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- Principal's Report
- RE Week 1 - Be still and know that I am God
- Library News
- Virtual Cross Country Event
- Sports Days Term 3 2020
- Szapp Notifications
- Student Achievements
- July Birthdays
- Partners: Parenting Ideas
- Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on school students with Disability
- St Thomas Apostle Feast Day photos
- TeamKids Newsletter
Dear Parents/Carers,
Welcome back for Term 3. I hope everyone had a relaxing and enjoyable break. Whilst there are still restrictions in place and we watch the tentatively to what is happening in Victoria and NSW in regard to COVID 19, at present in the ACT we are being cautious but optimistic.
The children have started well and settled into the new term happily. It has been lovely to see parents and carers in the playground each afternoon and hopefully very soon, we will be able to have you all back for assemblies and other gatherings. In the meantime, we will be creative in our thinking of how to involve you in what is happening at school.
Office Manager
We were all very sad to see Jodie Luhrs finish up on the last day of term, but we are also happy for her taking up the challenge of a new role. St Bede’s are blessed to have Jodie working in their school. The good news is that we have a new Office Manager. Mrs Naomi Trussler will be staring with us tomorrow. Jodie will be back for the day to hand over to Naomi so we will get to see Jodie here in the school office, one more time. Naomi will introduce herself in next week’s newsletter and share with us all, a little about herself. Welcome Naomi!
Afternoon Pick-up
With a return to normal pick up in the afternoon, the carpark and drive-through has been very busy. More people are using the drive through pick-up option than before COVID measures were in place. We will be able to cope with this by putting in place some procedures to alleviate the problem and to make the pick-up area, safe for the children
- Pick- up is from 3:10 until 3:30 so staggering arrivals between this time rather than most arriving at 3:10 will help the flow;
- If you need to get out of your car to assist your child, please park and walk across the pedestrian crossing to collect them;
- By placing your family name card on the dashboard or holding it up as you come into the pick-up area, the teachers on duty can call your child/children up to be ready. They do like to have a chat in the afternoon while they are waiting, so often they don’t notice when their car has arrived. Having these visible really does make a difference to the turnaround time of getting students into the cars. Laminated name cards were distributed last term. If you have misplaced yours and would like another please email the front office and that will be arranged.
By observing these three points, the pick-up should work efficiently.
Health and Safely
At the moment in the ACT we have been paused from moving to Stage 3 of our Roadmap, which means we are still limited with some of the events and things that we can do. I am receiving daily updates with the COVID 19 situation and we are doing everything thing we can to make sure that St Thomas the Apostle School is COVID Safe.
Unless there is a change in advice from the NSW and ACT Governments the following will be in place until further notice.
- Morning drop off will remain as a 'Kiss and Drop' arrangement. New signs have been erected over the holidays so it is clear where this area is. If you need to get out of your car to help you children or to get bags out of the boot, please park in the nearby carpark to do this.
- Students will not assemble as a whole school but will go directly to classrooms when the bell goes at 8:55am. Please ensure that your child/children arrive at school between 8:30 am and 8.55 and note that the end of the school day has resumed to being at 3.10 pm.
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Afternoon pick up is back to 'normal’ and I encourage those of you who used to park and pick your child/children up from the playground, please return to doing that. For parents who are coming into the school grounds to meet their children at the stage, we ask you to please park behind the RED LINE (this has been repainted) in the carpark. At this stage, extra adults will not be permitted in the school building, so please do not walk into classrooms or breakout spaces.
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We ask that you socially distance in the playground and that you leave once you have collected your children.
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In the event of wet weather, we will use the drive through pickup plan we had for Term 2. We will update you on that if and when it is needed;
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Parents are welcome in the front office, remembering to maintain physical and using the hand sanitiser provided.
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Any adult needing to enter the school building, must sign in at the Front Office, for tracing purposes.
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Maintaining the regular hand washing and sanitising practices of students will continue.
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Monday Community Prayer will resume in the church but with only 1/3 of the school attending each week and rotating through a three week roster. Unfortunately until further notice, they will be without parents.
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Assemblies will resume but again, until further notice, they will be without parents in attendance. Performances will be recorded and parents given access to these.
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Excursions may resume, however we will work with the benefits of this given that many places have limits and restrictions still in place. We will organise more incursions to occur at school this term to support and enhance student learning.
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Preparation for the Sacraments of Penance (Reconciliation) and First Eucharist will continue as previously communicated.
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If any student has any kind of illness, even if it is simply a light cold or flu like symptoms, (cough, runny nose, temperature etc) they are required to stay home and must not attend school. If a student is showing any signs of illness, their parents and carers will be asked to collect them as soon as possible.
I appreciate your patience and supporting us with the easing of restrictions. I know that it continues to be a difficult time for families, with many still dealing with significant challenges. Please do not hesitate to contact me if there is any way that I or the school can support you.
May God bless you and your families
Ursula Jamieson
Principal
RE Week 1 - Be still and know that I am God
Our focus for this term is “Be still and know.” We will be focussing on the catechism of the Catholic Church and on what the Bible teaches us about God.
Eucharist
Our Eucharist Program begins this term. We are of course very aware that dates may change depending on current social circumstances. Our Parent information evening will be next Wednesday 29th July at 7pm in the church. This is an important meeting and essential for all parents to attend. If you are unable to attend, please contact me prior to the evening so that we can make alternative arrangements. Due to social restrictions, we ask that children do not attend this night. If this presents significant challenges for you, please contact me and we will assist you. We look forward to sharing this special time with you.Penny Vanzwol
REC
LAST CHANCE TO GET YOUR CROSS COUNTRY RUN DONE!
At the moment Cooleman is in the lead, closely followed by Lanyon. Each time you enter your run you get 10 house points. Points will be calculated early next week.
Because of the restrictions with COVID 19, we will not be having the usual Cross Country Carnival this year. However, all is not lost as we know that many of our students love running the Cross Country. Therefore, St Thomas the Apostle School is hosting a Virtual Cross Country. Please see the attached link for all the details.
Could you please send photos of students running the Cross Country to lynette.wilson@cg.catholic.edu.au.
We would like to include them in the newsletter and Yearbook.
Kinder - Wednesday & Friday
Year 1 - Wednesday & Friday
Year 2 - Wednesday & Friday
Year 3/4 - Tuesday & Thursday
Year 5/6 - Tuesday & Thursday
Please note that Schoolzine is experiencing some software issues with Szapp notifications. For iPhones with IOS version 13 and onwards, the Szapp is not alerting when new messages are sent. The Schoolzine technical support is working on an upgrade and hope to have this fixed by the end of July.
Messages and alerts will still appear on your phone however you won't see that they are new alerts.
Recently, Maia and Adele had their hair cut and donated to Hair with Heart (Variety Children's Charity). This is yet another example of the generosity and strong sense of community that is so much a part of St Thomas the Apostle. We are proud of the girls and admire their strong sense of justice and compassion.