Dear Parents and Caregivers,

The well publicised NAPLAN assessments took place recently.  The usefulness of NAPLAN (and its predecessor the Basic Skills Test) has long created debate regarding its usefulness to parents and schools. Some loathe the idea, others believe it is a key assessment tool that gives an accurate picture of a child’s achievement in literacy and numeracy.

At St Thomas Aquinas we believe it provides the key stakeholders (students, parents and teachers) with a snapshot of a child’s learning in two key areas. NAPLAN data is only one piece of the learning puzzle. An over-emphasis on NAPLAN places unnecessary stress and pressure on children for a small educational gain. We cannot allow ourselves to fall into the trap of believing that a test score is a measure of our children’s intelligence and potential! In light of that we have a duty to ensure we set up children for success and therefore give them the opportunities to develop ‘test’ literacy skills, that is, how to navigate forms of assessments such as NAPLAN whilst applying their knowledge and skills.

A pre-eminent academic and author Ken Robinson espouses that children need to be given the opportunities at home and school to find their “element”.

Robinson suggests that a person’s element is the intersection between what they are good at and what they love. It’s finding that ‘thing’ where you will work hard and love every minute of it. It’s when you’re energised rather than drained by your work (or learning).

The end goal of education is to prepare children for employment so rather than obsessing about a test score, we should be thinking about schooling in terms of helping our children discover their ‘element’ - and how to pursue it. 

Rather than narrowing their world and their focus to a score, we should be opening them up to all the possibilities and opportunities we can.

Learning the basics is absolutely vital. Literacy and numeracy are incredibly important and foundational to a whole range of life paths. However, we still need to be encouraging our children to try new things, to play, to dream, to be allowed to fail and learn from that failure. 

Above all, we need to resist the notion that our parenting, our teachers and our schools should be judged on a tiny part of the curriculum at a particular moment in time!

Also my congratulations are extended to all the children who will soon celebrate their First Reconciliation.  Whilst this brings to conclusion the Parish’s Sacrament of Penance program, it is hoped that children and their families will continue to access this Sacrament of Healing over and over again as part of a life-long commitment to developing a relationship with our loving and merciful God, who longs to fill us with grace, healing and peace.

Yours in partnership

Mr Anthony McElhone

Principal

Morning Supervision

Morning supervision begins at 8:30am. We have a significant number of students arriving at school prior to 8:30am each day and subsequently they have to wait in the office. This causes significant disruption to the operation of our office. We respectfully request that students not arrive at school prior to 8:30am when playground supervision commences. Your support of this request is greatly appreciated.

Parent Contact Details

At all times, we ask that parents keep your contact details up to date.  Phone numbers and email addresses can be amended, by you, through the Compass portal.  Please advise the office, in writing/email, of any other change in details.

Change of Routine

Please remember to inform the office or your child's class teacher if there is going to be a change in routine. If a parent is running late please contact the school office. If you have organised for someone else to collect your child, please inform the office of this as soon as possible or write a note for your child's class teacher.

Winter Uniform

From the beginning of Term 2 students should make the change from Summer to Winter uniform.  There is a 2 week grace period where students can wear EITHER summer or winter uniform but not a combination of both.  From Week 3 it is expected that the children be in their winter uniform.

2023 School Calendar

The key date of events and celebrations for 2023 can be viewed in our online school calendar. The calendar can be viewed on our school website and via the newsletter.

Important Dates

Update

Rule Reminder

Week 10: This weeks’ PB4L rule reminder focuses on appropriate behaviours whilst travelling to and from school by bus. All students are required to sit at the front of the bus, filling the seats from the front. Once seated, students must remain in their seat for the entire journey, only leaving their seat to disembark. Students need to ensure that they speak quietly to each other to ensure that the driver can concentrate. Students keep their hands, feet and objects to themselves and Stage 3 students are not allowed to use their iPads while on the buses. STA share the buses with students from other schools and we can’t control the actions of those students. We can only control our own actions whilst travelling on the buses.

Week 11: This week’s PB4L reminder focuses on our Bridge Walkers Line. Students who line up for Bridge Walkers at the afternoon dismissal time need to ensure that they are quiet. The line needs to stay together as it moves toward the bridge, listening to the duty teachers’ instructions at all times. We need to be respectful of the people whose homes we pass. We can do that by being mindful of their gardens and front yards as well as by keeping our voices down. When we walk to the bridge, we are out in public and are on display, so let’s display positive and respectful behaviours all the way.

Enrolments for Kindergarten 2024

Application forms are available for collection from the school office from the beginning of March. When the application form has been fully completed it should be returned to the office with the required documentation by the end of Term 1.

Staff Development Days

Following are the dates for the remaining staff development days this year.  A reminder that children do not attend school on these days.

• Term 2 - Friday 26 May
• Term 3 - Monday 17 July
• Term 4 - Monday & Tuesday 18 & 19 December

Teacher Professional Learning

At St Thomas Aquinas the staff has an ongoing commitment to professional learning. The staff benefits from attending in-services, in curriculum areas, that assist them in providing quality learning opportunities for the students in their class. The following staff have or will attend professional learning:

Sporting News

Mark Taylor Shield (MTS) Cricket Competition

Our MTS team played St Clare’s Narellan Vale in Round 1 of this knockout competition on 14 March. In very difficult conditions that were not conducive to cricket our team restricted St Clare’s to a moderate total of 136. After losing a couple of early wickets Angus C & Tom C put together an excellent partnership that took us close to the total. Unfortunately, when this partnership was broken we couldn’t score at a rate that would bring us close to St Clare’s total. At the end of the thirty overs we finished on a respectable 9/99. This was the first time we entered this competition and we are looking forward to entering again in 2024.

Diocesan Swimming Trials

The Diocesan Swimming Trials that were held on Monday, 13 March at Corrimal Swimming Pool. Congratulations to the following students who have qualified for the MacKillop Swimming Trials.

Erin S - 9 years 50 metre freestyle

Autumn H - 9 years 50 metre freestyle

Erin not only won the event but swam a record time for her event. We wish Erin and Autumn the best of luck when they next compete in the MacKillop Trials in the coming week.