St Thomas Aquinas Bowral
A Catholic Parish Primary School
St Thomas Aquinas Catholic Primary School has a strong view on the importance of technology in the role of the education of our students. We believe technology does not substitute for quality teaching, but rather is used as a tool to enhance and support students in the learning process.
As such, the presence and effective use of Information, Communication and Learning Technologies (ICLT) are a key feature of our classrooms.
Students have access to a wide variety of the very best technological equipment, including robotics (Bee Bots, mBots, Spheros, Addisons, MicroBits) coding resources, shared iPads in K-4 classrooms, Apple TVs and large screens in all learning areas.
Years 5 and 6 students engage in powerful online learning within the 1:1 iPad Program, utilising programs such as Google Classroom and Apple Classroom. Students skills develop through the years which they build upon and use to enhance their learning across all Key Learning Areas.
Our school WiFi network has inbuilt filters and firewalls to protect students as they work online at school. All students from Years 3 to 6 are supplied with their own personal login and password which allows them access to the internet, email and other web-based learning environments.
Our Student Responsible Use of Technology Agreement covers the responsibilities of users and the school in using technology safely. Students and their parents/carers are asked to sign this agreement at the commencement of each school year.
St Thomas Aquinas also has a dedicated Technology Coordinator who leads and supports technology across the whole school, ensuring all teachers have an expert capacity in this area and ensuring the very best experiences in technology and innovation for all students.
St Thomas Aquinas aims to provide contemporary quality learning environments for students through the integration of technology across all Key Learning Areas. As part of this process, we are implementing a 1:1 iPad Program for our students. iPads are used in a range of learning spaces, allowing students the opportunity to achieve desired learning outcomes in ways that are not always possible using traditional methods.
Read more about our 1:1 iPad program, including setup tips and parent information
The St Thomas Aquinas library serves to inspire and encourage a lifelong love of 21st-century literacy while supporting the school’s learning programs and co-curricular activities.
Each class has a weekly library lesson where our Teacher Librarian engages the students in quality literacy instruction and further developing their information and digital technologies skills, as well as facilitating our exciting whole school Book Week activities.
Students can read and borrow at lunchtimes, and formally borrow once per week with their class. Library resources include printed books, electronic books borrowed via Sora, iPads, a range of Robotics and STEM materials. Our book collection and online database resources – accessed through our Oliver online system (see below) – provide students and teachers with materials that have been carefully selected to support the curriculum.
Oliver is our school’s Library Management System. It is fully web-based, so the whole school community can access library resources including eBooks and Audiobooks. Simple, clear search options like dynamic picture searches help young students find books and other resources that appeal to them. They can also choose from a huge selection of background graphics and avatars to personalise their library experience.
Oliver means students and staff can also manage their loans and reservations — anywhere, anytime.
Digital citizenship is a priority at St Thomas Aquinas, with all students participating in learning experiences that focus on being responsible and ethical users of technology.
Teachers use a range of resources developed by the Catholic Education Diocese of Wollongong, the Office of the eSafety Commissioner and other online safety organisations, to assist in the ongoing education of our students in being safe and responsible digital citizens.
The CEDoW Digital Citizenship Program Site provides a program of resources for our students on digital citizenship.