Term 3 - Week 10 - Newsletter

Prayer of the Week

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From the Principal’s Desk…

Earlier in the year, a number of St Thomas More’s aligned business partners kindly and generously sponsored new sporting apparel.  I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank our business partners for their financial contribution in sponsoring our Touch Football apparel:

To our amazing sponsors and business partners, thank you for making our school a better place.  We will acknowledge our Netball and Rugby League sponsors and business partner’s next term!

As this is the final newsletter for the term, I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to all who have volunteered their time in some capacity over the term. Whether it be in reading groups, committees, social events, sporting activities etc., your assistance doesn’t go unnoticed and is valued by the teachers and myself.

Term 3 has certainly been a long and enduring term.  I wish you and your families an enjoyable and safe holiday and look forward to seeing you all back for the final term of 2023.  Don’t forget that Monday 2^nd October is a Public Holiday, therefore, school will resume on Tuesday 3^rd October.

Thanks for reading…                                 

Duane

God Bless,

Duane Wann

Principal

Student Protection Contacts

From our APRE

Australia's Biggest Child Safety Lesson

Last week, some of our classes participated in Australia’s Biggest Child Safety Lesson (ABCSL) which was live-streamed across Australia. This year’s safety theme was ‘consent’. For classes that did not participate in this lesson, in term 4, St. Thoms More’s we will be completing a week of Child Protection activities, including implementation of the Daniel Morecombe curriculum, culminating in our celebration of Day for Daniel on Friday 27 October when children are invited to wear RED accessories and donate a gold coin to the Morecombe foundation.  More information will be sent out early next term! 

Term 3 Wrap-Up

What a busy term it has been!

Early this term we joined with schools across Queensland to celebrate Catholic Education Week. Education Week is a great chance to celebrate both the wonderful staff in our schools and the amazing students and families who are part of our communities.

As part of National Anti-Bullying Week, STM students were invited to make a gold coin donation to Bully Zero and were also encouraged to come dressed as a superhero or in free dress to symbolise that we are all superheroes against bullying.

As a community, we have come together in prayer for several occasions including celebrating Catholic Education Week, The Feast Day of St. Mary MacKillop, and Father’s Day. A highlight for me every term is our community coming together in prayer. Thank you to our Parish Leader - Jacinta McGovern, Father Nathan and Father Michael for your support during the various masses and prayer celebrations.

Next term is going to be another busy term with the school community coming together to celebrate Grandparents Day, World Teacher’s Day, Day for Daniel, Remembrance Day, and several class Prayer Celebrations. We will also commence our Christmas Festivities where our prep students will present a Nativity play and our STM students will all be invited to participate in our annual Christmas evening.

Grandparent's Day

As you may have seen in our official STM School Calendar, this year we celebrate Grandparent's Day on Friday 13th October. Our day will commence with a Whole School Prayer Celebration in the Sportscentre at 8:40 a.m. followed by a shared morning tea.  A flyer will be sent out via the parent portal later this week to be shared with our STM grandparents and those who are like grandparents to us.

God Bless.

Mrs Patricia Wardle

Acting Assistant Principal: Religious Education

Service Club News

Children's Mission Day Liturgy

Last Friday, Service Club members met with Sue Williams (Youth and Schools Engagement Officer QLD – Catholic Mission) who travelled all the way from Brisbane to meet with us to discuss plans for the Children’s Mission Day Liturgy being held on Wednesday 18th October. This is the first time that a Toowoomba School has been invited to host a Children’s Mission Day Liturgy. Over the next few weeks, our Service Club will be busy preparing for this liturgy which will see representatives from Toowoomba Catholic Education Office and other Toowoomba Primary Schools congregating at the St Thomas More’s Church.

SOCKTOBER

This year, STM has once again signed up to participate in Socktober. We have had a great time over the past few years supporting Socktober and I know Service Club are very excited to continue the tradition in 2023. 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 children in Timor-Leste. Timor-Leste is a small island republic just under 700kms from Darwin, which shares its western border with Indonesia. The country secured its independence from Indonesia in 2001, after an oppressive and violent occupation. Today, the scars still linger as the people grapple with the effects of poverty, low quality healthcare and infrastructure, corruption and inequality. It is why the presence of missionaries like the Salesian Sisters, especially in regional parts of the country, is so important...

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 Timor-Leste.

Our Socktober Kick-Off won't be until the end of October.  We are still working on setting a date for the kick-off but will share this as soon as we have confirmed it. 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. 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/fundraiser/StThomasMoresSchoolToowoomba

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,

Mrs Wardle and Service Club

Term 3 Date Claimers

Please see below the important dates for Term 3. 

STM Colour Run

Thinking STM for Prep in 2024 ...

Class Newsletters

Student Awards

Well done to our week 9 award recipients. 

From our P & F

From our Tuckshop

Open every Thursday & Friday.  Please place your childs order through FlexiSchools by 1pm Wednesday for Thursdays & 1pm Thursday for Friday. 

Tuckshop Menu

From our Uniform Shop

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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