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

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 - Book Week Dress Up Parade -9am

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

30 August - Drama Club Assembly & Drama Club Showcase Evening

31 August - Fathers Day Breakfast & 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

01 September - Kindy Mum's Evening

02 September - ICAS Mathematics Yrs 5 & 6

03 September - St Thomas' Athletics Carnival

07 September - Parents Interviews Yrs Kindy, 2, 3 & 6

07 September - P & F Meeting 7pm

08 September - Parish Mass Y6

08 September - Parent Interviews Yrs PP, 1, 4 & 5

10 September - Year 4 Assembly 9am

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 9am

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)

Lord, You send out Your Spirit to touch the hearts of all people,

so that they may believe in You and in Jesus whom You sent.

Look kindly on all candidates for Confirmation as they listen to Your voice.

Open their hearts to Your Spirit and bring to fulfilment the good work that You have begun in them. As we prepare these children for Confirmation, make each of us an instrument of Your love.

Teach us to appreciate what is holy in others, and to be patient with what we do not understand. Deepen our faith in the Gospel and help us to pass it on by our example.

We pray that You will continue to guide us and sustain us.

Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Confirmation

This weekend is a very special one in the lives of many of our Year Six students and their families. Students will receive the Sacrament of Confirmation on Friday afternoon at 5.30pm. 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.

Parent Interviews

Next week you will be issued with information on Term 3 Parent Interviews. If you would like to book an interview with your child’s class teacher, please follow the instructions on the online booking information that will be forwarded to you.

Please note the change of dates for these interviews. They are now scheduled for:

· Tuesday 7 September – Kindergarten, Years 2, 3 & 6

· Wednesday 8 September – Pre-Primary, Years 1, 4 & 5

Open Morning

On Tuesday 14 September, we will be holding an Open Morning for prospective parents.

The most influential way of marketing our school is by word of mouth. If you know of any families that are looking to join our vibrant community, please let them know about St Thomas’. They are welcome to join us at 9.30am for a tour on this day.

NEAA Conference

As a Presentation School, St Thomas’ Primary is a member of the Nagle Education Alliance of Australia (NEAA). The biannual conference for this association was held virtually this year with the theme ‘Keeping Nano’s legacy alive in 2021.’ One of the highlights of the Conference was the keynote from Sr. Anne Lyons PVBM from Ireland, who reminded us that our challenge is to be transformers, daring, courageous and faith filled, following the examples of Nano and Pope Francis.

Maths Workshop for Parents

The most significant reason for studying mathematics is to help build problem-solving skills. Parents are invited to join students in their classrooms to see Maths in action between 2-3 pm on Tuesday 14 September. Please save this date in your diary.

Book Week Parade

A reminder that this Tuesday at 8.45am there will be a Book Week Dress Up parade on the top oval. All parents are welcome to join us.

May God bless your week

Natalia Thomson

Principal

Congratulations to Hamish L, Kian AR and Cardell D for their outstanding participation in this year’s Speak Up Awards. Speak up is an interschool competition that provides students the opportunity to research, compose and deliver a speech that shows a depth of understanding, allowing them to express their views confidently, using appropriate speaking skills.

Kian won this heat and is through to the Preliminary Final!

Parent-teacher interviews will be held on

• Tuesday 7 September (for Kindergarten, Years 2, 3, 6) and
• Wednesday 8 September (Pre-primary, Years 1, 4, 5).

These opportunities offer parents and teachers another opportunity to discuss student progress since the Semester One reports, with a view to celebrate strengths and identify some future focus areas of growth for your child.

At the meeting, teachers will provide parents with the second Interim Report of the year, detailing their child’s progress against the expected level for students in that year level. Progress will be indicated in the learning areas of Religious Education, English and Mathematics. The indications of progress are not a ‘final grade’. Grades against the A-E scale are only provided in the End of Semester reports. The Interim Report also discuss some Personal and Social indicators. It is intended that the Interim Report will form the basis for conversations at the interview.

Parent-Teacher-Online (PTO) is the system St Thomas’ uses for booking these interviews. Kindergarten to Year Six parents will be emailed further information on how to make these bookings. If you have any issues with these bookings, please email me: heath.nankivell@cewa.edu.au for assistance.

