Staffing Update

Mrs Gail Crane has decided to take 2024 as a year of Long Service Leave. For the 13 years that I have been at St Therese, Gail has been a constant on Kindergarten (which goes back even longer than that!). Nearly every family that passes through St Therese have had the pleasure of Gail teaching at least one of their children. Gail’s wealth of knowledge of child development and student learning will be missed however she has always been diligent in passing this on to any of her grade partners. No doubt, Gail will be missed in her usual role however she may ‘pop up’ doing some casual work as the year progresses. I wish Gail a very, very well earned rest and look forward to her return in 2025.

Mrs Michelle Devine unfortunately had a trip and fall last Friday while leaving the hall. This has resulted in a fractured patella which will require quite a lengthy recovery process. It is too early to offer any potential return to work dates however we are fortunate to have Mr Mark Bunder, who has worked with the class, available to take over Year 6 Blue during this time. We wish Michelle our best wishes for a speedy recovery.

Mr Frank Timpano is now working with physios to aid his recovery after foot surgery. Once again, we don’t have a set date for Frank’s return but are fortunate in that Mrs Laura Miller is available and has worked for a considerable amount of time with the class. We also extend our best wishes to Frank for a speedy recovery.

Kindergarten Teachers for 2024

With the playgroup sessions starting today, I have announced that the Kindergarten teachers for 2024 will be Mrs Dominique Hogarth and Miss Stephanie Shalala. Both Dom and Steph are very excited to be working together once again and have already started planning for the year ahead.

Kinder 2024 Playgroup Sessions

Scary, but today we started our Kinder 2024 playgroup sessions. These will run for 4 consecutive Wednesdays and parents are welcome to come along to any of the sessions they choose.

• Session One: 15 - 10.45am
• Session Two: 12pm - 1.30pm

Both Kinder teachers will be present at all the playgroup sessions which provides a great forum for getting to know the children in a relaxed and playful way.

Classes 2024

With a few changes occurring with staffing in 2024, it is a great opportunity to move teachers around. With the Covid years of the recent past, there have been minimal changes across grades as far as teachers are concerned. Next year, very few teachers will remain on the same grade as they are this year. This is a very healthy change for any school community as teachers embrace a new age group, new content and new surroundings. While there is a draft staffing outline, there are still a few potential changes that may impact the final ‘starting line-up’. Therefore this won’t be published until closer to the end of the year.

As usual at this time of the year, parents are invited to communicate with me if they have any concerns regarding their child’s learning in 2024. This is not an opportunity to pick and choose your child’s teacher but a time where you can let me know about your child’s learning style, friendship issues, etc. Ultimately there are many variables which impact class placement and we can only split students into one of two classes. While I will take onboard parental concerns, I cannot guarantee all requests will be met. Communication from parents must be received by Friday, 3 November.

Hair Cuts

St Therese has always maintained a policy on acceptable haircuts which is published from time to time. With a few issues arising out of Covid, there were some exceptions made, particularly for boys which have then been adopted / copied by others. There have also been some cultural considerations to be made. The result is that now we have visitors / potential enrolments where certain hair styles are inviting comment as it steps away from our uniform and general appearance. I don’t like putting students on the spot however, I also know that some parents prefer the school to step in to speak with the children on such matters. If you would like me to talk to your child about their haircut and the school policy, please let me know.

Diocesan Sport Representative Pathway Nominations

Compass alert was sent to all Year 4 & 5 families two weeks ago regarding the Representative Sport Pathway Program for 2024. Generally speaking, students are required to be in Years 5 or 6 (2024) due to the level of competition for inclusion. If a student who is currently Year 3 but competing in their sport within a much higher age group, please contact me to discuss. All nominations are required by this Friday (27 October).

St Therese Catholic

School Core Values

Inclusion     Excellence     Respect    

Collaboration     Community

The Zones Of Regulation 

The_Zones_of_Regulation.pdf

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SEL

We are discussing how we make positive choices in our lives and strategies to best make those decisions 

Mrs. Carol Hiscox

SEL/Health teacher