Term 1 - Week 5 - Newsletter

Prayer of the Week

Image retrieved from https://www.piggottschool.org/page/?title=Our+School+Prayer&pid=298 

From our Principal

This week we begin the season of Lent. Ash Wednesday begins our Lenten journey. Similar to how the children began their academic year journey by proudly wearing our uniform they identify themselves as members of our school. They carry the school’s message in the actions of their lives and give those with whom they make contact an insight into the school’s behaviour expectations, its values and its ethos.

We can begin our Lenten journey as a means to reassert the presence of Christ within our lives and not allow the ashes to be simply an outward symbol with no inner significance. Ashes on our foreheads mark us as Christians, as followers of Christ, as the people who carry His message in the actions of our lives, actions that give those with whom we make contact an insight into Christian behaviour. We can enter into the spirit of Lent and focus on an area of our life that needs rebuilding; we can monitor our usual behaviours to check if they are negative or positive expressions of our calling to be a Christian.

Of course, we can simply skip along through Lent, turn up for each day of it but give it no recognition. We can ignore this opportunity to advance our sense of who we are and neglect the occasion on offer to become more compassionate, more tolerant, more courageous or more forgiving.

Our children can begin their new school year in a very positive manner by being prepared with books and materials and wearing their uniform in a manner that indicates total identification with their school. They can participate as fully as possible in the everyday life of the school, including its sporting and cultural activities, and focus on behaving in a responsible, cooperative manner. They can celebrate fellowship with other students by respecting their rights and feelings, whilst following instructions and rules that enable the ordinary conduct of the school. At the end of the year, they can emerge as the beneficiaries of having done their best at all times and having participated enthusiastically in the life of the school.

The alternative is they could choose to simply doodle and dawdle their way through the school year, turn up each day but make little effort at self-improvement. They can refuse any responsibility for their learning, homework and assignments and close their mind to encouragement and motivation. They can neglect opportunities to develop self-esteem, to advance academic skills, to broaden social interactions, to cultivate and absorb Christian values.

From what I have witnessed over the past few weeks the children have chosen to start off the year in a positive manner. The smiles are infectious, the students are getting in and having a go at schoolwork and other pursuits on offer, and that is a very encouraging sign indeed, they are ‘living life in all its fullness’ and ‘never seeing a need without doing something about it’. 

Congratulations on a great start to the year!!

This week we will look to ensure the correct application of both the St Thomas More’s Uniform Policy and Accessory Guidelines. I encourage you to take time to read both and do your best to ensure the Uniform Policy and Accessory Guidelines are adhered to in readiness for Monday 27^th February (Week 6).

Uniform Policy

• Upon enrolment, an agreement is made with the school to follow the school guidelines and ensure that all students wear the designated uniform. Students are expected to wear the correct school uniform at all times. It portrays pride in oneself and pride in the school. The policy includes expectations for shoes, socks, jumpers, jackets, hats, jewellery, watches, earrings, body piercings, nail polish and hairstyles. The uniform is as follows:
• Girls Uniform Summer: Check dress or royal blue skort with a check blouse, short blue socks and black shoes.
• Boys Uniform Summer: Royal blue shirt, grey shorts, long grey socks with blue/gold stripes and black shoes.
• Unisex Sports Uniform: Blue shorts, gold shirt with blue trim, blue socks with gold bands, joggers.
• Hat: Royal blue wide-brimmed hat (no hat no play policy).

Guidelines

• No jewellery, rings, body piercings or nail polish are to be worn. One earring in each ear only, stud or sleeper.
• Hairstyles which draw attention to the individual, including but are not limited to: mullet, scullett, mohawks, tracks, tails, hair colouring etc. are not permitted.
• Shoulder length hair or longer to be tied back, both boys and girls. Hairstyles and colours to be sensible. Hair bands to be royal blue, navy, black or gold.
• Watches are allowed, but no liability or responsibility is accepted by the school. Any deviation of the above requires a note from parents explaining why.
• A uniform shop operates from the school, selling new and second-hand clothes.
• On casual clothes days, all clothing to be modest and sensible. No inappropriate messages on shirts. Appropriate closed-in footwear and hat to be worn.
  
