6 April 2018
Newsletter Articles
- From the Principal
- Master Builders 2018 LEGO Competition Winners
- Captains Corner
- IMPORTANT: Unsupervised Students
- NCCD Information
- Walk to School Day
- Sacramental Calendar
- Community Care Meal Roster
- School Uniform Donations
- Book Club
- STM Techspot
- Perfectionism in Children – Where does it come from?
- Fees
- UPCOMING EVENTS
- 2018 Term Dates
- Gallery
- Outside School Notices
From the Principal
Dear Parents and Friends of our School,
Easter Reflection
On Sunday we celebrated Easter, which for most of us meant a long weekend, a possible holiday with our family, however, how many of us stopped to reflect on the true meaning behind Easter? Traditionally, we celebrate Jesus’ death and resurrection in order to save us from our sins, however, to avoid delving into the debate on what is sin, I’d like share with you a quote from our Pope’s Easter message, one that is relevant to our modern lives here in Australia.
“It [Easter] bears fruits of hope and dignity where there are deprivation and exclusion, hunger and unemployment; where there are migrants and refugees, so often rejected by today’s culture of waste, and victims of the drug trade, human trafficking and contemporary forms of slavery,” Pope Francis Easter 2018.
The Pope calls us to be the provider of hope for all those who are oppressed and it is often the innocent caught in the middle of these major injustices. We can all play our part to provide this hope, it could be by helping a family who are going through a rough patch, welcoming refugees to our community, speaking out against actions that isolate people or something as simple as making a commitment to smiling and saying hello to people and taking notice of others. Together our small actions can make a huge difference.
Last week we saw some very creative Lego structures from our students entering our Lego competition. I think we have some potential engineers, builders or architects amongst our students. Thank you, Ms O’Neill, for coordinating the event and to all the parents who supported it. See below for a list of our winners.
Tomorrow is our first Schools Gala Day for our G5/6 students. Gala Days are replacing Friday sports as an opportunity to maximise the amount of time students participate in interschool sporting activities by minimising the amount of time spent on travel. We wish our teams a fun-filled day.
A reminder that Monday 30th April is a teacher only day and that students resume school on Tuesday 1st May. During this day teachers will be exploring ways they can improve your child’s learning.
Attached to our newsletter is our negative behaviour flowchart. The flowchart has had some minor alterations, the main change being that all serious (major) behaviours are referred to the leadership team immediately, for the leadership team to decide the appropriate action. Through this, we can ensure greater consistency when dealing with negative behaviours. It is important for us to remember that we are a Positive Behaviour School, (PBS), therefore, it is important for us to always use positive strategies to teach students the appropriate behaviours and to avoid “punishing” a child.
If a child is failing in English we teach them. If a child is failing in maths, we teach them. Therefore if a child is failing in behaviour, we must teach them, not punish them.
God Bless,
Mr Shayne Kidd
Principal
Master Builders 2018 LEGO Competition Winners
Big congratulations to the winners from each age group category.
Prep & Grade1/2 Winner – Samuel Wright
Grade 3/4 Winner – Ella Mannion
Grade 5/6 Winner – Oliver Belsak
Team Entry - Thomas Fryett & Samuel Hill
Captains Corner
Welcome to the school Captain’s Corner.
Each fortnight this section will be included in the newsletter and will be written by the school captain’s - Abbey Smith, Ella Webber, Thomas Chambers and William Barns. We hope that this is an interesting source of information for the parents (and maybe the students as well). We will inform about what is happening around St Thomas More’s. We will tell you what the students have been doing and some interesting facts you should know.
Currently, all the captains (house and school) have been meeting with Mr. Kidd and Mr. Atkins to talk about ideas and opportunities for this school. The SRCs are also going to be meeting with the school captains.
We hope you enjoy reading our part of the newsletter in future editions.
Abbey Smith, Ella Webber, Thomas Chambers and William Barns.
IMPORTANT: Unsupervised Students
Before School
A reminder that students who arrive at school before 8:30 are not directly supervised by a duty teacher. Therefore, these students must sit down in the Piazza and wait quietly until the 8:30 bell goes. We ask parents to remind their children as we have had a number of students that have not been following this instruction. If your child/ren must be dropped off well before 8:30 it is preferable to book them into before school care.
After School
Students should not be left at school unsupervised at the end of the school day. There are duties on Abbott St until 3:25pm and on Campbell St until 3:20pm where students that are being picked up should be. No students should be anywhere else in the school grounds unless supervised by a parent/carer (this includes any after school sport training). We thank you in advance for your cooperation in this matter.
