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- From the Principal
- What's happening in the classroom?
- Sister Margaret visits STM - The Feast of St Joseph
- NIJSSA - Swimming Carnival Recount
- Harmony Day will be held on Tuesday 24th March at STM
- STM Lego Competition Changes
- ICAS Assessments
- P and F News
- Correspondence from Archbishop Julian Porteous: For Circulation to School Communities
- Launceston Parish News
- Sacramental Preparation
- St Patrick's College Year 7, 2021 Enrolment Information Evening Postponed (was Wed 18 March)
- Launceston Competitions Speech and Drama
- Kinder Enrolments for 2021
- How to talk to your child about Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)
- Cityprom Easter Egg Hunt in Launceston Central City
Reflection
Humans see and judge by appearances, but God looks into the heart, and there finds the real person. God’s standards are not superficial, as are so many of the standards of the world. It is not age, beauty or physical strength that is important; it is not social position or religious role that is preferred. God chooses whom God chooses. God saw in David, the insignificant shepherd, the potential for being the chief shepherd of his people. The man who was born blind became the one through whom others would see the mighty works of God. Yet, neither young David nor the man in the gospel made the initial step; each simply responded with openness to God’s choice of him.
By what criteria do we judge others? Do we consider some people too insignificant for greatness? Are we overly concerned with status? Do we categorise people according to the disease or physical limitation that they must endure? Do we sometimes blame them for their disability? Do our eyes perceive life in accord with the standards of a materialistic, body-orientated, pleasure-seeking society? Or do we look into the other’s heart, as God does?
As with the other scrutiny Sundays, catechumens and long-standing members alike are exhorted to make a choice. Jesus is the one who gives sight to blind eyes and religious insight to those open to receive it. However, there is a price to pay. Will it be the standards of the world, or the power of God in Jesus Christ?
© Dianne Bergant CSA
Dear Families,
What a crazy week this has been, I hope you are all safe and well.
Today I thought I’d share with you why I believe it is important we keep our schools open for as long possible and the simple answer is, our children’s well-being. At the moment we have a lot of conflicting arguments from our medical professionals, which as I am not a medical expect I will not discuss; however, we hear very little from our children, and the impact that COVID19 has had on their lives.
Over this week I have spoken with many of our children, they are feeling disappointed that all their sport and other afterschool activities have been cancelled, confused about why people are acting irrationally in our supermarkets and some are worried about what is COVID19 exactly, however they are pleased that school is still open.
For our children we need to try and keep some normality in their lives, and school is that normality at the moment. I thank you for your support as we work to keep our community safe and healthy and in keeping some normality for our children.
Over the coming weeks we will continue to maintain our preventative measures and I will continue to send out updates every couple of days. The staff at St Thomas More’s are doing a tremendous job, not only providing a quality enjoyable education, but also providing extra cleaning by regularly wiping desks and shared surfaces with disinfectant and ensuring your children practice excellent hygiene, I thank them for their support.
You may have read in the papers today that NAPLAN 2020 has been cancelled. I have not received anything official to date, however once I do, I will let you know.
There are a number of messages in our newsletter, please take the time to view them.
I ask this week that we keep in our prayers all the people and families who are suffering due to this pandemic, may the Lord grant them health and peace.
Have a great week and keep safe.
God Bless,
Shayne Kidd
What's happening in the classroom?
Students in 1/2T with Miss Gleadow are trialling an online maths resource called Matific. It is aligned to the Australian Curriculum and offers individualised learning pathways. The Matific resource supports the explicit teaching and hands-on activities that Miss Gleadow provides. It is highly interactive and very engaging. So far, the feedback from the students is that they love it!
Sister Margaret visits STM - The Feast of St Joseph
On Tuesday (even though St Joseph’s day is on Thursday) we invited Sister Margaret to come and celebrate St Joseph’s Day and asked her to come to the office instead of having a special assembly, because of COVID-19. We gave Sister Margaret some flowers and a card thanking her for supporting and helping our school. She really enjoyed these gifts and gladly had a photo with us.
When she walked in we welcomed Sister Margaret and we introduced ourselves to her and she instantly thought that we were a good group of captains. Sister came at about morning tea time and she walked in with a welcoming smile.
We really enjoyed doing this for the sisters of Saint Joseph.
By Lochie McInnes and Fraser Mackenzie
NIJSSA - Swimming Carnival Recount
Swimming Carnival Recount
On the 12th of March some of the 3/4s and 5/6s went to Riverside for the NIJSSA interschools swimming carnival. There were 6 catholic schools plus Grammar, Scotch OakBurn and Launceston Preparatory and I can say the grade threes were very surprised to see how many people were there. We had a very successful and fun day finishing off by getting fourth overall. One highlight from our school was Lucas Jarmen taking out the grade 6 boys 66 and 33 metre freestyle and coming very close to some records. It was so great to see everybody out there trying their best and doing their school very proud. Well done everybody!
Many students from grade threes to grade sixes competed in 66m freestyle, 33m freestyle, backstroke, breastroke and relay. The grade six girls relay came fourth against Grammer, Scotch, St Finn Bars and Sacred Heart. The grade 5 boys placed first and the grade 5 girls came second. All the relays were very successful and everyone tried their hardest in all their solo races as well.
Overall our school had a very fun day with many high achievements from all of the students participating. Congratulations to everyone for doing their best and it will be sad to see all the grade 6’s go but we hope the grade 2’s coming up will have as much fun as we have had! In conclusion we had lots of fun and a well done to everybody!
By Lillian, Georgia & Rebecca
Harmony Day will be held on Tuesday 24th March at STM
Harmony Day will be held on
Tuesday 24th March at STM
Activities will be held in classrooms
All students to wear the colour ORANGE and please bring a gold coin donation.
All donations will go to Caritas
In light of recent recommendations due to COVID 19, a decision has been made to change the format of our STM Lego Competition to a Digital Exhibition. We are asking students not to bring their Lego displays to school this week; instead, we are asking families to take one photo of their child’s entry and email it to school. These photos will be printed out and put on display in the Foyer Windows
.
As all Masses are cancelled until further notice, the Launceston Parish are preparing some material to hand out that people can use for their personal prayer. The Church of the Apostles will be open for visits and personal prayer on weekdays between 8.30 am - 5.30 pm and on Saturday and Sunday from 9.00 am - 4.00 pm.
Sacramental Preparation
In light of the current situation regarding COVID 19, a decision has been made by the Archbishop to suspend the entire Sacramental program in our Parish for 2020.
Anyone requiring a refund can contact the parish or they can leave the payment in place for future programs.
We look forward to letting you know when these programs will be available again.
Kind regards,
Jacquie Wood
Teacher/ APRE
St Thomas More's Catholic Primary School
St Patrick's College Year 7, 2021 Enrolment Information Evening Postponed (was Wed 18 March)
Dear Schools
As an alternative, we will be producing a short series of videos and resources which will be made available on the College website at the end of the week.
Launceston Competitions Speech and Drama
The committee has decided to cancel the speech and drama competitions for this year. All monies will be refunded.