St Thomas More School Newsletter - Term 2, Week 9 2024
Our Newsletter | 2024
Reception BH have LOVED their learning this Term and cannot wait for more learning in Semester 2...
Amazing writers!
In English this Term we have been learning about sequencing stories.
Some of the stories we have learned about include ‘The Rainbow Fish’ and ‘Elma the Elephant’. As part of our learning, we would have to write sentences about what happened in the stories. We followed the writing sequence of first, then, next, and last. We are all amazing writers now. We have also had a focus on stretching CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words.
We are now putting this learning into practice as we begin to learn to read simple books. Thank you to our parents and friends at home who help us to practice our reading skills.
We are all unique and special
As you can see from our photos, our class loves the subject of Art. Our Art topics were based around the stories we were learning in English. For ‘The Rainbow Fish’ we made our own very colourful and beautiful Rainbow Fish using a variety of craft materials. For ‘Elma the Elephant’ we made our own elephants using glitter and coloured textas. We loved using glitter even though it left the classroom and us a little messy, whoopsies!!! Our overarching theme for Art this Term was ‘We are all unique and special’. You can see this in our artwork because our artworks do not look the same, but they are all still beautiful and special in their own way.
Chrysalis means Coocoon!
In Science this semester we have focused on the Metamorphosis of animals. In particular we looked Butterflies and Frogs. As you can see from our diagrams of how a Butterfly changes throughout its lifecycle, we are all now scientists and are very very smart. We even know what the word Chrysalis (Cocoon) means.
As Term 2 approaches it's end, we wish all of the St Thomas More community a happy and safe 2-week holiday. May your holidays be filled with joy and fun.
Reception BH is signing off for now, but don’t worry we will be back soon to tell you more about what we have been learning in class.
Shaping the future together,
Miss Brittney and all the students in Reception BH
A note from our Leadership
Dear Parents, Caregivers, Students, and Friends of St Thomas More School Community,
P.B.I.S. - Positive Behavioural Interventions and Supports
Over the last 9 months, St Thomas More School has been part of an initiative called P.B.I.S., Positive Behavioural Interventions and Supports endorsed by Catholic Education South Australia (CESA).
P.B.I.S seeks to increase positive behaviour in schools by staff acknowledging the safe and respectful behaviours of students. This positive reinforcement is a staff wide approach and focuses on developing a particular behaviour focus by using data collected by staff. Once a significant behaviour is identified, lessons are created to improve that behaviour. For example, our recent data has identified a high number of incidents where students are not following instructions by staff.
We met as a staff and shared resources that promote the understanding of ‘why we listen to instructions’ (it creates a happier, safe learning area where we can all do our best). To these lessons we link two of our school’s Mercy Values (which for this focus are- Respect and Justice).
Examples of how a staff member will give positive reinforcement for a listening to instructions behaviour might be:
“Thank you, Sarah, for picking up your schoolbag when I asked you to. I appreciate your respect for listening to my instruction straight away.”
“Thank you, Mabil, for following my class instruction of waiting your turn to speak. When we take turns, we are being fair and just.”
By involving parents and caregivers in the conversation, we hope that we can support you in supporting your children and vice-versa.
Happy Holidays
We have come to the end of yet another eventful school term. We celebrate with you the growth that we have witnessed in the students learning and wellbeing and continue to progress in all that we do to ensure that our students flourish as thriving people, capable learners and leaders for the world God desires. We wish you all a very happy, safe and restful holiday break, and we look forward to seeing you again next term.
Shaping our future together,
Leadership Team
Staffing News
Over the past few weeks we have warmly welcomed two new staff members to our St Thomas More School community.
Daniel Farrugia
Daniel has been appointed in the role of STEM teacher
Samia Rafi
Samia has the role of Co-educator for the remainder of the year.
We trust that their time with us is both a rewarding and fruitful one.
Staff Movements
Rosemarie Villano (Italian teacher) is on leave for the remainder of the term and Daniel Farrugia will be taking Italian lessons during this time.
Stav Haros will be on leave for the first two weeks of Term 3 and Iola Aufiero will be teaching the Reception class during this time. Iola has been a regular relief teacher in our school and brings with her a deep knowledge and skills in working with Early Years children.
Vicki Rubino will be on long service leave next term from weeks 1 to 6. During this time Melissa Musolino will be working in the role of Head of School as stated in the letter sent home this week.
Semester 1 Reports
We thank teachers and staff who have been busy writing and preparing student reports for Semester 1.
These reports will be sent home on Wednesday 3 July. If you have any queries regarding your child’s report, please contact your child’s classroom teacher.
New Website!
You may have noticed that our website has undergone a little upgrade...
Check it out at https://sttmore.catholic.edu.au/
We've rebuilt the site to enhance navigation, and make it easier to find what you're looking for - especially on mobile devices.
