Wow! It is hard to believe our year is coming to a close with the last day of school for students tomorrow. We have had such an incredible year when we consider that it started with mask-wearing and cohorting of grades in separate playground areas, to holding whole school events and coming together as a community. Whilst there are too many highlights to mention, the following come to mind:

• Parent Information night over MS Teams
• Our combined Parish and School Working Bee
• Completing our Values Mural with Bohie
• Seeing the community come back together following restrictions
• Significant academic growth in NAPLAN
• 5/6 Camp
• The Colour Run and Disco
• Completion of the Parish and School Masterplan

and

• Our School Creed

2023 will be an opportunity to embed our School Creed and teaching practices to ensure our community is strengthened and our strong student outcomes are maintained.

I would like to thank each and every one of you, your children, and your extended families for welcoming me to St Thomas More's. I often tell the students that I am privileged to be the Principal of the best school in Canberra and I tell parents and staff that I received the Golden Ticket being employed here. Both of these sentiments are completely true! 

Farewells

As with each year at St Thomas More's, we will be farewelling a number of students, families and staff. At our Year 6 Graduation last Thursday we were able to formally farewell our Year 6 students and those families who are finishing their time at the school. After playing a little game we came to discover that the Cuddihy family has been affiliated with the school since 1972 representing multiple generations of Catholic education. 

We also farewell many of our families who will be moving to different schools all across Australia. Our School Chaplain and Defence School Mentors have been working with these families and their children to ensure a smooth transition to their new school and we wish them all the best with their move. We know that this does not always mean goodbye as some of you may be coming back to Canberra in a few years and reenrolling!

From our staff, we farewell Antonija Rover, Margie Lawson and Julie Ogden. Antonija has taught Italian here for a number of years and has contributed so much to the languages program during this time. Margie came to us at the beginning of Term 3 to teach The Arts and has inspired students to think creatively during this time.

Of course, our final farewell must go to the outstanding Julie Ogden. Julie has devoted 20 years of service to our community and touched the hearts of every single person who has stepped foot through the front door. Last night, a group of parents and staff embraced Julie during our Community Farewell as we heard from previous staff member Helen Bramanathan who spoke about all that Julie has achieved as a Classroom Support Assistant and Front Office Manager. We truly are losing the heartbeat of our school and wish Julie all the best as she embarks on this exciting adventure with Gerard. 

Classes for 2023

This afternoon our students spent an hour with their teacher for 2023. It was an exciting time, particularly with the new layout of the school. Ms Mikkonen and I ensured that all students in Years 3-6 had at least one of their friends from their list of five. We would like to remind you that we will not accept requests for consideration for next year's classes as this opportunity was invited over multiple weeks at the beginning of this term.

 Our Staff for 2023

2023 School Calendar    

We are pleased to announce that the calendar for 2023 is now live on our school website and through the Compass app. All school events for the year have been set and we hope to provide you all with a handy reference for the fridge in the coming year! The first day for all students will be Tuesday 31 January. 

We wish you all a safe, Holy and relaxing Christmas and New Year and look forward to embarking on the adventures of 2023 before we know it!

Luke Donnelly
Principal