Dear Parents and Carers

 “ But the effect of her being on those around her was incalculably diffusive: for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs.”

George Eliot, Middlemarch

This will be my last newsletter for St Thomas Aquinas. As I have written previously, I am taking some Long Service Leave in Term 4. I am also leaving STA and beginning 2020 as the Principal at Sts Peter and Paul, Garran. With all that in mind, I wanted to begin this week’s newsletter with a quote from George Eliot. Eliot’s quote, quite aside from being a brilliant piece of writing, speaks to our gratitude for the people in our lives who contribute and add to our lives, in such a way that they are emboldened, nourished and made better. In that spirit, I wish to record my gratitude to the community of St Thomas Aquinas. I am very lucky that I started my life as a principal in the school that I did. I would like to thank the parent community for all their support, encouragement, kind words and many actions, that have contributed to the school, their education of its students and the betterment of the community.

STA is a beautiful community and I have been privileged to be its principal. I would also like to record my thanks to the extraordinary staff with whom I have worked over the past 7 years: I have deep admiration for their dedication and commitment to the children. I would like to thank Sr Colleen and Fr Drinkwater too, and the wider parish, for their unstinting support of the school and its students. Most of all, I would like to thank the beautiful students who make the school what it is. The students are the reason we come to work each day and again, it has been a privilege working with them over the last 7 years.

Mission Fete

A reminder that our Mission Fete is on Friday at the end of Week 1 of Term 4. Our annual Mission Fete is always a highlight of the STA calendar. One of the qualities that make it so special is that the children almost wholly design and execute the fete. They do a marvellous job and for those parents who have yet to experience a Mission Fete, I am sure you will agree that it is very special.

Term 4 Literacy Intervention

Next term, for the entirety of the term, we are running a special intervention program for all the students in Kindergarten and Year 1. Four days a week, for an hour each day, 5 staff will work in each classroom with small groups of children, working on their reading. This is for all students, regardless of their current reading ability. I am certain it will have very positive results.  Please see Susan Magyar for more details.

Next term, Carmen Myles and Susan Magyar will be the Acting Principal and Assistant Principal respectively. They will both do an extraordinary job. I would ask the parent body to give them and the whole staff their full support. Applications for the 2020 principal close this Friday, and I am sure that the community will hear early next term the outcome of the interviews.

I wish all families the very best for the future and all that it holds.

Best wishes always

Cameron Johns
Principal