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The feast of the Holy Trinity brings us face to face with the foundation of our faith. The readings for today provide answers to the question: Who is God? They can really only suggest something about the mystery of God, and they can do this only indirectly. They call to mind some of the wonders that God has accomplished for us and in us. It is through reflection on these gracious divine acts that we can get glimpses of God.
The psalm declares that the harmony and interdependence that we see in creation point to a majestic creator responsible for it all. The account of the history of God’s people reveals a God who desires to establish an intimate relationship with them, enters their history as protector and guide, and forgives disloyalty. Finally, Jesus teaches that God sent him into the world to save it, has made us adopted children through the Holy Spirit, and will ultimately clothe us in divine glory. It is from his teaching that we hear that the Son was sent by the Father, the Spirit, which was also his Spirit, proceeded from the Father and from him.
From our own experience, we know that God creates, because we are immersed in creation. We know that God saves, because we have been freed from the bondage of our own demons. Our experience tells us that God is with us, and that God is for us. Everything that we know about God declares that God is passionately in love with us, boundlessly so!
© Dianne Bergant CSA
Dear Families,
Tuesday and Wednesday saw our budding young futsal champions head to the Silverdome for the annual Launceston Futsal Competition. As always, our students displayed excellent sportsmanship and were great ambassadors for our school. Well done to our two girls’ teams who played off in the final, St Thomas More’s came first and second! And, well done to all our students on their effort.
This week is Reconciliation Week. “Reconciliation is a journey for all Australians – as individuals, families, communities, organisations and importantly as a nation. At the heart of this journey are relationships between the broader Australian community and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.” https://nrw.reconciliation.org.au/(2021)
As a school we are writing reconciliation messages on tiles as part of our actions to support Reconciliation Week. As an old friend of mine from Nauiyu Community once said to me, saying sorry during Reconciliation Week is like saying sorry at a funeral. We are not saying sorry because we did something wrong, we are sorry for their loss. Let us remember that as we journey this path together by us saying sorry, we are acknowledging the hurts of the past and together we can build a better future.
As we are transitioning to new uniforms, we have been donated many old uniforms, therefore we have reached out to Di from Care for Africa, who will donate our old uniforms to students in Africa. If you would like to find out more about this, you are welcome to join our combined Board and P&F presentation on 23rd June at 7pm. If you have any old uniforms in good condition, please bring them to our office and we’ll pass them on to Care for Africa.
Continuing with our discussion on student wellbeing, today I would like to discuss the PBS Form, a term that is often misunderstood. The PBS form is simply a form on which we record a child’s behaviour for our records, similar to how we record your child’s academic achievements. The PBS Form is not a consequence. In our system we record Minor and Major incidences. Minor incidences are often a redirection of behaviours or a conversation about the behaviour with the aim of teaching. Often there is no further follow-up and often we do not communicate minor behaviours home. (Just as you would often correct your child’s behaviour and not report every correction to your partner, we consider this similar. If it is a one-off children need the opportunity to be able to move on from the error without worry of further consequences).
Major behaviours almost always involve intervention from the school’s Leadership Team and communication home. When determining the difference between a minor and major behaviour we consider a lot of factors including child’s age, impact on others and other factors that may have influenced the child’s choice to behave in a negative manner. We have a PBS Flowchart document to help guide us with our decisions. As a school we use this data to track any potential trends or spikes in negative behaviours which we may need to act on. The most recent change, which was in 2019, was to reduce our afternoon teaching time from 1.5 hours to 1 hour, creating a notable decrease in negative incidents across our school.
The next time your child mentions they have a PBS form it means that their behaviour was recorded and if you haven’t heard anything from us you can be assured it was a minor error and we were able to redirect your child, resolving the concern. And I always encourage you to have open discussions with your children about their school day.
Kind Regards,
Shayne Kidd
PRINCIPAL
28th May 2021
Congratulations to Tohbe, Zoe, Alice, Ivy, Isla and Amelia, who have received 25 stickers in their Student Acknowledgement booklets. These stickers are given to students displaying positive and respectful behaviour in the playground. They are a great role model for others. Well done!
Congratulations to the following students who have received awards today:
Raising your child online - Guest speaker Dr Kristy Goodwin
St Thomas More’s Catholic School and Larmenier Catholic Primary School, in conjunction with Tasmania Catholic Schools Parent Council (TCSPC), are excited to announce that Dr Kristy Goodwin is coming to Tasmania. She is conducting parent and student sessions for the parents and students of St Thomas More’s and Larmenier schools, with the focus being ‘Raising your child online.’ Registration is required for the parent session and spaces are limited. Please see your email for the registration link.
During this term, students across all grades have been learning about responsible and safe online behaviours. In early childhood classes, we have been discussing online safety using the eSafety Commissioner’s key messages - Be Safe, Be Kind, Ask for Help and Make Good Choices. We shared the story Swoosh, Glide and Rule Number 5 which explores some of the common technology experiences of children and highlights strategies to encourage safe online practices for the whole family. Middle and upper primary students have been exploring protective behaviours and strategies including critical thinking, device safety, protecting privacy, spending money online and seeking support.
The eSafety Commissioner website has a collection of excellent resources for parents and children including tips on managing time online, dealing with cyberbullying and unwanted contact and using parental controls to maximise online safety at home. There is also a family tech agreement that may help engage all members of the family in strategies to promote safe online practices.
Please see the eSafety Commissioner website for more information.
https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents
https://www.esafety.gov.au/kids
Rebecca Thomas
Librarian and Key Teacher - Learning Technologies
See attached our parish bulletin for Trinity Sunday, 29/30 May 2021.
Regards,
Fr Mark Freeman
Newstead Athletics - Northern All Schools Event
On Saturday 29th May, Newstead Athletics are holding its annual Northern All Schools Competition at Carrick Park Paceway, commencing at 1pm. While this is part of the School Series competition, athletes who are not part of the competition are invited to attend. The cost is just $5 and payment can be made via our website (Events Calendar and choose 2021 Northern All Schools – Carrick Park) or click HERE
This event is an excellent lead up to the upcoming State All Schools events at Symmons Plains. Primary State All schools are on the 22nd June and Secondaries on the 29th June. Giving athletes valuable race practise prior to the state event.
Schedule (we will run as close as possible to this): Medal presentations will be as soon as possible following the race, most likely while the next race is being held.
Athletes age for these events are as at 31st December 2021
1:00 pm Under 7 boys and girls (run together) 1km Born 2015 or later
1:15 pm Under 9 boys 1.5km Born 2014 and 2013
1:30 pm Under 9 girls 1.5km Born 2014 and 2013
1:45 pm Under 11 boys 1.5km Born 2012 and 2011
2:00 pm Under 11 girls 1.5km Born 2012 and 2011
2:15 pm Under 13 boys 2km Born 2009 and 2010
2:30 pm Under 13 girls 2km Born 2009 and 2010
2:45 pm Under 15 male and female(run together)3km Born between 2008 and 2007
3:00 pm All other secondary runners
There are records for this event. See our website HERE to see what they are.