St Thomas More School Newsletter - Term 1, Week 1 2024
Welcome to 2024
A Message from our Leadership
Dear Parents, Caregivers, Students, and Friends of St Thomas More,
Welcome everyone to 2024 and a new school year.
We hope you all enjoyed a great holiday; holidays are always a great opportunity for rest, relaxation and special family time. It has been wonderful meeting up with many parents and caregivers and seeing the children sharing stories from their holidays, catching up with friends and meeting new friends and teachers.
All the teachers have been extremely busy over the last few weeks, preparing their classrooms for a new year, paying paticular attention to providing a space that is inviting, welcoming and conducive to good quality learning.
This year we welcome our newest staff members to the St Thomas More School community, Brittney Hills, Michael Arthur, Georgie Bush, Shani Wallace-Groves and Sarah Storrie. We would also like to warmly welcome our new students and their families to our school. We look forward to continuing to build and strengthen strong relationships with everyone in our school community to support the children's learning and wellbeing.
2024 Class Structures and Staffing
We invite you to take note of our class structures and staffing for the new school year:
Classroom Teachers | ||
Reception | Year 1 | Year 2 |
REC/BH Brittney Hills | 1/CC Connie Carter | 2/CM Carly Morrison |
REC/SH Stav Haros | 1/MA Michael Arthur | 2/MD Marie D'occhio |
REC/MT Malama Theodosi | ||
Year 3/4 | Year 5/6 | Specialist Classes |
3/4GB Georgie Bush | 5/6SC Sarah Carritt | PE Cristian Morgado |
3/4KJ Katelyn Jessop | 5/6RT Rosealyse Trimboli | Italian Rosemarie Villano |
3/4JF Jasmine Fischer | STEM Sara Storrie | |
Co-educators | ||
Lesley Swann | Joseph Arnold | Sarah Woods |
Linda Marsh | Tarah Edwards | Craig Drendel |
Yana Kanelopoulos | Nikki Hemlin | Charli Poole |
Brooke Jessop |
Leadership and Staff | |
Principal | Chris Platten |
Head of School | Vicki Rubino |
APRIM | Melissa Musolino |
Business Manager | Janelle Lieu |
Finance Officer | John Matthew |
Enrolments, Communications and Marketing | Lisa Welford |
School Counsellor | Shani Wallace-Groves |
Administration | Sara Hardy Olivia Marshall Alex Merritt |
Grounds/Maintenance | Andrew Scott |
WHS | Michael Higgie |
Canteen | Jane Wells |
OSHC Director | Cheryl Bielby |
Adjusting to the first few weeks of school can be a very emotional time for children.
For first-time students, being away from parents, adjusting to a new environment with new people, and adapting to a new routine can be overwhelming.
Parents and caregivers can help by:
- Talking about positive aspects of school.
- Telling stories about your happy, funny and enjoyable experiences at school.
- Talking to older siblings about ways they can help their younger sisters and brothers.
- Establishing regular bedtime and wake-up routines. Chidren, including teenagers, need plenty of sleep. They may be more tired than usual after starting school and need time to relax. You may also find that rather than becoming more 'grown-up', young children might regress or become more difficult or defiant, in response to the stress of the new routine.
- Celebrate the start of school with a special family meal our outing. Make the experience as happy and positive as you can.
- Children normally shed a few tears when they part from their parents. Try not to extend your stay because it can prolong and in some cases intensify the child's reaction. This behaviour may last a few days or weeks. Staff are prepared to handle the situation and if alerted that a child may react to separation, they can give the student a special job or a partner in the class to help with the adjustment period.
- Importantly, even if children have been to school previously, they might still find their initial weeks a period of change.
Family Meet & Greet
Families will be provided with an opportunity to meet with teachers in a ‘Meet & Greet’ during week 3. The Meet and Greet will be an opportunity for families and teachers to meet and get to know each other, share information about the individual child, discuss class routines and general questions about the year ahead.
How to book?
To book your 15-minute session, please click here or access the "*BOOK* Meet and Greet" tile on your SZapp homepage. Further information has been provided through Schoolzine, so please look out for this as bookings will need to be made for a meeting time.
Yard Safety Protocols
During the days prior to the commencement of school the staff reviewed 'Before & After School yard protocols' with the purpose being to ensure the safety of everyone.
These protocols have been implemented this week and include:
- Before School:
- Gates open at 8.30am
- Students attending before this time will be placed in OSHC and this will also incur a fee
- Students and parents/caregivers meet in the courtyard.
- Play areas are out of bounds - these include playgrounds, nature play space, ovals and basketball courts.
- School bell rings at 8.45am and students should move to their meeting areas to meet with their teachers.
- Parents/caregivers should leave the school grounds before the gates are locked at 9am.
- After School:
- Gates open at 2.50pm
- School bell rings at 3.00pm and students are dismissed from their classes
- Play areas are also out of bounds after school.
- Gates will be closed at 3.10pm.
