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Dear Parents/Carers,
After being away from St Thomas the Apostle School for 12 weeks I can only say that it is ‘so good’ to be back. Thank you for all your warm welcomes. I have had an incredible time of sightseeing and learning while I was overseas. I shared with the students at Monday prayer, the journey I took following the footsteps of St Paul across Greece and then to Rome. It brought to life the letters of St Paul to the Corinthians, the Ephesians, the Philippians and the Thessalonians.
We were privileged to have mass in each of these historical places (often outdoors under the trees) and to just sit on a rock and look at a ruin that once was a place where St Paul himself stood and preached, was entrancing. The experience has deepened my faith as a Christian and although it may seem clichéd, the pilgrimage has been a life changing experience for me.
Corinth
Ephesus
Philippi
Thessaloniki
As Acting Principal in my absence, I want to acknowledge and thank Judy Egan for her dedication and work throughout Term 3. I knew that I would have nothing to worry about while I took this leave, and I was right. I would also like to thank Luke Mooney who was Acting Assistant Principal and Anne Barbic who was Acting Co Coordinator. They really stepped up to the roles and did a marvellous job. This term Judy is taking Long Service Leave, and Penny Vanzwol will be Acting Assistant Principal. I know that Penny, as always will give 100%. Rachel Kennedy will be Acting REC in her place and will undoubtedly bring her devotion and creativity to this role over Term 4.
Out of School Hours Care
During Term 3, tenders were invited for the next contract of our Out of School Hours Care Provider. A subcommittee from the Community Council, along with Judy Egan went through a rigorous process of considering proposals and interviewing successful submissions. A letter from Carl Jenkins (SCC Chair) and myself announcing the outcome of this process, can be found further on in the newsletter.
The Fete
It’s only 3 weeks to go before the big day! This is such an immense event in our school and parish and one that brings our community together. As you know we have an energetic team of parents and parishioners working behind the scenes to make this happen, but the success on the day depends on the parent support from the school along with the parishioners. Further in the newsletter are all the updates of what is happening with the fete and information on how you can support it.
New Uniform Items
Next year, we will be introducing two new articles of clothing to the school uniform. The first is a fleecy polo with the school logo embroidered on it. These will be available from Savvy in Tuggeranong and we will let you know when they are in stock. We will also be introducing a blue school polo shirt with a screen-print of the school logo on it. Currently the uniform is just a plain blue polo shirt and because they are available at many retail outlets, the colour variations of blues that children are wearing means that the shirts lack conformity. These new polo shirts will be available to purchase through the school which also means we can offer them at a lower cost. Paula Papandreq (canteen and uniforms) has researched the market and has sourced a shirt that is durable and reasonably priced. We plan to have these available for purchase at the Kinder Orientation day for new students and also through the front office. Again, we will let you know when we have them in stock. There will be a two year phasing in of these items, so parents with children in the upper primary classes will not need to purchase the new articles of clothing if the current ones still fit.
I would like to remind parents that students should now be wearing the summer uniform (jumpers of course for the colder mornings). If students have grown out of their uniforms, then please make use of the Second Hand School Clothing Pool to purchase uniforms for $5 per piece. It is not acceptable to have children out of school uniform. If your child is out of the correct uniform on any given day we ask that a note from home accompany the child to school so that we know that you are aware of what your child is wearing on that day. If you child needs a new hat, they can be purchased from the Front Office: bucket hats are $10 and legionnaires are $8. It is essential that every student has a school hat. Being a student of St Thomas the Apostle school includes wearing the correct school uniform for the whole of the school year.
School Hours
At the start of each term I am obliged to remind parents that school commences at 9:00am and concludes at 3:10pm. Recess is from 10:50am until 11:30am with lunch from 1:00pm until 1:40pm. Supervision in the morning commences at 8:30am and concludes in the afternoon at 3:30pm. Children should not be on the school grounds outside of these hours, unless supervised by their parents or carers.
Catholic Schools Netball Carnival
This is the final year that this carnival will be held as a Diocesan event on a weekend. Good luck to all our students playing on Saturday. This year the carnival is being hosted by Rosary Primary school (Watson). It is being held at the Calwell District Playing Fields and begins at 8:30am. There will be food, entertainment, raffles and amusements available to all who come along.
