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,
Winter has definitely arrived with colder temperatures and rain happening. It also means that the winter cold and flu season is upon us with both students and staff being impacted at the moment. Thank you for your support with keeping the children home when they are ill.
SCHOOL REPORTS
Semester One reports will be available to view on SiMON on Wednesday 2nd July.
Curriculum and reporting in Victorian schools continues to evolve. Victorian Curriculum subjects are now endorsed by the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) for national implementation. The content and achievement standards in this report are based on the Victorian Curriculum. In addition, four capabilities or learning skills are recognised and scored: Critical and Creative thinking, Ethical, Intercultural, Personal and Social.
The Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) recently published its revised Mathematics curriculum (Mathematics Version 2.0). All Victorian schools will start using Mathematics Version 2.0 in 2025. At St Thomas’, we are using the revised Mathematics curriculum for student reporting from Semester 1, 2025.
On your child’s previous report, the teacher reported against the three strands of the achievement standard for Mathematics (Number and Algebra, Measurement and Geometry, and Statistics and Probability).
Under the Mathematics Version 2.0 curriculum, your child’s teacher will report against the achievement standard as a whole, providing a single, aggregated score.
As the achievement standards reported on have changed, the first time you receive a report under the Mathematics Version 2.0 curriculum, it will only show achievement and not progress. For all reports after this, progress will be shown against the single achievement standard.
The VCAA made these changes to help teachers plan their teaching and learning programs in Mathematics, giving them more flexibility to support students to link ideas within Mathematics and also with other curriculum areas.
ROAD SAFETY REMINDER
Our crossing supervisors do a fabulous job in helping our children cross the busy roads around the school safely. They have asked that we remind the children that they need to walk when using the crossing so that they cross safely. Thank you for assisting us with this important message.
It is also important that you abide by the local parking restrictions around the school, in particular being mindful of the local residents' driveways. Clear access for them to use their driveway must be available at all times.
ST THOMAS FEAST DAY
We are looking forward to celebrating the Feast Day of St Thomas on Thursday. It is very rare that we get to celebrate it on the actual day as we are normally on school holidays atthis time.
You are warmly invited to join us at the Cathedral on Thursday 3rd July for a special liturgy. During the afternoon the children will be getting the opportunity to be a Pilgrim of Hope just like St Thomas as they take turns to undertake a pilgrimage around the school.
Thank you to our amazing Religious Education Leader Rosie Phillips for preparing such a special day for us.
"As we go from this pilgrimage, may we be pilgrims of hope — sharing Jesus' love in all we do."
Kind regards,
Jodie