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- Principal's Report
- RE Week 8 - Who do you say I am?
- Library News
- Upcoming Events
- Harmony Day - Friday 26 March
- Easter Raffle
- Enrolments for 2022
- Awards Term 1 Week 8 2021
- Partners: Parenting Ideas
- Introducing the Class Parents for 2021
- Tuggeranong Regional Swimming Carnival
- March Birthdays
- Working Bee - Sunday 28 March 2021
- Photos - Year 1 Excursion Reptile Museum
- TeamKids Newsletter Week 8
- TeamKids Autumn Holiday Program
- Brindabella Blues - Girls Only
Dear Parents and Carers,
I expected that today I would be sharing with you the success of our Grandparent’s and Harmony Day. It was disappointing for grandparents who had travelled a long distance to be here, that it had to be postponed. It was a very wet start to the week but tomorrow is going to be sunny and a perfect day to finally celebrate.
Pupil Free Day
You may have noticed, when viewing the school calendar, that there are two pupil free days scheduled this year. They are the first day of Term 2 and Term 3, Monday 19 April and Monday 12 July. This means that staff attend but students do not. These days have been allocated by the Catholic Education Directorate to allow staff to engage in professional learning corresponding to our system wide initiative of Catalyst that will be rolled out over the next 3 years.
Catalyst empowers teachers with evidence-based professional learning in High Impact Teaching Practice, K-2 Literacy, quality curriculum resources and in-classroom coaching. It is a framework for united understanding of and practice in teaching ‘what matters most’ and ‘what works best’ based on soundly researched evidence. There will be no teachers here at school on those days, as we will be joining the teachers of Holy Spirit School Nicholls and St Michael’s Kaleen for a day facilitated by Lorraine Hammond. The office will be open on both of those Mondays.
TEAMKIDS will be running a holiday program for the day for those families that wish to use Out of School Hours Care for those day.
Second Hand Uniforms
Thank you to those parents who have volunteered to help out with the Second Hand Clothing Shop. We have many donations that have been washed and are ready to be hung and labelled with their size. If you have an hour or two to spare, please let Naomi in the front office know. We are going to make online order forms available so you can send in your requests for second hand uniform items, and the volunteers will select the best that is available and get it to you.
Working Bee on Sunday
Thank you very much to the families who have already signed up to help out at our annual Working Bee this coming Sunday. At present we have 10 families who have said that they can help but I know that there are many more who want to come (we usually have about 30). It is definitely not too late! Please click on the link below to register your help or fill in the sheet further in the newsletter. I have listed below who we have already and I apologise if you have put your name forward and it hasn’t reached us. We currently have a list of 23 jobs that need to be done so the more hands we have, the more we can achieve.
Yours in partnership
Ursula Jamieson
Principal
RE Week 8 - Who do you say I am?
Community Pantry
Thank you to those families who have contributed a meal/s to the Community Pantry. As we head into school holidays, if you have some time over the weekend to cook an extra batch of spaghetti or casserole or a batch of muffins or biscuits, it would be very much appreciated.
Lent
Thank you to those families who have sent in photos or emailed about their Lenten Reflection. We hope that this has provided a focus for your family throughout the time of Lent.
Holy Week
Next Week we will commemorate the days of Holy Week. Our newly formed Youth Ministry Team will lead the school in a reflection next Thursday 1st April.
Friendship Fridays
Friendship Friday is a renewed initiative to embrace and develop the sense of community which forms the heart of St Thomas the Apostle school.
The initiative aims to;
- Encourage new friendships
- Develop positive, supportive networks
- Provide a space for siblings to meet and play
- Provide activities for young children to engage with
- Engage with some charitable works such as craft or cooking activities for members of our school and Parish community. (No skill required!)
We encourage you to come and join us on a weekly basis or as often as you choose. A balance of adults with young children and adults with only school-aged children would be wonderful. It is really important that everyone feels welcome. Those with children in upper grades would provide positive support to those new to our community while those new to the community could develop friendships that have the potential to span many years.
We will begin in Term 2 Week 1 with a general meet and greet and discussion on what the initiative looks like. Activities for following weeks may include; cooking for the community pantry, making some muffins/biscuits for families in need/parishioners, making cards, doing some gardening, book sharing and walking.
We hope to see this initiative well supported by our wonderful community.
Sacraments
Thank you to all those families who attended Sacramental Enrolment Masses/Prayers. If you have missed the enrolment, please contact Penny Vanzwol through the Front Office.
Harmony Day
We look forward to a lovely day on Friday. The Mini Vinnies Team members have worked hard to ensure that the experience is meaningful and enjoyable.
