2024 Term 2 - Week 5 - Newsletter

Prayer of the Week

We hope our STM mothers, grandmothers and those like mothers to us had a wonderful Mother's Day over the weekend! 

Image retrieved from https://twitter.com/StPetersSch/status/1766767065367564426 

From our Principal

I’m sure you have heard of the saying ‘Mother knows best’. That’s probably why children, especially teenagers, always go to Dad for permission to go to a party, ask for money or beg for a lift. But in most cases, when kids need real help they ask their mums.

Kids of all ages say ‘That’s my Mum!’ They don’t say ‘That’s my parent!’. I vaguely remember a certain teenager and his two brothers thinking it was a pretty cool thing to call his old man by his first name, however, Mum was always ‘Mum’.

Being a Mum is different to parenting. Mothering is instinctive & relational, whereas parenting, I believe, is more on the rational side. Teenagers can put up with their parents but they will always love their Mum. They can live without their parents, or so they think, but deep down they can’t live without the one person who will always be there and who will always overlook their faults. That person of course is their mother. Raising kids is about mothering & fathering. That’s why we have Mothers’ Day (and Fathers’ Day) rather than Parents’ Day.

Mothers are the precious treasure troves which remain an important part of one's life even after they lose contact with her. There are times you just sit back and think about the times you learnt from your mother, or suddenly after tasting a dish you prepared, you think of how your mother used to prepare it. These are some precious moments which you are reminded about incessantly even after many years. Such reflections never fail to bring a smile on your face. Mothers are such; they become a part of your psyche, as cherished memories. These reflections are usually nothing but the reasons for you to thank her. If the feelings are strong and beautiful enough, they often come out in form of a saying or a quote, which is reiterated by generations that follow. Some of these quotes are listed below, each one of these giving the word 'Mother' a new dimension.

• "The heart of a mother is a deep abyss at the bottom of which you will always find forgiveness." - Honore' de Balzac
• "Youth fades; love droops, the leaves of friendship fall; a mother's secret hope outlives them all." - Oliver Wendell Holmes
• "Before becoming a mother I had a hundred theories on how to bring up children. Now I have seven children and only one theory: love them, especially when they least deserves to be loved." - Kate Samperi
• "Adorable children are considered to be the general property of the human race. Rude children belong to their mothers." - Judith Martin
• "A mother understands what a child does not say." - Jewish Proverb
• "A mother is she who can take the place of all others but whose place no one else can take." - Cardinal Mermillod
• "Of all the rights of women, the greatest is to be a mother." - Lin Yü-tang

"Most of all the other beautiful things in life come by twos and threes by dozens and hundreds. Plenty of roses, stars, sunsets, rainbows, brothers, and sisters, aunts and cousins, but only one mother in the whole world." - Kate Douglas Wiggin

“Mothers hold their children’s hands for a short time, but their hearts forever”

“Author unknown”

So, Happy Mothers’ Day to all our Mums & Grandmothers.

Thanks for reading. 

God Bless,

Duane Wann

Principal

TCSO Leadership Forum: Mr Wann Away Week 5

Please be advised Mr Wann will be away from school commencing Tuesday 14^th May for the remainder of the week to attend the Toowoomba Catholic Schools Leadership Forum.  Miss Byrne will act as Principal during this time with Mr Wann to return to school on Monday 20^th May.

Winter Uniform Transition

As we move into cooler weather, please be advised the Winter Uniform transition has commenced. St Thomas More’s School, in collaboration with the School Advisory Council and P&F, are currently exploring uniform options with the likelihood of transitioning to one formal school uniform to replace the current summer and winter uniform for 2025.  Please be assured, any uniform change will be shared with the school community once finalised and accompanied with a three-year implementation and transition phase.

For 2024, please find below Winter Uniform options for girls:

• Check tunic, white blouse, long navy socks/tights and black shoes
• Blue & white check dress or blouse, blue culottes, navy blue tights/blue socks and black shoes (tracksuit pants are not to be worn with the formal uniform)

Please find below Winter Uniform options for boys:

• Long/short sleeved royal blue shirt, grey shorts/long grey trousers, grey socks and black shoes

It will be up to the discretion of families to determine if a winter uniform is purchased for 2024.  This means children from Years 1 – 6 will have the option of wearing either the winter uniform or summer uniform (layered to ensure warmth) for 2024.  Should you have any questions or queries, please be encouraged to contact me.

