From the Deputy Principal, Staff and Operations

28 March 2024

At Thomas Carr College, we place great value in students, teachers and parents working in partnership to foster a strong and sustainable learning culture. This partnership extends to setting high expectations to ensure all students can excel throughout their journey at Thomas Carr College.

Earlier this term, all teaching staff in positions of leadership gathered for a professional learning workshop that focused on our roles as leaders at Thomas Carr College. This was a wonderful opportunity for us to reflect on the work we do as leaders within our school community and how we can continue to animate the College’s vision.

A key theme from this workshop was the value we place in working in partnership with parents to support the learning and overall wellbeing needs of our students. All the staff involved received a book by Simon Sinek titled, ‘Together is Better’. This unique and delightful little book makes the point that together is better and shares the story of three friends who discover what it means to do something on purpose. To do something with purpose.

Reflecting upon this story, so much of our work as a Catholic school is to instill a strong sense of purpose and fulfilment by being of service to others. This extends to being in partnership with parents and students in establishing the daily expectations and routines that will allow students to excel in all that they do at the College. An example of this is the implementation of Welcome Circles and the use of Consistent Predictable Routines (CPRs) throughout this term.

As we end the Lenten Term, the ongoing partnership between parents, teachers and students continues to be invaluable in our collective ability to foster a strong and sustainable learning culture. I would like to thank all members of our Community for contributing to who we are as a College, and I look forward to sharing further insights into this work throughout the year.

Student Study Day (Friday 26 April)

Friday 26 April is listed on the College calendar as a ‘Student Study Day’.

Students are not required to attend the College on this date and are encouraged to use this day for study and other self-directed learning activities. Learning activities may include pre-reading or any other subject-specific tasks such as homework and general classwork that has been set by their teachers.

We also encourage your child to use this day to revise key content that has been covered across all their classes during the first two weeks of the term and plan for any upcoming assessment tasks.

If you have any questions related to the expectations of students on this day, please contact your child’s Pastoral and Learning Mentor (PaLM), Year Level Leader or House Leader.

Term Two Timetables

We appreciate your support throughout this term as we have continued to employ new teaching staff and cover classes that were not allocated a teacher. Although the current statewide teacher shortage continues to impact schools within our local area, extensive work has been undertaken in recent weeks to ensure all classes have a teacher in Term Two.

Timetables will be updated to reflect these changes during the school holidays, and we ask that all students please check their timetable on SIMON prior to the start of next term.

If students have any questions related to their timetable, they are asked to please contact their Pastoral and Learning Mentor (PaLM).

Easter Message

As we head into Easter, I would like to take this opportunity to wish all members of our community a safe and Happy Easter.

I also encourage everyone to take this time to reflect on the significance of Easter and how through our hope and service to others we shine our light into the world.

Andrew Bryson
Deputy Principal – Staff and Learning Operations