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St Thomas More College, established in 1974, is a co-educational Catholic secondary school located in Sunnybank, Brisbane; with an enrolment of 748 students and 76 staff. The College provides education from Years 8 to 12. St Thomas More College takes its name from Thomas More, Lord Chancellor for King Henry VIII, who maintained his Christian moral values and stood up for what was right. The College motto comes from More s statement "I die the king's loyal servant, but God's servant first. Our aim at St Thomas More College is to provide an excellent all round education for every student at the College with a commitment to our Christian faith, our learning and our community. In 2014, St Thomas More College experienced significant growth in student numbers, facilities and staff. With this development comes growth in opportunities for current and future students. The College continued the building program with the completion of an administration building and lecture theatre in 2014 and established plans for the resource centre, student services and science block to be completed in 2015. One of the main priorities for 2014 was planning and preparing for the transition of Year 7 from primary school to secondary school. With this transition, the College estimated that it would grow to over 900 students and 100 staff in 2015. The following school report summarises a successful and positive year for the faith learning community that is St Thomas More College. It also reflects the efforts of an extremely productive and dynamic learning community. This report will be used to review our current school performance and guide our goal setting and planning for future years.
St Thomas More College is a Catholic co-education school administered through Catholic Education, Archdiocese of Brisbane. Girls Boys Total Enrolment 360 388 748 Student Retention Rate Apparent Retention Rates Year 10 to Year 12 Year 12 student enrolment as a percentage of the Year 10 (2012) student cohort 95.2% Year 10, 2012 Year 11, 2013 Year 12, 2014 Male 66 68 66 Female 59 56 53 Total 125 124 119
Students at St Thomas More College are required to attend the College regularly and punctually. All absences, for any reason or length of time, must be reported to the College. Year 8 Attendance Rate 95% Year 9 Attendance Rate 94% Year 10 Attendance Rate 93% Year 11 Attendance Rate 94% Year 12 Attendance Rate 94% Whole School Attendance Rate 94% Parents/guardians are advised to ring the College Absentee Line to report their student s absence and provide a written explanation of the absence in their student s College diary when the student returns to school. Attendance rolls are marked by teaching staff in the morning during Pastoral Care class and at the beginning of each lesson throughout the day. Any unexplained/unreported absence is followed up by the College via a text messaging system to the student s parents/guardians. Students who arrive late must sign in on arrival to the College. Likewise, students who leave early must be signed out of the College by a parent/guardian. If a student is absent from the College for a prolonged period of time, the College requires written correspondence to the Principal detailing the absence and supporting documentation if required. Continued and unexplained lateness or absenteeism will necessitate contact with parents/guardians and intervention meetings with College staff, the student and parents/guardians. Student s school reports detail the number of days absent per term. Students at St Thomas More College come from a variety of local primary schools, including Catholic, State and Independent primary schools. Students typically transfer to St Thomas More College after completion of Year 7. Key Catholic primary schools include: Our Lady of Fatima Primary School, Acacia Ridge Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School, Sunnybank St Bernadine s Primary School, Regents Park St Brendan s Primary School, Moorooka St Paul s Primary School, Woodridge St Pius X Primary School, Salisbury St Stephen s Primary School, Algester
St Thomas More College prides itself on being a multicultural school. Students come from a wide range of ethnic and cultural backgrounds; including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin. Student s Country of Birth Albania England Malaysia Sri Lanka Argentina France Namibia Sudan Australia Germany New Zealand Switzerland Bulgaria Hong Kong Pakistan Taiwan Burundi India Papua New Guinea Tanzania China Indonesia Philippines Thailand Congo, Democratic Republic of Iraq Samoa Turkey Denmark Ireland Solomon Islands Yemen Egypt Japan South Africa Zimbabwe Macau
The pastoral care of all students is fundamental to all staff at the College. All students are allocated to a Pastoral Care class and one teacher is allocated to each class. This enables the College to take a personal interest in our students and provide individual attention. Each day the Pastoral Care teacher and group will come together and the teacher acts as the main contact between the College and home. St Thomas More College is a registered CRICOS provider of education to international students and the College has an expanding International Student Program. The College regularly welcomes international students into our community, mostly from China, and had a total of 17 international students enrolled in 2014. All students at St Thomas More College are allocated to a Junnebei, which is the local Indigenous word meaning family group. Junnebeis enable students to feel a sense of community and belonging within the College, as well as establish relationships with students and staff within their Junnebei. Assisi St Francis of Assisi the Vine Green MacKillop Mary Mackillop the Cross Purple Nagle Nano Nagle the Lantern Gold Romero Oscar Romero the Chalice Red Turton William Turton the Word Blue
