This has been a mammoth week at our school! We started off with the Tuggeranong Athletics Carnival, of which we were responsible for running and had 50 of our talented students competing. I received this email from Barb Miels Barret, an ex-parent of the school who teaches here on a Friday and is president of the regional Little Athletics Association.

Hi Ursula,

I just wanted to pass on my feedback that Luke did an outstanding job today as Coordinator for the Regional Primary School Athletics Carnival.  Luke remained calm under pressure and kept all the events running smoothly.  Luke worked non-stop and ensured every event had volunteers and was able to assist with any questions the officials had at their event, he was well organised and had a great manner in liaising with the ACT Athletics officials, teachers, parents and students. 

Geoff did an outstanding job as Announcer and was able to keep the carnival running on time and running smoothly.

All the St Thomas children seemed to get to their events on time and at the right location which was a credit to Kelli who was looking after the students.

Lynette was an amazing help with Mick the ACT Athletics Officials in assisting in entering the results from each and every event! This was a critical role as the students, parents and schools were very eager to see their results after their event. 

It was great that Ian was on hand to assist with the school gazebo and setting up.  Having the school gazebo made it easier for all parents and students to know where to meet up in the morning and where to go back to after their event.   

The parents who volunteered were outstanding. Most of them volunteered for an event and stayed at that one event for the entire day!  We could not have run the carnival without them! 

And not to mention the students who all tried their best and tried so hard in each and every event they participated in.  

All in all St Thomas the Apostle should be extremely proud of the students, parents and teachers who participated at the athletics carnival today. They represented St Thomas the Apostle so well.  A tribute to you and the leadership team.  

On Wednesday and Thursday, we went through the Registration Standard and School Improvement Review. This happens every 5 years and is a very in-depth process looking at what happens in all aspects of the running of the school. The process was thorough and the results very positive. We were given affirming feedback by the panel including their observations of how welcoming, caring and collaborative our community is. We will be provided with a comprehensive report that I will share with the school community when it is finalised.  Thank you to all the staff, students and Community Council members for making such a concerted effort to ensure that the panel got to see us at our best.  Congratulations goes to everyone who make up this beautiful community of St Thomas the Apostle School.

On Thursday it was the annual Catholic Education Faith in Learning Awards. There were a number of teachers nominated from St Thomas’ and I am proud to say that Jacinta Housler was recognised as an Emerging Leader in Catholic Education. Congratulations Jacinta on being such a worthy recipient of this award.

Today, Geoff Ryan, Father Praveen and I attended the Catholic Leaders Day. This focused on Evangelisation and the Year of the Holy Spirit, which has just begun. We were led by Archbishop Christopher Prowse and Professor Peta Goldburg. We were joined with Principals, Religious Education Coordinators and Parish Priests from right across our Archdiocese.

With only 4 weeks of the term left, there are some community events coming up that we are holding and look forward to a strong community support for.

Week 8

On Friday 1 September is our Father's Day Breakfast. Please click this link to let us know you are coming and if you can help on the day (not the dads, it’s their morning). Please RSVP by Tuesday 29 August.

Week 9

On Monday 11 September, we are having a School Community Council open night. This is a social event with wine and cheese but also an opportunity to ask questions of the SCC about plans for the school and also to share with us your ideas and give feedback about what is happening.  Please click this link to let us know you are coming so we can ensure we are catering for all attendees.

Week 10

And finally, to finish off the term, we are once again hosting our ShOW afternoon. This stands for “Show Our Work”. This is on Wednesday 20 September from 3:30 until 4:30 pm. You can come in with you child anytime in that hour and they will take you on a tour of their classroom and ShOW you all their brilliant work. They can also take you to the Art Studio and along the art-filled corridors to show you what they have created.  The students decide what to show you – it’s their tour.  It has always been a very successful afternoon in years past and we look forward to establishing it once again as an event on our calendar. There will be more about this in the lead up.

Enjoy the last weekend of winter. Spring is just around the corner.

Yours in partnership,