TERM 4 - WEEK 3
Front Cover - Rec Arnold & Appelbee
Mathematics
One of our learning intentions for Mathematics is to order, compare and decide what is heavier and what holds more. As a class, we read the story “Who Sank the Boat” by Pamela Allen. We were then given a challenge. Each child had the opportunity to design and create their own boats. We researched other boats to help us implement some of the design concepts on our own. The goal was to produce a boat that would be able to float in water.
Reception RA & AA
Leadership
Dear Parents, Caregivers, Students and friends of St Thomas More,
Congratulations & Welcome
Congratulations and best wishes to Mr Cristian Morgado and his partner Jacinta who recently welcomed their baby girl Vittoria Gianna Zandona-Morgado into their family. Congratulations also to Leeanne Fischer for the happy and safe arrival of her grandson Parker.
Bless them richly with health, happiness and laughter. Be deeply grateful for these precious children and for all that they represent in your life. Your experience of life and your contribution to the world is changed forever. Thank you, God.
World Teachers Day
Friday 28 October we celebrated World Teachers Day. This was an opportunity to acknowledge the great work that all of our teachers and co-educations do with our children. Our staff does a tremendous job at St. Thomas More School and it is important that we express our gratitude for the role they play in educating the students and also for providing such a happy, safe and supportive environment for learning.
School Hats
During Term 4, hats are again compulsory for all playtimes and learning activities outdoors for all children and staff. No Hat - No Play will apply to children not wearing a hat for playtimes and they will also have to be under shelter or in the shade during outside activities. Please ensure that your child has a labelled hat and if a new one is required it can be purchased through the QKR app and collected at the front office.
Medical Care Plans
If your child has a medical plan can you please ensure that the Front Office staff have a copy of this. It is also important that the medical plans we have are current and up-to-date. Thank you for your support with this important health matter.
Sports Day
Traditionally we have held Sports Day at the beginning of the year, however, due to COVID 19, we have scheduled Sports Day to be held on Friday 18 November (Term 4, Week 5). Please place this date in your diary as it promises to be another special event for our school community.
Child Safety
“Students and families are reminded to be wary of approaches from strangers, especially when they are unaccompanied or travelling to and from school. If they are approached students should not respond and should not accept offers of rides or gifts.
Students should seek the assistance of other nearby adults if they feel unsafe and should report the event to a trusted adult (parent or school staff member) as soon as possible.
SAPOL advises that taking out a mobile phone and calling the police can deter the offender and they recommend the student make a formal report to their closest police station.”
2023 Class Placements
We have already begun our planning for 2023. As part of our process in looking at next year’s class lists it is important to know who will be, or will not be, returning to St Thomas More School next year. To assist us in our preparations we previously asked for you to complete the “Class Preparation for 2023” form. Thank you to families that have returned the form. If you have not returned the form or have not notified the front office, I ask you to please do so to inform our planning.
At this time of the year parents and caregivers may become anxious about their child’s placement for the ensuing year. Our experience suggests that children do adjust to their new teacher and settle into a productive year in that class. Our views on class placement are relatively simple and are premised on the following principles:
The child’s needs come first.
These needs include:
- Social - maximising each child’s potential to be happy and have positive self-esteem is essential. Consequently, there may be reasons for ensuring that certain children are, or are not, placed in the same class.
- Educational - different children and teachers have different learning and teaching styles.
- Other considerations might include whether children have previously had certain teachers, the mix of learning needs in a class, etc. The ultimate responsibility for assigning class placement rests with the school.
The staff spends much time considering the social, peer group and learning needs of the children and, within the practical constraints of numbers of children, the number of teachers, etc, allocate children to classes.
Cyber Safe & Mobile Safe
Increasingly schools are dealing more and more with cyberbullying issues occurring away from school. Although cyberbullying may be occurring away from school inevitably it impacts the lives of children and staff here at school in which case we are obliged to respond to best support the wellbeing of all concerned. Many of the incidents we are dealing with are avoidable. Parents must know what their children are doing on their phones and machines. This does not mean spy. This means continually reminding your child/children that they should not post anything online which could cause offence to someone reading the material. This is about being a ‘good’ person online and offline. It means reminding children that all online posts can be traced. It means knowing exactly what they are doing online. It means encouraging them to inform you if they are aware of anything untoward online, whether they are involved in it or not.
I am also writing to remind you to keep your children cyber-safe and mobile-safe. Some students participate in online activities that they would not do in the real world. They think they are invisible and at times even anonymous. All online activity and phone activity can be traced.
Some parents think that if their children are home using a computer or phone they are safe and not in danger. Nothing could be further from the truth. Your child could be placing him/herself in unsafe situations from your family home. I would like to remind you, that to legally belong to social networking sites like Facebook one must be aged 13 or over. For some sites, the age is even higher.
I would like to offer you this advice:
- Make it your business to know what your child is doing online. Teenagers (and preteens) are likely to take the position that their online activities are their business. But parents have a moral, as well as legal, obligation to ensure that their children are engaged in safe and responsible behaviour -including online behaviour.