Teachers have discussed and practiced the procedures involved with these protocols so that the students are very familiar with these. We thank you for your support in following them contributing to a safe and orderly start and finish to the school day.
Shaping our future together
The Leadership Team
Faith and Community
Catholic Identity
A very big welcome to our new families, new staff and all families who have returned to our school community for 2024.
This week we joined across our two schools, St Thomas More School and St Mary Magdalene's, for our Community Teams Prayer. We will continue to do this each week throughout the year with a different staff member leading us in prayer. It was lovely to see so many smiling faces on the screen this morning.
Today we focused on the gifts each of us brings to our school community. Students and staff have been challenged to recognise the gifts they have within them and share them with us throughout the year. As part of our prayer, we took some time to pray for people in our world, in our families and in our school community.
We look forward to sharing snippets of our prayer with you as we move through the term.
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.
Special celebrations that we focus on during classroom and whole school prayer throughout Term 1 and those that come up in our Liturgical Calendar include:
Week 3
- 13th February - Shrove Tuesday
- 14th Februrary - Ash Wednesday
- 14th February - Feast of St Valentine
- 17th February - Random Acts of Kindness Day
Week 6
- 9th March - Ramadan Begins
Week 7
- 17th March - Feast of St Patrick
Week 8
- 19th March - Feast of St Joseph
- 21st March - Harmony Day
Week 9
- 24th March - Palm Sunday
- 28th March - Holy Thursday
- 29th March - Good Friday
Week 10
- 31st March - Easter Sunday
For more important dates, please view our School Calendar for Term 1 2024.
Shrove Tuesday, Ash Wednesday and Lent
In week 3 we enter a new liturgical season in the Catholic Church, the season of Lent. This season lasts for forty days and forty nights.
We begin with Shrove Tuesday. This day is celebrated by Catholics around the world in different ways. Some refer to it as Pancake Day, Mardi Gras or Carnevale. In preparation for Lent, Catholics would use up foods which they were not permitted to consume during Lent. This included eggs, fat, and rich foods.
This year, we will celebrate Shrove Tuesday with pancakes. More information will be sent to families via Seesaw in the coming weeks.
We then celebrate Ash Wednesday. Ash Wednesday begins the Season of Lent. The marking of ashes on Ash Wednesday is a reminder for us all to walk with Jesus during the season of Lent, to say sorry for the times we have hurt others and aim to become more loving as we work to put others needs before our own. It is a special time when we stop and think about how we can play our part in God’s hope for a world that is fair, just, and peaceful. We will celebrate Ash Wednesday with a liturgy.
More information will be sent to families via Seesaw in the coming weeks.
Elizabeth Catholic Parish Sacrament Program
The Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist form the Sacraments of Christian Initiation. If your child is 7 years of age (or older) and would like to be involved in the program for 2024, you might like to come along to an Information Session on Friday 9th February at 6:00pm in St Thomas More Church, 19 Laverstock Rd, Elizabeth North. Please contact APRIM, Melissa Musolino for more information on 08 7285 1500 or mmusolino@sttmore.catholic.edu.au
Important Dates and Events
For all the up to date information on Important Dates and Events, please access our School Calendar for Term 1, 2024.
Principal's Tour
Principal's Tour - By appointment only. To book a Tour, please contact our Front Office on 08 7285 1500 or info@sttmore.catholic.edu.au
February 12 - 14
Family Meet & Greet Sessions. Please book your 15-minute session time by clicking the "*BOOK* Meet & Greet" tile on the Szapp Homepage or via the link https://stmselizabethpark.schoolzineplus.com/BookMeetAndGreet
Februray 13
Shrove Tuesday
February 14
Ash Wednesday
Feast of St Valentine
February 16
Assembly 9am
February 17
Random Acts of Kindness Day
February 18
First Day of Lent
March 8
Pupil Free Day
International Women's Day
March 9
Ramadan Begins
March 11
Adelaide Cup - Public Holiday
March 12
Swimming Week for our Receptions to Year 4
March 15
Assembly 9am
March 17
St Patricks Day
March 18 - 20
Year 5/6 Camp
March 19
Feast of St Joseph
March 20
World Story Telling Day
March 21
Harmony Day
March 24
Palm Sunday
March 27
St Thomas More School, Elizabeth Park - Annual General Meeting - 6.30pm (more information to come)
March 28
Holy Thursday
March 29
Good Friday - Public Holiday
March 31
Easter Sunday
April 1
Easter Monday - Public Holiday
April 5
Assembly - 9am
Apri 9
Ramadan Ends - Eid al-Fitr
April 12
Sports Day! TBC
Last Day of Term 1
Out-of-School Hours Care
2024 OSHC runs daily: 6:30am to 8:30am and 3:00pm to 6:00pm
Access - Before and After School
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.
For more information, please contact our Front Office on 08 7285 1500 or info@sttmore.catholic.edu.au
At St Thomas More School we like to take any opportunity we can to celebrate and eat cake! Let's take a look at the special students who celebrated their birthdays in January this year: