14 December 2017

Newsletter Articles

From the Principal

As we travel into Advent, we can sense the excitement, anticipation, and joyfulness of this season with both adults and children.

Last week we reflected in classes on the meaning of hope – that God has never forgotten us and in fact God’s love for us is overwhelming. There is always hope, every day, every minute for everyone and hope is something we can pray to God for. This week in Advent we focus on having a change of heart ourselves: that we may be messengers and examples in our daily interactions of the Good News as exemplified by Jesus. Next week we rejoice in this gift of Jesus to us, and the fact that Jesus was made human. As Desmond Tutu said “My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together”.

As I leave St Thomas More’s Catholic Primary School for my new position at Our Lady of Lourdes, Devonport, I wish you all the peace that is God-given when we open ourselves to the Lord and the work of the Holy Spirit within us.

It has been a very rewarding experience to have had the privilege of being the Principal of St Thomas More’s Catholic Primary School. I have developed my leadership strengths over these years as well as continually working on my areas for growth. I have benefitted enormously from every interaction with you all and thank you for working with me in this role at STM. STM is a wonderful school with many strengths: fantastic students, supportive families, highly professional staff and an extended community that generate goodwill. I thank you all for the interactions I have had with you.

May your Christmas be filled with inner joy and peace, alongside family and friends.

Au revoir.
Carol Seagar
Principal

2018 School and House Captains

Congratulations to our School Captains and House Captains elected for 2018. These students have been elected under our new Captaincy Roles Structure where we will have 4 School Captains and 6 House Captains (2 for each house) remaining in the role for the full year. Please see the below document for further information on this new structure and the role requirements for the captains.

Farewell Mrs Seagar

As you all know, Mrs. Seagar is leaving St Thomas More’s. She has had a big impact on all of our lives at STM. She has been at STM for 9 years, starting in 2008 teaching in grade 5 until becoming principal in 2012. She was very loved as a teacher and is loved as a principal in the St Thomas More's community and won't be forgotten by the students and staff. We are lucky to have spent time with her at STM. We are very sad to see her go, but we wish her the best for the future.

Ethan Crisp, Melissa Woolridge, Emma Spanos and Harry Biggelaar
School Captains & Vice Captains

Rosemary’s Farewell

It was lovely to be able to farewell Rosemary O’Brien with staff, students past and present, and members of the school community on Tuesday. It was great to be able to formally acknowledge Rosemary’s 47 years of service in education; 36 of those years dedicated to Catholic Education in Tasmania. This is a truly remarkable achievement! We wish Rosemary all the best in her retirement.

Christmas Masses

Christmas Eve Family Mass

Any children who would like to be involved in the Christmas Eve Family Mass are asked to contact Mrs Wood by Monday: Jacquie.wood@catholic.tas.edu.au

Christmas Mass times for Launceston

In the coming days you will receive two post cards with Christmas Mass Times. Please keep one of these for yourself and give one to a family member, friend or neighbour that may appreciate it.

School Uniforms

Donations of outgrown school uniforms can be left at the office to be shared with families in our community. Any families needing uniform items please contact Jacquie Wood: jacquie.wood@catholic.tas.edu.au

Student Reports

Reports will go home with students on Tuesday 19th Dec. Students who are absent will have reports posted home. Contained in the report envelopes will be a fee schedule for 2018.

End of Year Assembly and End of Year Mass

End of Year school Assembly, with Grade 6 Presentation, will be held on Tuesday 19th December at 2pm. All Grade 6 parents welcome to attend.

End of Year Thanks Giving Mass will also be held on Tuesday 19th December at 6:30pm at Sacred Heart Church, Newstead. All are welcome to attend. Please arrive no latter than 6:15pm as Mass will start promptly at 6:30pm. The Mass will be followed by acknowledgement to the Graduating Grade 6 students.

School Magazine

The School Magazine is expected to be delivered on time and will be sent home to families before the end of the year.

