TERM 1 - WEEK 3
Front Cover - 1/2 Maiello
1/2SM has had a fantastic start to the school year!
We have spent lots of time getting to know each other and our classroom. We worked together to come up with ‘classroom agreements’ to help look after each other and ourselves throughout the year.
As a class, we read ‘Our Class is a Family’. Each student made a Class Friendship Bracelet, to show our commitment to always looking after one another.
- Pink is for kindness
- Blue is for respect
- Green is for support
- Purple is for caring
- Red is for celebrating
We have also enjoyed learning about how to be a bucket filler and building our 5-point scale in Health, making patterns in Mathematics, and about who we are and our identity in Religious Education.
We can’t wait for an exciting year ahead with lots of learning and fun in 1/2SM!
Our Learning
Leadership
Dear Parents, Caregivers, Students, and friends of St Thomas More School community,
The school year has started in an exciting way with the movement of classrooms and maintenance around the school.
When I think of St Thomas More, Elizabeth Park, I immediately think of a treasure chest filled with many precious gems, some old and some new. Yet constantly being added to at all times.
The largest gem in the treasure chest is HOPE. Where every student, parent, staff member, parishioner, and community member is a person of great worth and significance because they are made in the image of God and called to greatness.
There are lots of smaller yet as just as precious gems made up from HISTORY. These are the many families who have served the St Thomas More School community over many years. The Sisters of Mercy, Parish Priests, past Principals, and staff all have served and added to the wealth of this treasure.
And then there are the many brightly glowing gems that are made up of our COMMUNITY today. These are the life-giving gems where the stress is on growth and development, on relationships, and on learning with and for each other underpinned by an ethic of care and co-operation. These are the very ‘strong, loving, and wise’ gems that have much to offer. They focus on high expectations of conduct, effort, and achievement. They go out of their way to reach out to others, to be inclusive.
All of these gems are encased in a special treasure chest that is called the Catholic Church. This strong religious culture gives structure as well as nurturing the precious gems within.
My hope is that the brightness of these gems continues to glow as strong as ever, where we as partners in the education of children at St Thomas More School, support the common vision of our community which is built around SHARED VALUES (what we hold to be important) and SHARED DREAMS (our optimism for the future). This shared vision will promote excellence in our contemporary Catholic education.
May we embrace with enthusiasm the future, cherish the relationships, and celebrate this precious community.
Parent Meet & Greet
Thank you to the families who attended the Parent Meet & Greet evening. The feedback was very positive and we are very much looking forward to the school year ahead. If you were unable to attend I ask you to make contact with your child’s teacher to organise a time to meet.
Pupil Free Day
We have a Pupil Free Day coming up on Friday 10 March. During this day our staff will be attending a Professional Learning Day. OSHC will be available on this day. Bookings are essential.
Chinese New Year
The Year of the Rabbit started on Sunday, 22 January 2023
Chinese New Year is the first day of the New Year in the Chinese Calendar which differs from the Gregorian Calendar. It is also known as the Spring Festival or the Lunar New Year. Every year is represented by a zodiac animal sign.
The Chinese calendar is a lunisolar calendar that is used to determine important festival dates, such as Lunar New Year.
Lunisolar Calendar
The Chinese calendar is lunisolar. It is based on exact astronomical observations of the Sun's longitude and the Moons' phases. It attempts to have its years coincide with the tropical year and shares some similarities with the Jewish calendar.
In both these calendars, a common year has 12 months and a leap year has 13 months; an ordinary year has 353–355 days while a leap year has 383–385 days.
Student Punctuality and Attendance
When children begin school they develop learning habits. These learning habits continue to develop throughout each learning year and these habits can affect learning achievements. Two important habits and life skills are attendance and punctuality. Very few people can argue with the correlation between attendance and school achievement. There is empirical evidence at a state, national and international level to prove that this relationship is true but, closer to home, our own achievement data and student report information clearly demonstrate that, as a general rule, the more time students spend at school, the better they will do.
We need to maximise every day to get full value – this means turning up to school every day on time. When students arrive late and take time to settle, valuable learning time is lost. When students are absent from school they miss work (which they seldom make up) and also miss important interactions with their peers.
It is now commonplace for children to stay away from school for reasons that would have been unheard of 20 years ago. These include:
- Their own or a sibling’s birthday
- Stayed up too late watching TV
- Going shopping for clothes
- An extended long weekend
- Not wishing to participate in a sports day, special school event or excursion
This sends a strong message to children that their parents neither value learning nor the school experiences. It is difficult to resist the persistent pressure that children can exert on parents, but parents need to be strong and send their children to school every day, on time and ready to make the most of school experiences.
In conclusion, it is reassuring to know that parents increase their children’s chances of future success just by making sure they turn up to school every day. This important habit and regular school attendance also prepares young people for the workforce where it is expected that they turn up each day ready for work! Absentee notification – please ring the front office by 9.30 am.
