Term 3 - Week 7 - Update

Prayer of the Week

Image retrieved from https://issuu.com/schudio1/docs/151215094239-f131b8220318446eba04bd46e2f88c45 

From our Principal

Dear parents,

We have recently become aware of some problematic online interactions between upper primary students using online chat apps.  These interactions have occurred outside of school however have had an impact on interpersonal peer relationships at school. 

I acknowledge that parents are the ultimate decision-makers with regard to how, and at what age, their children use online platforms, however, in the interests of ensuring that all our students are safe, respected and engaged fully in their educational programs here at St Thomas More’s I am writing to provide some information to that may assist parents with this process.

Online bullying can have a devastating impact on young people, whose online life can become a key part of their identity and how they interact socially.  The importance of consistent messages about the sending of abusive messages, hurtful videos or images, online gossip, excluding or humiliating others, logging into the accounts of others or creating fake accounts in someone’s name to trick or humiliate them, can not be overstated.  I hope school and home can continue to work in partnership to educate our children about safe behaviour online.

In light of the recent concerns, we will seek to reinforce these important messages with our students in Year 5 and Year 6 in a variety of ways. These include:

Classroom lessons about cybersafety and cyberbullying using RealTalk resources. 

There is a ‘parents portal’ available for the parents of students using RealTalk resources. You can access the parent portal using the details below. 

Web: www.realtalkeducation.org/parents
Password: parents

A talk from our Adopt-a-Cop, Senior Constable Chris Barron, in Week 8 for Upper School students and parents. Time and date to be confirmed.

Information is always the key to navigating the ever-evolving online technologies.  The following may also be helpful:

Signs to watch out for that online bullying may be occurring:

• being upset after using the internet or their mobile phone
• changes in personality, such as becoming more withdrawn, anxious, sad or angry
• appearing more lonely or distressed
• unexpected changes in friendship groups
• a decline in their schoolwork
• changes in sleep patterns
• avoidance of schools or clubs
• a decline in physical health
• becoming secretive about their online activities and mobile phone use.

Parental resources and much more information can be found on the following websites:

• eSafety Commissioner https://www.esafety.gov.au/ 
• THINK U KNOW https://www.thinkuknow.org.au/
• Kids Helpline Parent page https://kidshelpline.com.au/parents

God Bless

Michael Cash 

Principal

From our APRE

Matilda Jnr has been such a huge part of Term 2 and Term 3, but it was nice last week to pick back up with some of the other things that make STM such a wonderful school! Worship Choir met for the first time in a while last Monday and had a great time singing! Worship Choir are currently preparing to lead the singing at a special Feast Day Mass for Toowoomba Catholic Schools later this term. 

Service Club and Student Reps were also able to gather together and meet last week. We are so fortunate at STM to have so many passionate and enthusiastic student leaders! They have some great things planned for the weeks ahead.

A Few date changes ...

Please note we have a few date/time changes for a few elements of the Religious Life of the School this term from what is published in the official school calendar. 

Year 4 are attending Parish Mass this week - Friday, August 26th 

2 Red's Prayer Celebration is on Friday, August 26th in the STM Church at 11:30 am.

1 Red's Prayer Celebration (Father's Day) will be on Thursday, September 1st from 8:40am 

These dates have been published over the past few weeks in the Important Dates to Remember section of the newsletter, so hopefully won't come as too much of a surprise! 

Father's Day at STM

STM will gather together to celebrate Father's Day on Thursday, September 1st with a Prayer Celebration led by 1 Red. Students from Prep to Year 6 will attend and all STM families are most welcome. This celebration will be first up in the morning from 8:40 am, so pop over to the Sportscentre after you have enjoyed your coffee and muffin and join us in prayer. 

This year as part of our celebration, we will be sharing a photo story of our amazing STM fathers and those who are like fathers to us. All STM families are invited to send in a maximum of two photos to be included in this photo story. All photos must be sent in to Miss Byrne via email (Kristin.Byrne@twb.catholic.edu.au) by Wednesday, August 31st at 3:00 pm. Late photos may not make the photo story, so start getting them in ASAP!