• Boys formal shirts are to be tucked in.  It is not an expectation that sports shirts are tucked in.

In the coming weeks, a St Thomas More’s sticker will be distributed to every family (please note, this may extend over a few weeks).  We are encouraging families to display the stickers on their car windows as to advertise our wonderful school.  At the conclusion of every term, we will identify a ‘lucky number plate’ with the recipient to receive a $50 Rebel Sport voucher.  A huge thanks to Tierney Signs in assisting us with St Thomas More’s stickers!

God Bless,

Duane Wann

Principal

Student Protection Contacts

From our APRE

A big thank you to the students, staff and families who were able to make it to the Project Compassion Launch Mass yesterday. It was great to have so many St Thomas More's representatives there to help launch our 2023 Project Compassion Mission. 

Our Mission officially begins this Tuesday with our very first Shrove Tuesday pancake morning. A very heartfelt thank you to our STM community for the kind and generous donations of pancake mix for this Service Club run initiative. Pancakes will be available from just before 8:00 am until 8:20 am in the Quad and will cost 50c each. All money raised will go to our 2023 Project Compassion Mission. 

This Wednesday (Ash Wednesday) marks the beginning of the special Church season of Lent. The season of Lent is celebrated in the 6 weeks leading up to Easter. This is a time for Christian people to reflect on the story of Jesus in the desert for 40 days, during which he fasted and resisted temptations put in his way. While traditionally Lent was once a time when Christian people too would fast in some way, giving up something they love for Lent ... chocolate, coffee, lollies ... this year I challenge our STM community to use Lent as an opportunity to really link in with our 2023 theme ... never see a need without doing something about it ... and instead, use the 40 days of Lent to do 40 good deeds. 

All STM families are invited to join our Ash Wednesday celebrations this year. Father Nathan will be celebrating Ash Wednesday with Prep to Year 6 students and teachers in the Sportscentre this Wednesday from 10 am. 

Project Compassion 2023

Service Club are very excited about their projects for Term 1. Their major project this term will be helping to lead our Project Compassion Campaign. Each year during Lent, St Thomas More's runs a Project Compassion Campaign that aims to raise money and teach our school community about the wonderful work that CARITAS does around the world to support communities less fortunate than our own. 

Worship Choir

We've had a bit of a rocky start with Worship Choir this year! The plan (again) is to begin choir this week. To accommodate Service Club Kindy visits, Worship Choir has now moved to a Tuesday at First Break. Worship Choir leads the liturgical singing for all our whole school celebrations and on occasion will help pick hymns for our celebrations and represent our school at diocesan events and celebrations. 

Children from Year 2 – Year 6 are invited to attend each Tuesday from 10:30 am in my room. Bring your lunch box along – we have a snack before we get into our singing!

2023 Sacramental Program

Sacramental Program letters were sent home with Year 4 students earlier this term. The St Thomas More’s Parish Sacramental Program begins soon and is open to students in Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6. Students will complete Reconciliation, Confirmation and First Communion this year. Please contact the Parish Office for more details.

**The parent session for the 2023 program is being held this Wednesday, so if you are interested in having your child participate in the program this year, please ensure you contact the parish office before Wednesday. 

Volunteering at STM in 2023

We love our parent helpers at STM! Any parents who would like to volunteer at STM this year will need to complete the TCS Volunteer Induction. This needs to be completed each year by parents who volunteer at our school. Please email me (Kristin.Byrne@twb.catholic.edu.au) if you would like an induction pack sent home. 

Out of Bounds Areas

Just a friendly reminder that we have aligned our before-school and after-school out-of-bounds areas. Please note that in the afternoons there is no play on any school ovals or equipment after school, just like there is no play in these areas before school until 8:15 am when the teacher on duty opens these areas. Teachers on the Stop Drop and Go duty near the Church Carpark may choose to open the Bottom Oval Playground for play after 3:15 pm. There is to be no play on this equipment until the teachers on duty indicate so. 

