We've had a wonderful start to the school term. Teachers and students began with a positive and optimistic energy. Thank you for encouraging this.

Thank you to Ms Smith, our REC, for preparing the activities for students in Mission Week. Thank you parents for supporting your child's participation. Thank you 2 Blue for leading the school in the lovely Mission Week prayer liturgy. It was beautiful.

I want to wish all of our teams the very best for the Boorowa Touch & Netball carnival this coming Friday. This is always a great opportunity for our students to play together and have a go at sports they are less familiar with. Thank you to the parents who have driven children to the carnival and to Trish Ligacs, Steve Burridge, Stacy Campbell, Kristy Alevizos, and Kate Black volunteered to coach or manage teams. Thank you also to SFX students Luisa and Summer who have volunteered to umpire. We really appreciate your help in making this possible.

Emergency this morning

This morning children and parents may have noticed that some of our staff members were attending to a community member who had fallen and required emergency care. Thank you to parent Lauren Reynolds and staff members Steph Cooper and Carmen Myles who provided First Aid and ensure emergency services were called to assist asap. The community member is now being looked after and recovering.

We were aware that quite a number of students walked past the incident as they were coming into school and we spoke to them briefly today to help them know that the community member is recovering. Thank you to those parents who bypassed the area as best they could and allowed the injured person the privacy to be supported.

Class Allocations 2026

During this term, we will finalise our student and staffing arrangements for 2026. Below is a list of the Class Allocation Principles we apply to ensure there is a fair and just process in allocating students to classes for the next school year.

First and foremost, teachers are in the best position to decide a child’s placement because they know the learning needs, supports and engagement patterns of the students they teach all day, every day. They know individuals as well as the whole year level.

Parents are invited to inform me of anything that they feel needs to be considered, for their own child’s well-being or development.

Class Allocation Principles

When forming the class lists the following factors are taken into consideration:

• Gender
• Complex or unique needs
• Work habits
• 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 characteristics within classes. Where practical, parent requests based on educational issues may be considered. Requests for specific teachers will not be considered.

At St Thomas Aquinas, we follow these principles 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 their learning and social development.
  
  
• Parents who wish to raise issues for consideration regarding the placement of their children in particular classes for the following year, should put the issue in writing and email it to me by Friday 7 November. These will be treated confidentially. Parents cannot assume that requests from previous years will be taken into account. A new request will need to be made every year.
  
  
• Parent requests will be considered during the process. It must be clearly understood, however, that no definite guarantees can be given.
  
  
• Where appropriate, advice will be sought from the Classroom Support Assistant and School Counsellor during this process.
  
  
• Considering all the factors listed above, the current Class Teachers compile class lists from mid Term 4. These are then handed to Mr Garton 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 invited to attend.
  
  
• Throughout this process, after appropriate consultation, the Principal reserves the right to make final decisions regarding the placement of children.