Dear St Thomas Aquinas community,

Welcome back to school for Term 2! It was so lovely to see all of the students this morning. They greeted each other with such joy.

Thank you to our staff who worked very hard yesterday reviewing the High Impact Teaching Practices we consistently use across the school. They were introduced to a coaching model we will implement that supports teachers to reflect on their practice and develop their expertise. I am always grateful to work with a staff very keen on continuing to learn and grow.

We have hit the ground running this term! Today our Year 5 students led us in an Easter liturgy, retelling the gospel story of Easter and focusing on the hope we share as part of God's family. They presented beautifully and all students in the school were prayerful and reverent.

Tomorrow we will celebrate an ANZAC Day liturgy, led by our Year 3 students. It will occur at 10.30am out the front of the school under the flagpoles. Parents are welcome to attend.

Policy & Practice Updates

Over the school holiday period we have updated a few school policies. The most important policies for parents to be aware of are in relation to:

• the school uniform
• personal communication devices (mobile phones and smartwatches)

These are both available on our school website.

In the next two weeks we will also release an updated Positive Behaviour for Learning Policy, outlining five strategies we use to encourage positive behaviour that supports students feeling safe, happy and able to learn. The strategies are:

• Developing a culture of positive behaviour
• Acknowledging positive behaviours
• Creating a positive learning environment
• Discouraging and responding to challenging behaviours
• Responding to and supporting behaviours for students with highly complex needs

Election

There are many varied priorities people carry into polling places each election as they determine their votes.

Funding for Catholic schools across Australia is an important issue. The flyer below describes just how impactful our Catholic schools are in educating Australian students. I encourage you to keep this in mind as you submit your vote, selecting candidates who support your choice for education and equitably fund schools, like ours, that provide a much valued option.

Matthew Garton

Principal