- Keep the computer/phone in a public place in the house. Periodically check on what your child is doing. Find out who his/her online friends are.
- Help your child distinguish between three kinds of personal information:
- Personal contact information. Name, address, phone number, and any other information that could allow someone to make contact in the real world. This information should be shared only in secure environments, when absolutely necessary, and with your permission.
- Intimate personal information. Private and personal information should only be discussed with a relative, close friend, or professional. This information should never be shared in online social networks or through public communications such as chat or discussion groups.
- Personal interest information. Non-intimate information about interests and activities. This kind of information can generally be safely shared on social networking sites or communication environments, including blogs, personal Web pages, chat, and discussion groups.
- Be sure you know the online communities your child participates in and know his/her usernames in these communities. Review his/her public postings, including his/her profiles, Web pages, and blogs. Discourage active involvement in the kinds of environments that promote excessive self-disclosure of intimate information and rude behaviour. Your child may object and claim that these postings should be considered private. A child who makes this argument simply does not understand. The material posted on these sites is not private—anyone can read it. If your child is uncomfortable about your review of the material, then this is a good clue that the material should not be posted.
- Be upfront with your child that you will periodically investigate the files on the computer, the browser history files and buddy lists, and his/her public online activities as well as his/her mobile phone log.
- Be alert to secretive behaviour. It’s a danger sign if your child rapidly switches screens as you approach the computer or attempts to hide online or phone behaviour by emptying the history file.
- If your child has engaged in unsafe or inappropriate behaviour, the most appropriate consequence is the use of monitoring software and consistent review of all public and private online activity.
To provide our students with information in this area we have organised for SAPOL to attend our school and speak with students about the topic of Cyber Safety (ThinkUKnow program).
There will be two sessions held, one for year 3/4 students on Thursday 10th November and the other for 5/6 students on Monday 21st November.
For information on the ThinkUKnow program, you can find it at ThinkUKnow which has great information for parents and caregivers.
We are also looking into organising sessions for parents and caregivers next year.
School Uniform
We have noticed some children not wearing the correct school uniform, in particular, incorrect jumpers over and under the School polo top.
Please make arrangements to ensure your child is prepared to wear correct uniform in Term 4 and beyond.
A list of St Thomas More School’s uniform requirements are available from the Front Office if you have any concerns.
St Thomas More School uniform items can only be ordered and paid for using the St Thomas More School QKR app. Ordered items will be either be left at the school front office for you to pick up or we will have them delivered to your child’s classroom.
Lost uniform items
There is a significant number of uniform items in the lost property box. These will be placed on the decking in front of the St Mary’s Building for collection. Please ensure you have a look through if your child is missing any items.
2023 RECEPTION ENROLMENTS
Places are available. If you have or if you know of anyone who has a child turning 5 before May 1, 2023, please complete and lodge an enrolment form at the Front Office.
2023 TERM 3 RECEPTION ENROLMENTS
Places are available. If you have or if you know of anyone who has a child turning 5 before October 31, 2023, please complete and lodge an enrolment form at the Front Office.
END-OF-TERM ARRANGEMENTS
Year 6 students – Monday 12 December 2022 at 1.30 pm
Reception to Year 5 students – Wednesday 14 December 2021 at 2.30 pm
Working in Partnership,
The Leadership Team
Religion
Liturgical Events and Special Celebrations
We celebrate All Saints Day on November 1. Some Christians follow Jesus so well and give themselves to his work with so much generosity that we call them ‘saints’. The stories of the Saints teach us that there are many ways to follow Jesus. We can follow their example in our own lives.
We celebrate All Souls Day on November 2. This is a time for us to remember our relatives and friends who have died. We pray for them, and we remember them with love. This week your child would have brought home a love heart. We invite you to record the name of those people that you would like to remember during the month of November and return the heart to school to be added to our ‘we remember’ display.
We celebrate Remembrance Day on November 11. This is a special day for remembering those who have died in the war. This day known as Remembrance Day marks the end of World War 1 in 1918. We will stop as a whole school in remembrance on this day.
On November 11 we also remember Catherine McAuley who started the sisters of Mercy. In 1841 she built a house to serve poor women and children and visited the sick in their homes and in hospitals. There are many sisters of Mercy in Australia and throughout the world today. We pray that students and staff from Catherine McAuley School are blessed with good weather on this day to enjoy their celebrations.
Classroom Learning
Our theme for Religion learning across the school is hospitality. This year we have chosen to focus our learning on a different mercy value each term.
Reception students in Ms. Trestrail’s class have been looking at what it means to be welcoming. Students have represented artworks around the wondering question, ‘How can you welcome someone?’
Year 3/4 students in Ms. Jessop’s class have designed posters that you may have seen displayed around the school. These posters describe ways that students in our school show hospitality.
