Dear Families,

It was wonderful to see so many grandparents at the school once again for our Grandparents’ and Special Persons’ day. Our Year One students prepared a beautiful prayer celebration and once again the weather was perfect.

It is hard to believe we are already in August which means we return to wearing hats on the playground. If students do not have a hat, they will be asked to play in the shade. New hats can be purchased from the front office for $15.

Week 3 is already proving to be a busy week. We had our fourth of five visits from COGLearn’s Toni Hatten-Roberts for the year. Toni worked with teachers and the leadership team on Daily Review and Explicit Direct Instruction (EDI). Toni has been very pleased with the way teachers have quickly adopted these new teaching techniques and strategies.

Today we have had our third visit from Catholic Education Tasmania. This time a group of six principals as well as office staff came to look at our teaching and our programs. During the last two visits, these visitors were not only impressed with the teaching they saw, but the welcoming atmosphere created by our staff and students. Many of the visitors also commented on how calm the school environment was and on how focused students were towards their learning.

This Friday will be a pupil free day across all Catholic and Government schools in the ACT. Staff at St Thomas Aquinas will complete training by SoSafe, to support us working with children with a range of learning needs and keeping them safe. OSHClub have limited places available for care. If you do require this, please contact Caitlen as soon as possible so she can ensure she has sufficient staff available.

As you are aware, Karthika our counsellor left last term. Marymead have provided us with an interim counsellor, Prakash who will work with us for two days per week. Prakash has already started reading through the handover notes left by Karthika and has begun to reach out to families. Marymead will recruit a permanent counsellor over the coming months. But in the meantime, I am sure you will make Prakesh feel very welcome.

Take care and God bless

Yours in Faith

Leah Taylor
Principal