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- Principal's Report
- RE Week 9 - Be still and know that I am God
- Prayer - I thank you
- Remote Learning - Second pack to go home
- Easter Bonnet Parade
- Canteen News
- Library News
- TeamKids
- Parenting Ideas - Helping siblings resolve their fights
- Stripes Day photos
- Photos - Home Learning
- St Clare's College - Virtual Try Day and Opening Evening
Dear Parents/Carers,
As this is the last official newsletter of the term, I wanted to finish on a positive note rather than what we all know are the negatives we are currently faced with.
Firstly, I want to sincerely thank you, the parents and carers of our school community. Each and every one of you are facing changes in your lives and living in a world that 3 months ago, you would have only thought of as being an epic movie. You have been exceptionally supportive of us here at St Thomas the Apostle as our education delivery has been literally turned upside down. Thank you for the numerous emails, phone calls, conversations, flowers, muffins, and chocolates given to us. They emphatically tell us that you know that we are doing our best to make sure that your children are educated, cared for and loved and that next term, whatever the situation, we will continue to do this.
Remote Learning
The online trial we carried out this week for remote learning, has gone very well. We have learnt many things as teachers and I’m sure you as parents and carers have also made new discoveries about your children. We appreciate that for those of you working from home, it is quite the juggling act between getting your hours of work accomplished and also helping your child/children engage in, and carry out, their learning activities. As the Principal, I could not be prouder of our teachers and staff for the way they are collaborating to develop an effective program of learning for our students going into Term 2. I am also proud of our students for being so responsive to the changes we have had to make to the way they normally learn. By the time school gets back to normal, I am confident our children will have learnt a lot about being independent, self-directed and risk taking learners.
Next Week
Next week the four days are ‘pupil free’ and staff will be participating in intensive professional learning on 'Microsoft Teams'. This will be the platform used for our Remote Learning. Almost all families have made care arrangements for their children, which means we can all do this training. We greatly appreciate you doing this. Whilst there will be no remote learning and online contact provided over these four days, we will be posting on Facebook and the Szapp app, ideas for families to do each day.
Easter bonnet/hat parade
The first one will be our Easter bonnet/hat parade, a tradition we have had for many years at St Thomas the Apostle. Over the next week, we are asking all the student of create and decorate their very own original Easter hat. You would be wondering how we are going to do a parade when the children will not be attending school? The plan is, on Thursday between 10:45am until 11:15am, we are going to have an Easter bonnet parade ‘drive-by’. We are inviting all families to drive through the school car park (following the school afternoon pick up route). The staff will be out there and you can put down the windows and we will be able to see the children’s fantastic hat creations. We will take some photos and post them on Facebook to share with our community (those students with permission). We will also publish them in a special newsletter that afternoon. Of course, we will be practising social distancing as we watch you drive through in your cars. We look forward to seeing the original creations they come up with.
Easter Raffle
Another long held tradition at St Thomas’ is the Easter Raffle. The staff have donated lots of Easter goodies and Mrs Porteus has made them into mini hampers. This event is usually a fundraiser for Catholic Missions but this year, we won’t be selling tickets. Instead, we will put every child’s name in a hat and on Thursday, we will draw the winners. They will be contacted to give them the good news and the prizes can be picked up after the drive-by. Early next week, we will send some photos so the children can see what the prizes are.
Second take home pack
Don’t forget there is a second pack of resources for students ready for collection. These will include any books that the teachers want sent home, along with a family pack (one per family), of resources that include: playing cards, maths games instructions, sticky tape, dice, cardboard sheets and blue tac (these will be needed for STEM activities). These will be available to collect from school after 11:30am today (Friday). The packs will be on the students desks in their classrooms with the family pack included with the books of the oldest child in the family. Please bring a shopping bag to collect them as there are quite a few items. To comply with social distancing, we ask that only one family member comes into the school to collect the packs and they have thoroughly washed their hands before entering the school. There is no need to rush in at 11:30am as we will be here until at least 5pm and then again from 9am – 5pm on Monday.
Holy Week
Next week is Holy Week, the most central and solemn time in our church. While the churches may be closed, there will still be many opportunities to engage online with services and reflections focused on Easter. Penny Vanzwol, our REC has created some beautiful experience opportunities for our school community. She has talked about them in her part of the newsletter.
We are missing our students, especially their smiling faces! School is just not the same and there is no clear idea of when we will see the students face to face again. We are waiting for information regarding next term and as soon as the ACT Government and Catholic Education make any decision, you will be informed.
I hope to see many of you through the car windows on Thursday.
May God bless you and your family,
Ursula Jamieson
Principal
RE Week 9 - Be still and know that I am God
As we enter this very important season in the Catholic Church, we will continue to provide prayer reflections for you to share as a family. Now more than ever, it is important that we continue to take time for spiritual nourishment. Our faith sustains or sense of hope and internal peace.
Pope Francis has a simple, life-changing message for you: God’s love can grace each of us with a lasting and sustaining hope, no matter how dark or confusing our situation.
“Life is often a desert, it is difficult to walk, but if we trust in God, it can become beautiful and wide as a highway. Never lose hope; continue to believe, always, in spite of everything. Hope opens new horizons, making us capable of dreaming what is not even imaginable.”
—Pope Francis
Holy Week
Next week we enter the very special time in the Church Calendar called Holy Week. During Holy Week we reflect on the finals days of Jesus’ life. We think of the incredible sacrifice he made so that we may experience New Life. More than just recalling the events, we are challenged to consider what these events teach us about how to be people of faith. Jesus constantly calls us to action. How will we respond to the events of Holy Week? What will we do differently? How will we acknowledge God’s great love for us?
Next week, I will be posting some videos that explain the events of Holy Week. I will also be posting a challenge for you to do as a family. The teachers will also be participating in activities to enrich our spiritual lives. Some of these activities will involve community participation so watch out for them!
Finally, I encourage you to take time individually and as a family for spiritual nourishment through prayer, meditation and reading the Bible. Building our relationship with God helps us to experience more deeply His incredible love for us and to benefit from the sense of hope that accompanies this.
Penny Vanzwol
REC Coordinator
Remote Learning - Second pack to go home
Teachers and staff are currently putting together a 2nd pack of resources for students, to support their remote learning for Term 2 (see more details in the Principals' Report).
The packs will be in the classrooms on the students desks with the family pack on the desk of the oldest child in the family.
Friday collection times: 11:30am - 5pm
Monday collection times: 9am - 5pm
Next Thursday we are going to have an Easter bonnet parade ‘drive-by’. For more details see the Principal's Report.
Over the next week, we are asking you to create and decorate your very own original Easter hat.
The 'drive-by' parade is on:
Holy Thursday 9 April
10:45am until 11:15am
(please follow the school afternoon pick up route)
Owing to many factors, the canteen will be shut until school resumes with all students. We are sorry if this causes any inconvenience to you and your family but we know that under the present circumstances, you will understand.
Thank you for your support,
Paula Papandrea
Canteen manager
We would like to continue to include photos in future newsletters. If you have photos of your child/ren learning from home, please send them to
lynette.wilson@cg.catholic.edu.au
St Clare's College - Virtual Try Day and Opening Evening
Please see the attached PDF from St Clare's College regarding virtual Try a Day and Opening Evening and enrolments for 2021.