Harmony Week

This year, St Thomas More's will celebrate Harmony Week in Week 9! The theme for Harmony Week in 2023 is everyone belongs. Our Cultural Committee has planned some really exciting things for Harmony Week. Further details will be shared about this closer to the end of the term. 

At this stage, we can share that we will be having a Harmony Week Prayer Celebration led by 4 Blue - with Prep to Year 6 to attend. We will also be creating our beautiful Hallway of Hearts again this year, with our annual whole-school art project. This year, our hearts will represent artwork and styles that reflect the diversity within out St Thomas More's community. If we have any parents or family members who would like to come and teach our students about Indigenous Artwork, African Artwork or Polynesian Artwork, please contact Miss Byrne via email. We would love your help. Families who have other cultural backgrounds will also have the opportunity to create a heart at home to add to our Hallway of Hearts. 

Below I have shared a link to a song that will feature heavily in our Harmony Week celebrations this year. Happy singing! 

God Bless.

Miss Kristin Byrne

Assistant Principal: Religious Education

Thinking STM for Prep in 2024 ...

Vinnies Buddies Program

Are you interested in the Vinnies Buddies Program? Check out the flyer below. 

Miss Byrne's Important Dates to Remember for Term 1

From Our Learning Support

NAPLAN 2023

Students in Years 3 and 5 will take part in the 2023 National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) from Wednesday 15 March to Monday 27 March 2023. Please mark these dates on your calendar.

This is the first year NAPLAN will be held in March, having previously taken place in May. This change was made so school systems would have access to results earlier in the school year, so they can be used to inform teaching and learning plans for the remainder of the year. 

NAPLAN assesses literacy and numeracy skills that students are already learning at school. On its own, NAPLAN is not a test that can be studied for, and students are not expected to do so. NAPLAN does not replace ongoing assessments made by teachers about student performance. Students participate in a total of 4 tests over the testing window including Writing, Reading, Conventions of Language, and Numeracy. All tests are completed online using a laptop except for the year 3 writing test which is a pen-and-paper test.  

Students and parents wishing to familiarise themselves with NAPLAN can visit https://www.nap.edu.au/ where you can also access the demonstration site, example papers and parent information about NAPLAN.  

A test schedule will be sent out over the next couple of weeks.  If you wish to discuss your child’s participation in NAPLAN, please contact me as soon as possible at Patricia.wardle@twb.catholic.edu.au 

Enjoy the rest of your week!

God Bless,

Patricia Wardle

Middle Leader/Learning Support Teacher

From Our Sport Desk

Representative Swimming Results  

A fantastic effort from everyone who swam at the Central Zone Swimming Carnival.   

Levi – 3rd 50m Freestyle 

Makayla – 2nd 50m Freestyle, 1st 50m Breaststroke, 1st 50m Backstroke, 1st 50m Butterfly   

Tamsyn – 3rd 50m Backstroke   

Congratulations to Kiara, Tamsyn and Makayla for being selected to compete at the Darling Downs trials on Tuesday 28th February.  

Sport Trials 

Congratulations to Fletcher for being selected in the Central Zone Touch team. Good luck to Xavier for the Zone softball trials this week.  

Interschool Sport – Years 5 & 6 

Boys AFL Draw – Friday 24th Feb – Queens Park  

12:30pm Snr A vs St Mary’s  

1:15pm Snr B vs OLOL 

1:15pm Jnr A vs St Mary’s  

Girls Touch Draw – Friday 24th Feb- Kearney Springs Touch Fields 

12:30pm Jnr A vs Gabbinbar SS 

12:30pm Snr B vs Gabbinbar SS 

12:30pm Snr B vs Wilsonton  

1:15pm vs Gabinbar SS 

1:15pm vs Gabinbar SS 

 All children will need to remember to have a hat and water bottle for interschool sport.  

