Dear Families,

Last week I attended the Catholic Leaders’ Day and Principal meeting. It was wonderful to hear from experts in the Science of Learning, including Professor Pamela, Simmone Pogorzelski and Reid Smith. All three speakers reaffirmed the journey we are currently on at St Thomas Aquinas with regards to the teaching of reading, writing and mathematics. Director of Catholic Education, Ross Fox also highlighted some of the success we have experienced here at St Thomas Aquinas including the dramatic improvement we have seen in infant literacy levels. It was lovely to have the work of our staff showcased and for them to be acknowledged in this way. I am so proud to lead a school with such dedicated educators who work so hard for all of our students.

Late Students

Now that parents are allowed into the school, we will be requiring students who are late to be signed in by an adult. If your child arrives late or needs to leave early, you will need to accompany them and sign them in or out on the COMPASS Kiosk at the front office.

Registration Report

Last term St Thomas Aquinas participated in the 5 year cycle of Registration and School Improvement. A panel of seven Catholic Education Canberra & Goulburn staff members analysed the school’s policies and procedures. These panel members engaged with our staff, students and selected parents to give commendations and recommendations in the areas of Catholic Identity and Culture, Staff Capacity and Leadership, Excellence in Teaching and Learning, Partnerships and Community and Stewardship and Resources.

The process was an extremely positive experience and a summary report can be found here. Recommendations from this report will support the school with the writing of the Annual Improvement plan later this term and inform future strategic plans.

Class Allocations for 2023 - LAST WEEK

Thank you to those families who have already emailed me regarding 2023 class requests.

During this term, we will be finalising our staffing arrangements for 2023. 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’. 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 of Week 4 (Term 4- Friday 4 November). 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 to confirm
• 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 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

Yours in Faith

November 2022

Amber B, Andrew M, Farrah A, Annabelle C, Taigh R, Rebecca J, Jewel J, Jett B, Niklaus T, Kuzivakwashe M, Leaniva M H, Ava G, Jadyn W, Aiden M, Harpreet S, Benjamin S, Grace S, Carys S, Ella T, Mikayla M, Faith M, Isabel P, Darcy A, Dante C

STA Colour Run 2022
Friday 25^th November
Week 7, Term 4

Dear Parents and Carers,

Term 4 will see STA yet again take part in our annual Colour Run fundraiser! This will be our 3^rd year of running our Colour Run and obstacle course and it is a fantastic event each year and this year I’m sure will be no different! The date for this year’s Colour Run will be Friday 25th November in Week 7, Term 4.  The Colour Run gives all families a great opportunity to support the school by raising money to improve school facilities.  Relations, friends, neighbours or work colleagues are all great sources of donations! 

Proceeds of our past Colour Runs, have been used for some major improvements to our school and all of these will be of direct benefit to your children.  This year all donations raised from our Colour Run will be used for:

• The next stage of our shade structure on the courts – we need $15 000 for this job!

If we raise over $15 000, we will purchase:

• Decodable home readers
• Sports equipment for break times.

The Route
The route of our Obstacle Course and Colour Run will be around our school oval. We have again hired an obstacle course for the day and all children will be able to run the course and have coloured powder and water squirted on them by the teachers at set points along the course. Any students who do not wish to have powder on themselves or have asthma, will be able to run the course first.

We will be encouraging the children here at school with incentive prizes for raising money.  These will include highest fundraisers in ELC & Kinder, Year 1 & Year 2, Year 3 & Year 4, Year 5 & Year 6. There will also be a prize for the student who raises the most money overall, the family who raises the most money and the class who raises the most money. So, there are lots of reasons to get collecting and support our wonderful school!

The more money we raise, the better for our school.  We are not asking for children to wander around the streets unsupervised or to talk to strangers, but asking family members, relatives, friends, friendly neighbours, etc are all good ways to reach our goal of $15,000 plus!!

Donation Pledge Card
Donation pledge cards have gone home with your children this week.  This card is used to record all donations. Spare cards are available from the Front Office.  We would like the money to be returned before the Colour Run as this allows us to tally final amounts and to present prizes at school as close to the Colour Run date as possible.

Thank you for your support

Dear Parents and Carers

If your child/ren is leaving St Thomas Aquinas at the end of 2022 please advise the school in writing.  This does not apply to students in Year 6 this year.

Attached here is the Student Transfer Notification form which needs to be returned to the school by 10 December 2022.

Thank you

Our school uniform shop is full or preloved uniforms and is coordinated by our SCC members. Please visit the unifrom shop via the external hall doors on Monday mornings between 8:30am - 9:00am and Wednesday afternoons between 3:00pm - 3:30pm during even weeks. 

Preloved uniforms can be purchased for $5 per item and are available for St Thomas Aquinas students only. 

Kindergarten Health Checks were carried out in Term 1 for Kindy students. Catch-up clinics are offered for those children whose parents consented for them to have the health check but were absent on the day/s the Health team attended the school. An absent letter has been sent to parents informing them of their child’s absence and inviting them to phone Central Health Intake to make a Kindergarten Catch Up appointment.

Appointments are held in the City Health Centre, Level 2, 1 Moore Street, Canberra City, and are available from Friday 9^th December until Friday December 16^th.

Parents can call Central Health Intake on 5124 9977 to make this appointment. When there is a queue, they offer a call back service. Parents may choose this option to retain their spot in the queue and receive a call back in turn.

Michelle Mitchell presents: Handling tricky friendship days
Wednesday 2 November 2022
8:00pm - 9:00pm AEDT

Bestselling author and professional speaker

Friendships can be complex, intense and filled with unpredictable ups and downs. Even though we might wish that our kids could “just get on with it”, most need our active guidance to problem solve daily challenges. In this webinar, Michelle Mitchell offers a set of practical guiding principles to help empower children to handle tricky friendship days. 

CANTEEN

The Canteen is open from Wednesdays to Fridays - for the first 10 minutes of each break.  We sell a limited selection of healthy canteen approved chips and ice blocks.

SUBWAY

Parents and staff are able to place Subway Orders Online.  Click on the link below to place an order and payment as well. 

Cut-off time is 9:15 AM for same day delivery.
Call on 02 6259 9101 to place your order after this time

Subway Lunch Orders can also be made, via Subway Envelope, at school.  Subway envelopes, including cash, need to be placed in the Lunch Order Subway box, located outside the Front Office,  by 9:30am on the day before the lunch is required.  For example, if you would like a lunch order on Wednesday, the lunch order needs to be manually submitted by Tuesday 9:30am.

Here is a sample of the Subway ordering envelope.  Envelopes are available from the Front Office or the classroom.