St Thomas' News
02 May 2019
Mother’s Love
Her love is like an island in life's ocean, vast and wide.
A peaceful, quiet shelter from the wind, the rain, the tide.
'Tis bound on the north by Hope, By Patience on the West,
By tender Counsel on the South, And on the East by Rest.
Above it like a beacon light Shine Faith, and Truth, and Prayer;
And thro' the changing scenes of life, I find a haven there.
Author Unknown
UPCOMING EVENTS
Wednesday 1 May – Edudance commences
Thursday 2 May – STREAMing Ahead challenge at St. Mary’s (selected students in Year 3 & 4)
Tuesday 7 May – Year 4 Incursion - Claremont Museum
Wednesday 8 May – Kindy Mother’s Morning
Wednesday 8 May – Big Day In challenge at PLC (selected students in Year 5 & 6)
Friday 10 May – Mother’s Day Liturgy
Saturday 11 May – School/Parish Mass & Sausage Sizzle – Year 4 organising
Monday 13 May – P&F Meeting – Library 9.00am
Tuesday 14 May to Friday 17 May – NAPLAN Testing Year 3 & 5
Wednesday 15 May – Kindy Library Incursion
Wednesday 15 May – Year 2’s attending Parish Mass – 12.30pm
FROM THE PRINCIPAL
Dear St. Thomas' Community,
Welcome back to school for the beginning of Term Two. It was wonderful to see so many fresh and happy children back at school who were so willing to share their holiday stories. I hope that everyone had an enjoyable holiday and that family members had the opportunity to spend quality time together.
There are a significant number of events planned for Term Two: Edu-dance; 1st Holy Communion, St. Thomas’ and Interschool Cross Country Carnivals, 110th Anniversary of St. Thomas’ Primary and Feast of St Thomas’ celebrations, Oracy for Year Four’s, St. Thomas’ Cyclical Review (run by members of Catholic Education that looks at the educational outcomes and achievements of St. Thomas’ Primary) and Semester One Reports to name but a few. Please note that this constitutes just a mere snapshot of some of the happenings ahead. Updated information will be posted on our website and in the school newsletter. The term planner has also been updated and can be found on the school website. Please check this on a regular basis as things can change and ongoing amendments are made to this online version. Term Two is going to be an extremely busy term indeed!
NAPLAN: This term our Year Three and Five students will be sitting the NAPLAN testing.St. Thomas’ will again be administering NAPLAN online in 2019. NAPLAN Online will be held from the 14th to the 17th May 2019.
NAPLAN tests are only one aspect of a school's assessment and reporting process and supplement the ongoing assessments made by teachers about each students’ performance throughout the year.
We believe that the most effective way to prepare for NAPLAN is to ensure that literacy and numeracy skills, embedded in the normal curriculum, are taught throughout the year and at all year levels in ways that are engaging and meaningful for students. The West Australian Curriculum supports this work.
We wish all children completing these tests well. If your child is undertaking these tests please ensure that they are well rested, have had a good breakfast, are at school on time and that their routines are kept as normal as possible.
ANZAC Day Ceremony: I wish to thank Ruby Preston, Genevieve Hagemann Alex Garbowski, Aiden Bourne and Mrs. Gibbs for attending the Anzac Day Service at the Claremont War Memorial on Anzac Day.
Also thank you to Mrs. Gibbs for organising St. Thomas’ ANZAC Service that took place on Monday. We were very lucky to have one of our parents, Squadron Leader Sarah-Jane Leach speak of her service to our country. What a privilege it was to hear her speak!
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you: On behalf of the staff, Father Wayne and Caritas Australia I would like to thank all those families that donated to the Project Compassion Appeal and Easter Eggs Raffle. The total of funds raised was in excess of $960.
RELIGION NEWS
Mothers’ Day: I would like to extend an invitation to all mothers, grandmothers and carers to our Mothers’ Day Prayer Service, which will be held in St Thomas’ Church at 8.45am Friday 10 May. Thanks to Miss Ward and her Year One class for preparing this service. A scrumptious morning tea will be held after the event. If you are unable to attend due to work or other commitments, be assured that the prayers offered on the day will include a blessing for you. On behalf of the entire school community I wish all of our mothers a wonderful day on Sunday week and I hope you all receive a plethora of well-deserved spoiling!
School/Parish Mass: The next Parish/School Mass will take place on Saturday, 11 May, at 5.30pm. The Year Four class and Mrs. Meyers are organising the Mass and sausage sizzle. Even though it is the Year Four Class organising this event, it would be wonderful to see the Church full with St Thomas’ families.
Free Dress Day - for Lifelink on Monday 20 May. Get your PJ's ready!
ST THOMAS' IN APRIL - MONTHLY REVIEW
Watch this video to see some of the amazing things we have been up to during February!
ST THOMAS' NEWS
Online Uniform Shop: A reminder that we have officially moved the St. Thomas’ Uniform Shop online. The online system will be managed by Permapleat, our current supplier.
To access the site log on to the St. Thomas' website, under the heading Parents - then Uniform/Canteen. Uniforms are no longer available on QuickCliq.
