Staffing News

We are sad to announce that Mrs Savida Tanzer, one of our Defence School Mentors, will be finishing up at St Thomas More's this Friday. She has been such a wonderful addition to our community and has done so much for our defence families. She should particularly be acknowledged for her exceptional Remembrance and ANZAC Day services. Thank you Savida for all that you have contributed.

We welcomed Kate Worthington to school last Thursday who will be our school counsellor whilst Sarah Foley takes leave. Kate has had a thorough handover from Sarah and will be able to continue the support Sarah has been providing. 

Open Council Meeting

We would encourage families to consider attending the open council meeting on Tuesday 16 May from 6:00 pm. Please see the invitation from our Community Council in this week's newsletter to RSVP.

Parent Engagement Grants Program

We are pleased to announce that our Community Council was recently successful in obtaining a parent engagement grant from the ACT Block Grant Authority for $10,638. Our council identified the opportunity to introduce Community Gardens to the campus. The Community Garden is intended to improve the biodiversity of the school grounds through bee, butterfly and bird-attracting native plants and the introduction of a community vegetable and indigenous garden. The creation of the Community Garden will result in greater learning opportunities for our students with contextually relevant opportunities to engage parents in their learning. We are hoping to form a committee of parents who will work with our staff and students to see the Community Garden come to life. If you are interested in joining the committee please contact myself or Angela in the front office. We thank the ACT Government for its support of this initiative.

Mother's Day Raffle

We are still accepting donations for the Mother's Day Raffle to take place next week. If you are able to contribute prizes to the raffle please bring them to the front office. 

There are already a number of wonderful prizes in our raffle including a Bunnings hamper, handmade quilt, wine, chocolates, tea and coffee travel mugs and vouchers to Woolworths and Big W. Tickets can now be purchased through Qkr! and cash sales will occur during our Mother's Day Breakfast before the prize draw at morning gathering.

Parish Mass Times Survey - Repeat Notice

The inner north Catholic parishes are currently facing a shortage of priests. As such, weekend mass times may need to be changed to relieve the current pressure on priests.

The Parish will work towards Mass times that are convenient for the largest number of people, support sacramental programs and school affiliations whilst retaining a sense of community at each Parish.

We would ask all families to complete this survey so that the school has a voice in these discussions. The results of the survey will have an impact on our practising Catholic families, families engaging in sacramental programs for their children and families who celebrate the sacraments with their child's cohort.

The survey should only take a few minutes and can be completed by following this link.

 Enrolment Period

The enrolment period has commenced and today we welcomed families to our first open day. Each family received 10 flyers last week and we would ask that you share these where you best see fit, perhaps in the work tea room, in the letterbox of families in the neighbourhood or with families in your extracurricular travels!