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Our amazing Year 6 students were presented their commemorative caps on Wednesday. It was my privledge to present the cap to each child and congratulate them on their final year at school. To a child they were polite, smiling and cheerful. These children are wonderful examples of the young people St Thomas the Apostle is working with parents to prepare to be great citizens.
The students focused and listened as I shared with them my view of them as adaptable, effective learners who have used this year as a springboard into becoming resilient young people.
I look forward to the reducing of restrictions allowing us to have some form of covid-safe graduation experience for our students. More information will come home to parents about our usual end of year events and practices as we learn more about restrictions and possibilities.
We had extra excitement this week with a small visitor who missed the bell time and found him/herself still on site when everyone else arrived for the day. This juvenile Copperhead snake was spotted by some sharp eyed students who did exactly the right thing. They showed us safe behaviour by moving away, finding a teacher and alerting of the potential risk. Staff then cordoned off where the snake was resting and a snake catcher was called. We were reassured to discover that this is a very peaceful type of snake and even though they are poisonous they have not been responsible for any human deaths. The snake has been released into a more appropriate environment.
How to access the School Calendar on the newsletter.
1. When accessing The Spear on your phone click on The Spear newsletter.
2. Click on the navigation icon next to St Thomas the Apostle Catholic Primary School.
3. Drop down box will then appear and then you select School Calendar.
Code Camp is coming!
Our students are taking part in an online incursion over the next few weeks of Term 4. This is a coding incursion which introduces the world of coding to students via the creation of a game. Students in year 1 to 6 will have a weekly session for 6 weeks. Prep students will have a half day incursion.
Students in many other schools have loved the Code Camp experience and perhaps some of ours have attended school holiday events run by Code Camp. This incursion will be paid out of the excursion levy for 2020.
What is Among Us?
Among Us is a cartoon-like action strategy game that can be downloaded for free on PCs or through app stores. Based on teamwork and betrayal, players are either ‘crewmates’ or an ‘imposter’ set in a damaged spaceship. Crewmates try to accomplish their tasks, while imposters try to sabotage these missions and murder crew.
Throughout the game the crew can vote who they believe the imposter is via an ‘emergency meeting’. In these meetings, players can also chat to discuss who they think the imposter is. The person with the most votes is kicked out of the game. These chats are unmoderated and there is currently no way to report users in-game. Hosts can kick or ban players from games via the lobby screen.
Games can be played with four to 10 players, on ‘private’ or ‘public’. Private mode allows hosts to invite their friends online to set up a game, while public mode allows hosts to play with others from around the world.
Among Us does not require players to register for accounts using email or other personal information, it only requires a username. In-app purchasing is also available.
- CORONAVIRUS SUPPORT
The longevity of the COVID pandemic is an enormous challenge to many of us. Our capacity to adapt to acutely stressful situations such as natural disasters has been severely depleted by the long-term nature of the pandemic. Our surge capacity, an adaptation mechanism that helps us survive short-term difficulties, is not designed to get us through long term disasters such as the pandemic.
There is no handbook for functioning in a pandemic however it’s apparent that we need to accept that life will probably be different for some time. Putting in place strategies that maintain our personal wellbeing is now a priority.
Please click this link for a list of strategies
https://www.parentingideas.
Thank you.