To assist parents/guardians with sizing and enable students to try uniforms on, a uniform in each size will be maintained at school. Second hand uniforms can also be purchased at school. If you wish to organise a sizing and/or purchase of second-hand uniforms please contact Libby Crawford at 8205SVC_uniform@cewa.edu.au
Please be aware that some items have increased slightly in price, however this is not due to our move online but rather that prices have not increased since 2016.
A big thanks to our Uniform Shop volunteers Nicola Lovejoy, Clare Mcllree, Judy Lucas and Kim Bennett for their all of their hard work over the last few years. St. Thomas’ relies on parents volunteering their time and effort to help and we certainly appreciate all of their efforts.
KINDY ENROLMENTS: We are currently taking applications for enrolments for four-year-old Kindergarten for 2019 and 2020. Your child must be 4 years of age before June 30 2019 to be eligible for 2019 intake and 4 years of age before June 30 2020 for the 2020 grouping.
Please download forms from our school website for applications. Interviews will be taking place in Terms Two and Three. If you know of any families who may wish to send their child/children to St Thomas’ please ensure you pass on this information.
School Fees: A VERY BIG ‘Thank you’ to those families who have paid their fees.A gentle ‘reminder’ for those yet to pay their first instalment that are now overdue. Please see Julie or Leanne in the Office for any further queries.
PARENT CONTACT: In accordance with our Pastoral Care beliefs we understand that in this financial climate, it may become difficult to keep up with educational/financial demands. If you find yourself in this position, please do not hesitate to contact myself to make alternate arrangements e.g. incremental payments. All conversations and arrangements are kept strictly confidential.
P&F MEETING: Our next P&F Meeting is scheduled for Monday 13 May at 9.00am in the school library.
St Thomas Primary School - Entertainment Books
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Thank you for supporting St Thomas Primary School and knowing it helps a good cause.
SPORTS NEWS
Catholic Primary School Interschool Swimming Carnival – Monday 8th April
Congratulations to all of the swimmers who represented St Thomas’ in The Catholic Primary Schools Interschool Swimming Carnival on Monday 8th April. All the students swum extremely well and it paid off with the hard work, students displayed at swimming training over the past few weeks. Our relay teams did us proud winning 4 out of the 7 relay events, 21st first placings in events and to our Year 3 swimmers, nearly every race had a top 3 placing and amazing achievement! Overall the school came 2nd an outstanding achievement and the Boys won the Boys trophy. Thank you to the staff, Justin Tuohy, Lila Gibbs and Chelsea Hubbard and parents Nicola Lovejoy, Lisa Cleary, Paul Leighton and Clare McIlree who assisted with the carnival as St Thomas’ was the host school.
Special mention to Sam Hicks – Year 6, who broke the Year 6 Boys 50m Backstroke. Sam has broken a record for Backstroke record since Year 3. An awesome achievement Sam, well done.
Below are the results from the day
Girls Trophy – 6th
Boys Trophy –1st
Most Improved – 5th
Overall – 2nd
A fantastic team effort, well done everyone!
Upcoming Events:
Cross Country Training – commences Thursday 9th May, 8.00am at Rowe Park
St Thomas’ Cross Country Carnival – Friday 31st May
Interschool Cross Country Carnival – Wednesday 12th June
Year 5 & 6 – Winter Lightning Carnival – Friday 21st June
For any student sporting achievements please contact Sharon Seaman via email Sharon.seaman@cewa.edu.au
TECH TIPS
Digital Technology Guidelines for Parents
Tip 5: Encourage Playtime
Similar to other activities in your home, it is essential that you set reasonable limits for media use. In addition to setting limits, encourage regular playtime and make it an everyday priority. This is especially important for your younger children as it stimulates creativity.
Lisa Meyers
Assistant Principal
SUSTAINABILITY
Rebound Rubbish
St Thomas initiative Rebound Rubbish (formally Boomerang Rubbish) commenced in Term One. Rebound Rubbish encourages children to bring recess and lunch to school in containers that require no food wrap or packaged foods. In the instance where this is unavoidable, the children place their rubbish that cannot be composted back in their lunchbox, to be disposed of at home hence the rebound label. All food scraps are placed in the special compost buckets and then placed in the compost bins. Monday and Friday lunch order days are no different, food scraps go into the compost buckets and the paper bags are collected and end up in the worm farm.
The results are in and the benefits are numerous!
This process can encourage us to make healthy choices to eat fresh food rather than packaged food less wastage of food scraps by turning them into something of value for the garden and becoming part of the sustainability cycle. It is a real way of educating our children about sustainability by keeping them involved and accountable.
Although initially a sustainability initiative the knockon effect includes reduced need for rubbish bins around the school, therefore a reduction in costs, as extra bins and extra collections cost money. Money saved can then be spent on new initiatives and resources.
Well done to all those involved and keep it up!
St Thomas' Primary School
Email: admin@stthomas.wa.edu.au
Website: stthomas.wa.edu.au
Location: 8 Warden Street Claremont WA 6010
Phone: (08 9286 9500
Facebook: www.facebook.com/stthomasprimaryschoolclaremont
Twitter: @StThomasCPS