St Thomas’ Primary School is part of a faith community centred on the life of Jesus, as expressed in our Motto, ‘Together in Christ’

Our Vision is to 'Educate the Whole Child' and empower learners as global citizens, to be curious, collaborative, creative and critical thinkers, inspired by Christ.

TERM THREE

06 August - Prayer Service Mary Mackillop 9 am

07 August - Feast of Mary Mackillop

10 August - ICAS Digital Technologies

11 August - Parish Mass Y3

11 August - Highway Heroes Parent Information Session (Years K-6) 6.45pm (Babysitting available)

11 August - Confirmation Retreat Y6

11 August - School/Parish Mass Y3

12 August - Robogals - Yrs 4 - 6 girls

13 August - Feast of the Assumption Prayer Service 9 am

14 August - Feast of the Assumption

16 August - Science Week

17 August - ICAS English

17 August - Speak Up Awards (selected students)

18 August - Parish Mass Y2

18 August - Choir @ Catholic Performing Arts

18 August - ICAS English

20 August - Assembly Y4

20 August - Jumps & Throws Yrs 1 & 2

20 August - Y6 Confirmation 5:30 pm

23 August - Commencement of Book Week

23 August - MS Readathon

23 August - Choral Singing - Catholic Performing Arts

24 August - ICAS Science

24 August - Advisory Council 7 pm

25 August - Jumps & Throws Yrs 3 - 6

25 August - ICAS Science Y2

26 August - Jumps & Throws Yrs 5 & 6

27 August - Jumps & Throws Yrs 1 - 4

27 August - Kindy Parents Evening

30 August - Drama Club Assembly & Drama Club Showcase Evening

31 August - Fathers Day Liturgy

31 August - CPAF - Speech & Drama Duologue Yrs 5&6

01 September - Parish Mass Y1

01 September - CPAF Drama Plays Yrs 5 & 6

01 September - ICAS Mathematics Yrs 2 - 4

02 September - ICAS Mathematics Yrs 5 & 6

03 September - St Thomas' Athletics Carnival

06 September - Parents Interviews Yrs 1, 2, 3 & 5

07 September - P & F Meeting 7pm

08 September - Parish Mass Y6

08 September - Parent Interviews Yrs K, PP, 4 & 6

12 September - Parent Busy Bee

14 September - Open Morning - Prospective families

14 September - Parent/Student Workshop Maths/STEM in Action 2pm

15 September - Oracy Y3

15 September - Parish Mass Y5

15 September - Interschool Debating

16 September - St Thomas Day Mass

17 September - Assembly Y3

21 September - Interschool Athletics Carnival Yrs 3 - 6

21 September - Advisory Council 7 pm

22 September - Parish Mass Y4

23 September - Last Day of Term Three for all students

24 September - PUPIL FREE DAY

(Please note dates & events are subject to change)

Ever generous God,

You inspired Saint Mary MacKillop To live her life faithful to the Gospel of Jesus Christ

and constant in bringing hope and encouragement

to those who were disheartened, lonely or needy.

With confidence in your generous providence

and through the intercession of Saint Mary MacKillop

We ask you to bless our school community.

We ask that our faith and hope be fired once more by the Holy Spirit so that we too,

like Mary MacKillop, may live with courage, trust and openness.

Ever generous God hear our prayer.

We ask this through Jesus Christ.

Amen.

It was exciting to see the children use the hall again today after the disruption caused by the water damage earlier this term. The carpet laying was completed yesterday afternoon. After school under the guidance of our amazing Performing Arts Specialist, staff worked tirelessly to restore the hall to functionality adding a stage for assemblies and performances.

Feast of St Mary Mackillop

This week we celebrate the Feast Day of Australia’s First Saint, Mary MacKillop. Mary was a

passionate educator and advocate for children and families, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds. On Friday Year 2 students will lead us in a prayer service in the hall at 9am to celebrate her Feast Day.

Confirmation

Students in Year 6 are currently preparing for the Sacrament of Confirmation. Confirmation is one of the Initiation Sacraments of the Catholic Church and helps the candidates to be united more firmly with Christ. Please keep the candidates and their families in your prayers.

Principals Conference

Last week I attended the Catholic Primary Principal’s Conference. The theme of the Conference is ‘Don’t let a good crisis go to waste,’ a title adapted from Winston Churchill who after World War 11, said ‘Never let a good crisis go to waste’. At the time he was referring to the formation of the United Nations. The keynote speaker was Pasi Sahlberg, an accomplished educational researcher from Finland, now working as a Professor of Education Policy at the University of New South Wales Sydney. It was interesting to hear Pasi speak about education in a global context. He provided a big picture of current trends in education and encouraged us as leaders in education to have deeper conversations about the kinds of changes that we need in our schools and education systems.