Arrival Time
It has been brought to my attention that several children are arriving at school after the morning bell or being collected early at the end of the school day. This is very disruptive for classes and not a good beginning or end to the day for the child. We understand that on an occasional day things do not run smoothly at home or travelling to school but we stress the importance of arriving at school between 8.30am - 8.45am to ensure that classes can begin promptly at 8.45 am. Parents too should be clear of classrooms by 8.45 am or move out of classrooms as soon as they hear the bell. If we truly value children’s learning then we must make the most of every minute of their classroom learning time! Gates will be opened at 8.30am and locked at 9.00am in the morning and re-opened at 2.50pm and locked at 3.20pm in the afternoon.
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.
Working in Partnership
Chris Platten
Religion
Liturgical Calendar Information
Throughout the school term, we have the opportunity in our weekly classroom prayer to stop, reflect and celebrate the patron Saints. Saints provide us with a guide as to how to live out our faith. Students learn that Saints are people who love Jesus and share his love with others and that we can all live like the saints even while we are still on earth.
This term we take time to think about:
14.2.22 St. Valentine
17.3.22 St. Patrick
20.3.22 St. Joseph
Keep an eye out for information via Seesaw regarding these days.
Season of Lent
Next Wednesday, February 22, is the beginning of the season of Lent, which is a time for us to prepare ourselves for Easter. It is a time to stop and reflect. It’s a time to think about the people we are becoming and how we can make a difference to the people around us. It’s a time for us to pray, do good deeds, and give to others in need. Lent is like a journey. As we journey through Lent we want to focus on how we can make a difference to those around us, how we can help the poor, and how we can be more fair and just so that everyone has a happy future.
We begin the season of Lent with Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday. Shrove Tuesday continues to remain an important day of observance for Catholics and Christians to prepare for Lent. To prepare to fast during Lent, some people use up the extra food they have that is traditionally restricted during the season of Lent. One custom on this day is to ‘feast’ on pancakes.
During our Ash Wednesday Service, we are marked with ashes. The physical symbol—ashes—is a sign that we a prepared to commit to becoming a better person during Lent. We try to simplify our lives (fasting), take time out to reflect and pray (prayer), and listen and respond to those in need (almsgiving). Prayer, fasting, and almsgiving are concrete ways in which can demonstrate our relationship with God.
Project Compassion 2023
Each year Project Compassion brings together thousands of Australians in schools, parishes, and the community to stand in solidarity with the world’s most vulnerable communities, to help end poverty, promote justice and uphold dignity. This year, the theme of Project Compassion is ‘For all Future Generations’. It is an expression of hope and reminds us that the good that we do today will extend and impact the lives of generations to come. It invites us to make the world a better place by working together now and finding long-term solutions to global issues.
Keep an eye out for more information about our Project Compassion initiatives through Seesaw and upcoming newsletters.
Elizabeth Catholic Parish Sacrament Program
The Sacraments of Reconciliation, Confirmation, and Eucharist form the Sacraments of Christian Initiation. If your child is 9 years of age (or older) and would like to be involved in the program for 2023, please contact Melissa Musolino for more information. We will hold an information session about the Sacrament Program in the coming weeks.
mmusolino@sttmore.catholic.edu.au
Vacation Care
Welcome back to all our children and families for the 2023 school year.
The 2022/23 vacation care saw festivity, magic, and creativity come to life at OSHC with Christmas themes, excursions to the movies, creativity, and a lot of laughs with our OSHC circus acts and a special guest Mickster the trickster. Children and educators enjoyed arts and crafts, face painting, crazy hair, and plenty of water play. Once again children participated in our annual colour fun run which is always a fun day. This year we decided to add a whole service hide and seek game and both children and staff enjoyed working together in teams, using all of the school grounds for the massive game, children enjoyed it so much that they asked that this become a holiday regular. Another highlight for the children was wheels day, children brought in their bikes and scooters and enjoyed riding around the school throughout the day.
We look forward to continuing to support your children to have a fun and positive before and after-school experience throughout 2023.
Christmas Holiday Vacation Care
Community English Classes
Auskick
Installing SZapp
Please click on the link below for instructions on how to install SZapp on Apple and Android products.
Playgroup and ELY
Postponed until further notice
Out-of-School Hours Care
2023 OSHC runs daily: 6:30am to 8:30am and 3:00pm to 6:00pm
School Access
8:30am to 8:45am
Access via the main front courtyard gate at the school crossing.
8:45am 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
Principal's Tour - By appointment only
February 21
Shrove Tuesday
February 22
Ash Wednesday
March 1
World Compliment Day
March 8
International Women’s Day
Holi - Festival of Colours
March 10
Pupil Free Day
March 17
St Patrick's Day
Close the Gap Day