Term 3 - Week 9 - Update

Prayer of the Week

Image retrieved from https://www.pinterest.com.au/amandabfuentes/simple-prayers-for-kids/ 

From our Principal

Tomorrow we will be having a Lockdown Drill at the school. Emergency drills are a legislative requirement but they can cause anxiety in some children. When talking to children about the need for a lockdown, we need to keep the message simple by saying that a lockdown may be required when it is unsafe to be outside. Children tend to automatically assume that the danger will be the form of a person on the school grounds but it could just as easily be an animal or environmental e.g. a severe storm, a gas leak or fallen powerlines.

This week is Children Protection Week. Our Year 2 & 3 students will view the presentation “Who’s Your 5?” and all classes will participate in Australia’s Biggest Safety Lesson.

R U OK? Day is Thursday 8 September 2022

It’s our national day of action when we remind Australians that every day is the day to ask, ‘are you OK?’ and start a meaningful conversation whenever they spot the signs that someone they care about might be struggling with life.

You don’t need to be an expert to ask R U OK? Listening and giving someone your time might be just what they need to help them through. The work of health professionals is vital, and their value cannot be underestimated, however we can all play a role in supporting the people in our world.

The people in your world won’t always tell you if something’s troubling them, so it’s important that you make asking, ‘are you OK?’ a part of your everyday relationships with friends, family, team mates and colleagues. The earlier you provide an opportunity for someone to open up to you, the sooner they can find appropriate support or, if needed, seek professional help and the greater the chance that together, you can stop small problems from becoming bigger ones.

We all value our privacy and respect the privacy of others. You might be telling yourself ‘it’s none of my business’ or ‘they won’t want to talk to me about it anyway’. It’s understandable to be unsure or a little embarrassed but it’s better to start a conversation than to ignore that feeling you have that something is not quite right. Having someone show they care can make all the difference for someone who is feeling overwhelmed or distressed. Remember though, even when you do make the first move, there’s no guarantee they’ll be ready to talk – but they’ll know someone cares and next time you ask they might be ready.

Research has shown that conversations can make a difference when someone is struggling.

God Bless

Michael Cash 

Principal

From our APRE

I hope all our STM families had a lovely Father’s Day over the weekend. A big thank you to 1 Red and Mrs Hargrave for leading the whole school in prayer to celebrate Father’s Day last week. We were all very impressed with how confidently and prayerfully you led the celebration. Thank you to the P&F for organising our annual coffee and muffin breakfast for Father’s Day as well. It’s always a big hit with the big and little people in our STM community.

Last Thursday, we welcomed our Adopt-a-Cop, Senior Constable Chris Barron, to speak with our Year 6 children in the lead up to Child Protection Week. This week, our Child Protection Week lessons continue with all children from Year 1 – Year 6 participating in the Daniel Morcombe Foundation Australia’s Biggest Child Safety Lesson on Tuesday and students in Year 2 and Year 3 attending an additional Child Protection Lesson on Wednesday. Child Protection Week is a great opportunity for us to engage in dialogue and discussion with our students around child protection and highlight key safety messages. If you have any questions around our Child Safety lessons this week, please contact your classroom teacher.

We are now in the final stages of our Matilda preparations. How very exciting! Our Sportscentre was transformed over the weekend by the team at Evention and is now home to a fabulous stage and sound and lighting truss. You won’t recognise the place come show evening! This week, we will have a whole show rehearsal each day, capping off the week on Friday with a full Tech Rehearsal, with all the bells and whistles. We would like all students from Year 4 – Year 6 to bring along their costumes from Wednesday for the rehearsals for the rest of this week. Please see costume details below in our Matilda Update. As always, a big thank you to our STM staff for your flexibility around Matilda this year. All the extra time we have been able to devote to preparing for the show is setting our children up to deliver a confident performance next week.

God Bless.

Miss Kristin Byrne

Assistant Principal: Religious Education

Thank you

A huge thank you to the team at Evention for all your expertise leading up to our Matilda Jnr. The Musical performances. We feel very blessed to be working with a team that is so passionate about bringing quality performances to life. Thank you for your guidance, service and sponsorship. 

Important Dates to Remember for Term 3

Matilda Update

Please find Matilda costume details below.

