As the number of children requiring supervision at school grows, it is important that anyone requiring supervision for their child completes the supervision survey by the Friday of the previous week:  https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/STA_Week3.

During the next few weeks as the ACT transitions out of lockdown and back to face-to-face learning, teachers on supervision duty will be required to be on the floor a lot more and so may only be able to make their class check-in and might not be available for additional support during the day. Teachers will continue to post pre-recorded lessons and to check student’s work. As you can appreciate, like so many people at the moment, the teacher’s workload has increased enormously and I want to acknowledge and thank them for all they are doing to support every student at St Thomas Aquinas. I also want to thank so many of our parents and carers who have sent thank you messages, morning teas, chocolates and even bottles of wine! While the gifts are not necessary, we all appreciate the thoughtfulness and are grateful to be part of such a supportive community.

Musical
Sadly, we will be unable to have our Musical performance this year. We had hoped that this would be able to go ahead at school, however, the extension to remote learning and health guidance around keeping student groups separated has meant that this is no longer possible. I know many of our students, particularly our Year 6 students, will be very disappointed to hear this news.

Class Allocations for 2022
During this term, we will be finalising our staffing arrangements for 2022. Below is a copy of the ‘Class Allocation Policy’ which aims to ensure there is a fair and just process in allocating students to classes for the upcoming school year.

My firm belief is that teachers are in the best position to decide a child’s placement because they know all the children in their classes and have a view of the ‘big picture’. In view of this, we will not be distributing Friendship Request Forms.  Friendship considersations will be made by classroom teachers in conjunction with their class.  However, I invite parents to inform me of anything that you feel needs to be considered, for your own child’s well-being or development.

When forming the class lists the following factors are taken into consideration:

• Gender
• Diverse Learners
• Work Habits
• Cognitive Ability
• Friendships
• Behaviour
• Health Considerations
• Religion (to assist in achieving balance between classes, especially in Sacramental years) and
• Common names

Ideally we aim for an equal spread of both positive and challenging characteristics. Where practical, parental requests based on educational concerns may be considered.  At St Thomas Aquinas, we follow these principles and guidelines when considering placement of students each year:

• Every care will be taken to ensure that each child is placed in the best situation to enhance learning and social development.
• Parents who wish to raise particular concerns regarding the placement of their children in particular classes for the following year, should put the concern in writing and email it to me ( Leah.Taylor@cg.catholic.edu.au ) by Friday, 29 October 2021 - Week 4. Parents cannot assume that requests from previous years will be taken into account. A new request will need to be made every year.
• Parent concerns will be considered during the process. It must be clearly understood, however, that no definite guarantees can be given regarding parental concerns.
• Where appropriate, advice will be sought from the Classroom Support Teacher, School Counsellor, Chaplain and current class teacher during this process.
• Considering all the factors listed above, the current class teachers compile class lists from mid-term, Term 4. These are then handed to me for confirmation.
• Children will be informed of their class placement for the following school year in December (usually the last week of school) and the opportunity will be provided for them to spend some time with their new class teacher. New students to the school for the following year are also invited to attend.
• Throughout this process, after appropriate consultation, I reserve the right to make final professional decisions regarding the placement of children.

Take care and God Bless