Today being the last day of Term 2, marks us halfway through the school year.  It’s been a productive term with engaging teaching and learning in our classrooms resulting in positive academic growth for our students. We also have had many community events taking place, that have given opportunities for our families to come together.

St Thomas the Apostle Feast Day and Winter Woolies

On Wednesday this week we had a wonderful day, celebrating the feast of St Thomas the Apostle. In the morning, we gathered for Mass in the church, and it was heartwarming to see so many parents and parishioners join us. After that, we gathered in the sunshine and shared a picnic morning tea.  During the middle session, the students were organised into groups with children from Kinder to Year 6. They participated in various activities centered around St Thomas the Apostle, who he was, what he did and what he means to us.

It was also the annual Vinnies Winter Woolies Day.  In the afternoon, the team from Vinnies received a huge collection of supplies, which will be distributed to the homeless in Canberra. Our generous families donated a huge number of beanies, scarves, blankets and gloves that were loaded into the Night Patrol Van. The SVDP crew was deeply grateful for the generosity of the St. Thomas the Apostle families.

A big thank you to Geoff Ryan, our  REC, for organising such an inspiring day and to Angela Bartkowiak for coordinating the Winter Woolies Appeal.

Safe on Socials

Thank you to the parents who were able to attend the ‘Safe on Socials’ webinar that was presented by Kirra Pendergast.  I asked for feedback from those who attended as an incentive to the parents and carers who weren’t able to join on the live webinar. Here is what they had to say…

“Kirra is a world leading expert in online/cyber safety, her real life examples were thought provoking and an eye opener for today’s parents. It’s a credit to the school that we can attract such a world leading expert to present to us.”

As a mother of two teenage children, technology surrounds their world. They have grown up with it, use it daily, interact with it, are very skilled with it and as a parent I am forever making sure that they are safe on a variety of different platforms. Last week while listening to Kirra Pendergast I was continually thinking  I wonder if my children are doing this in their bedrooms? Could someone get access to information about them because they have posted a photo with their dogs? Who is watching, interacting with them on games that they are playing? Do I talk enough to them about being safe online?

If you missed this webinar I would highly recommend you listen to it. Some valuable information for us as parents in the world we are living in now.

It was an eyeopener, I know the kids are well advanced in IT far more than I am.  I thought I had kept up as best I can, but I am sadly mistaken.  Games I thought they were playing, aren’t games they are Worlds and Worlds can be scary places. It has given me the confidence to talk to my children about Cyber Safety and feel like I know what I am talking about rather than them teaching me.

"Safe on Social" webinar last week was very informative and useful. Kirra put the balance of risk and benefit of online and social media. She is very realistic, rather than banning the kids on social media, she gave strategies like down/limit time, parental control, etc

Thank you to Luke Mooney for organising this significant event for our parents and carers.

As this was a closed webinar, the link is only available to our school community. Therefore, the link will be sent to our families via Compass.

School Community Council (SCC)

The SCC met last week for our regular Week 9 meeting. There was much discussion and even excitement about the possibilities the new model of the SCC brings, mainly the opportunities for more parents and carers to be involved in different aspects of school life.

You will hear more next term about the progress of the Parent Engagement Grant and the installation of our Ninja Playground.  As always, we are always looking for parents and carers to become involved in our many school activities.  Please see the flyer below to see how you can be part of something that is happening here at St Thomas the Apostle School.

School Resumes for Term Three on Tuesday 23 July

TEAMKIDS are taking bookings for their holiday program and also for care, if required on Monday 22 July.

Have a restful mid-winter break. I hope you all get to have some sleep ins and pyjama days.