St Thomas Aquinas Secondary

Dear Parent/Guardian/Carer,

I hope you are well. As part of our ongoing support for pupils moving through S3, I have prepared a short presentation explaining the S3 Personalisation and Choice process.

I am sharing this with you so that you can review the information at a time that suits you and discuss the available options with your young person. If English is not your first language, there is a facility within YouTube to set subtitles to your chosen language. I have shown pupils how to do this.

If you have any questions after viewing the presentation, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Following the S3 Personalisation and Choice presentation shared last evening, we have now uploaded the S3 Option Choice Form and an Information Sheet to support pupils in preparing for their interviews with their Pastoral Care teacher.

Pupils should read the information sheet carefully and ensure they can answer “yes” to all of the questions. This will help them make informed choices and feel prepared for their interview.

Kind regards,

Paul Young

S3 Year Head

Please read the following guidance very carefully and see your Year Head if you have any questions.

Prelim Assessments begin on Monday 1st December 2025 and finish on Wednesday 17th December 2025. You will be on study leave for the duration of the Prelim Assessment timetable and should follow the advice given to you regarding study planning during this time. Some exams may take please week beginning the 24th of November during class time- your class teacher will let you know if you need to complete an assessment during this week. It is essential that you attend all exams.

Please check the Interim Assessment timetable carefully and take a note of the dates, times and location of each of your Interim Assessments. This is your responsibility!

Make sure you know which level you should be sitting in each subject for your Interim Assessments: Higher, National 5, National 4 or National 3 – ask your teacher if you are unsure!

• You must attend each Interim Assessment!
• You must be on time! You must be in the social area at least 30 minutes before the start time of each exam.
• If you are late for your exam, the invigilators may not allow you into the exam hall to sit your exam
• You must be in full school uniform
• You can use the school bus or public service buses to get to school
• Use the bathroom before your exam
• Be aware that there may be more than one paper or part of the exam for each subject
• Have all the equipment you need including pens, pencils, rulers, calculators, protractors etc
• Check the seating plans in the social area when you arrive – you must sit in the correct gym in your allocated seat!
• Go to the allocated gym hall / classroom / location when instructed to do so
• You must be absolutely silent when you enter the exam hall and go to your allocated seat
• All bags and jackets must be left at the front of the exam hall/ room
• Do your best to answer all the questions – make sure you check the back pages to ensure you have attempted all questions. Check over your answers carefully.
• If you finish your exam before the end of the allocated time, you must use the time to check over your answers. You must remain in the exam room until the end of the allocated time.
• Please be quiet when leaving the exam halls/ rooms as other pupils may still be doing exams

In particular, you MUST ensure that the following items are switched OFF and put in envelopes provided before the start of each Interim Assessment: Mobile phone; Smart watch; Air pods / Headphones; iPad (these should be switched off and left in your bag including any alarms and notifications).

Assessment arrangements

If you are entitled to Additional Arrangements, you must check the seating plan, hand in your phone and then report to Miss Power in the library when instructed to be registered.

• The start times of your exams may be different to the Interim Assessment master timetable- go with the times issued by Miss Power.
• If you are entitled to separate accommodation, the location may be different for each paper- please check this carefully on the seating plans in the social area before your exam
• If you are entitled to Extra Time, please change the pen/ font to bold to indicate when the Extra Time started and draw a line under the work you completed before the Extra time began. It would also be useful to your class teacher if you could indicate on your paper when your Extra time started by writing ‘Extra Time’ or ‘ET’ in the margin. This helps us to plan for your final SQA exams.
• Pupils using Exam.Net to complete their exams must ensure they bring their iPads fully charged to every exam. They must check their seats in the Social Area and report to Miss Power or Mrs Cassidy in the library when instructed where they will hand in their phones. Learners will sit the exam in Abbey ICT and must use the correct code to access their exam. Paper copies of the exam paper will also be available.
• Pupils must submit their exam paper before leaving the exam room. Learners then go to the library to check their printed exam paper and collect their phone from Miss Power or Mrs Cassidy.

Timetable

REMINDER

You must take responsibility for ensuring the invigilator is in no doubt that you have not looked at anyone else’s work during the assessment. You must also ensure that you do not use rude, abusive or offensive words or
images in any of your work, or that your work does not refer to anything inappropriate.

What happens after the Interim Assessments?

Interim Assessments will be marked and then crossed marked. All senior pupils will receive their Interim Assessment tracking report in January 2026.
*The interim assessment timetables do not include the Advanced Highers studied by S6 students at other schools this session.

