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 Four

Friday 04 November - Pre Primary Assembly

Friday 04 November - Y6 Surfing

Monday 07 November - Yrs 1 & 2 Museum Excursion

Monday 07 November - Interschool Chess

Wednesday 09 November - Tiny Toms

Thursday 10 November - iPad Meeting for current Year 2 parents

Friday 11 November - Kindy 2023 Orientation Meeting 9am.

Tuesday 15 November - Advisory Council Meeting 7pm

Wednesday 16 November - Tiny Toms

Friday 18 November - Volunteers & Welcome Morning Tea 9am

Monday 21 November - Swimming Lessons commence

Tuesday 22 November - Annual General Community (AGCM) Meeting 6pm

Wednesday 23 November - Tiny Toms

Monday 5 December - Transition/Orientation Morning for 2023 9am -11am

Tuesday 6 December - Christmas Concert & Family Picnic

Thursday 8 December - Graduation Year 6

Friday 9 December - Year 6 Excursion

Friday 9 December - Last day of the school term for students

(Full 2023term dates at the end of this newsletter)

Embracing each encounter with another as an encounter with you.

Teach us to be attentive; to welcome your Word, no matter how it comes to us.

We ask this in the name of Jesus, who welcomes all.

Amen

Dear Parents and Caregivers

As Presentation faith community, we are called to be people of welcoming hearts, who understand and build an ethos of Catholic hospitality in every circumstance. In doing so, I ask for your support in embracing the incoming Loreto families, who will be joining us in 2023.

Loreto Families

The last week and a half has been a difficult time for Loreto families. We have had some families tour our school and express interest in attending in 2023. We are not certain of numbers yet, but there may be several Loreto students in some of our classes.

Welcome to new families

At the Volunteers Morning Tea we will also be inviting incoming Loreto families so they have the opportunity to meet some of our school community. Please join us by welcoming them into our school community.

Volunteers & Welcome Morning Tea

Throughout the year, we have been privileged to have so many of you volunteer your time to assist in the education of our students at St Thomas’. We welcome the opportunity to say thank you to all our volunteers with a morning tea on Friday 18 November at 9am. If you are free to attend, please RSVP by Tuesday 15 November by clicking on this LINK.

Interschool Swim Champions 2022

Congratulations to our Interschool Swim Team who took out the overall first place in our recent Interschool Carnival. A big thank you to our PE Specialist Sharon Seaman, for her organisation and preparation of our team.

St Thomas’ Camp Out

Our St Thomas’ Campout for dads, father figures and kids, was held at Dare Adventures Bush Camp in Dwellingup last weekend. A wonderful time was had by all. A big thank you to Joep Vaessen and the dads of St Thomas,’ for organising this event. The children had an amazing time and enjoyed sharing their stories with us.

Kindy Parent Information Meeting for 2023

Next Friday 11 November, there will be a Kindy Parent Information Session in the hall at 9am. Kindy 2023 parents are invited to bring their Kindy child along for some activities in the Kindy, whilst parents meet in the hall.

From my readings: Resilience must be learned through experience.

Resilience means that a student has the ability to overcome obstacles that may be in their way, even if they are difficult ones. It is developed over time and does not typically come naturally to us. Resilience must be learned through experience.

Learning resilience from a young age will give students the tools needed to be resilient throughout their life. Resilience does not mean that students will experience fewer struggles but means that they will better know how to handle struggles and stressful situations, when they come along.

Resilient students are able to bounce back more easily after hardship and better process the challenges they are experiencing, but being resilient, also helps students pay it forward. Resilience gives a student the desire to do things in return and spread gratitude.

Please view the article “Resilience guide for parents and teachers” on this LINK to read 10 tips for building resilience in children and teens.

Remembrance Day Service

In order to pay our respect to all those who fought and/or died at war, staff and students will participate in a Remembrance Day service next Friday 11 November at 10.50am on the basketball court. If you are free, you are welcome to join us.

May God bless your week

Natalia Thomson

Principal

During Weeks 7 and 8 of this term, all children will participate in swimming lessons. Students will be bussed to Claremont Pool and/or Cottesloe Beach (depending on their year level) for their lessons. I ask all parents to complete the form at the link below and return it to your class teacher so that students can be best catered for during the lessons. If you have any questions, please contact me.

Swimming Form

YEAR 3 2023 - IPAD PROGRAM PARENT MEETING

All parents of current Year Two students are invited to attend a brief meeting to discuss the 2023 iPad program. The 1:1 parent funded model we use at St Thomas' has been utilised for many years. During this meeting, we will discuss the objectives of our 1:1 program, the process for purchasing iPads, and cover logistics of students having iPads as part of their learning journey. A form will be sent to current Year Two parents Friday 4/11 for RSVP.

