Message from the Principal
Our school is a place of faith and learning
“From the first moment that a student sets foot in a Catholic school, he or she ought to have the impression of entering a new environment, one illuminated by the light of faith, and having its own unique characteristics. The inspiration of Jesus must be translated from the ideal into the real. The Gospel spirit should be evident in a Christian way of thought and life which permeates all facets of the educational climate”.
Dear Parents, Guardians and Carers,
As the weather changes and cold and flu season is approaching I wanted to update and inform you of one of the challenges we face in education today. Undoubtedly, most parents would be aware that there is a pressing shortage of teachers in Australian schools at present, and the evolving landscape suggests that this situation is not likely to improve in the immediate future.
At St Thomas we are fortunate to be fully staffed despite the current teacher shortages and have been able to maintain a small but committed base of Casual Relief Teachers (CRT’S) and Casual Education Support Officers that enjoy working in the St Thomas learning community.
One of the challenges we face at St Thomas at the moment is the building and maintaining a bank of CRT’s that we can use to support staff who are in leadership roles, staff who are on sick leave, staff who are on long service leave or staff completing mandated assessments across a specific grade level.
Organising these replacements to ensure we are providing coverage for all students is a big job. Our Deputy Principal Tara (and over the past few weeks, Emily) are in charge of this task, their school day can begin from 6.30 am, and it can take anywhere up to an hour and a half to ensure classrooms and yard duties are covered.
If we cannot source teachers, we have no option but to split classes and or not run a specialist class for the day. We acknowledge that this is not ideal, can be disruptive, as well as increasing the workload of teachers who are onsite working, but this is the only way we can provide a duty of care to all our students.It is always our last resort.
If you know of any teachers or Education Support Staff who would be willing to do some extra work as a Casual replacement please encourage them to contact me.
PARISH MORNING TEA
This Sunday St Thomas School together with the Polish Community are hosting the welcome morning tea at the Sale Cathedral after the 9:30am Mass. It would be great to see you there and/or available to help serve the tea and coffee and greet parishioners. I know it can be challenging with weekend sport but if you were free it would be great to see you there.
Kind Regards
Jodie