9 March 2017

Newsletter Articles

From the Principal

Season of Lent

Some thoughts about fasting as we enter into the Season of Lent:

All of the students participated in Ash Wednesday Liturgies last week. Their opening song summed up the aims and desires we seek over this Lenten Period.

A LIFE OF LOVE

CHORUS

Love one another, just as I have loved you.
Love one another in everything you do.
In this love you show each other,
Everyone will see,
You are my people living life with me,
A life of love.

1. Someone is calling to me,
Asks, "Why won't you understand?"
If we see someone in need,
Jesus said: Hold out your hand... and

2. Someone is hurting inside,
They've asked but haven't been heard.
How many times must they cry?
Jesus said: Reach out to serve... and

Lent can be a time of reaching out and giving to others. This is a challenge for all of us and so at this time we can become more conscious of striving to do this better.

Our Catholic Education Week Celebrations begin in the Week starting the 20 March across the state. This year’s theme is ‘Love God with all your heart’ and is drawn from St Mark’s Gospel 12:30. So how do we do this – love God: Well LOVE is an all-inclusive affection and it can be found in contemplating the beauty of an object – in wonder at God’s creations; in the relationships we develop with others and the insights we garner from these – that God is found in these relationships. We can begin to love God by acknowledging the source of the mysteries of life come from God; to see the flourishing of life as a gift from God; to love God’s love for humanity expressed as beauty, goodness and truth and developing our faith is another way to love God.

Pope Francis stated in Oct 2015 that through our love for our neighbour we can get to know God, who is love. “Only through loving can we reach love. To know God we must walk through life in love, love for our neighbour, love for those who hate us, love for all”. Pope Francis said that “in the person of Jesus we can contemplate the love of God, and following His example, we can climb the steps, one by one, to God’s love, to the knowledge of God who is love”.

Our school has a supportive and talented community of teachers, parents, carers, P&F, clergy, parishioners and support staff who work together to give students the best education possible and we want to acknowledge and celebrate this in Week 7.

STM will be having an open morning on Tuesday 21st March from 9:00 – 11:00 for you all to come and visit our classrooms, see the B- 4 program in action and wander around our beautiful grounds with the new courts and the bank development area.

Project Compassion 2017

Caritas Australia’s annual fundraising and awareness-raising appeal, brings thousands of Australians together in solidarity with the world's poor to help end poverty, promote justice and uphold dignity.

In Project Compassion 2016, over $11 million was raised to help the world's poorest communities.

The theme for Project Compassion 2017 is “Love Your Neighbour”.

As Pope Francis said, “Love of God and love of our neighbour is one and the same thing.”

By supporting Project Compassion you will be helping to empower our world’s most vulnerable neighbours to grow stronger.

You may remember having a Project Compassion box at home when you were a child. You can now share this tradition with your children, helping them to learn that they can make a positive difference in the lives of others.

Please keep your box at home until Holy Week when we will ask for its return.

STM Techspot – Inappropriate Apps for Primary School Children

We are finding more and more that students with iPads, iPhones, Tablets and/or Smartphones have access to inappropriate apps for their age level. These apps can be inappropriate for a number of reasons, whether it be for the content that it allows the child to access, the themes and messages that the app sends, the social networking implications of the app or the security of the app. Not to mention that many of these apps have their own user policies that clearly state children under the age of 13 (which all of our students are) should not have access to the app. Sometimes as parents it can be hard to know which apps to disallow, and it can sometimes be even harder to disallow these apps as your children no doubt will try very hard to convince you that they should be allowed to use it. At the end of the day though, it is very important to have very strict policies on which apps you allow your child to use. Sometimes things are just not negotiable, especially when it can compromise the innocence and safety of your child.

Below is a list of apps that we strongly encourage you to remove from any device that your child is allowed to use:

• Facebook
• Facebook Messenger
• Instagram
• Snapchat
• Musical.ly
• Live.ly
• Kik
• Vine
• Twitter
• Yellow
• Ask.fm
• Google+
• Keek
• Periscope
• Tinder
• WhatsApp

There are always new apps coming out that have potential risk that we don’t know about. So it is always a good idea to know exactly which apps are being downloaded onto devices. Also, have conversations with your child about the apps they are using. If you are unsure of an app, Google it and find out some more info. Then if you feel it is not suitable, delete it

Cheers, Kurt

Fees:

It is a requirement on the Fee form signed by parents that:

• Monthly payments are to be made in 9 instalments due:
• at the end of each month March to November; and
• by the end of Term 4, a final payment settling the account in full.

Annual payments received by the school before 31 March attract a 5% discount on tuition fees (but not the capital levy or tuition levies). Annual payments cannot be made by direct debit”.

If you require assistance with meeting this commitment please see the Principal.

Medical Information:

Can parents of students with medical needs please ensure all medical plans are updated with your doctor and returned to us in the next two weeks. We use these plans (for example anaphylaxis and asthma) as direct instruction when your child needs medical assistance from the staff.

Parking:

Please ensure that you continue to abide by road safety requirements around St Thomas More's Catholic Primary School. No parking on yellow lines or driveways. Abiding by 5 minute zones for pick up and drop off. A brochure has been emailed outlining these guidelines.

Book Club

Throughout the year we administer Book Club for Scholastic. Approximately every month the children will be given brochures offering books for sale. Please feel no obligation to buy.

If purchasing, please return the form to school together with payment in a clearly marked envelope with your child’s name and grade. The options are: cash – please endeavour to have the correct money, cheque – made out to Scholastic and credit card. If paying by credit card you are now able to use Book Clubs LOOP system. Loop allows parents to order and pay via the Scholastic website or app. Books are sent directly to the school and distributed to students.