Arts Show - A celebration of Community + Creativity

What a wonderful Arts Show to finish Term 3 – a true celebration of our children’s creativity and artistry, and our School community. Thank you to the many parents and grandparents who joined the P&F for afternoon tea, and for those who attended our Arts Show Chin Chin. A fun night was had by all as parents caught up over champagne and canapes and celebrated this year’s Arts Show.

We are delighted to share that $8,919 was raised at this year’s Arts Show which will be used to purchase blackout performing arts curtains for our School Hall. These will be a valuable asset to all students as the Hall will be able to readily transform for assemblies, arts performances and of course, the kids’ favourite … the School Disco!

THANK YOU

An ENORMOUS thank you to the many parents who so generously volunteered their time to assist at this year’s Arts Show. Whether it was assisting with a collaborative piece, sourcing materials and props, mounting art, setting up the art exhibition, packing down, serving the afternoon tea or the many other countless tasks involved, THANK YOU! Thank you to David Lynch from Peard Real Estate and Mrs Sue Vincent for conducting a very entertaining and colourful auction, and a big thank you to the incredible P&F Exec, Mel Di Latte, Carin Penberthy and Sarah van Bockxmeer for your continued extraordinary efforts with the Arts Show, the Afternoon Tea and Chin Chin.

P&F Investments

The P&F is committed to actively investing its funds into initiatives that are important to our School and benefit our children. At this week’s P&F Meeting, the following investments were approved:

- $20,000 contribution towards the renovation of the Early Years Playground area proposed for 2023;

- $5,000 contribution to the School Library which will include the purchase of new library books, resources and furniture; and

- $1,000 allocation to the 2022 Christmas Concert (licensing of music/script, decorations, extension cords and hire of microphone headsets).

We are excited about the positive impact these investments will have for our children and our School.

Warm regards

Bianca Della Vedova

P&F President

The P&F is seeking nominations for the Executive roles of President and Secretary for 2023. All St Thomas parents, both mothers, fathers and guardians from any year group, are eligible to nominate for these roles. Each role is for a two year term and no prior experience is required.

President
The President of the P&F is primarily responsible for planning and managing the affairs of the P&F and the P&F Executive. The role of President includes the following:

- Chairing P&F meetings (currently, there are two meetings per term);
- Liaising with the Principal, Advisory Council and School leadership team regarding P&F initiatives and investments;
- Overseeing the organisation of P&F events; and
- Working with the P&F Treasurer to budget the P&F’s finances.

Secretary
The Secretary of the P&F is primarily responsible for the administrative aspects of the P&F. The role of Secretary includes the following:

- Recording minutes at each P&F meeting;
- Preparing the agenda for each P&F meeting; and
- Assisting with the oversight and organization of P&F events.

If you would like to nominate for either role, please do so in writing by emailing Mrs Julie Wray. Nominations close Friday, 18 November, and positions will be announced at the School AGM on Tuesday, 22 November.

Should you have any questions regarding these positions, what each role involves or the nomination/election process, please contact the School or our President Bianca Della Vedova directly on 0408 944 665.

Interschool Swimming Carnival 2022 – Results

After Covid 19 impacted the state earlier this year we had to reschedule our Interschool Swimming Carnival to Term 4.

All the students swum extremely well on the day and this paid off having four swimming trainings in the lead up to come home with the Overall trophy and being ‘Champions’ for a second year in a row. We also won the Boys Trophy for a 5th year in a row and just narrowly missed out on the trifecta taking home the Girls Trophy as well.

Below are the overall results for St Thomas’:

Overall – 1st place

Boys’ trophy – 1st place

Girls’ trophy – 2nd place

As we conclude the Interschool carnivals for the year, we start back up with Swimming in 2023.

A fantastic team effort, well done to everyone involved.

Return it WA - Containers for Change

Thank you to all the children and families who are supporting this incentive of how we recycle and make our world more sustainable. I have now ordered another bin as I’m going down at least every fortnight to ensure we have a bin at school each week.

Only empty drink containers are to go into the purple bin, not food.

Please remember to remove the lids and the straws are to be taken out and the containers must be emptied.

Thank you.

Sharon Seaman

Physical Education Specialist Teacher

Annual General Community Meeting (AGCM)

A friendly reminder that the Annual General Community Meeting for St Thomas’ will be held on Tuesday 22 November. Please join us for refreshments at 6pm in the Hall followed by the meeting at 6.30pm. Staffing for 2023 will be announced, and there will be a report on the 2022 school year. All parents and caregivers are welcome to attend.

It is vitally important that parents and caregivers inform the school if your child tests positive for COVID-19. Parents and caregivers can inform the school of their child’s positive or negative COVID result via this LINK.

A friendly reminder to also register your positive RAT result to the WA Health RAT Register on this LINK

Thank you

Instrumental music lessons are available at St Thomas' Primary. Children can learn voice, keyboard, piano, violin, drums, guitar and flute. Please contact the school office for a music form if your child is interested.