Term 4 - Week 1 - Newsletter

Prayer of the Week

From the Principal’s Desk…

It’s hard to believe there are only 9 weeks till the end of the year, and boy do we have a busy, yet exciting term ahead.  Busyness at times has its good points, it does help us to keep focused on the job at hand and helps reduces incidences of absentmindedness. Being busy can become addictive because it reassures us that there is a job to do and that we are contributing to the success of our workplace.  However, we do need to be careful of becoming too busy, like any addiction it does have its pitfalls. The following story highlights what can occur if we allow ourselves to become over busy.

A group of trainee teachers was asked to prepare a lesson on the Good Samaritan as part of learning about how to teach. They were to prepare their lessons in one building, then walk down the street to a studio where some would be chosen to present their lesson to the remainder of the group; the presentations were to be recorded on video for discussion at a later date.

However, the trainee teachers were unaware that an actor had been hired to dress as a wounded man; he was to lie on the footpath, appear very distressed and gesturing for help. Nearly 80% of the trainee teachers walked past the man and didn’t even see him! They had studied the parable of the Good Samaritan, prepared thoughtful lessons about it, but still nearly 80% would walk past the wounded man and ignore him!

Are we, at times, a little like the trainee teachers in that we are so busy living our busy time-starved lives, that we neglect ourselves and overlook the needs of others? Do we take the time to take the time to live through our senses as well as our minds.

If we are feeling good and relaxed within ourselves, we will have time to notice other people, we won’t be “on edge” all the time, we won’t allow ourselves to be so busy and caught up within ourselves. We will have time to share with our children and our children will truly feel that they are loved and appreciated.

Yes it will be a busy term, but I do urge children, parents and teachers not to just cross events off in the calendar as they pass but to make the most of this time and take in the special moments which will occur over the next couple of months. Have a wonderful term everyone.

Thanks for reading….

Duane

God Bless,

Duane Wann

Principal

From the APRE

Grandparents Day - Friday, October 13^th

As you may have seen in the official STM School Calendar, this year we celebrate Grandparent’s Day on Friday, 13th October. The prayer celebration will no longer be led by the service club as indicated in the school calendar as they have another prayer celebration to prepare for the following week. Rather, students from various year levels will be selected to lead this prayer celebration. 

Our day begins in the Sports Centre at 8:40 a.m. A brief overview of the morning is provided below…

- Prayer Celebration from Prep to Year 6 in the Sports Centre.

- Classroom visits

- Morning Tea at 10:30 a.m – we ask our visiting grandparents to bring along a yummy snack to share with their grandchildren.

We respectfully request grandparents DO NOT PARK in the CHURCH Car Park. Staff will vacate the STM Hall Carpark (Gravel car park next to the STM Parish Hall) for families to use in the morning.

Grandparents will need to bring a hat and a snack to share with their grandchildren. Students and grandparents will be able to sit together to eat morning tea in one of three designated areas. Tea and coffee will be available.

We look forward to welcoming our STM grandparents on Friday 13th October.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Mrs Wardle (patricia.wardle@twb.catholic.edu.au). 

Children's Mission Day Liturgy – Wednesday 18^th October

As part of Mission Month, St. Thomas More’s Primary School has been invited to hold the Children’s Mission Day Liturgy. The liturgy will be held on Wednesday 18th October commencing at 11.30 am in the St Thomas More’s Church and will be led by our Service Club. This is the first time that a Toowoomba School has been invited to host a Children’s Mission Day Liturgy. Over the next two 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 – Thursday 19th October

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

We will officially launch this event at our Whole School Assembly this Friday morning Mission Packs will also be distributed to classrooms 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 will be held on the 19^th October.  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

Students are more than welcome to bring along their own '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

Acting APRE

Important Dates to Remember

AWARD Recipients

Congratulations to our Term 3 Week 10  Student of the week award recipients.

Congratulations to Southern Cross Award Recipients. 

Student Protection Contacts

From Our Sports Desk

Term 4 Interschool Sport 

Interschool sport will commence this Friday 6th October. Children have nominated for their preferred sport. AFL girls have received a mouth guard form that will need to be completed and returned before they will be able to play. Mouth guards are compulsory for AFL. 