CODING CLUB UPDATE

YEARS 1-3

Approximately 30 students have been working hard at developing some Coding fundamentals through several iPad apps. These students have been well supported by some students in the upper year levels as peer-helpers during coding activities. Students have worked their way through stages in some coding apps, as well as creating, collaborating and critically thinking their way through a series of problems the apps present. Some students are currently working on a project over the next few weeks to share with the club in the final weeks of the term, through the app ‘Scratch Jnr’. We are very excited about working through more Coding apps throughout the remainder of the year.

YEARS 4-6

Currently a number of dedicated students in the upper years are working their way through various Coding concepts within the Swift coding language after school on Thursdays. In the first few weeks of the club, these students have already problem solved, applied and tested their understanding of coding elements such as functions and loops. The app invites students to command a character, ‘Byte’, to perform various functions like collecting gems, jumping, and turning switches on and off. We are looking forward to applying these coding principles to future puzzles and challenges within the app.

If your child wishes to join the club in the near future, please encourage them to speak with Mr Nankivell ASAP and we can organise a start date in the future for them to join.

Mr Heath Nankivell

Assistant Principal

Our St Thomas School Readathon has begun!

If you haven’t signed up it’s not too late, you still can https://www.readathon.online/users/sign_up

Your children will be asked to read for 30 minutes a day between Monday 16 August and Friday 27 August Reading will take place at home and school. To add some excitement, during the final week of reading it will be Book Week and on Tuesday 24 August your children may come to school dressed as their favourite book character or in a costume that celebrates the Theme "Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds."

Our parade will be held to celebrate all the wonderful reading our children have been doing.

How Does My Child Fundraise? Go to www.funread.com.au and create a student profile page. Everything to do with your fundraising revolves around this page. Children who raise just $10 will be able to choose a prize! The more they raise, the better their reward – don’t forget to check these out in the Sponsorship Form! The great thing about online fundraising is that you can share the link to your child’s profile with friends and family via email, SMS and Social Media. There is no need for any door knocking or anything like that so we hope you all get behind this Fun Read.

Competition Time. To get our event off to a flyer, we’re starting our Fun Read with a super easy competition! The class with the most online profiles registered by Friday 27 August will win a class party! To help your child’s class win, simply create your profile at www.funread.com.au. That’s it! But, if you do decide to raise just $1 while you are there, you’ll automatically be entered into a draw to WIN a $20,000 Family Prize Pack.

Ordering Prizes. ALL FUNDRAISING AND PRIZE ORDERS ARE DONE ONLINE, so please do create a profile.

Prizes MUST be ordered between Monday 06 September and Monday 13 September. Simply visit www.funread.com.au to create / log into your Profile Page between these dates. Then click on the ‘CLAIM YOUR PRIZE’ button and follow the prompts. If you have any questions, please contact the Fun Read team on Free Call 1800 386 786 and they will gladly assist!

Let’s share the magic of reading. To help the school, create your student profile page at www.funread.com.au and share your online fundraising link, you’ll be fundraising while you sleep!

We are very blessed to have so many engaged fathers and father figures within our St Thomas community. To celebrate them this Father's Day, we invite all our St Thomas fathers, grandfathers and father figures to a Breakfast before the Father’s Day Liturgy on Tuesday, 31 August from 7.45am in the School Hall. Children are very welcome to join their Dad or special guest for breakfast.

For catering purposes, please RSVP (breakfast only) to stthomas.rsvp2021@gmail.com before Friday 27 August.

We will also be holding a Father’s Day Market before School on Wednesday, 1 September and Thursday, 2 September so your children can come along and purchase something special for Father’s Day. There will be a range of gifts, all under $20.

Thank you to those parents who have kindly volunteered to assist with these events. We are still looking for some more volunteers so if you can help out, please sign up at:

https://signup.com/go/BFhyJVd

As always, we welcome your ideas and suggestions whether about Father's Day or otherwise, so please feel free to reach out at any time by emailing the above address.

Our next meeting will be held on Tuesday, 7 September.

Kind regards

Bianca Della Vedova

Running Club

Thank you to the parents and spectators who have assisted during our Running Club Mornings in Terms 2 and 3. We had a number of students running those mornings which was fantastic to start the day with a run.

