Dear Families,

By now, many of you will have seen the announcement that a Mr Tim Cleary will be acting principal for twelve months from 2024. Tim comes with a wealth of experience, both as a principal at All Saints College, Maitland and St Augustine’s College Sydney, and also in business. He was CEO for the Manly Sea Eagles and has also worked for Rugby Schools Australia. I am sure Tim will bring energy and enthusiasm to the role as principal, and no doubt, great support for NRL and Rugby at the school. I have been in contact with Tim to congratulate him on the appointment and to arrange a time for him to visit the school.

We will sadly be farewelling a few more staff members at the end of this year. Mrs Angela McDonald has taken up a position with the Independent Education Union. Angela has been the ACT representative on the IEU executive for the past four years. In this role, Angela has met with ministers from State and Federal governments, been a spokesperson for teachers across Australia, and has sought much needed recognition for teachers across Australia. Angela has been an exceptional educator over almost thirty years. While we will all miss Angela’s expertise as a teacher, I know she will continue to work to improve education across the country in her new role. Miss Hannah Dewey will also leave us at the end of the year, taking up a position at Holy Spirit Nicholls. I wish Angela and Hannah all the very best.

Thank you for supporting the Mission fete last week. We raised just under $1100 dollars for Caritas to support Catholic Missions around the world. This day is more than just a fundraising event, it is also a time to bring the student community together for this special event. I thank families for sending items for students to purchase, without your generosity, none of this could happen. I would especially like to thank Mrs Skye McPadden for organising the event.

This week is the last week for families to let me know of any requests for 2024 classes. As children change and their needs are not always the same year after year, we request that parents let us know of any requests each year and do not presume that requests from previous years are carried over. Please send any requests directly to me via email Leah.Taylor@cg.catholic.edu.au by COB Friday 3rd November. Class lists will be set next week and we will be unable to accommodate any requests after this date. Please read the class allocation policy that has been outlined later in this newsletter.

Parents are reminded to either use drive-thru or park their car and either walk to the school or wait across the road when picking up your children in the afternoon. Some parents are parking in the turn-around bay at the front of the school and encouraging their children to cross the carpark unaccompanied to get into the car. This is very dangerous as many cars use the driveway and drop-off during this time. Teachers will not allow children to cross these driveways and roads without an adult and we ask that you support your children and the school by not requesting that they break the school rules.

Take care and God bless

October Birthdays

Sophie K, Logan M, Elizabeth H, Samantha T, Mia W, Marine T, Evie P, Benjamin G, Alana B, Lara K, Kuir K, Lucas S, Lilah W, Ivy M, Sebastien M, Manyuon C, Lily G, Santiago A,  Jayden P, Heath L, Harrison B-S, Harold M, Arleth M T, Ayla M, Daniel N

This term students have been introduced to Ngunnawal vocabulary. This week students will be learning "Mamidji" meaning "Summer". Thank you Miss Evans for continuing our learning of our Ngunnawal Country.

• Scholastic Book Club orders are due by 31^st October
• Overdue notices went out on Friday. Please try very hard to return any books you have at home so others can borrow them.
• Our last week for borrowing will be Week 7 this term.

Don't forget your library bags each week, it is a great way to protect our library books.

Happy reading,
Mrs Hind

Class Allocations for 2025

Any requests received after Friday 8 November 2024 will not be considered

During this term, we will be finalising our staffing arrangements for 2025. 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.

We believe 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, parents are invited to inform Mr Cleary 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 concerns regarding the placement of their children in particular classes for the following year, should put the concern in writing and email it to our Principal  (tim.cleary@cg.catholic.edu.au) by Friday of Week 4 (Term 4 - Friday 8 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 Assistant, 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 Mrs Taylor 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, the Principal reserves the right to make final professional decisions regarding the placement of children

If your child/ren is leaving St Thomas Aquinas at the end of 2023 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 8 December 2023.

Thank you

The Game On events are community based, free, family friendly physical activity “pop up” events, which will see us conduct four events in eight suburbs across Canberra each year, utilising local parks, ovals, sports courts/fields. The aim of the events is to promote physical activity/60mins a day target for children through providing fun, accessible sessions and ideas for children, families and school communities. Our aim is that the events are a pre-cursor to ongoing community based physical activity and we will evaluate the sessions through a range of measures.

To confirm, we will be running four events on the following dates:

Walk, Talk, Workout: Sunday 5^th November 10am-11.30am

Run, Jump, Catch, Throw: Friday 10th November 3.15pm-4.30pm

Navigate & Participate: Wednesday 15^th November 3.15pm-4.30pm

Bike Skills & Drills: Friday 24^th November 3.15pm-4.30pm

All events will be held at Belconnen Netball Association Courts