Demountable Classroom

2023 will see our wonderful school expand with the arrival of a demountable classroom, giving us much-needed space for our students and teachers. It will be located near the outdoor classroom and will house 5/6 White. This move will also result in our existing classrooms changing ready for our Step Up afternoon next Wednesday.

Canteen

Savida Tanzer, our talented DSM, will be running a School Canteen for 2 days per week next year. The children will be able to purchase items over the counter initially with a view to lunch orders in the future. Stay tuned for further information in the new year.  

Certification at Highly Accomplished 

Congratulations to Gwen Tarleton who today received confirmation that she has achieved Module 1 of her certification as a Highly Accomplished Teacher. Gwen has done so much to support the staff and students at St Thomas More's, particularly her leadership in ICT through the pandemic. She will now work towards Module 2 and Module 3 which will make her officially certified. Congratulations Gwen!

Class Contacts 

In preparation for our new families to make early connections with students and parents in their child's class. We are calling for the nomination of Class Contact Coordinators for 2023. This is a pivotal role in providing families with support and information regarding the school and is a great network for social and school events.

If you are interested in putting your name forward, please email me directly with your grades of children for next year and the preferred cohort you would like to coordinate.  

Community Council Thankyou

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the School Community Council for all their support of the community this year. Michael Casrission, Fr Emil, Narelle Luchetti, Ben Lentini, Simon Needham, Simon Benson, Michael Kelly, Mhanda van Engelen, Nicole Mikkonen and Christine Washington have been strong advocates for continuous improvement in student learning and in community engagement at STM. Special thanks to Mhanda and Michael who are vacating their positions at the end of the year. We appreciate and value their dedication and commitment to our community.  

Wellbeing Dog

Watch this space! After receiving a presentation from some of our Year 6 students early in the year we have engaged in a process of decision making regarding the introduction of a Wellbeing Dog at St Thomas More's in 2023. You may have heard of a number of programs in schools across the ACT with school dogs, therapy dogs and wellbeing dogs. All of these programs have been assessed against our needs and we will be developing our own program as a result. We will have a gradual introduction of our Wellbeing Dog into the school but would invite any families with concerns to contact me so that we can support you and/or your children through this initiative.

Luke Donnelly
Principal