Costumes 

We understand grey bottoms are challenging to find at the moment. If you cannot find grey bottoms, feel free to go dark bottoms instead. We can only do what we can do! Please let Mrs Deb or I know if you are struggling to find costume items that are required, and we will help out if we can.

All students will be required to have neat and tidy hair on the night. It is family choice whether you want to do some light stage makeup. No hair or makeup will be done at school prior to either performance. Students will need to arrive ready to go on the evening of both performances.

Costumes - Upper School

Costumes – Main Cast

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

Socktober Update

This year, STM has signed up to participate in Socktober once again. We have had a great time over the past few years support Socktober and I know Service Club are very excited to continue the tradition in 2022. Socktober is run by Catholic Mission. Each year during Socktober, Catholic mission raises funds and awareness for the work they do in less privileged communities than our own.

This year, students and families across Australia participating in Socktober will be raising funds to support families in Ethiopia who are facing malnutrition and food insecurity. Ethiopia is a beautiful and deeply historic place, but continues to be challenged by conflict, poverty and famine. The growing influence of climate change also serves to exacerbate the issues Ethiopians face. Catholic Mission calls all Australians to work with local communities to support children and families in need, preserving their dignity and safeguarding their future.

Over the coming weeks, Service Club and myself will share some Socktober Mission Packs with the STM community to help prepare us for our Socktober Kick Off. These mission packs are themed each week and encourage us to think of how we can support Catholic Mission in their work in Ethiopia with our heads, our hearts and our hands. Although our Socktober Kick Off is not until Term 4, you can start spreading the word now and calling for donations if you would like.

On Kick Off Day, students can wear their normal school uniform with their craziest socks for a gold coin and participate in our Kick Off. If you would like to raise additional money, use our Socktober school page below to donate or create your own linked account.

https://www.socktober.org.au/fundraisers/StThomasMoresCatholicPrimarySchool645

The theme for Week 3 of our STM Socktober Journey is opportunity. The Bible reminds us that wisdom helps bring about opportunity. This week, as part of our Socktober journey, we encourage members of our school community to learn a bit more about Catholic Mission. You might like to research Pauline Jaricot or the Lideta Catholic Cathedral School in Ethiopia. Check out the mission pack below for some other ideas to support you in your Socktober journey this week. 

Our Socktober Kick-Off won't be until early in Term 4. For a gold coin donation, students will be able to wear their craziest socks with their normal school uniform and have a chance to join in our Socktober Kick-Off to score a goal against one of our guest goalies. We are still working on setting a date for the kick-off, but will share this as soon as we have confirmed it. 

With the holidays just around the corner, it's also time to start thinking about how you might be able to make a sockball to use at our Socktober Kick-Off. Did you know that there are some children around the world who do not have access to soccer balls like we do? They have to make their own soccer balls out of recycled materials. Have you got some old socks or paper at home you could make a ball out of? I wonder how using this ball to play a game of soccer compares to using a ball bought from the shops? Check out the Step-by-Step guide below on how to create your own sockball. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPLnuvW7XFo 

God Bless,

Miss Byrne and Service Club

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.   

God bless,

Stacey Hancock

HPE Teacher 

From our Library

Dream Jar Competition

We had 84 entries in the Dream Jar competition and the creativity on display was astounding.  It is such a delight to take the time to look at each jar and the dreams they represent.  Samuel Wark won the viewer’s choice award with his soccer field in a jar and the other five winners who were randomly drawn include: Samuel Fry, Joel Jose, Kenzie Ashley, Patrick Kratzmann and Audrey Thompson.  All winners receive a $10 voucher to spend at the Book Fair this week.

Book Week

The School was a buzz in Week 7 as students and staff dressed as something they dream of being or doing to fit in with the Book Week theme “Dreaming with Eyes Open”.  We had sports stars, doctors, artists, scientists, millionaires and many more. It was so much fun and everyone had a blast. Thank you to everyone who got into the spirit of the event.

Classroom Newsletters

Awards

Great work from our Week 8 award recipients. 

From our Tuckshop

This week will be the last week for Tuckshop before the school holidays.

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

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.

The Summer Uniform starts from Monday 5th September.  If you are after new uniforms drop in and see me on the above listed times or send an email to THOuniform@twb.catholic.edu.au to order and collect from the office.

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

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

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!

Parish News