Boroowa Netball and Touch Football Carnival
Next Friday, we have a group of students travelling by bus to Boorowa for their annual Netball and Touch football Carnival. We attended this last year and it was a terrific day for the students and adults who came along. Thank you to the parents who have volunteered to coach and manage the teams at both of these carnivals and to Matt Lowe for his organisation for these events.
Term 4 is always a busy term so please make sure you make time for some peace and calm in your day.
May God bless you and your families
Ursula Jamieson
Principal
RE Week 1 - Energised Through Each Other
Welcome to Term 4!
This term, our school focus is ‘Energised through each other.’ This theme fits perfectly with all our major community events this term, where we are witness to the many blessings we have through the people and the skills in this community!
Confirmation Certificates: Yesterday, children who received the Sacrament of Confirmation during the Mass on Saturday 28th September would have had their official Confirmation certificate sent home. Please check with your child in the first instance if you are yet to see this.
All Saints Day Mass: Our community will come together on Friday 1st November in the Church to celebrate the Feast of All Saints Day. We warmly welcome all family members to join us for Mass at 9:30am.
Monday Prayer: begins at 9am in the Church. Next week Year 2 will lead our celebration and in Week 3, 3/4LO will lead.
Module Prayer: This term will focus around how the disciples shared their faith. We warmly welcome parents and carers to join their child’s class for this celebration at 9am on Friday mornings.
This Sunday’s Gospel is from Luke’s Gospel 18:1-8 God will see those who cry to him vindicated. From this we pray;
God of Mercy,
You watch over your people with compassion and listen their cries when they’re in need.
Give us strength so we never lose heart and help us to always turn to you in prayer.
We ask this through Jesus Christ,
Amen.
Have a fabulous Term 4
Rachel Kennedy
Acting Religious Education Coordinator
Date |
Event |
Friday 18 October |
House BBQ (Lanyon & Riverview) |
Saturday 19 October |
Catholic Schools Netball Carnival (Calwell) Fete Trash'n Treasure dropoff 9am - 12pm |
Monday 21 October |
Monday Prayer (Year 2) Fete Meeting 6pm |
Wednesday 23 October |
Mission Mass (St Christopher's Cathedral) 10.30am |
Thursday 24 October |
Class Mass (2PT 5/6G) 9.30am |
Friday 25 October |
Boroowa Touch/Netball Carnival |
Kinder - Tuesday & Friday
Year 1 - Wednesday & Friday
Year 2 - Monday & Wednesday
Year 3 & 4 - Tuesday & Thursday
Year 5 & 6 - Tuesday & Thursday
Trash'n Treasure Dropoff
Did you have a spring clean over the holidays? Why not donate any kids toys, household items non-electrical, second hand clothing, “Bric-a-Brac” etc. to our fete drop offs. The following dates are available to drop items off:
Saturday 19 October: 9am - 12pm
Saturday 26 October: 9am - 12pm
Pick a Prize Raffle
Tickets are now for sale via Qkr!
$10 Pick a Prize per sheet of 20 tickets
Up to 5 sheets can be purchased through Qkr!
Families that sells the most tickets will win a $50 gift voucher
Pre-purchase Ride Passes and Activity Bags
$25 Ride Passes
$15 Activity Bags
Volunteers Needed!
We are looking for volunteers to help out to make the Fete day a great success.
Signup in 3 easy steps:
1) Click link below
2) Review the options listed and choose the spot(s) you like.
3) Sign up! It's Easy - you will NOT need to register an account or keep a password on SignUp.com.
Note: SignUp.com does not share your email address with anyone.
Items Required
Used Clothing: Donations of coat hangers. Loan of Portable Clothes racks - if you can loan your portable clothes rack please let the front office know
Plants: Donations of empty pot plant containers can be left at the school garden cage
Scratchie Tree and Gift Vouchers: Donations for the scratchie tree and gift card vouchers are welcome (send to front office)
Face painting: Donations of temporary tattoos and coloured hair spray (send to front office)
Cake and Jam stall: Please start making Jams and Chutneys. Donations for cakes including cake decorating items, flour, sugar, eggs, icing sugar, patty pans (send to front office)
Craft and Jewellery stall: For all those crafty families please start making craft items, home-made cards. Donations of second hand jewellery are also welcome.
