This Friday is World Teacher's Day! We are so thankful for the dedication, professionalism, and connections our teachers show each day. They have continued to ensure their classrooms are centered in faith and learning so that they can ensure our students grow in wisdom, courage, and peace. I would encourage you all to consider showing an act of gratitude to your child's teacher/s on Friday. A word of thanks goes a very long way!

Grandparents Day

It was such a joy to welcome our Grandparents and special friends to school on Friday morning. Our visitors were able to join us for our first Centred in Faith Gathering for 2022, an opportunity to celebrate how they support us in growing through our new School Creed. It was then time to open the doors to the classroom and celebrate our learning. Every class was a buzz of excitement with so many visitors in the room after all these years. All of the enthusiasm for learning meant our grandparents were in need of a cuppa and something to eat, so they headed over to the library where our wonderful Kinder families hosted morning tea. Thank you to all of those members of our community for your contribution to this exciting day. Enjoy our photo gallery on page 3. 

Kinder Nativity and End of Year Family Picnic - SAVE THE DATE!

After the success of our St Thomas More's Feast Day Picnic, and in the spirit of coming together again, we have made the decision to hold our Kinder Nativity on Friday 2 December from 12:30-1:00 pm followed by an End of Year Family Picnic from 1:00-1:30 pm. All families are welcome to come and see our Nativity and then spend time having a picnic with their children. We understand this is a busy time of year and that some parents may only be able to duck out for the picnic, which is also an option. These events are now live on our calendar in Compass and on the school website.

Carpark Safety

Thank you to those families who have made an effort to improve safety in the carpark by driving slowly, parking in assigned carparks, and ensuring they have full supervision of their children at all times. If you are finding the congestion difficult of an afternoon you might like to aim to arrive at 3:15 pm when many families have already left and the carpark tends to have fewer people and cars in it. 

Colour Run

There is only one week to go before we launch our Colour Run and announce our sponsors. If your business, or a business you know, is interested in sponsoring the Colour Run please get in touch. We can't wait to start promoting our Colour Run, raising funds for our school and sharing some of the prizes with the students!

Planning for 2023

Staffing News

At this stage, we have finished recruitment for 2023 and have the following staff members who have been employed or re-employed:

• Front Office Manager – Angela Kelley – Angela comes to us having been the Front Office Manager at Mother Theresa ELC for the past 12 years.
• Classroom Teachers – Karen Tozer and Andrea McQuirk have been successful in gaining permanent teaching positions. We also have Vanessa Miller and Claire  Dekuyer joining our teaching staff. Vanessa will teach our languages program (Auslan and Italian) and Claire will teach PE.
• Classroom Support Assistants – Bernadette Matthew, Emily Michell, and Daniel Vido have been reemployed and we welcome Katrina Barnes to the staff.
• Acting Assistant Principal (0.2) – Samantha Mance has been appointed to the position of Acting Assistant Principal (0.2) as Nicole Mikkonen will work part-  time. Samantha will continue in her role as REC.

Demountable 

With our growing enrolments, we presented a proposal to Catholic Education for the provision of demountable learning spaces to be installed behind our outdoor classroom to the side of the current Year 2 classroom. We are pleased to announce that this proposal has been approved and planning has commenced for a single classroom demountable ready for the start of the 2023 school year.  This demountable will accommodate the school should we move to 8 classes in 2023 or as additional learning space for specialist teachers and intervention programs. 

Class Placements 2023

The Leadership Team and staff will soon begin the process of creating class groups in 3/4 and 5/6 for next year. When compiling classes, we take into consideration several factors: learning styles and abilities are of first concern; behavioural and additional needs are also a high priority. This process involves many discussions and ensuring we are making the best fit for each and every child. To support our students, we will be inviting them to write 5 friends that they would like to see in their class for next year. When creating the lists, our staff will ensure each student has at least one friend from their list. You may like to discuss this list with your child at home in the coming weeks.

We believe that every teacher at our school is able to teach any child at our school and will therefore not accept requests for specific teachers.  If there is information regarding your child and their class placement that you feel the school is not already aware of and would like considered, please email it to me and I will follow up with a conversation or book a meeting. Requests from previous years will not be taken into consideration. 

The students will be told their class before our Step Up Afternoon on Wednesday 14 December.

Luke Donnelly
Principal