There are no special requirements for boys touch and mixed volleyball.  

Boys Touch - Kearney Springs Touch Fields 

Girls AFL - Concordia (Stephen Street) 

Mixed Volleyball - Toowoomba East State School  

Please ensure that your child/children have a water bottle and hat for Term 4 sport. 

 Draws - Friday 6th October  

Boys Touch – Kearney Springs Touch Fields 

12:50pm Senior A vs TESS F6 

12:50pm Senior B vs Concordia White F4 

1:30pm Junior A vs Glenvale F7  

Mixed Volleyball – Toowoomba East State School  

1:00pm Senior B vs Highfields 1  

1:00pm Junior A vs Toowoomba East  

1:45pm Senior A vs Toowoomba East  

1:45pm Junior B (team 1) vs Toowoomba East  

1:45pm Junior B (team 2) vs Toowoomba East  

Girls AFL – Concordia (Stephen Street)  

*Draw not yet available.  

Prep – Year 3 Swimming Lessons 

Children in Prep-Year 3 will be provided with 5 swimming lessons through Darren Lange Swimming Academy this Term. Due to the pool at Centenary Heights being renovated over the past few months, we are still waiting on confirmation with which pool we will be able to use so we can book our lesson dates in. Hopefully this will be locked in this week and more information will be able to be sent home to parents early in Week 2.   

Senior Swimming Carnival 

The senior swimming carnival will be held at Glennie on Tuesday 28th November. This carnival is open to all children born from 2011 – 2015. Keep an eye on for the nomination link that will be sent out to families in the coming weeks.   

Junior Swimming Carnival 

This year our Junior Swimming Carnival will be held at the TAS (Toowoomba Anglican School) swimming pool, access via Wirra Wirra Street. Children in Prep – Year 2 will have the opportunity to participate at this carnival. We invite parents to attend this carnival if they wish. We are just awaiting final confirmation of which day in the last week of term it will be held.  

We encourage all students to attend regardless of their swimming ability. Shorter lap lengths and novelty races ensure that this is a memorable day, whilst building confidence in the water prior to joining the more competitive races at the upper school swimming carnival in years to come. Some events will include freestyle/kickboard, noodle and other novelty races. 

No ribbons will be awarded at this carnival as this is purely a non-competitive carnival to encourage fun in the water. Adults will be placed in each swimming lane and will be available on the sides of the pool to assist if required.  

The school will provide busses to transport students to and from the carnival.  

Children can wear their sports uniform and wear their togs underneath. They will also need to bring a towel, goggles (if needed), swimming cap, sunscreen, morning tea and a drink bottle.  

If you have any further queries, please don’t hesitate to contact your child’s classroom teacher or myself. 

God Bless,

Stacey Hancock

HPE Teacher

Colour Run

Thinking STM for Prep in 2024 ...

Class Newsletters

From our P & F

A reminder that the P&F AGM is next Monday, 9 October 2023.  Currently, we have no nominations for any positions on the executive (President, Vice President, Secretary or Treasurer).
 
If you’re interested in nominating for any positions or just want to know more - feel free to contact Kylie (Kyliehaywoodbusiness@gmail.com) or Shontelle (Shontelle.Petrie@gmail.com) 

From our Tuckshop

Tuckshop will be open for orders for this Friday 6th October.  Please have your orders in on Flexischools by 1pm on Thursday.

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

Tuckshop Menu

From our Uniform Shop

From OSHC

Today is our last day of vacation care, and it is a chilled day. We made some teddy bear pillows and played inside and out.

We have had a great vacation care this term. Beautiful weather and lovely planned and spontaneous activities.

We have had a couple of incidents of bullying this time, which is sad and unfortunate. I have addressed this  with all children  and explained that Bullying is not ok in any form, and will not be tolerated at OSHC.  I have also explained that parents will be notified of any bullying as soon as possible. It was  sad , as it was such a great vacation care program.

In lieu of my week that was, I have attached the September Newsletter. Please enjoy the photos attached to the Newsletter and also the two from today attached to this email.

Until next week, have a wonderful long weekend.

Kind Regards

Debbie and the team.

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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