Strategic Plan Update

Following our Strategic Plan Parent, Student and Staff Workshops, a working party has been meeting regularly to review responses and formulate goals for our new Strategic Plan. The working party consists of Mrs Carlyn Dyer Facilitator, Mrs Susan Swift Advisory Council Chair, Mrs Bianca Della Vedova P & F President, Mr Heath Nankivell Assistant Principal and Natalia Thomson Principal. All feedback responses have been respected and reviewed. The working party meets again tomorrow.

School Marketing Video

It is exciting to view our new marketing video. The video is accessible on St Thomas' Primary School website, social media and the ACARA My Schools website. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jOAcxd8Nsw

A special thank you to all students, staff and parents who showcased our wonderful community in this video, and throughout the two days of filming. Please feel free to share with your family and friends.

Catholic Performing Arts

In week one of this term, Mrs Herbert (Music & Performing Arts) and I attended the Opening Liturgy for the Catholic Performing Arts Festival for 2021 with our Drama Captain Archie and our Choir Captain Madison. During the Liturgy, various genres of performing arts were showcased. This year St Thomas’ has increased entries in the festival starting with the Bible Reading competition on Friday morning followed by entries in sacred and choral Choir, solo -piano, percussion, vocal, guitar and violin, speech and drama duologues and group drama. There are 163 Catholic schools and 20,000 students participating. We have 33 individual and duet entries and approximately 60 students involved across our four group entries. Mrs Herbert has done an amazing job in organising these entries. We wish all our competing students well as they strive for excellence in their field.

Principal of the Day

At the Quiz Night last term, there was a silent auction that included ‘Principal for the Day.’ Last Monday, students and staff were excited to welcome Miss Georgia di Latte from Pre-Primary, who presented certificates at assembly, visited classrooms, spoke to students and teachers, and worked closely with the administration team in the running of the school. It was lovely to see the interactions between ‘Principal Georgia’ and students across all year levels, especially when Georgia announced five minutes extra play at morning tea.

Every Child Counts

Please click here to read the latest letter from Debra Sayce, Executive Director of Catholic Education Western Australia, in regard to the ‘Every Child Counts’ campaign.

Digii Social Program

In Years 5 & 6, we have introduced the DiGii Social Program. It is a transformative cyber-education tool that is school-secured and aligned to the National Curriculum outcomes. It provides students with an engaging and educational social-media-like experience where the expectation of complex learning allows for, and encourages, failing-forwards. On DiGii Social, clever application of technology allows and guides a child through what is often messy learning about establishing their identity online – a springboard for online life.

Highway Heroes

Parents and friends are invited to attend a workshop on Highway Heroes next Wednesday 11 August at 6.45pm in the library, presented by Claire Orange, the co-Director of BEST Programs 4 Kids and the Director of DiGii Social. Highway Heroes is a comprehensive Social and Emotional Learning primary years curriculum which has been introduced for students from Kindergarten to Year 6. It is applicable at a whole school level, within a classroom and for individual or group therapy sessions. Babysitting will be available. Please rsvp to: admin@stthomas.wa.edu.au.

May God bless your week

Natalia Thomson

Principal

If your faith is important to you or if you identify with Christian values, please use your voice in the Australian census when asked your religion.

This is an important opportunity to demonstrate the significance of faith-based families in our West Australian community and will support endeavours to secure equitable access to opportunities and resources.

The Advisory Council met for sixth time this year, in a virtual format. To commence the meeting Natalia played the brilliant new school video which has been loaded onto the school website. I encourage you all to take a look, as it showcases all the amazing and unique aspects of our school.

The Advisory Council spent time discussing the marketing activities of the school and how we can make sure that the school’s profile is being increased all the time. We are constantly looking at ways for the school to carry out low-cost marketing activities.

Felipe do Valle (the Treasurer) presented his final report for the June and July accounts. The do Valle family has relocated to the northern suburbs and as a result have had to shift schools. All the members of the Advisory Council have been incredibly fortunate to have Felipe’s expertise and insight into finance and accounting. We thank Felipe and Fernanda for all their contribution to the school and the community and particularly Felipe as Treasurer for the past 3 years. We will miss them dearly but wish them all the very best.