Due to a change in the start time for games this term, students will stop work at 11:45am to get on the bus and arrive at venues for a 12:30pm start. Students are encouraged to bring a small bag (school swimming bag) that they can use to pack some lunch to bring and eat once they arrive at the venue. Students will return to school between 2:15pm-2:30pm.  

 2023 Representative Sport Nomination  

Throughout the year Toowoomba Primary School Sport and Darling Downs School Sport run trials in a variety of sports to choose representative teams.  In most cases students are required to participate in a Toowoomba Trial to be eligible for a Darling Downs Trial. These teams will then travel away to Regional and State Championships.  

 For a student to be eligible for nomination they must meet the following criteria: 
 
1.        Be turning 10, 11 or 12 in the current calendar year. i.e. born in 2013, 2012, 2011 
 
2.        Have had a reasonable amount of experience in their chosen sport. 
 
3.        Have a high level of skill in their chosen sport. 
  
 In some cases, like touch football, where there are a number of interested candidates, the school may conduct in-house trials to choose players to be nominated for these trials.  This is important for a number of reasons; 1) the players that the school nominates need to meet the required selection criteria, 2) be of a suitable standard to trial and 3) schools are limited to a certain number of students at these trials.  
 
With the exception of Netball and Boys Rugby League, all teams chosen are 12 year old sides.  While 10 and 11 year olds are eligible, they must be of a very high standard.  Most teams chosen will consist predominantly of 12 year olds. 10 year olds are NOT eligible for Girls Rugby League or Rugby Union. 
 
It is also important to note, that only students who are available to attend both the Regional and State Championships, will be eligible for nomination.  All nominations for these trials need to go through the school, and decisions on which students are nominated is at the sole discretion of the school.    
 
Please note that the dates for trials are subject to change. 
 
If your child would like to be considered for Toowoomba, Zone or Darling Downs Team selection, please check your availability for ALL the trial dates and complete the application form vis the link below. 

https://forms.office.com/r/jUgWGWMVAN 

If your child meets the criteria to attend a chosen trial, they will receive information about the trial as it gets sent through to the school.  

2023 DARLING DOWNS SCHOOL SPORT 

COMBINED SPORTING CALENDAR 

As at 17 September 2022 (Dates are subject to change) 

God bless,

Stacey Hancock

HPE Teacher 

From our Student Representatives

We are your Student Representatives for 2023, Scarlet and Harry. On behalf of all the students at St Thomas More’s, we would like to officially welcome our new teachers this year … 

Mr Wann 
Mrs Peters
Mr Barnes  and  
Mrs McGovern 

We also welcome any new children and their families. We hope you will always feel welcome at St Thomas More’s. 

We are super excited to help out with lots of school events this year like Sports Carnivals and assembly. We have lots of great ideas that we want to share with everyone in the coming year.   

This term our main focus will be on building our community at STM by continuing the House Cup Challenge. We will be having Minute to Win It lunch breaks starting this week on Thursday at second break in the Quad. Come along and earn some points for your house.  

The other focus for this term is looking for joy at STM. We have been out and about in all the playgrounds during breaks recently trying to catch children and teachers spreading joy! We will share some photos of what we have found at assembly this week.

Have a great week.   

God bless.

From our Service Club

First of all, a reminder that this year we are celebrating Shrove Tuesday, which is this Tuesday. Don’t forget to bring some money along. Pancakes are 50c each and all money that we raise will go to Project Compassion. A big thank you to the P&F for letting us use your BBQ and to all the adults who are going to help cook pancakes.  

After our Ash Wednesday celebration this week, we officially start our Project Compassion mission. We will deliver money boxes and posters to every class. You can bring money to donate anytime you want. This year we will have 50c Friday again starting this Friday. The class that raises the most money each week will get the fantastic Project Compassion Cross to add to their prayer space for the next week. There were lots of great classes last year who were very generous and we encourage everyone to donate again this year to help us with our mission. During Lent, we will be teaching you about the families that Project Compassion helps. Our money will go to help families like these. 