As we continue to make updates to features and content we will be sure to communicate it with you. In the meantime, if you have any feedback, please email info@sttmore.catholic.edu.au
Winner! Winner!
A big CONGRATULATIONS to Andiyiah Fremlin - the lucky winner of the Wellbeing Survey draw. Andiyiah has won some movie tickets and will be able to make use of them these holidays with her daughter.
We are currently in the process of collating responses and anlaysing findings so that we can identify key strengths and areas for further improvement in our work as a school.
We thank the many families who completed the survey and provided us with rich data that we can work from.
Vacation Care Bookings
A reminder to ensure your Vacation Care bookings are made before the end of Week 8 (next week). All bookings made before this deadline will be guaranteed. However, we cannot guarantee places after this date.
Our Vacation Care programs can be viewed below. To make a booking for your child, please phone our Director, Cheryl Bielby on 7285 1555 or 0409 551 699.
Pupil Free Days!
Please take note of the following dates for the remaining Pupil Free Days this year:
Friday 5 July (THIS FRIDAY!)
Friday 23 August
Monday 14 October
Thursday 12 December
Friday 13 December
To make an OSHC Booking for any of these days, please phone our Director, Cheryl Bielby on 7285 1555 or 0409 551 699.
Library Time - Blueberry Farm
Welcome to Blueberry Farm.
The sun is shining, and the trees are filled with song.
It’s going to be another beautiful day.
St Thomas More Feast Day
On Friday 21st we celebrated St Thomas More Feast Day as a whole school.
The day began with a liturgy led by our Year 5/6 students. This was a time for us all to reflect on the characteristics and values St Thomas More shared with others and the great love he had for God and for people. The students continued their celebrations by then enjoying their participation in various activities including cup cake decorating, Life Be In It activities and lunch and play at Fremont Park.
It was a great day enjoyed by everyone and we were blessed with perfect weather for this event. As we all know such large-scale events are not possible without the careful planning and assistance of others. A massive thank you to Melissa Musolino and the Religious Education committee for their careful planning and organisation. We also thank our volunteers for their time and efforts to support our school on the day as without their contribution, these events would not be possible.
Faith and Community
Liturgical Calendar
A Liturgical Calendar shows the cycle of seasons in the Catholic Church. The Church year consists of six liturgical seasons: Advent, Christmas, Ordinary Time after Epiphany, Lent, Easter, and Ordinary Time after Pentecost. In each newsletter we aim to highlight different events in the Liturgical Calendar that we might be focusing on or celebrating in our school.
This term we celebrate many feast days that occur in our liturgical calendar. A feast day is a day when we remember and celebrate something or someone important to our faith.
NAIDOC Week
Sunday July 7 is the beginning of NAIDOC Week. A special day for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people was first observed in 1938. This single day has developed into a week - long celebration. During this week there are many events which demonstrate the cultural richness of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. It is also a time to remember the need for justice for Aboriginal Australians.
Next week, Reception teacher Stav Haros will lead our school and St Mary Magdalene’s School in prayer via Microsoft Teams on Wednesday.
There will be a whole school liturgy on Thursday June 4, and all families are welcome to join us for our Liturgy.
STM Giving Cupboard
During Term 1 we set up the ‘Giving to Others’, St. Thomas More Mini Market.
The idea was shared by one of our parents, Nathan Craill, as a plan to support our very own school community. With the rising cost of housing, weekly groceries, and household bills, and recognising that we can all do with some support sometimes, he suggested implementing a ‘giving cupboard’ where families can ‘give’ food items and ‘take’ food items when in need.
We initially set this up during the season of Lent as the focus was on ‘giving’ to others and those in need. Our ‘giving cupboard’ has been set up in a section of the counsellors building but has recently moved to the office due to some building changes.
If you have any non – perishable food items that you would like to donate, you can leave these in the basket inside the front office.
Elizabeth Catholic Parish Sacrament Program
For those families who have enrolled in the program, please be aware of the following dates:
Reconciliation Celebration (TERM 3)
- Friday August 2nd
- 6pm
- St. Thomas More Church – 19 Laverstock Rd, Elizabeth North.
Practice for Confirmation and First Eucharist (TERM 3)
- Saturday September 7
- 9.30am – 11am
- St. Ann’s Church – Midway Rd, Elizabeth East
Please contact Melissa Musolino for more information on 08 7285 1500 or email mmusolino@sttmore.catholic.edu.au
School Calendar Term 2
Our School Calendar has been updated to show important days and events scheduled for Term 2. Please keep an eye on this calendar throughout the term, and we will endevour to update you as more items are added.
View important dates below, or access the School Calendar here or directly through your Szapp homescreen (the tile titled School Calendar).
July 4 | Last Day of Term 2
July 4 | Whole School Liturgy 9am Jubilee Hall
July 5 | Pupil Free Day
July 7 | NAIDOC WEEK
July 22 | First Day of Term 3
Raising Hearts and Minds