God Bless.

Miss Kristin Byrne

Assistant Principal: Religious Education

From our Learning Support

Over the next few week’s, I will be sharing information from AUDPELD: A Guide for Parents (2018) about some specific learning disorders. This week we will look at the learning disorder with impairment in reading – Dyslexia.

What is Dyslexia?

Dyslexia is a specific learning disorder with impairment in reading. Dyslexia is the most common form of learning disability, accounting for 80% of all children identified. Problems with reading, and related difficulties in comprehension, spelling and writing are common for these children. Dyslexia is a disorder that affects language processing: reading, writing, spelling and speaking. Information is processed differently. For example, letters may be reversed, word order in sentences changed, words may move on the page, words or letters may take on a three-dimensional appearance. The person may have difficulty reading from left to right or tracking down a page. He/she may have difficulty understanding abstract ideas, even jokes or puns

Many people who have a specific learning disorder with impairment in reading (dyslexia) also experience difficulties with working memory, attention, and organisational skills.

Dyslexia can be defined as:

• a specific learning disability that is neurological in origin
• It is characterised by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities. These difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction.

Secondary consequences may include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience that can impede growth of vocabulary and background knowledge.

When looking at identifying a specific learning disorder with impairment in reading (dyslexia), deficits in one or both of the following key academic areas are usually present:

• Inaccurate or slow and effortful word reading (e.g., reads single words aloud incorrectly or slowly and hesitantly, frequently guesses words, has difficulty sounding out words).
• Difficulty understanding the meaning of what is read (e.g., may read text accurately but not understand the sequence, relationships, inferences, or deeper meanings of what is read).

What Dyslexia might look like in the Primary school classroom

Below is an infrographic showing other areas/concepts students with Dyslexia may find challenging.

Information reproduced from AUSPELD Understanding Learning Difficulties: A practical guide (Revised edition).

Hope you all have a wonderful week. 

Patricia Wardle 

Middle Leader/Learning Support Teacher

Lost and Found

If your child is missing these glasses, please contact the office.

Matilda Update

Last week we attempted our first whole show performance during rehearsals. Although we didn't quite fit the whole show in during the hour we set aside as we would have liked, the children still did an amazing job! It's been a real gift to see the confidence of all the children increase every week.

We are aiming to have a full dress run-through in Week 8, so please make sure all costume items come along to school on Wednesday in Week 8 for children from Year 4 - Year 6. Details of costumes are below. If you cannot source costume items for your child, please let the school know and we will do our best to source something for them. 

Please find our main cast and whole school rehearsal schedules below for the coming weeks. Please note Mrs Skinner and Mrs Weier have made themselves available for an additional 30 minutes on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons and invite any Wednesday or Thursday after-school singers to stay from 3:00 pm - 4:30 pm to work on their numbers for the show. 

Main Cast Rehearsals ...

Week 7 and Week 8 Schedules

Whole School Rehearsals ...

Week 7: Year 4 - Year 6

Week 8: Year 4 - Year 6

Week 9: Prep - Year 6

Week 10: Prep - Year 6

Thank you to the children for all your hard work with Matilda preparations. I burst with pride each week when I work with you! A big thank you to all our classroom teachers as well. I appreciate your flexibility and generosity with your time. 

From our Student Representatives

This term we would like to launch our Student Rep House Cup! Children from Prep – Year 6 can compete in Minute-to-Win-It challenges this term to earn house points. Each challenge you complete gives you points for your house.

First place gets 5 points

Second place gets 4 points

Third place gets 3 points

Fourth place gets 2 points

Everyone else who participates gets a point for their house.

We will have a different Minute-To-Win-It Challenge each Thursday in the Library at second break. Next week the challenge is called Island. We start this challenge with 15 hoops. When we call out island, everyone must move and have their feet in a hoop. If you’re not in the hoop, you’re out! After every round a hoop is removed, and the game gets trickier!