St Thomas More College promotes a climate in our school community that is welcoming, relational and free of prejudice. The College believes that everyone has a right to feel safe and be safe at school; be accepted and respected as they are; and be happy about coming to school. All hurtful behaviour, irrespective of whether or not it meets the definition of bullying, is addressed by the College. St Thomas More College takes the issue of bullying very seriously and has a no tolerance policy. Any behaviour that results in harm to a student or staff member will be reported and responded to in line with the College s Student Behaviour Support Plan. Students who may experience bullying may speak to any staff member, including the Guidance Counsellor, Pastoral Coordinator, Campus Minister and PC Teacher. Our Pastoral Care Program ensures that students feel open to communicating with any staff member in an understanding and non-judgemental environment. St Thomas More College is committed to nurturing young leaders. Leadership positions are established for our Year 12 students; including the following roles College Captains, Vice Captains, Celebration and Liturgy, Cultural, Sport and individual Junnebeis. These leadership roles enable students to work on College initiatives with the benefit to all students. The St Thomas More College Peer Support Program provides Year 8 students with a Year 11 Peer Support Leader to assist them with the transition from primary school to secondary school. This program will be expanded in 2015 to include Peer Support Leaders for Year 7 students.
Teaching Staff Non-teaching Staff Male Female Total Male Female Total Headcounts 22 31 53 10 13 23 Full-time Equivalents 22 31 53 6 8 14 Indigenous A small number have identified as Indigenous Qualifications of Teachers Highest Level of Attainment Doctorate Number of Qualifications Achieved by Teaching Staff _ Masters 14 Post Graduate Diploma/Certificate 28 Bachelors Degree 62 Diploma/Certificate 48 The average staff attendance rate was 97.22% in 2014. Total School Days Leave Days 10,579 294 St Thomas More College maintains our high level of teaching and learning by ensuring all staff undertake professional development initiatives. The total funds expended on teacher professional learning in 2014 were $32,793. The major professional development initiatives were as follows: Annual Goal Setting and Review Staff Orientation and Induction Program Training in Dimensions of Learning the College pedagogical teaching/learning framework IT Support for the 1:1 Laptop Program
The curriculum structure at St Thomas More College has been developed to suit the particular needs of both junior and senior students. The junior curriculum structure consists of a mix of core subjects and rotational taster electives. This structure enables students to experience a range of subjects in preparation for subject selection in senior years and for future studies post-secondary school. Year 8 and Year 9 Core Subjects Religious Education English Mathematics Science History and Geography Physical Education Elective Subjects Art Business Chinese Drama Food Technology Graphics Industrial Design and Technology Information Technology Media Studies Music Textiles The College offers academic extension and foundation courses for core subjects to cover the range of learning needs and requirements.
St Thomas More College prides itself on offering multiple curriculum pathways for senior students which are designed to meet individual needs. Students are able to undertake an Academic Pathway, leading to tertiary study, a Vocational Education and Training Pathway, leading to TAFE or the workplace or a pathway combining elements of both. Year 10 Year 11 and Year 12 Academic Pathway Religious Education/Volunteering English Mathematics Science History/Health and Physical Education Accounting Ancient History Biological Science Chemistry Drama Economics English ESL English Geography Graphics Maths A Maths B Maths C Modern History Music Music Extension Physical Education Physics Study of Religion Visual Art Vocational Pathway Religious Education/Volunteering English Mathematics Science Civics/Health and Physical Education Religion and Ethics English Communication Prevocational Maths Social and Community Studies Media Studies Visual Art Studies Certificate II Hospitality Certificate II Information Technology Certificate III Business Certificate III Fitness Science in Practice Certificate in Workplace Education Certificate III in Christian Ministry Certificate III in Sport and Recreation
The College has a comprehensive laptop program available to students from Year 8 to 12. All students receive a laptop for use during school and for use at home, which is fundamental to students completing their studies across all disciplines. The College uses MOODLE, which is an online learning management system. This enables students and parents to access term planners, assessment items and task and revision sheets. It is an interactive platform that is constantly being updated by teaching staff. Students have access to the St Thomas More College Student Portal. The Student Portal has frequently used online links, such as MOODLE, Web Print, Turn It In, My Sites Docs, Outlook, and Google Drive; as well as the College calendar and subject folders. All staff and students have access to a wireless network across the St Thomas More College campus. This ensures staff and students are able to access ICT facilities wherever they may be at the College.