Do your best – it’s part of your learning journey, not the destination

Creating Calm, Focused Classrooms

From Monday 3rd November, we will be relaunching our STA Digital Policy.
The main change is that all pupils will be required to place their mobile phones in the classroom Phone Hotel at the start of every period and collect them at the end. This is not a ban on phones, but a revised structure to ensure calm, focus and wellbeing in our classrooms.

Why We Are Making This Change
This change comes directly from the voices of our pupils and parents. Many young people shared that even having their phone in their pocket caused stress, as notifications and vibrations pulled their attention away from learning.
They also shared with us that they are likely to ask out to use the toilet during class time and miss key learning, simply to check their phones. Parents and carers also told us they wanted clearer boundaries to help children manage phone habits more positively.

The evidence behind this change is strong and consistent:

• London School of Economics (2016) found that schools implementing phone-free classrooms saw academic performance rise by 6.4%, with the greatest gains among pupils who previously struggled to concentrate.
• University of Chicago (2017) showed that the mere presence of a smartphone — even switched off — reduces cognitive capacity, making it harder to focus and retain information.
• UNICEF’s 2023 report on Digital Wellbeing highlighted that limiting phone use in learning spaces improves attention, sleep patterns and peer connection.
• In Scottish schools who have been piloting phone-free approaches, both attainment and relationships improved, with reduced conflict and better engagement.

We believe this change will help every young person to learn more deeply, think more clearly and feel more at peace in their learning environment.

This policy supports our school values of Curiosity, Love, Equality, Aspiration, and Respect, and is aligned to UNCRC Article 28 – every child’s right to an education in a setting free from unnecessary distraction.

What Will Happen from Monday

• At the start of every lesson, pupils will be asked to place their phone in the Phone Hotel (a labelled, secure holder in each classroom).
• Phones will remain there until the end of the lesson, when pupils will collect them.
• Pupils may continue to use phones before school, at interval, and at lunch as normal.
• We will continue to ask pupils to keep phones switched off and out of sight moving between classes.
• We will continue to safely store mobile phones or earpods in the school office until the end of the school day when pupils are in breach of the STA Digital Policy.

Our approach is about clarity, consistency, and respect — every class, every day, every pupil.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What if I need to contact my child?
   Please contact the school office as normal. We will ensure any urgent messages reach your child promptly.
2. What if my child needs to contact me?
   Your child can speak with their teacher, Pastoral Care staff, or the office — we will always support appropriate communication home.
3. Will phones be safe?
   Yes. Each Phone Hotel is clearly numbered, supervised by the class teacher, and placed in a secure part of the room.
4. What happens if my child refuses to use the Phone Hotel?
   We will address this as a behaviour and respect matter, in line with our STAges behaviour framework. Calm compliance and mutual respect are expected.
5. Is this about punishment?
   No. It’s about creating a learning environment that is calmer, fairer, and more focused for everyone.

A Partnership Between Home and School
We are hugely grateful to have the full support of our Parent Council and thank them for purchasing the Phone Hotels. We ask for your support in speaking with your child about this policy before Monday’s relaunch. Clear and consistent expectations at home and school will help this change feel natural and positive.
We are proud of how our pupils respond when treated with respect, and we are confident that this small change will bring big benefits to their learning, wellbeing, and readiness for the world beyond school.

Thank you, as always, for your partnership and trust.

Yours faithfully,
Claire McInally
Head Teacher | St Thomas Aquinas Secondary School

Please access this important information about your child’s qualifications, including coursework and assignments.

As part of the councils ongoing commitment to digital learning all iPads across all Glasgow schools will be replaced with new iPad A16’s. For our school this refresh has already started and will be complete by the October break.

In order for pupils to retain all their data they need to ensure they have their Apple ID (firstlastname@appleid.glasgow.sch.uk) signed in to their current iPad and all iCloud sync setting enabled. If you are not signed into your Apple ID please see Mr Adams up in the BECS department at lunch times.

When you are called down you will be supported in setting up a your new iPad, getting all your data back onto it and wiping your iPads to be returned to the councils digital team.

If you have any questions or require further support please see Mr Adams.

Update October 2025

All pupils should have now received their new iPad. If they have not they should see their year head asap.

Pupils in years 1-3 will need to wait till the end of November to get their plug. This is due to a delay from the councils delivery. For now pupils can use the charging trolley in the social area.

Award Ceremony booklet June 2025