At St Thomas Aquinas the Diverse Learning Team have loved seeing the growth and successes felt by many students who accessed our different programs this year.

This year we have had students access our intervention programs; MiniLit, MiniLit Sage, MacqLit and Reading Tutor. These literacy interventions help students to progress at their pace through very structured synthetic phonics lessons which provide them with more scaffolds and practice of reading and writing skills. Next year we will continue these programs, selecting students based on a range of assessment data and placement testing at the start of the year.

We have also had students supported in our classrooms by our wonderful Classroom Support Assistants (CSA’s), either with a modified program or with targeted Maths support. Our CSA’s and Classroom Support Teachers (CST’s) have also helped to run Spelling Mastery groups, which are a differentiated part of the Year 3 – 6 English program.

Three days a week we are also very lucky to have our Welfare Officer, Stewart, provide programs to groups of students which facilitate collaboration, resiliency and a positive self mindset.

Extending students thinking and challenging their knowledge through a range of competitions has also been a highlight for the Diverse Learning Team and other staff members who are involved. Students have been invited to access the Maths Olympiad, DaVinci Decathlon and Tournament of Minds this year.

We hope that parents have seen the continued progress of students accessing Diverse Learning Programs in all areas. Your child’s access to these programs will be reviewed at the start of the year and confirmation of their involvement will be sent to parents once Diverse Learning staffing and groupings have been confirmed.