The Grounds and Maintenance subcommittee has been busy looking at ways to address some of the flooding issues which have occurred over the recent weeks. We also must say a huge thank you to all the teachers who came in to sort out classrooms which had been significantly water damaged, in time for the students to return in Terms 3.

New Treasurer Role- The Advisory Council is now looking for a new Treasurer. It is an incredibly rewarding and interesting role to be involved in at Advisory Council level. Please contact Susan Swift ( Advisory Council Chair) on 0427778759 or skswift@westnet.com.au or Natalia Thomson on 9286 9500 or admin@stthomas.wa.edu.au to discuss the role in further detail.

Part of the P&F’s role is to use its funds, in consultation with Mrs Thomson, our teachers and the Advisory Council, in ways which will enhance our School and the holistic learning experience of all our children. The P&F’s funds are solely comprised of the generous donations of parents through the P&F Levy and fundraising initiatives that arise throughout the School Year.

We are pleased to announce that the P&F recently approved to fund the following:

• the purchase of new ergonomic stools for the Science/Art Room and the Makerspace in the Library which will replace current stools;
• new Maths resources to be used across multiple year groups;
• new take home Reading Books for multiple year groups;
• part of the Highway Heroes Program (the newly introduced Social and Emotional Learning program);
• a Cyber Safety and Social Media workshop for parents and carers; and
• an outdoor sound system to be used for School activities and events, concerts and performances.

These items, in addition to the new robots that will be purchased as a result of the Quiz Night, will benefit all our children and we are excited to see these purchases made and make their way into our classrooms. It is because of your generous financial donations that we are able to make a positive difference in this way.

Busy Bee

The St Thomas P&F Busy Bee will be held in the afternoon of Sunday, 12 September in advance of our School Open Day. The parents who form the School’s Building and Maintenance Committee have done a wonderful job identifying those areas of the School that need some attention.

We’d love as many families as possible to come down and join us for the Busy Bee to lend a hand and help get some of these jobs done - it's a great afternoon to come together as a community and make a difference, and a wonderful example to our children of giving back, working together and taking pride in our School. More information will be sent out in coming weeks via email.

Father’s Day

We are blessed to have so many wonderful fathers in our St Thomas community and we look forward to celebrating them this Father’s Day. The P&F will be organising a breakfast for our St Thomas fathers and grandfathers before the Father’s Day Liturgy to be held on Tuesday, 31 August. Please save the date with more details to follow.

Best wishes,

Bianca Della Vedova

Term 3 – Athletic Carnivals

Friday 3rd September - St Thomas Athletics Carnival at UWA Sports Ground, McGillivray oval. Information will be provided in the permission note.

Jumps and Throws for Years 1-6

Wednesday 25th August – Years 3-6 Jumps and/or throws depending on weather

Thursday 26th August – Years 5-6 Jumps and/or throws depending on weather, during class time

Friday 27th August - Years 3-4 Jumps and/or throws depending on weather, during class time

Friday 20th and 27th August - Years 1 and 2 Jumps and/or throws depending on weather, during class time

The student points will count towards champion points and calculated together at the St Thomas Athletics carnival.

Tuesday 21st September – Interschool Athletics Carnival – HBF Athletics Stadium

RUNNING CLUB

As per the email sent home, running club will occur for the next few weeks until Friday 20th August weather permitting.

Attendance is not compulsory and everyone is welcome to join in, including parents running the course.

Don’t forget your drink bottle and your asthma puffer if you need one. Parents are the ensure they are supervising their child/children at Rowe Park until a staff member arrives. Please do not drop off and leave the child/children unattended as St Thomas staff have duty of care from 8am. If the weather is poor, I will send a cancellation email out in the morning.

Sharon Seaman

Physical Education Teacher

Name: Rebecca McCarthy

Position: Special Needs Assistant

Interests: Boxing, swimming, listening to podcasts and catching up with friends.

Football team: None, I prefer rugby

Favourite food: Italian/ seafood

Currently Reading: John Grisham

Favourite holiday destination: South Africa

3 people you would invite to dinner : Any 3 people that like to share their food

What would you do with your last $50: Treat myself

Favourite movie: There are way too many to choose from

Favourite quote: Believe you can and you're halfway there

Someone you admire : My sister

Keyed Up Music will be teaching drums and keyboard lessons this term during school. Lessons start at $18.65 for groups of four per lesson. If you are interested in your son/daughter learning an instrument, ring Savanna on 6107 8841 or 0479 171 424 or enrol at www.keyedupmusic.com.au/enrolment-form