connecting with Each Other
- Community Pantry
- Upcoming Events
- Cross Country Carnival - Monday 16 May
- Library News
- Chess Club
- Fete News
- Term 2 Information Letters
- Birthdays this week
- Online Family Event - 16 May
- Call for Class Parents
- Student Achievements
- Photos - Mother's Day Portrait Gallery
- Photos - New School Hall
- St Thomas Apostle Primary Open Day
- St Anthony's ELC Open Days
- St Clare's College Open Days
- Global Schools Partners
- Basecamp Year 5/6 Retreat Flyer
Dear Parents/Carers,
I am so pleased to be able to tell you that some more restrictions are being eased and as of Monday, drop off and pick up can resume to how it was in pre-covid days. This means that parents and carers are welcome to park in the mornings and come into the school grounds for morning assemblies. This is the same for the afternoons, where you can meet your children at the stage at 3:10pm. For those of you using drive through, there will be no need to use the playgroup carpark for pick up, all drive through pickup will be through the school carpark.
For the present, awards will still be presented at the Friday morning assembly. The names of the recipients will be announced on Wednesday afternoon via Compass so those parents and carers who wish to be at the Friday morning assembly, will have time to organsise that.
From the beginning of Term 3, the plan is to go back to fortnightly Friday afternoon performance assemblies and awards. I will let you know at the end of Term 2 the details for that.
This is such good news for a community that has not had our parents and carers with us in the school grounds for such a long time.
Election Sausage Sizzle
Thank you to those of you who have signed up to help at the election sausage sizzle next Saturday. We are hoping for a steady crowd and the opportunity to show off what a welcoming and friendly community we are here. Please consider giving an hour of your time to help out. If you are able to come along, click the link here, select a time that suits, and put your name in that slot.
Link to help at Election Sausage Sizzle
School Hall Renovation
Our renovation is officially complete and we couldn’t’ be more thrilled with the end result. The wall that people have asked ‘is it a caravan?’ has turned out to be a visual delight to the eye, with its designer window in the middle. It certainly has been a talking piece. With the brick work being rust and deep ocean blue, it is complemented beautifully by the painted brick wall in a raging bull colour and the existing deep ocean blue fascia (yet to be repainted but will be soon). Behind the wall is an entrance foyer / air lock. It has automatic doors on both sides and is stroller / pram and wheelchair friendly. We have a wheelchair lift installed at the side of the stage so that access to the stage is available for all. Our new stage curtain is a maroon colour that matches our new chairs that are in ‘red gum’. Rather than being stacked at the back of the hall and taking up so much space, the chairs are now housed in the newly built storeroom. The black butt timber floors have been sanded and sealed and the blue linoleum at the back of the hall has been replaced with vinyl tiles that match the wooden floor, almost perfectly. The new windows let in more light than before and can be opened in summer to allow for airflow that will be created from the two evaporative coolers which have been installed on the roof. The water heaters have been refurbished so the hall can be as warm as toast on those cold Canberra days that we are about to experience in the coming months. To finish it all off so beautifully and in the spirit of us a catholic school, we have a stunning cross, painted by Anne Gowen. She has painted it from an indigenous perspective and has written about why she painted it the way she did. This account and photos of the renovation are further on in the newsletter.
Online Family Event
Coinciding with National Families week, Australia’s annual celebration of the importance of families, The Council of Catholic School Parents Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn (CSPACG) in collaboration with Catholic Education are hosting an online family event on Monday May 16th. This will be from 7:30pm until 8:15pm. This will be an opportunity to discover some practical ways to become engaged in your child’s Catholic Education. Please consider registering for this event. More information and how to register is further on in the newsletter.
The weekend is looking to be drier than the week we’ve just had. I hope you have a good one.
Yours in partnership,
Ursula Jamieson
Principal
RE Week 3 - Our Common Home - Connecting with Each Other
We currently have 22 students preparing for the sacrament of Reconciliation. Please keep these wonderful students in our prayers as we focus on connecting with others this term.
Pope Francis gives us the following advice about Reconciliation. “Dear friends, celebrating the Sacrament of Reconciliation means being enfolded in a warm embrace: it is the embrace of the Father’s infinite mercy. But I am telling you: each time we go to confession, God embraces us. God rejoices! Let us go forward on this road. May God bless you!”
Family Prayer Night – Wednesday 18th May in the Church
All families are welcome to attend the family prayer night at 6pm in the Church on Wednesday 18th May. The theme is Reconciliation. We will pray with some of the students who are preparing for this sacrament.
Geoff RyanWe are seeking donations for the Community Pantry as there are many families who could use a little extra love and support at this time. Any donations of meals you could provide would be most appreciated.
Date |
Event |
Saturday 14 May |
St Thomas Apostle Open Day 9am - 11am |
Monday 16 May |
Cross Country Carnival 11:15am - 1pm
|
Friday 20 May |
Walk to School Day |
Over the last few weeks the students have been enjoying borrowing some new additions to the Library. As Covid restrictions ease we will be able to make time at school for parents to come to help with covering books. If you think you may be interested, please send me an email with the days that you may be free.
Children in Kinder and Year 1 are learning to use an iPad to film them retelling a story from a book. In years 2-6 the students are learning to tell their own stories using stop animation techniques. They are creating their storyboards and will be filming over the next few weeks.
Borrowing days for next week:
Tuesday 17th May: K-2, 3/4J
Wednesday 19th May: 3/4C, 5/6KM, 5/6B
Leah Godfrey
Teacher Librarian
(Semester 1)
Plans are underway for the Fete to return this year on Saturday 12 November from 10:00am - 2:30pm.
Fete Countdown
184 days
In order for the fete to be successful we are on the lookout for:
Convenor and Committee Members
It is a big job to pull the fete together each year and the committee still has a few vacant positions that need filling. We are looking for as much support as we can get.
Sponsors and Donations
WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT NOW!
For the fete to be financially successful it requires generous donations of cash and prizes. If you or someone you know would like to make a cash or a prize donation, or you are a business who would like to make a tax-deductible donation before the end of the Financial year we would love to hear from you. All sponsors are recognised in the lead up to the fete, a sponsorship proposal is available on request if you are interested to know more about this.
Next virtual meeting
Tuesday 24 May
Happy Birthday to the following students and staff who will celebrate a birthday this week
Call for Class Parents
We, Edwina Wundersitz and Aleks Kalinowski, are your friendly class parent coordinators on the school community council.
We are very fortunate to have wonderful and engaged cohort of class parents, and we would welcome any other parents and carers who would like to represent their child’s class/year group. If you are interested in joining or finding out more, please send a message to us via the lovely Naomi at the front office by 25 May.
Class Parents support our parent/carer community as well as our wonderful teachers. They take on several tasks, such as coordinating year-group parent/carer networks and class contact lists, supporting communication between the school and parents, organising social events, and arranging or maintaining a suitable platform for all parents in the year group to share their ideas, photos, raise questions (this is usually in the form of private year group Facebook page – refer to the list of links below).
Current Grade |
Group Name |
Link |
Kindergarten |
STTAK Kindy 2022 |
|
Year 1 |
STTAK Year 1 2022 |
|
Year 2 |
STTA Yr2 2022 |
|
Year 3* |
Saint T Year 3 2022 |
|
Year 4* |
STTAK Year Four 2022 |
|
Year 5* |
Saint T Year Five 2022 |
|
Year 6* |
Saint T Year 5/6 2022 |
|
*For those in year 3/4 or 5/6, please note that group admins will cross-post relevant information between the 3 & 4, and 5 & 6 cohorts. |
We will be issuing year group contact lists based on the contact information you have provided to the school. These lists will include the following details:
- Child’s name
- Child’s class
- Parent(s)/ Carer(s) name
- Parent(s)/ Carer(s) mobile number
- Parent(s)/ Carer(s) email
Please note class lists will only be issued to families within each year group.
If you would like to opt out of this class list, please email Naomi Trussler by 25 May.
Aleks and Edwina
It was a big weekend for six St Thomas the Apostle students who play in the Tuggeranong Buffaloes Under 8 Blue’s team and definitely one they won’t forget. The weekend started with the boys playing during half-time at the Raiders v Bulldogs game at GIO stadium on Friday night. They all had a fantastic time and it was an amazing experience for them.
St Thomas Team members included: Harry Maher, Vincent Sommariva, Daniel Housler, Thomas Housler, Vincent Denino and Noah Anrath.
Congratulations also to Griffin Moule (5/6 KP) and Macy Moule (a former St Thomas the Apostle student) were both recently awarded Age Champion for their age group at the Woden Little Athletics Club.
Congratulations also to Lewis Rice who recently competed at the ACT swimming Championships. He had a couple of PB's with his best being 4th place overall in 50 Freestyle.