St Thomas More College offers a variety of co-curricular activities, which students are encouraged to participate in. The College holds our annual Swimming, Cross Country and Athletics Carnivals. STMC participates in the South East Colleges Association (SECA) inter-school competition. The College provides students with the opportunity for District, Regional, State and National representation through affiliation with Metropolitan West Sport. Senior students may represent the College at the Confraternity Cup and Queensland Independent Secondary Schools Netball (QISSN). Sporting Activities AFL Athletics Basketball Cardio Boxing Cricket Cross Country Indoor Soccer Netball OzTag Personal Training Rock Climbing Rugby 7s Rugby League Soccer Swimming Table Tennis Tennis Touch Football Volleyball
The College has an extensive Instrumental Music Program including individual or group music lessons and music ensembles. Instrumental Music Brass Guitar Percussion Piano Strings Voice Woodwind Ensembles Extension Showchoir Polynesian Choir Showchoir Amore Guitar Performance Choir Frettz Guitar Marching Band and Colourguard College Concert Band Drumline The College is committed to producing a College Production/Musical and Junior Drama Production each year. The College holds the Penny Awards, where students perform a monologue or duologue before a panel of guest adjudicators, who are industry professionals. Students may participate in a College Public Speaking and Debating Competition.
Reading Persuasive Spelling Grammar Numeracy Writing and Punctuation St Thomas More College 592 565 580 579 593 Queensland 571 543 575 567 579 Australia 580 550 582 574 588 Outcomes for our Year 12 Cohort of 2014 Number of students receiving a Senior Education Profile 109 Number of students awarded a Queensland Certificate Individual Achievement _ Number of students receiving an Overall Position (OP) 47 Number of students who are completing or completed a school based Apprenticeship or 47 Traineeship Number of students awarded one or more Vocational Educational Training qualifications 81 Number of students awarded a Queensland Certificate of Education at the end of Year 12 108 Number of students awarded an International Baccalaureate Diploma (IBD) _ Percentage of OP/IBD eligible students with OP 1-15 or an IBD 96.7% Percentage of Year 12 students who are completing or completed a SAT or were awarded 99% one or more of the following: QCE, IBD, VET qualifications Percentage of Queensland Tertiary Admission Centre (QTAC) applications receiving a 98% tertiary offer Overall Position Bands (OP) Number of students in each band for OP 1-25 OP1-5 OP 6-10 OP 11=15 OP 16-20 OP 21-25 15 19 11 2 _ Vocational Educational Training qualification (VET) Number of students awarded certificates under the Australian Qualification Framework (AQF) Certificate I Certificate II Certificate III 5 students 57 students 75 students
Post School Destination Information At the time of publishing the St Thomas More College School Report the results of the 2014 Next Step Survey Student Destination Report were not available. The following data is from the 2013 Next Step Survey are detailed below. Information about the post-school destinations of our Year 12 2014 students will be published in September when the information is made available to the College. Parents are afforded a range of opportunities to provide the College with feedback in regard to their degree of satisfaction with all aspects of the College. These opportunities take the form of Parent & Friends Association meetings, Parent/Student/Teacher Interviews and one on one meetings. The College conducted an Annual Internal School Review with teaching staff, which identified strengths, areas of development and action to be taken. St Thomas More College believes that parents and guardians are an integral part of their student s education. Therefore, nurturing the relationship and maintaining communication between home and the College is of paramount importance. The College supports the role of parents through: Year Level Information Evenings Fortnightly College e-newsletter Parent/Student/Teacher Interviews Junior Education Transition (JET) Interview Year 8 students and parents Senior Education Transition (SET) Interview Year 10 students and parents St Thomas More College Parents & Friends Association Voluntary contribution of parent s time and skills Parents and guardians were invited to attend key events that take place throughout the year, where the College community gathers as one such as the Opening and Closing Mass, and Academic, Sports and Music Awards Evenings. The College has designed the St Thomas More College Parent Portal with the intention to launch the Parent Portal early in 2015. The Parent Portal will ensure parents/guardians have access to information relevant to their students, events and College policies/procedures. Details of the financial aspects of St Thomas More College can be found on http://www.myschool.edu.au.