The House Cup prize is awesome! But we won’t reveal just yet … we want to keep you in suspense. BUT only the students who participate in the activities will receive the prize! So come along every week and earn some house points to win an awesome prize.

God bless,

Ava and Darcy

Student Representatives 2022

From our Service Club

We have decided to cancel our groups for the rest of this term with the busyness of Matilda. Groups will start again in Term 4.

Early next term we will be having our annual Socktober Kick Off! During Socktober we learn all about the great work Catholic Mission does to help people in places less fortunate than us. Each week for the rest of this term, we will be helping you prepare for our Socktober Kick Off. This week the theme for Socktober is Creation. It’s everyone’s responsibility to care for the environment.

This week you might like to read some Aboriginal Dreamtime stories about creation, think about how you can help creation or create a prayer space at home that reminds you of creation. It is also time to start thinking about whether you want to create a sockball for the Socktober Kick Off next term. Sockballs help us remember that there are children in other places in the world who don’t have access to play equipment like we do. 

God bless,

Penny, Lucy and Toby from Service Club

From our Counsellor

Online Safety: Start the Chat

More than ever children are spending time online, engaging socially and using digital technology to gather information.  It’s important as parents that we teach our children how to keep safe and to have respectful relationships online.  Do your research and find out more about the age ratings and requirements regarding popular apps like Snapchat and Youtube, to ensure your child is old enough.  It’s also important to make an assessment to decide if your child is mature enough and able to make good decisions while using the app.   Consider privacy and ensure the app provides adequate protection regarding your information and profile. If your child engages online, monitor how long they spend on their device and be aware of what online app they are using and who they are interacting with.  Create a set of guidelines or rules in your family about how your child interacts online.  Research highlights the potential negative impact that social media can have on a young person’s mental wellbeing, with increased risk of cyberbullying, sleep disturbance, body image concerns and psychological distress.  To help parents to become more informed about online safety, the e Safety Commissioner has collated some fantastic resources to help parents to learn about the importance of supporting young people to have safer online experiences. Check out the e Safety website for advice on how to have a conversation with your child about online safety and help them to learn skills to be safe online. 

Free e Safety resources:

• Free Webinar – Popular Apps – Learn about TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat and Youtube to help your children stay safe online. Designed for parents and carers of young people aged 8 to 13 years. Thursday 25^th August 12.30-1.30 pm, Register here.
• Cyberbullying and online drama. Free video resource for parents and carers delivered by e Safety’s expert education and training team: more information here
• ‘Swoosh and Glide & Rule Number 5’. Online safety picture book and song for early years education: https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents/children-under-5/picture-book-and-song
• Online Safety Basics – Information for parents to keep kids safe: read more here

Wishing you and your family well,

Jayne Farquharson

School Counsellor

From our Sport Desk

Swimming Lessons – Term 3 – Years 4-6  

Just a reminder that if you feel like there is a problem with your child’s lessons, please speak to their class teacher and they will deal with the concern. Please avoid contacting the pool directly.   

Interschool Sport Term 3 – Year 5 & 6  - Week 7 – Friday 26th August  

Just a reminder that ALL students require a hat and a water bottle for interschool sport. We had several students last week that didn’t have these items.  

Soccer Draw 

Snr A Boys - @ Anderson Park vs Rangeville (1:35pm) 

Snr B Boys – @ Anderson Park vs Rangeville (12:50pm)    

Jnr A Boys - @ Anderson Park vs Rangeville (12:50pm) 

Jnr B Boys - @ Nell E Robinson vs Concordia College (1:35pm)  

Jnr A Girls - @ Nell E Robinson vs Rangeville (12:50pm)  

Netball Draw 

Snr A Girls - @ Nell E Robinson vs Rangeville (1:35pm) 

Snr B Girls - @ Nell E Robinson vs Fairholme (12:50pm)  

Jnr A Girls - @ Nell E Robinson vs Glenvale SS (12:50pm)  

Jnr B Girls - @ Nell E Robinson vs TAS (1:35pm)  

Rugby League Draw 

Snr B Boys @ Concordia vs OLOL – (1:35pm)  

God bless,

Stacey Hancock

HPE Teacher 

From our Librarian

Bees's Knees

Issue 2 of the Bee's Knees is out!  Click here to read some fabulous stories, reviews, recipes and articles written by students in our school.