Grooming Expectations

Please be mindful, hairstyles which draw attention to the individual, including but are not limited to: mullet, scullett, mohawks, tracks, tails, hair colouring etc. are not permitted. 

Before School Supervision

Before school duty commences at 8:15am.  Children who arrive at school before 8:15am are kindly asked to sit in the ‘Quad Area’ until teacher supervision commences at 8:15am.

School Lunches

To commence Term Two, we are asking families to have conversations with children regarding eating requirements when at school to ensure enough lunch is packed to see out the school day.

Parent Engagement Charter (Code of Conduct)

The Toowoomba Catholic Schools Parent Engagement Charter is attached to this notification. It describes the partnership that exists between families and the school and is an agreement between parent, school and Toowoomba Catholic Schools. This begins when an enrolment has been accepted and continues until its completion. I strongly encourage you all to read this document, especially noting the final page of conduct expectations for both staff and parents.

ParentEngagementCharter (twb.catholic.edu.au)

Communication

We believe that good communication is the key to success for your child. If there is something worrying you about your child’s learning or well-being or if there has been changes at home which may be affecting your child, please ensure you contact your child’s teacher or myself to discuss this. Even if you feel it is a small issue, please let us know.

Communication Protocols

St Thomas More’s Primary School recognises and respects the right of employees to disconnect from work and not respond to work-related electronic communications outside of designated hours.  St Thomas More’s Primary School staff will reply to electronic communication within the hours of 8.00am and 5.00pm Monday to Friday.  Where contact is made outside of this span of hours, employees will respond within two working days of the employee’s next designated working day considering weekends, leave, other non-working days, vacation periods and holidays. 

From our APRE

A big thank you to Mrs Wright and 1 Red for leading our school community so prayerfully in our Mother's Day Prayer Celebration last week. You did a sensational job! 

Thank you also to our amazing P&F for arranging the special breakfast for our community and helping us to spoil the special ladies in our lives! 

Our next class Prayer Celebration for this term will be led by 2 Red. Please note that the date for this celebration has been moved. 2 Red will now share their Prayer Celebration with our school community on Friday, May 31 from 11:20 am in the STM Church. All families are most welcome to attend. 

School Photo Update

With the change to our Winter Uniform Transition this year, we have moved School Photo Day to Term 4. We are currently working on confirming a date and will share this with the school community as soon as possible. 

Justice ...

This term, our focus value is JUSTICE. Justice is a core value to many significant people in the history of our school. St Thomas More, for whom our school and parish is named after, was a lawyer in his lifetime. Justice was very important to him not just in his work but in his faith as well. Later this term, we will celebrate the Feast Day of St Thomas More and learn more about our namesake. 

Mary MacKillop is another significant figure in the history of our school, being the co-founder of the order of nuns who opened STM in the 1960s. Mary MacKillop valued justice, seeking to ensure that all children, regardless of their circumstances, had access to a quality education. 

As we explore the value of justice this term, we call on stories from the lives of both of these very important saints, as well as stories about St Joseph and Jesus, to help guide us. 

This term, our STM staff will be on the lookout for examples of justice in the classroom and in the playground. Our Student Representatives and Student Leaders will also be hunting for examples of justice as well. I can't wait to see what they find! 

Musical News

Our first read-through for our musical was wonderful! Rehearsals for the Main Cast begin this week. All Main Cast families should have received an email with specific details of these rehearsals. Our Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6 classes begin their musical preparations in Week 6. We are full steam ahead! 

This year, we are calling for sponsorship to help us make our show extra special! Contact the School Office if you would like a Sponsorship Package. 

God Bless

Kris Byrne

Assistant Principal Religious Education

Term One Important Dates

Prep 2025 - Make sure you register for upcoming events

Student Protect

From our Service Club

Don’t forget LEGO Club has started again for the term. We meet in the spare room next to 4 Gold each Wednesday during Second Break. All students are welcome to attend. Thank you again Mrs Wilson for helping us with this.  