The school receives commission from sales in the form of books for the Library.

Rebecca Thomas
Library

RITE OF CHRISTIAN INITIATION OF ADULTS (RCIA)

Are you, or is a friend or relative of yours, interested in learning more about the Catholic faith? If so, then the RCIA process is an opportunity to explore the Catholic faith in a friendly, small group environment. Please feel free to bring a friend along to accompany you on the journey, or to help them as they explore the riches of our faith. If you would like to join this group, please join us for an INFORMATION EVENING MONDAY 6th March at 7:30pm at the Pastoral Centre,44 Margaret Street Launceston. For enquiries/expressions of interest please contact Gordana or Paul Crowe on 0417 307 147 or 6331 1674 for more information

2017 Sacramental Calendar –

Monday 6th to Friday 10 March REGISTRATION WEEK
Monday 6th - Sacred Heart School (foyer of the Presentation Gym) - 2-4pm
Tuesday 7th - St Thomas Mores School (Glass Sunroom Area) - 2-4pm
Wednesday 8th - Pastoral Centre Church of Apostles - 5-7pm
Thursday 9th - St Finn Barr’s School (Glass room opposite office) - 2-4pm
Friday 10th - Pastoral Centre Church of Apostles - 5-7pm
Saturday 18th - Welcome Rites Mass Centre of choice
Sunday 19th - Welcome Rites Mass Centre of choice
Monday 20th - Faith Sharing Session – Church of the Apostles - 3:30-7:00pm
Tuesday 21st - Faith Sharing Session – Church of the Apostles - 3:30-7:00pm

Community Events:

Launceston Basketball Association

Register now at the link below:

Elphin Sports Stadium
Starts Tuesday 7th March 2017-02-20
6 week program 3:30pm -4:30pm

GUITAR LESSONS FOR BEGINNERS

Currently taking new students for 2017. Lessons in the Norwood/Kings Meadows area. For more information please call Alex Hillier: 0429 527 250

P & F

This year’s committee members are: President – Jacqui Cross; Finance Officer – Kylie Smart; Secretary – Kirsty Pedder.

Vacancy: Fair Coordinator; coordinate the team, facilitate meetings and purchasing and help with sponsorship. If anyone has these skills please contact a P&F member.

Dates of meetings: Wed 5 April; Thurs 1 June; Wed 5 July; Wed 16 Aug; Wed 13 Sept; Tues 17 Oct; Wed 15 Nov.

Bravehearts

On Monday 6 March Kinders and Preps watched a performance by Bravehearts on How to Keep Safe. They learned about ‘yes’ and ‘no’ feelings and how to seek help if they were feeling uncomfortable with any inappropriate behaviours towards them.

Schoolzine

St Thomas More’s has moved to a new all-in-one parent and community communication platform called Schoolzine. Schoolzine will replace a number of the communication services we currently provide including our newsletter, Team App, and event booking systems. Schoolzine provide access to content through a website and free app that is downloadable on the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. You will be accessing this eNewsletter through the website right now and the app will allow you to access our new school eNewsletter also. Furthermore, the app will replace Team App, as it provides the ability to send out push notifications, as Team App does, but with increased functionality. In 2017 we will still continue to send out notifications using Team App, up until we feel comfortable that everyone has had a chance to switch over to the new Schoolzine platform. This new platform will also replace our booking system for Parent/Teacher Interviews and any other event bookings that we may need throughout the year. We hope that this new all-in-one platform will allow for increased and more user-friendly communication between the school and families. You can download the Schoolzine app and find St Thomas More’s right now. This way as we role into using the Schoolzine app throughout the year you will be ready to go and start receiving notifications straight away. As with Team App, it is important to leave push notifications turned on when you install the new Schoolzine app.

Birth to 4 Program at St Thomas More’s

Starting 21st February in the Josephite Hall 9 -10:30 every Tuesday during term time. All parent and children 4 and under are most welcome. Looking forward to seeing you.

Parent /Teacher Meetings

These meetings will occur in week 6 from Tuesday 14th March till Friday 17th March. An on-line booking system will be available by the end of Week Four. When booking on line can you please fill up the time slots progressively to prevent huge time gaps. As partners in your child’s education these meetings are an opportunity for you to share valuable information for your child/children.

UPCOMING EVENTS

TUESDAY 21 FEBRUARY B-4 BEGINS 9-10:30 and ongoing every Tuesday during school terms
MONDAY 13 MARCH LONGWEEKEND
TUESDAY 14 MARCH – FRIDAY 17TH MARCH PARENT/TEACHER MEETINGS WEEK
MONDAY 20 – FRIDAY 24 MARCH – CATHOLIC EDUCATION WEEK
WEDNESDAY 22 MARCH – CEW MASS, NEWSTEAD
THURSDAY MARCH 23 NIJSSA SWIMMING CARNIVAL
MONDAY APRIL 3 PUPIL FREE DAY
FRIDAY 14 APRIL GOOD FRIDAY

If you require a winter school dress please ensure you send an order to Targetts Schoolwear.

GALLERY

Children celebrating Ash Wednesday

Demi and Macie Petterwood were selected to attend the State Junior Life Saving Competition at Carlton Beach on the weekend.

Our recent STM Swimming Carnival. Tenison House won.

Macie Petterwood, Bryce Lawes and Georgia Harmey. These 3 students are participating in the State Athletics Championships in Hobart next weekend of – Sat 11th and Sun 12th March at the Domain.