Dear Parents, Caregivers & Students

As we finish Week 10 of Term 1 with still one more week to go we are very conscious of how tired the students are at the moment. They have worked very hard and many have had multiple events and challenging learning experiences & so we congratulate everyone on their great efforts. At least with daylight saving finishing on Sunday morning, we will have the benefit of getting up in daylight! 

Mrs Johnson & I are very pleased to be back from our travels to the Religious Education Congress in Los Angeles after an amazing experience. We both feel very blessed to have had this opportunity & are grateful to the Catholic Education Office for organising us to be a part of the group from the Diocese of Wollongong. We travelled with fellow Principals and Religious Education Coordinators from Picton, Moss Vale and the Assistant Principal from Mittagong. We were very fortunate to have Fr Sean & Fr David Catterall (Parish Priest of Oran Park) and two staff from the Catholic Life team from CEO.

The Congress was such an incredible experience celebrating Mass with 20,000 Catholics from around the world, with many Bishops and Priests all con-celebrating together & in three languages. The three days of the Congress involved workshops and keynote speakers, as well as entertainment during lunch breaks from musicians for children including Andrew Chinn who is well known to many here at STA. Mrs Johnson & I look forward to sharing our experiences with the students & staff in coming weeks. I will also give a brief presentation at assembly today for the parents & grandparents.

As well as the Congress we also had many other wonderful opportunities in visiting a local Catholic School - St Irenaeus Parish School where we talked to students and staff about learning and celebrating their faith. We also went to Christ Cathedral in Anaheim and St Juan Capistrano Mission and Basilica as part of our pilgrimage. We are looking forward to using many of the ideas that we gained from this trip and sharing our experiences with others. I did purchase a beautiful new cross for the school that will be placed where many can see and read the words.

PARENT MEETING - 8th May at 9.00am

Earlier this term we held the P&F Annual General Meeting and were only able to fill the position of Treasurer in a P&F Executive. At the meeting, we discussed the difficulties of managing to have enough parents attending the regular P&F meetings, which is also a problem across many schools who now do not have a P&F. 

I am very keen to have some discussion with parents about involvement in our school and to find out what parents are wanting in terms of involvement in the learning & faith development, communication, community building and events and fundraising. There also may be other areas that you would like to see STA offering parents and caregivers that I am very interested in hearing about.

Mrs Rebecca Hill from CEO is very involved in working with schools and developing parent partnerships.  We met yesterday and Rebecca is available to facilitate a discussion to gain your ideas. She was booked for our P&F meeting but was unable to come at the last minute.

We are proposing a meeting on Wednesday 8th May at 9.00 am after morning drop-off for anyone who is able to attend. We will also send out a survey if you are unable to come to the meeting but are interested in providing feedback about how to engage more with our school. Further details will be sent next term but please save the date.

We have been very fortunate that parents have volunteered to organise many of our regular fundraising events. A huge thank you to:

Tania Calla-Hunstone & Chiara Borg for the Easter Raffle which will be drawn at our morning assembly next Friday 12th April at 8.55am.

Also Sooz Heinrich & Bec Biddle for the organisation of the Mother's Day stall which will be on Friday 10th May. Further deatils will be sent out next week. We are also very grateful to Rob & Nedene Tracz for volunteering to cook our Mother's Day BBQ breakfast from 7.30am on that Friday.

Chiara Borg has volunteered to coordinate Fundraising & events with a group of wonderful parents and they are keen to hear from anyone who would be interested in participating as well. Chiara will be at the meeting on the 8th May but can also be contacted via email: matt.chiaraborg@gmail.com or phone: 0430 507 314. Again I am very grateful for the very generous offers to assist in the school. 

BUILDING WORKS

During the coming school holidays, there will continue to be a number of projects to improve the facilities here at STA. One project is installing an external staircase from the Year 1 classrooms as an alternative fire escape. This will unfortunately come into the back part of the Prayer Garden that involved the work of the P&F a few years ago. I have contacted a couple of the parents who were involved but I am keen to hear from anyone who has ideas of still maintaining this beautiful space but being able to install the staircase. Please contact the school if you have some ideas for me.

CHALLENGING TASKS IN MATHS

As a school, we are currently working on improving our various pedagogies in the area of Mathematics and providing opportunities for the students to challenge themselves with problem-solving and deeper thinking skills. Hopefully, your children are talking to you about some of the challenges they have been working on. We will be sharing our journey in this area with you over the next term. Year 6 photos are included of the various students working on fraction challenges this last week.

HOLIDAY WISHES

As we move into holidays next Friday and the very special liturgical time of Holy Week & Easter I wish you all a very blessed time. My prayer is that you each find meaning as we journey through Christ's pain and suffering and come to the end of our Lenten reflections, through to the great joy and celebration of new life at Easter. Wishing you a special time with your family & friends and looking forward to seeing everyone back safely for Term 2 on Monday, 29th April in WINTER UNIFORM.

Warm regards

Mary-Lynn Lane

HEALTH WARNING

We have been advised of a case of Impetigo in the school.  Please see the Fact Sheet attached for further details.

IMPORTANT DATES

The community of St Thomas Aquinas Parish Catholic School

warmly invites all Stage 3 families

to celebrate Mass this Sunday 7 April at 6 pm

ALTAR SERVERS

HOLY WEEK LITURGY

The community of St Thomas Aquinas Parish Catholic School

warmly invites all parents to our

Holy Week Liturgy Thursday 11 April - 10 am

The Primary Cross-Country carnival was a huge succes thanks to the many people who helped on the day.  A special shout out to John Morris for his asistance as he is a fully fledged Athletics Australia Official and has officiated at the Commonwealth Games.  The Diocesan Cross-Country Carnival will be held in Week 2 next term and we wish all the competitors good luck.

Hugh W & Henry McM are competing in the Diocesan Rugby Union Trials next term and we wish them the best of luck.

The Kinder - Year 2 Cross-Country will be held on the last day of Term 1 (Friday 12 April) and permission notes need to be returned as the children will be walking to Bradman Oval.  We encourage parents to come and cheer on the children and if you would like to help, please indicate when returning the note.

EASTER EGG RAFFLE