Tombola Day - Friday 1 November
Next Fete Meeting
Monday 21 October
6pm
Sandbox Education is great site for picking up strategies to help children when you are feeling a little stuck. An example is this one on ‘Strategies for Teaching Children to Make Good Choices’. As with any information for parents and carers there will be some ideas which appeal and others which you would choose to cast to the wind.
Choice is a big part of people’s lives. We decide daily what to wear, what to do, and how to treat people. Teaching children how to make good choices is critical for independence and self-control. This article focuses on a variety of strategies for teaching choice making.
- Allow Children to Make Choices - Often it is easier to choose for children than allow them to decide for themselves. Unfortunately, lessons learned by making good and bad choices help children become responsible, independent adults. Choice also gives children a sense of ownership in activities. Take time to offer choices, create situations for choice, and reinforce the importance of good choices in your day.
- Limit Choices - Keep the number and types of choices within reasonable limits. For example, if you let a child pick a snack, give them two or so healthy choices. By providing only allowable choices you reduce opportunities for conflict and create a situation where they succeed at making a good choice.
- Discuss Options – When faced with decisions, think through and discuss the options to help children understand why one choice is better than another. Discuss possible choices, consequences, and why one option is better.
- Consider Other People – When decisions involve other people, discuss the implications of the choice for the other people. For example, if a child wants to use the climbing equipment for the duration of recess discuss: Have other people asked if they can have a go? Are other children waiting? How would you feel if you didn’t have a chance? Are there other places you can play for part of recess? This helps children realize their choices affect people other than themselves.
- Use Past Choices as Opportunities – When a child makes a choice that upsets someone else e.g. such as cutting in line or saying something hurtful, use the opportunity to discuss consequences of this choice, and better choices for the future. Ask the child what other choices they could have made and what may have happened. Additionally, use past decisions and consequences as reminders.
- Praise Good Choices – When children make good decisions let them know what they did and why it was a good choice. For example, “Jason, I like the way you moved over to make room for Ella in line. It was nice of you to share the space. That was a very good choice.”
- State When There Is No Choice – Some situations such as safety and schedules have no choices. Holding hands crossing the street, participating in fire drills, and leaving on time for school are examples of times when there is no choice. Explain why these situations do not have choices and why all people must follow certain rules and schedules. Let children know if there is an aspect of the event that is their choice. For example, “We have to leave now, but you can carry your blue or red book bag” – age appropriate of course.
Veronica Harris
Wellbeing Officer
Catholic Schools Netball
Reminder that the Catholic Schools Netball Carnival is on this weekend (Saturday 19th). Reminder notes have been sent home along with a copy of the draw. It is suggested to arrive around 8:30 to ensure you can park and find our school location with plenty of time to spare and warm up.
Next Friday (25th October) is the Boorowa Touch and Netball carnival. Reminder notes have been sent home today, along with a copy of the draw. It is very important to read this information carefully and to be aware of the early departure time for those catching the bus.
Swimming Program
Notes are coming home for the upcoming swimming program. Each child in Years K to 4 need to be registered via the online portal individually. Bus permission notes need to come back to school separately. The swimming program runs during weeks 5 and 6, however, the earlier you can register and return your permission slips the better as it requires much organisation.
The swim school has changed their online system slightly and you will be asked for a payment option but please do not pay as the school covers the cost of swimming as part of the excursion levy. Please note that you will need a voucher code to complete the payment part of the registration. The codes are as follows:
Time Slot and Program Type |
Voucher code number |
9.30 SS - Year 2 |
553938 |
10.05 SS - Year 3/4 Group 1 |
696533 |
10.40 SS - Year 3/4 Group 2 |
605468 |
11.15 SS - Kindergarten |
250709 |
11.50 SS - Year 1 |
738392 |
See the following link for the notes:
Will Lipscombe Memorial Art Award
Entries for the Will Lipscombe Memorial Art Award are due by Friday 18 October.
Entrants need to design a Christmas card that embraces the joy of Christmas. The winning design will be printed onto cards and used at the end of the year by the Staff of St Thomas.
The winner/s of the award will:
- receive a prize (aimed at assisting them in their artistic development)
- have their name inscribed on the award plaque
- have their winning entry framed and hung on the dedicated wall and printed in the 2019 Yearbook.
There will also be a donation made to children’s cancer research in the name of the winner.