Penny Vanzwol
REC
This week in Library we discussed generosity through the lens of sharing your true self with the world. While the younger students focussed on sharing their gifts and talents, in the upper year levels, we spoke about sharing at a wider level in the sense of being passionate about a cause and developing a social conscience.
Important Library Update
Beginning in Week 1 of Term 2, all students in Years K-2 will return their library books EVERY MONDAY. The shorter lessons this year and faster turnover of books has proven to be logistically challenging. Having all students in K-2 return their books on Mondays will hopefully alleviate this.
Penny Vanzwol
Teacher Librarian
Date |
Event |
Friday 26 March |
Harmony Day/Grandparents Day 9:30am - 11:30am |
Sunday 28 March |
Working Bee 8am - 12pm |
Monday 29 March |
Yr 5/6 Excursion (Geoscience) |
Thursday 1 April |
Easter Raffle drawn (8:50am) |
Tuesday 20 April |
Term 2 starts Easter Hat Parade 8:50am |
Students are invited to wear clothing that represents their family cultural heritage,
or they can wear an orange t-shirt, socks, ribbons etc to acknowledge the day.
This will be the last day for donations to our partner school in Kenya.
this week. Awards will be presented at morning assembly.
Kinder | Mia Nightingale, Rohan Kapoor Imogen Wagner, Arlen Schacht |
Year 1 |
Laila Dunley, Charlie Anderson |
Year 2 | Isabella Wigram, Tobias Mitchell Lucy O'Brien, Felix Walker |
Year 3/4 | Alice Warren, Dylan Dunn Sofia Pearman, Rodrigo Win Evie Anrath, Daniel Glynn Evie Russell, Leo Blair |
Year 5/6 |
Ashleigh Fuller, Matthew Hoskinson |
Principal's Special Award |
Eva Rosette |
Cultural Award |
Lara Kirk |
Harry Adcock
Eli Ferguson
Chloe Warren
Veda Stewart
Oliver Greaney
Harry Cameron
Sophie Patron
Jordon Fraser
Maddie Baker
Hudson Wundersitz
Caitlin Hackney-Britt
Dominique Busa
George Padayattil Mathew
Introducing the Class Parents for 2021
Class Parents support our parent/carer community as well as our wonderful teachers. They take on a number of tasks, such as coordinating year-group parent/carer networks and class contact lists, supporting communication between the school and parents, organising social events, and arranging or maintaining a suitable platform for all parents in the year group to share their ideas, photos, raise questions (this is usually in the form of year group facebook page or similar).
We are very fortunate to have the following people volunteer to be Class Parents for 2021. They would love to hear from you if you haven’t already introduced yourself.
KH |
Aleks Kalinowski |
KL |
Emma Mills |
1L |
Vicki Pearman |
1V |
Paula Donaldson |
2B |
Mega Alagappan |
Roselyn McInerney |
|
2PT |
Rachael Mendoza |
3/4CK |
Tia Giacomin |
3/4G |
Luis Gallardo |
3/4J |
Corinne Smith |
3/4RCH |
Aleks Kalinowski |
5/6C |
Rachael Mendoza |
We are still looking for class parent volunteers for 5/6B and 5/6KP. If you'd like to be involved, or have any questions or feedback, please contact the class parent coordinators, Edwina Wundersitz and Aleks Kalinowski, by leaving a message with your class teacher, at the front office, or with another class parent. And if your class already has a class parent and you'd like to get involved too, fantastic! Come and talk to us, we're here to help.
Tuggeranong Regional Swimming Carnival
On Tuesday of this week (23/3/2021) St Thomas had 16 students represent us at the Tuggeranong Region Swimming Carnival. Each and every swimmer gave it their best and represented us with pride. There will be a few swimmers from St Thomas who will be progressing to the ACT carnival to represent Tuggeranong in a few weeks’ time. When results are sent through we will present these children at an assembly. Congratulations to all our swim representatives.
Big thanks to all the parents who came along as spectators and especially to Monique Warren who was a time keeper on the day.
Matt Lowe
Sports Coordinator
Happy Birthday to the following students who will cebebrate a birthday this week
Brindabella Blues - Girls Only
Bring a Friend and Come and Try Evening
Where: Calwell Playing Fields. Were St Calwell. On the Upper Fields opposite the canteen.
When: Tuesday 30 March 5.30 to 7pm.
Who: Girls aged 6 to 11 who want to try football.
Cost: Free
What: Come and find out why Football is the largest junior sport in Australia. The evening will include football games everyone can be involved in and enjoy. Just wear boots or joggers and bring a water bottle and a have a go attitude.
Contacts: For further information contact Michael on juniors@bbfc.org.au or 0423 824 192.