Please note: There will be no more Running club sessions for the remainder of Term due to Athletics pre events, Athletics Carnival and training for the Interschool Athletics Team.

Athletics Carnival - Friday 3rd September at UWA Sports Ground. A permission note has been sent out to all families and notes are due FRIDAY 20th August.

Thank you to those parents who have volunteered to assist on or before the day and I will be in touch soon.

Jumps and Throws

The Years 3-6 children will compete in two school based events prior to the carnival day; Teeball Throw (years 3 & 4), Turbo Javelin (Years 5 & 6) and Long Jump. These results are included in the final scores and individual champion points. Please see below for the dates and times the students are competing.

Parents and spectators are welcome to come and watch these events and sit in the designated area and are required to sign in and out through the front office.

Wednesday 26th August – Years 3-6 Jumps and/or throws depending on weather

Year 5 - 8.40 - 9.40am

Year 4 - 9.40 - 10.30am

Year 3 - 10.50 - 11.45am

Year 6 - 11.50 - 12.40pm

Thursday 27th August – Years 5-6 Jumps and/or throws depending on weather, during class time

Year 6 - 8.30 - 9.30am

Year 5 - 9.30am - 10.30am

Friday 28th August - Years 3-4 Jumps and/or throws depending on weather, during class time

Year 3 - 8.30 - 9.30am

Year 4 - 9.30 - 10.30am

The Year 1 and 2 children will also compete in two events prior to the carnival. These results will also count towards champion and faction points. There events will occur during their Physical Education class time on Friday 21st and 28th August, depending on weather.

Save the Date: Thursday 24th September – Interschool Athletics Carnival

Sharon Seaman

Physical Education Teacher

Facilitated by Mrs Brianna Kirkbride (Early Years Educator) the session for parents and their children between 0-3 years was enjoyed by all. Please feel free to attend these sessions on Wednesday mornings between 8.45 – 10.15am.

Play is the vehicle to get a child's cognition to where it needs to be. Children play to discover the world around them. It serves an important function in child development to train their social and physical skills. When children play, they often utilise concrete materials at hand. A wooden stick, for example, can be used as a sword, the wand of a wizard, or a spoon for cooking. This is exactly where open-ended play has a role. Open-ended play is the perfect opportunity for your child to exercise their imagination, as well as their social skills and emotional intelligence.

Open-ended play materials allow children to make choices, express their creativity and support their independence. Open-ended materials do not have a pre-determined use. A block can be a car, phone, doll’s chair, ice-cream bar, or any number of other things in play. It is through these experiences that children can learn best.

As there are no strict set of guidelines or rules, there’s no “wrong” nor “right” way to play in open-ended play. This means that children are less concerned about how to play properly and are allowed to unleash their creativity to its fullest. They can practice their drawing skills, handwriting skills, or whatever it is that they want, without really worrying about whether they are doing it correctly. As children become less afraid to make mistakes, it fosters a curious mindset within them and a positive attitude towards learning new concepts and ideas.

The ability to make decisions confidently as individuals and solve problems on their own is a skill that a lot of parents would love their children to possess. As it turns out, open-ended play plays a huge factor in fostering the necessary intellectual abilities in children that sets them towards the path of a future where they grow up to become strong and independent individuals.

The best Open-Ended Play Ideas:

- Wooden block play

- Natural materials

- Loose Parts Play

- Sand

- Water Play

- Play Dough

If it’s an activity without any set rules or outcomes, I encourage you to give it a go!

Also is your child missing their orthotic? We have one in the office. If your child/ren wear one please check that they have them.

Thank you.

Name: Brianna Kirkbride

Position: Kindy Teacher

Interests: Running, travelling and reading

Football Team: Fremantle Dockers

Favourite Food: Mexican

Currently Reading: ‘The Survivors’ by Jane Harper

Favourite Holiday Destination: Bali

3 people you’d invite to dinner: My best friend, my sister and my Mum

What would you do with your last $50? Put it in the bank

Favourite Movie: Forrest Gump

Favourite Quote: “You’re braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” – Winnie the Pooh

Someone you admire: My Mum

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

Please ensure you also complete a music form through the school office. Please note a $25 fee will be charged by the school for any student/s taking keyboard/piano. This fee is to contribute to the tuning and upkeep of the piano and keyboard equipment.