This year we will be running our Easter Raffle again to raise money for Project Compassion. Easter Raffle tickets will go on sale in Week 6. Tickets will be 50c each. You can come and buy tickets in the raffle from Miss Byrne’s office during first break each day. Families can still send in donations of Easter Eggs until we draw our raffle in Week 10.  

We hope you have a great week.

God Bless,

Emma and Mckenzie from the Service Club

Classroom Newsletters

Week 4 Awards

Well done to our students who were recipients of awards last week. Keep up the great work!

From our Tuckshop

Open every Friday.  Please place your childs order through FlexiSchools by 1pm Thursdays and please supply a Paper Bag for your childs order.

From Our Office

From the Library

STM Reading All Stars!

As part of the Get in the Game - READ promotion, students receive a token if they send in a photo of them reading at home.  As we have a sports theme, we have an extra twist.  If they send in a photo of them reading while doing a sporting activity eg. kicking a ball while reading a book, they get two tokens. Photos can be sent to my email - margy.heuschele@twb.catholic.edu.au.

Here are two photos that have already been sent in.   

From Our OSHC

Dear Families,

Action Items:

• Bookings – Term 1 please email ASAP
• Updated enrolment information

If your child/ren will be attending either before or after school care during term 1 could you please ensure you check your Xplor app in the bookings section that all your term 1 bookings have been added. If there are no bookings showing or incorrect bookings, please EMAIL our team and we will get this sorted for you!

Downloading Xplor App

It is mandatory that all parents and caregivers have the Xplor app downloaded and use this to sign children both in and out of care at either before school care, after school care or vacation care days. If you are yet to have access to the Xplor app yet, then please contact our team as primary and secondary parents will be unable to utilise the paper sign-in/out form from Monday 23^rd January.

Someone else collecting?

If the primary or secondary parent are not collecting your children from OSHC please ensure you text the full name, contact number and address to 0429 297 592 so our team. If our team does not have this message regarding the person collecting that afternoon our team cannot release your child into their care until we have got confirmation from either the primary or secondary parent.

Cancellations

Please note that now as we come into the school term the table below on the cancellation period that needs to be provided in writing to STMcare@tckc.qld.edu.au If any bookings are cancelled after the notice period they will be marked as absent and the fees will still be applied.

Allergies, dietary requirements, medical conditions, disabilities, etc.

Please ensure if your child does have an allergy, dietary requirements, medical conditions, a disability, etc. That our team is made fully aware as soon as possible as this information is crucial for our team to support your child the best we possibly can while they are in our care.

OSHC Room

Many families who have attended over vacation care will be aware that the OSHC has now officially received its very own room to operate from which will be the old music room. We are very excited to have this space as we can decorate with all of our artwork from children, remain set-up and have a consistent space for the children to play. While all our resources and OSHC office will now be located in this room we will still have all access to the deck out the front of the room, the playground, oval space and of course the hall! We feel extremely blessed and excited to see what amazing things will happen in the OSHC space for 2023.

The OSHC Team

As we come into 2023, we are excited to continue onwards our wonderful OSHC team, while we are on the hunt for a lovely new coordinator to come on board, we thank Miss Alannah (TCKC Roaming Coordinator) for supporting STM OSHC and the patience from our families during this transition period. We will let you all know as soon as possible when we have a new coordinator for the team. Miss Hayley will remain on supporting Alannah & the new coordinator into term 1. She has been away on an extended holiday and is excited to return! Miss Heather & Miss Charlotte will remain a crucial part of our team into the new school year. However, we are excited to announce our new educator Miss Drew who has been a part of the OSHC since the beginning of January and will be back in the OSHC in week 4 after she completes her uni placement. We currently have Miss Tenisha & Miss Rachel coming over to assist the service for the first few weeks of term.

If you have any questions or queries for our team, please do not hesitate to reach out to us as we are happy to help.

Warm regards,

The OSHC Team

Miss Hayley, Miss Heather, Miss Drew, Miss Charlotte, Mr Nic, Miss Alannah, Miss Tenisha, Miss Rachel

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.

Need 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 the Parish

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!

A huge thank you to Meat Cellar for their continued support for our school events.

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