Bee's Knees Issue 2 2022.ppsm

Book Week Theme Heads Up

This year the Book Week theme is “Dreaming with Eyes Open”.  So, for our Book Week dress up day, students can come dressed as something they dream of doing or would like to be. Some examples include:

• Playing netball for Australia
• Flying to the moon
• Climbing Mount Everest
• Becoming a doctor, painter, mechanic, chef.
• Snorkelling the Great Barrier Reef.

The students will also need a book to accompany their outfit so it might be a non-fiction book the moon, netball or the Great Barrier Reef.

Thanks 

Margy Heuschele

Librarian 

Instrumental Music

Is your child interested in learning a musical instrument?

The Instrumental Music Program is recommencing this semester in Week 5. We will be welcoming Niamh Stevens as a private music tutor to St Thomas More’s. Niamh teaches piano, violin, guitar and percussion. Niamh has just completed a Bachelor of Creative Arts, majoring in Music. Niamh has experience teaching a range of musical styles and can guide students through the AMEB (Australian Music Examinations Board) syllabus.

Learning a musical instrument has many benefits in the areas of maths and language skills, memory, attention, concentration, self-discipline and enjoyment of music. Please see the link for more information on the benefits. https://www.learningpotential.gov.au/articles/musical-benefits

Parents and children will need to commit to daily practice on their instrument, and attendance at weekly lessons. Students will also require music tutor books as selected by the teacher. Fees are set and paid directly to the music tutor. The school has a number of violins available for hire.

If you are interested in your child learning an instrument, please complete an Expression of Interest form (see link below or contact the office) and return to the school by Wednesday, 3^rd August.

Classroom Newsletters

Awards

Wonderful work from our Week 6 award recipients! Keep up the great work.

From our Tuckshop

Open every Friday.  Please place your childs order through FlexiSchools by 12pm Thursdays and please supply a Paper Bag for your childs order.

Have you filled out your enrolment forms?

From our Uniform Shop

The Uniform Shop will be back to normal hours this term.

Monday 8.00am – 8.30am

Wednesday afternoon – By Appointment

Friday 8.00am – 8.30am

If these times don’t work for you please email your order through to THOuniform@twb.catholic.edu.au and the orders will be at the office for collection at your convenience.

Needs some uniform alternations?

A hem taken up?  A skirt taken down?  Some buttons adjust on a shirt?   Give Mrs Fix It a ring and see if she can help.   

From our P&F

All parents, carers and teachers are invited to our next P&F meeting - Next Monday night, 8th August at 7pm. Doors open 6.45pm. 👨 

Children are welcome too - a movie can be put on in the next room. 

We will be discussing Father’s Day plans and more. 

If you can’t make it in person, join us via zoom ➡️

Topic: August P&F Meeting

Time: Aug 8, 2022 07:00 PM Brisbane

Join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android:

    https://twbcatholic.zoom.us/j/61037708722

Join from SIP/H.323 room system:

    SIP: 61037708722@zmau.us

    H.323: 202.177.207.158 (meeting ID: 610 3770 8722)

Join from telephone (meeting ID: 610 3770 8722):

    (02) 8015 2088 (Sydney)

    (07) 3053 8570 (Brisbane)

    (08) 7150 1149 (Adelaide)

    (03) 8375 9112 (Melbourne)

    International numbers available: https://twbcatholic.zoom.us/u/eeFQ6Ae16L

Join from Skype for Business (Lync):

    https://twbcatholic.zoom.us/skype/61037708722

Thank you!

A huge thank you to Westridge Fruit and Vegetables for their continued support with the donation of fresh fruit every week for our students!

Important Dates to Remember for Term 3

Parish News