I am pleased to announce that we had four nominations for the School Community Council. Although we had three positions to fill, I received permission (in line with the constitution) to allow for one more position to be available.  News of this permission was gratefully received as I hate the idea of turning away a person willing contribute to the parent involvement in the life of St Thomas the Apostle School. Our new members are Samantha Wilson, Amie Lloyd, Ana Stewart and Daniel McInerney. Our continuing members are Angela Schacht (Deputy Chair and currently acting chair person), Mike Giacomin (Treasurer) Corrine Smith, Edwina Wundersitz and Aleks Kalinowski. In the coming weeks, the new members will share a little about themselves. 

Next Monday will be the first meeting of the SCC for 2023. At this meeting, all positions on the SCC well be open for nomination and election. I will publish the positions of the SCC in next week’s newsletter. 

Ash Wednesday and the season of Lent

Last Wednesday was Ash Wednesday and the beginning of the Lenten journey to Easter. The students, staff and many parents, family members and parishioners attended Mass in the morning. During the Mass, we considered how Lent is a time of reflection and challenge, where we look at how we live our lives and decide to make a change, a change that will bring us into a closer relationship with God but also with our family, our friends and our community. We often think about giving up something during Lent, but maybe actually taking up something will have a positive impact on other people as well as ourselves. Here are some examples to consider:

1. Each day tell your child something that makes them unique
2. Volunteer at a charity or help someone you know could do with a hand up
3.  Go to a weekday Mass
4. Say three nice things to family members every day
5. Be kind
6. Donate things you don’t need to charity
7. Replace 30 minutes of TV/computer/phone time with 30 minutes of prayer/quiet time
8. Don’t complain
9. Don’t buy anything that you don’t need
10. At the dinner table each night, ask all present to share something good that happened to them during the day.

Year Books

This week the students who attended St Thomas the Apostle school in 2022 will have received the ‘2022 Year Book’. This is an annual publication that celebrates all the happenings across the year. All the staff contribute to it, but a very special mention must go to Lynette Wilson. As our publications officer, Lynette spends many hours creating this book. This includes taking all the photos, creating the templates and proofreading the stories and reports. She is proud of what she creates and I’m sure you would agree that it is a great keepsake of the year. Thank you Lynette. 

Smart Watches

Parents and carers are reminded that smart watches are treated the same as phones and other devices at school if used inappropriately. Smart watches, Fitbits and similar devices with cellular, photographic and film capabilities pose a risk to student wellbeing and safety. When these technologies are misused by students, they can be very disruptive to students’ welfare, socialisation and in some cases cause various levels of harm. We understand that students may have a phone or watch to let parents know that they have arrived safely to school safely or for contact after school hours. These devices are to be turned off when they come into the school grounds and remain in the student's school bag during the day. Any messages for students during the day can be received via the Front Office. We want to ensure that students are not being distracted from their learning. As a school, we also want to be able to guide and support students in being able to solve problems with the support of peers and school staff whilst at school. As with phones and other devices, these devices will be confiscated, and parents contacted if used inappropriately. 

NAPLAN

Year 3 and 5 students will participate in NAPLAN between 15 March to 27 March. We will organise a timetable of the exact days the test will be on in the next couple of weeks. 

What is NAPLAN?

The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) is an annual national assessment for all students in Years 3, 5, 7, and 9, and is the only nationwide assessment that all Australian children undertake. 

It’s a measure to see whether or not young Australians are developing the literacy and numeracy skills that provide the critical foundation for other learning, and for their productive and rewarding participation in the community. 

If you would like your child to be withdrawn from NAPLAN testing or have any concerns about your child's participation, please do not hesitate to contact your child’s teacher to discuss.  

There is a public demonstration site that can be accessed by students and their parents. The demonstration site has tests which can be used by students to familiarise themselves with the types of questions and related functionalities available in the online NAPLAN assessment. You can access the public demonstration site at the following link: 

Playground in the afternoons

It is so lovely to see parents and carers coming into the school grounds in the afternoons and catching up and chatting while the children play. This is so good for building our community. Many of the children are playing on the equipment which we love to see but I must remind you of the importance of you being present and supervising them while they are doing this.  This also extends to the cubby houses. Please do not let the children climb over the top of them. They are not built for climbing on and I would hate to see a child fall and hurt themselves. 

Unfortunate incident in the carpark

Earlier this week, one of our parents came in from morning drop off, quite distressed. She had been using the ‘kiss and drop’ area and her child was having some trouble getting out of the car. She got out to help her as any parent would.  She was then approached by another parent who took it upon themselves to remind her, rather abruptly, that if she wanted to get out of the car that she should park and walk her child across to school.  Why I am sharing this with you is because it really isn’t what we usually see or expect from our parents and carers who for the most part, are caring and considerate. But more importantly I want to share the thoughts that came from this parent afterwards. “While it wasn't one of the best experiences being spoken to like that, particularly after the juggle of getting three kids out the door on time, on reflection perhaps the other person had a rough start to the day and it came across in their tone and delivery”. Rather than holding on to the hurt and upset, she was able to approach the situation with empathy. As we enter into this Lenten season, may we all be like this mother and recognise the silent struggles that others may have. 

In this season of Lent, I pray that God's Spirit of love, healing and hope binds us as people who continue to seek and act together to make our community and indeed the world as a whole, a loving and just one. 

May God bless you and your families.

Happy Birthday
to the following students and teachers
who will celebrate a birthday this week

This week I have been helping lock the gates each day with my Learning Support co-workers. I enjoy this time each morning saying hi to many students and also checking that everything is safe and secure in my "backyard"!

Today I said good morning to Kinder J and they gave me their "love lenses". I helped Year 3/4 with writing, reading, Maths and Spelling Mastery. However, I did get very tired and spent some time catching up on my puppy sleep.

Love Tommy