Families leaving the school at the end of 2017

If your family is leaving St Thomas More’s at the end of 2017 could you please let Carol know ASAP via email: carol.seagar@catholic.tas.edu.au

Grade 5/6 BYO Ipads 2018

ATTENTION: Parents of Grade 4 Students

In 2018 we will be continuing our one-to-one BYO iPad program in Grade 5/6. For next year’s program the school will not be offering the outright purchase of iPads through the school. The main reason for this is that iPads can now often be bought cheaper when stores have sales on Apple products. Educational pricing discounts can’t match 10% or more off. Therefore, we ask that you keep an eye out for good deals on iPads and purchase one for your child for Grade 5/6 next year. Refurbished iPads can also be purchased; these iPads are often considerably cheaper than a new iPad with the same specifications. Many stores that sell Apple products now allow parents to buy iPads with the 5% education discount. These stores include The Mac Shop (please see attachments for The Mac Shop below) and JB HiFi.

iPads with Ed Discounts from The Mac Shop

IMPORTANT: St Pat’s request that iPads have no less than 32GB memory. Also, from 2019 iPads will be used to do NAPLAN online. iPad Minis are not suitable for this purpose and therefore both St Thomas More’s & St Pat’s ask that iPad Minis are not purchased. iPad Airs, iPad Air 2s, the new iPad and iPad Pros are all suitable.

Email Communication between teachers and parents/carers

Many parents/carers use email to communicate with the school and with classroom teachers. email can be a very advantageous way to communicate, however it can also have downfalls. Below are some of the expectations the school has around email communication between parents and teachers.

• Try to be brief/concise. Teachers often receive anywhere from 20 to 100 emails per day and reading these emails can be extremely time consuming.
• Be patient when waiting on a response. Teachers can not reply to emails during class time (they are teaching your child), so don’t expect a reply until after 3pm. Also a reasonable timeframe for a reply is anywhere up to 24 hours, and can be longer in some circumstances.
• Don’t expect a reply on the weekend or after 5:30pm on weekdays. This is family time for our teaching staff and we would like to respect this time.
• Don’t send the teacher emails that are actually office related. For example, if your child is going to be picked up early to go to the dentist it is not good emailing the teacher at 9:30am the day you will be picking them up. This type of email should be sent to the office email address stm@catholic.tas.edu.au

Below is a link to document from The Federation of Catholic School Parent Communities that goes into much greater detail in outlining expectations around Parent-Teacher Communication.

Fees

FEES: Thank you to all parents who continue to pay fees regularly through direct debit. Please be aware that at enrolment the signatories on the enrolment form continue to be responsible for fees even if family situations change.

Back to School Book Lists

Book List Order Information

All students have received an information sheet regarding booklist orders through Officemax for 2018. These sheets are also available below for each grade.

Key points to keep in mind

• We encourage you to use OfficeMax for your BTS books as the school receives a percentage of sales from all orders. This money in turn benefits the students.
• We will also introduce a new method of payment called zipPay. See details below.

Library Notice

The Library will be closed for the last three weeks of term for stocktake and preparation for next year. Please return any outstanding books as soon as possible.

Thankyou for your co-operation,
Rebecca Thomas
Librarian

P & F

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

Fair Coordinators; Belinda Lehner and Belinda Anderson

RWVP Card

Parents, Grandparents and Caregivers are reminded that if they wish to do Parent Help with their children they must have a current RWVP card, which has been copied and held on file at the office.

How to apply for a RWVP Check & Number

1. Complete the online application form: www.justice.tas.gov.au/working_with_children
2. Print the “Application Receipt” which is generated when the application has been completed in full.
3. Take the “Application Receipt” (and your 100 point check to confirm identity) to a Service Tas Shop and pay the fee.
4. Take your RWVP card to the school office where your number will be recorded. If you are not recorded in the office you will not be able to do parent help, camp, etc.

UPCOMING EVENTS

MONDAY 18 DEC – GRADE 6 LEAVER’S DINNER
TUESDAY 19 DEC - LAST DAY OF KINDER S
TUESDAY 19 DEC – GRADE 6 AWARDS ASSEMBLY @ 2:00pm
TUESDAY 19 DEC - END OF YEAR MASS @ 6:30pm – ARRIVE BEFORE 6:15pm
WEDNESDAY 20 DEC - LAST DAY OF KINDER W AND GRADE 6
THURSDAY 21 DEC - TERM 4 ENDS – LAST DAY FOR STUDENTS

2018 Schoolzine Calendar

All of the known dates for 2018 have been put into the calendar on Schoolzine. More dates will be added as they become available.

2018 Term Dates

Term One: 8 Feb – 13 April
Easter: 30 Mar – 3 April
Term Two: 30 Apr – 6 July
Term Three: 23 July – 28 Sept
Term Four: 15 Oct – 20 Dec

Gallery

Carols on the Oval

Triathlon at Devonport