NCCD Information
The three documents below give information regarding the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on Students with Disability (NCCD)
Walk to School Day
Community Care Meal Roster
School Uniform Donations
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
Book Club
Throughout the year we administer Book Club for Scholastic Australia. 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
STM Techspot
eSafety Commissioners ‘Screen Smart Parent Tour’
Whether you're a parent, carer, aunt, uncle or grandparent it can be a difficult task keeping up with young people and technology or even knowing when and how to start the conversation about online safety in your household.
Meet Screen Smart Parent Tour – The eSafety Commissioners new interactive self-reflective tool that helps parents and carers of pre and young teens keep on track with online safety.
The virtual tour takes you through six important online topics including social media, screen time, personal information, inappropriate content, cyberbullying and contact with strangers. Each topic offers practical tips and advice on how to allow children to explore safely and manage online issues if they arise.
https://esafety.gov.au/education-resources/iparent?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Parent%20Tour&utm_content=Parent%20Tour+CID_5a2aaba436483a8649baecc0c3be410a&utm_source=Email%20marketing%20software&utm_term=Take%20the%20tour
Key Apps to Monitor
Fees
Invoices sent
Invoices for 2018 have now been sent out. You will also have received Direct Debit and Payment Forms via Schoolzine email and via the Schoolzine App.
Thank You
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.
UPCOMING EVENTS
13 APRIL – LAST DAY TERM 1
30 APRIL – PUPIL FREE DAY (MONDAY)
1 MAY – FIRST STUDENT DAY TERM 2 (TUESDAY)
7 MAY – FUTSAL DAY
9 MAY – STM CROSS COUNTRY DAY
PLEASE SEE THE SCHOOLZINE CALENDAR FOR SACRAMENTAL DATES & INFO
2018 Term Dates
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Term One |
8 Feb – 13 April |
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Easter |
30 Mar – 3 April |
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Term Two |
1 May – 6 July |
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Term Three |
23 July – 28 Sept |
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Term Four |
15 Oct – 20 Dec |
Gallery
Bullying No Way
Friday 16 March was a National Day of Action Against Bullying.
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Prep |
In Prep, Allen the Alien helped us to learn about bullying and how to be a good friend. We drew pictures about what Allen taught us. |
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1 / 2 |
In 1/2 T, we watched 'Allen the Alien' navigate through the sometimes-complex rules of socialising. We discussed the emotions Allen felt, how big Allen's problem was and the way Allen and his friends solved the social conflict. In 1 / 2 SA, we read 'Giraffes Can't Dance' and talked about some of the hurtful things that the characters said or did in this story. We brainstormed some ways in which we could be encouraging towards our classmates and acted these out. In 1 / 2 CR, we focused on reading body language to identify feelings and talked about it being ok to be angry. As a class, we identified with Allen and times when we have felt frustrated, confused or misunderstood. |
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3 / 4 |
In 3/4WE, we did some drama based activities and our focus was the role of a bystander. We talked about the inner strength it takes to stand up to bullies, and what that might look like. We need to work as a team to eliminate bullying, and we need to be observant of those around us. In 3/4LC, we watched the video on the Bullying. No Way! website. We then drew/wrote about some examples of bullying, then acted out some bullying scenarios in small groups. We discussed the type of bullying that was taking place and ways to try and prevent it from happening. In 3/4M, we explored how it feels to be bullied and how to stop it. We wrote about our thoughts and feelings, and identified some strategies. |
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5 / 6 |
In 5/6P, we looked at what bullying is and the different types of bullying. We watched a web clip, did some research and produced digital posters about what we learnt. In 5/6O, we learnt about what a bystander is and the role they play in bullying. We also explored strategies for the bystander to use and how to respond to bullies. We put what we learnt in Google slides. In 5/6H, we explored how it feels to be bullied and how to stop it. We created some posters showing our thoughts and feelings, and strategies. |
Welsh and Irish Commonwealth Games Netball Teams
Our grade 1/2 students were lucky enough to have both the Welsh and Irish Netball teams come to spend some time with them and develop some skills.
Outside School Notices
St Pat’s – Performance Showcase
LEGO Holiday Workshops
PCYC School Holiday Program
Tennis World Holiday Camp
East Launceston Junior Football Club - Auskick
East Launceston Junior Football Club Auskick Centre commences Friday 6th April 2018 from 3.30pm to 4.30pm at the NTCA Ground in Launceston. Free BBQ on 6th April - Come and Try
Boys and girls aged 5 to 7 years welcome. Also boys and girls in u9, u10s and girls 9-13 welcome to join ELJFC junior teams. Visit the link below for further information and registration details.
http://websites.sportstg.com/club_info.cgi?client=1-3915-69425-0-0
Regards
John Parker
Vice President.
Autism Tasmania Annual BBQ
Studio National Dancing
Schools Equestrian Event 2018