Last Sunday’s celebration, the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of the Lord, was an opportunity for us to focus on the Mass and the Eucharist.

We often focus on the enhancements to our celebration of Mass, what we are going to get out of it and forget why we attend Mass in the first place.  We attend Mass to unite with Jesus Christ in the Upper Room at the Last Supper and on the Hill of Calvary at the Crucifixion of the Lord.  

We attend Mass to be united with Jesus Christ in the Eucharistic Gift of His Body and Blood.

The Eucharist is the Lord’s dying gift to us. The Eucharist is Jesus Christ within us. We receive His Body, His humanity and divinity, we receive His Blood, His saving us on the Cross and we celebrate the Living Memory of Jesus Christ.  We speak to Him within ourselves. And He speaks to us, calling us to unite our pains to His Cross, strengthening us with the eternal Food for the Journey of our Lives. 

No two Masses will be identical.  But the heart of every Mass will be the same: Jesus Christ will be present at the Last Supper, on the Cross, and within each person who receives His Body and Blood.

Loving God, deepen in us the sense of reverence and awe at the mystery
that we are called to be your Body in the world.
May we grow to understand more and more the mystery of Jesus’ life in us
and to live consciously and generously
with those in need of hope & healing.

This year the feast  was made more special as it was our first parish feast day.

Corpus Christi Feast Day

Last Wednesday we celebrated our first combined Parish Corpus Christi Mass with the staff and students of St Thomas Aquinas and St Michael’s schools. The Liturgy Group from both schools joined together and were exceptional. It was a lovely Mass, students participated well and were very reverent.

Confirmation

Congratulations to our Year 6 students and their families for the way they prepared and participated in the Confirmation programme and ceremony a couple of weekends ago. A special thank you to the staff who prepared the students and also to the students in the liturgy group and their parents who gave up time for practices and the ceremony, it is greatly appreciated. It was nice to have the Bishop back for the ceremony this year. It was also lovely to see how the Bishop interacted with the students and families during the homily and afterwards, he is a very approachable and natural person.

Semester Reports

Semester 1 progress reports will be published this this afternoon for parents of children in Year 1 to 6. Please take the opportunity to talk about your children’s learning and celebrate their successes. Our Kindergarten teachers conduct interviews only for semester 1. It is recommended that you download and save your child's academic report, especially Year 5, so that it remains accessible in the future. Parent/teacher interviews will be held next week. If you haven’t already booked an appointment time please do so as soon as possible so that teachers are able to organise their week.

Netball Gala Day

Next Thursday a number of students will be travelling to Minto to participate in the Netball Gala day. Thank you to the parents that are helping out as team coaches. Mrs Shepherd, Mrs Eggleston and Mrs King will be attending on the day. We hope all of those attending have a wonderful day.

After many years as a teacher at STA, Ms Jacinta Rice is going to be retiring at the end of Term 2 so she can hopefully spend some time travelling. We wish Ms Rice all the best and thank her for the contribution she has made to the education of so many studnets.

As the last Friday of the term is a pupil free day we will have the assembly on Thursday afternoon and the newsletter will also go out Thursday afternoon. Have a lovely long weekend, stay safe and warm!

Message from Bishop Brian Mascord - Future of Cemeteries NSW 

I am writing to ask for your assistance in petitioning the New South Wales Government to reverse a decision to exclude faith and charitable groups from cemetery management.

Please see here an opinion piece from Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP on the matter published in The Australian on 27 May 2021

You are encouraged to share this information with your staff and school community over the coming weeks.

Save Our Graves Online Petition 

I give my support to Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP who has recently launched a Save Our Graves online petition to put pressure on the NSW Government to reverse its decision to exclude faith and charitable groups from the management of cemeteries in NSW that operate on Crown land. This also has the support of other faith leaders from the Muslim and Jewish communities.

The government’s decision is a serious attack on religious freedom and raises significant questions as to the appropriateness of handing over the management of cemeteries to a bureaucracy that has no experience in providing comfort to grieving families or the management of burial grounds. Caring for the dead and those who love them is a spiritual mission, not secular. Our faith teaches that it is one of our “corporal works of mercy” and this underpins the way we look after our cemeteries, which we have been doing for over 150 years.

An online petition page has been established at www.saveourgraves.com.au and you are encouraged to sign this petition and circulate it to your family and friends in NSW.

I hope you enjoy the long weekend with your families.

Kayleen Petzer
Principal

At St Thomas Aquinas we have three very important school rules:

STA Uniform

Please find below the newly revised STA Uniform Policy. Please take some time to familiarise yourself with the expectations outlined within it.
 
Commencing this week, students who do not comply with any points in the policy will receive a verbal warning, which will be recorded on Compass. If the uniform problem continues, a notification will be sent home with the student. The student’s parents will receive a Compass alert informing them of the notification. The completed tear off section is returned to school with the student and the uniform problem is corrected.
 
If there is a legitimate reason for your child being out of uniform, for example a medical reason or financial hardship, please do not hesitate to contact the school. This can also be explained on the uniform notification when one is received.
 
Wearing the correct school uniform promotes a sense of belonging for students and creates a positive identity for the school community. Wearing the correct uniform with pride is also a very clear way for students to show respect for the expectations at St Thomas Aquinas.
 
Thank you for your support in regards to this matter.

Year 6 Excursion

On Wednesday our Year 6 Students had an early start for their excursion to Canberra.  They had the opportunity to participate in a variety of educational programs at Parliament House, the National Capital Authority and the National Electorate Education Centre, with the focus on Australia’s history, culture, heritage and democracy.

The Australian Government recognises the importance of all young Australians being able to visit the national capital as part of their Civics and Citizenship education. To assist families in meeting the cost of the excursion the Australian Government is contributing funding of $30 per student under the Parliament and Civics Education Rebate program towards those costs. The rebate is paid directly to the school upon completion of the excursion.

Thank you to Mrs White, Mr Adams, Mrs Preddey & Mrs King for accompanying the children.

See more photos on our Facebook page.

School Fees

Due to several excursions, etc not going ahead this year, fee credits for every student have been processed and should be reflected in your school fee account.  If you have any questions please speak with Shauna in the office.

Fees for 2022 will be billed at the beginning of January and are due 28 days later.  If you wish to pay by instalments please complete the form which was sent out via Compass this week.

STA Uniform Shop

We have quite a lot of second-hand uniforms for sale in the P & F Uniform Shop @ $2 per item. The money raised from these sales will be donated to St Vincent de Paul at the end of the year. 

for 2nd hand items.  DONATIONS GRATEFULLY ACCEPTED.