Year 1/2 students in Ms Docchio’s and Ms Maiello’s classes have reflected on a story from the bible in the gospel of Matthew and discussed what they can do in their everyday lives to show hospitality. Their artworks show how they can serve others. Tully in 1/2 MD says ‘Today I am serving mum and dad by doing the dishes for them. Indie in 1/2 SM says, ‘Today I am serving Ella by helping her with her work.
Mercy in Action
This term we have formed a few small groups across the school who are exploring what our mercy values look like in action. Mrs Arnold is working with a group of R-2 students who are coming up with a plan to create a cleaner school environment with a particular focus on recycling. We thank these students for their forward planning and look forward to hearing how we can support them.
Students in Years 3-5 will be working with Mrs. Musolino in the same area. We look forward to sharing our learning with you in upcoming newsletters.
Students in Year 5 will be working with Mrs. Musolino each week to sort through the lost item container that sits just inside the St. Mary’s building. You may have noticed that some items are now hanging on a clothing rack. Many items do not have names and have been in the container for many weeks. Year 5 students will work with Mrs. Musolino on a plan to resell items that have not been claimed with the money going to charity. More information will be provided in the coming weeks.
Please remember to label all clothing items, drink bottles and lunch bags.
Elizabeth Catholic Parish News
You may be aware that Fr. Pat has been unwell and unable to visit our school for Mass this year. The following information has been taken from the Elizabeth Catholic Parish Bulletin.
Fr Pat is currently being cared for in the Modbury Hospital. He has not been well for some time and is unable to celebrate Mass on the weekends and be available for the parish during the week. It has become clear that he will not be able to come back to the parish as Parish Priest. In conjunction with his sisters and the nurses of the Archdiocese, he is receiving all possible support. I’m also aware that several parishioners have been supporting him. Please keep Fr Pat in your prayers for his further recovery. We hope that he will be able to return home and that as a Parish, we can suitably farewell him and thank him abundantly for his many years of faithful service to the parish.
St. Thomas More along with St. Mary Magdalene’s and Catherine McAuley schools have prepared a gift for Fr. Pat. Thank you to students in 1/2 DV and 1/2 SM for the beautiful cards they have created. We ask you to keep Fr. Pat in your ongoing prayers.
Sacramental Program
The Sacramental Program for 2022 is now complete. If you would like your child to be involved in the Program in 2023 or would like more information about the program, please email Melissa Musolino.
mmusolino@sttmore.catholic.edu.au
Melissa Musolino - APRIM
Sports Day
Friday 18th November starting at 9:10am.
McAuley (yellow), MacKillop (blue), Barry (red) and Coolock (green) will gather to contest the Vin Davies Shield and the Spirit Cup. Children are to arrive at school at the normal time. Parents, friends, and relatives are all welcome to join us on the day.
On Sports Day the students can wear a T-Shirt that reflects their team along with their correct SPORTS SHORTS or PANTS and HAT. Students may also wear hair ribbons, socks, or hair spray (put on at home and not to be brought to school) that reflects their team colour. Children are NOT to wear coloured zinc cream or paint their body with coloured Zinc – normal zinc cream only! Class teachers will also have sun cream available for students to use.
Please remember to send your student to school with a labelled drink bottle. Students will also require a packed recess including brainfood.
It is anticipated that Sports Day will finish at approximately 1:30pm. At that time parents may choose to take their child/children home. Children who remain at school will require a packed lunch from home. Students remaining behind will be supervised until 3pm.
Most parents taking images of children at sports day are doing so for acceptable reasons and are using appropriate methods. Please only take photos of your own child/children during sports day and avoid posting them on social media.
The canteen will be closed for lunch orders but will be open during sports day to purchase food and drinks.
Good Luck to all teams and supporters!
Fabian Chevalier
P.E. Co-ordinator
Parenting Courses
Installing SZapp
Please click on the link below for instructions on how to install SZapp on Apple and Android products.
Canteen
Playgroup and ELY
Postponed until further notice
Out of School Hours Care
Daily: 6:30am to 8:45am and 3:00pm to 6:00pm Wednesday: 2:30pm to 6:00pm
School Access
8:30am to 8:50am
Access via the main front courtyard gate at the school crossing.
8:50am to 2:45pm
Access via green front pool gate in front of the administration building. You will need to lift the pool gate lock at the top of the gate to open and please ensure the gate is closed securely.
2:45pm to 3:15pm
Access via the main front courtyard gate at the school crossing.
Children dropped off before 8:30am and not collected by 3:15pm will be sent to OSHC and caregivers will be invoiced for the service.
Advance Notice
Every Tuesday
Parent Coffee/Tea chat 8:30am in Jubilee Hall - Postponed
ECC Playgroup 9:15am to 11:15am - Postponed
Principal's Tour (first Tuesday of the month) 10:00am - By appointment only
Every Wednesday
Early Learning Years (ELY) 9:15am to 11:15am - Postponed
November 1 -30
National Novel Writing Month
Movember
World Vegan Month
November 7
School Board Meeting
November 8 -14
National Recycling Week
November 11
Remembrance Day
Catherine McAuley Day
November 27
First Week of Advent
Raising Hearts and Minds