It was great to have Mya come along this week to join Service Club. A friendly reminder that all Grade 6 children can now join Service Club. We meet each week on a Tuesday at First Break in Miss Byrne’s Room.  

Have a great week. 

God Bless, 

Mya and Grace from Service Club 

From our Sports Department

Darling Downs Rugby League 

Congratulations to Jonathan W for being selected in the Darling Downs Rugby League team. We wish you all the best at the State Championship.  

Athletics Carnival 

Our annual athletics carnival will be held on Tuesday 11th June at O’Quinn Street Oval. Classes have been busy preparing for the carnival. High jump events for children Yrs 9-12 will be held in Week 8. A timetable will be available shortly.  

Please use the link below to indicate your child/children’s travel arrangements for the carnival.  

https://forms.office.com/r/zR2KpvqR4M  

This year we are after some champion parent helpers for our Athletics Carnival this year. Champion parent helpers would have the option of staying on a field event for the whole day or move around the field events with their child/children so you could still see them participate. You would be required to help with measuring, racking sand and retrieving equipment. You don’t have to know much about the field events, as there will be a teacher accompanying you and running the actual event. Please use the link below to register to be a champion parent helper!  

https://forms.office.com/r/5WSfaZv2SB 

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God Bless.

Stacey Hancock

HPE Teacher 

Student Awards

Well done to our students who received awards in  Week 3 & 4. Keep up the great work! 

Week 3

Week 4

From our Library

P & F News

Minutes from the last meeting.

Click the link below to find out all the exciting news you may have missed.

Tuckshop News

Opening Wednesday, Thursday and Friday

Order via Flexischools App.  If you need help to navigate the App, please feel free to pop into the tuckshop and chat to Jemma or email on jemma@archerscateringandevents.com.au 

Cut off of Online orders...
Order before 3pm Tuesday (for Wednesday), 3pm Wednesday (for Thursday) & 3pm Thursday (1pm for sushi) (for Friday).

NEW Tuckshop Menu

REMINDER - IF YOU CHILD IS SICK, PLEASE CONTACT THE TUCKSHOP BEFORE 9AM TO POSTPONE YOUR ORDER TO THE NEXT DAY!

From our Uniform Shop

From our OSHC

Good Morning STM families,

I hope you have all had a wonderful week and are looking forward to another long weekend. It is a bit chilly this morning and supposed to be cool all weekend , so please keep warm.

This week we have an All About Olympics week.

Monday 

BSC-  The children made their own Olympic rings with lego

ASC- Miss Debbie helped the children make their own medals with bottle top lids

Tuesday

BSC-  Pancakes for breakfast – Asher requested black pancakes so Miss Hallie made him black pancakes. Sorry no picture of the said black pancakes.

ASC- Miss Debbie had another fan making activity as the one last week was a bit difficult for some children so I promised I would do it again so they could make easier fans.

Wednesday

BSC- Miss Laetitia had a chalk activity this morning where the children could draw chalk designs on an Olympic Sport

ASC-. Miss Laetitia had a ring tossing competition inside.

Thursday

BSC_ Miss Hallie helped the children make their own musical instruments and also made more colourful pancakes. No black ones this time.

ASC- Miss Halle had a Olympic Ring Craft activity. Please check them out on the wall.

Friday

BSC_ This morning we made a very long Olympic Ring chain that we hung up on the window.

ASC- Miss Laetitia will make an Olympic Torch with the children.

Please find pictures attached to this email.

Staffing

As mentioned previously by Donna and myself, today (Friday 3 May) is my last day at STM. I will take with me so many memories from the last 14 months. Thank you to all the children for making my days filled with fun and laughter. I have been lucky enough to be given so many cards from families and children that I will keep in my special keepsake box at home.  As well as so many chocolates and gifts. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Miss Laetitia. Miss Halle, Mr Laurent, Mr Kallen, and Mr Dusty are staying on as Educators ,  you and your loved ones are in good hands. Miss Taylor will be coming over for two weeks as Service Coordinator until the new Service Coordinator starts.

Just a quick email today as I try and wrap up and cross my T’s and dot my I’s before heading off.

All the very best for the future and I wish everyone well .

Kind Regards

Debbie

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!

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