9 August 2018

Newsletter Articles

From the Principal

Reflection

Tonight 15 of our students will be confirmed by Archbishop Julian Porteous at Church of the Apostles and then on the weekend of the 18/19 August they will receive their First Eucharist. Therefore, I thought I would share with you Pope Benedict XVI’s reflection on his own First Eucharist that he shared with children who were about to receive their First Eucharist in October 2005.

…of course I remember my First Communion day very well. It was a lovely Sunday in March 1936, 69 years ago. It was a sunny day, the church looked very beautiful, there was music. ... There were so many beautiful things that I remember. There were about 30 of us, boys and girls from my little village of no more than 500 inhabitants.

But at the heart of my joyful and beautiful memories is this one -- and your spokesperson said the same thing: I understood that Jesus had entered my heart, he had actually visited me. And with Jesus, God himself was with me. And I realized that this is a gift of love that is truly worth more than all the other things that life can give.

So on that day I was really filled with great joy, because Jesus came to me and I realized that a new stage in my life was beginning, I was 9 years old, and that it was henceforth important to stay faithful to that encounter, to that communion. I promised the Lord as best I could: "I always want to stay with you," and I prayed to him, "but above all, stay with me." So I went on living my life like that; thanks be to God, the Lord has always taken me by the hand and guided me, even in difficult situations.

Thus, that day of my First Communion was the beginning of a journey made together. I hope that for all of you too, the First Communion you have received in this Year of the Eucharist will be the beginning of a lifelong friendship with Jesus, the beginning of a journey together, because in walking with Jesus we do well and life becomes good.

Sited: (August 2018)

Dear Parents and Friends of our School,

What a lovely evening we had last Friday at the Rock’n’Roll Night. It was great to see so many families in attendance and parents up dancing with their children. Thanks to Mr Nas, the P & F and all the team who made the night a success.

Over the past few afternoons I’ve been at Campbell Street for the afternoon pick-up. On most occasions the traffic has flowed well, however a few times now a car has been parked unattended in the pick-up zone, creating a hazard for other cars and potentially endangering our children. The pick-up zone (in front of the gate) is a pick-up zone only. If you need to leave your vehicle please park outside of this pick-up zone.

A reminder that Monday is a student free day. Staff will be participating in a Spirituality Day.

God Bless,
Mr Shayne Kidd
Principal

Changes to Student Medical Details

STUDENT MEDICAL DETAIL CHANGES?

Please now consider for your child if since the last advice to the school, medical information has changed & hasn’t yet been advised to the school office.

Or you previously supplied an Epi-pen; other medication; or similar, which may have since expired and a replacement maybe required?

Father Day Breakfast

To celebrate Father’s Day St Thomas More’s would like to celebrate our Fathers/grandfather/loved men in our lives by holding a Father’s Day Breakfast.

Breakfast will be held at St Thomas More’s on September 3rd 2018 from 7.30am -8.30pm

If you would like to join please click the link below and RSVP by Tuesday the 28th of August 2018.

Book Week

Children’s Book Week - 19th-24 August 2018

Each year the Children’s Book Council of Australia celebrates Children’s Book Week to highlight the importance of reading and promote Australian children’s literature. This year, the theme for Book Week is “Find your Treasure”. As part of our celebration we are holding a Book Week Parade on Monday 20th August where students can dress up as a character from a book they know and love. Please encourage your child to be creative, using clothes they may already have or recycled items. It is not compulsory but if your child would like to take part they may come to school dressed as their character. We will meet in the Josephite Hall at 9am as a school to share our costumes and parents are most welcome to attend. We recommend that students bring the book they have chosen.

Rebecca Thomas
Library

Family Mass

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.

STM Techspot

As we have heard many times before, 'things change rapidly with technology'. Most times this is for the better, however we always have to watch out and keep up to date with the not-so-good trends, especially where the internet is involved. One really good way to keep up to date with the newest internet dangers that face our youth is to follow or like pages on your social media accounts that keep us up to date with this kind of information. One of the best sources to follow is the 'Office of the eSafety Commissioner' as it often posts information that is current and can be found on their website. Another one is 'The Cyber Safety Lady' as she puts up posts that explain the newest dangerous trends. She has recently posted about the scary world of internet challenges that young people can get caught up in. In some cases these challenges have ended in the worst possible way. Another great feed is from 'Think U Know Australia', they often put up posts about the newest dangerous apps. I encourage you, if you use social media, to search for and like these pages so that their posts pop up on your news feed.

The Everybody Program

From Friday in Week 3 to the following Friday in Week 4 we will have Wendy Gregory coming in to our school to run The Everybody Program. For more information on this please see the letter and information brochure below.

Messages from P & F

STM School Fair Donations

Fair Raffle Basket Donations

Our baskets are looking very bare……. So this is just a reminder to bring in your donations.

These baskets will be packaged up to form prizes on our raffle prize list.

Each child is asked to bring in an item suited to their class allocated category and place in the box located in their classroom.

Kinder/Prep – Alcohol, kitchen, dining, homewares
Gr 1/2 Garden, outdoor, entertainment,
Gr 3/4 Sport, entertainment
Gr 5/6 Toys, books games.

All items need to be in new, unused condition.

Lets be creative and make these baskets a great prize for the lucky winners.

STM School Fair Craft Stall

If you are interested in having a craft stall at the St Thomas More’s school fair or would like future information please contact the office staff at stm@catholic.tas.edu.au before Thursday 16th August 2018.

STM Father’s Day Breakfast Volunteers needed.

St Thomas More’s will be holding a Fathers Day Breakfast on the 3rd of September from 7.30am-8.30am If you are able to come and help please contact the office team at stm@catholic.tas.edu.au

Thank you.

Confirmation

Yesterday at our school Mass we wished our Sacramental candidates well and looked forward to our next school Mass when they will be able to fully participate in the Eucharist.

Please keep these children in your thoughts and prayers as they celebrate the Sacrament of Confirmation this evening at the Church of the Apostles.

Confirmation is the second Sacrament of Initiation. It confirms the candidate's Baptism and leads to the celebration of First Eucharist. These Sacraments are important moments in each child's faith journey. They are opportunities to experience God through the words and actions of the liturgy.

Xavier Bailey
Josephine Chambers
Emily Crisp
Georgia Harmey
Jessica Lehner
Victoria North
Macie Petterwood
Emmerson Presnell
Alannah Rae
Nieve Smith
Campbell Targett
Fletcher Targett
Nevaeh Taylor
Zali Towns
Lucy Wheatley

Congratulations to our new SRC representatives.

Awards

Congratulations to the following children who have received an award this fortnight:

1/2 Tams

Ashlee Sheehan
Hollie Atkinson
Reuben Phillips

1/2 Scharapow/Atkins

Jack Allie
Kasey Moylon

3/4 Love/Chugg

Thomas Towns
Kingsley Radnedge
Jenna Harwood

3/4 Morgan

Jack Manshanden
Charlotte Clayton
Georgia Harmey
Nylah Pearce

5/6 Healey

Max Pearce
Lucy Hargreaves

5 / 6 O’Neill

Eliza Duigan
Jake Richardson

5 / 6 Pearce

Kayla Hendriksen
Laura Fulton
Tom Limbrik

Library

Isabelle Senior

2018 Term Dates

Digital edition of the Catholic Standard

Here is the link to this month’s online edition:

Please find attached three graphics as requested: One for Facebook; one for Instagram, and one that could be used on websites or in e-newsletters.

Gallery

Well done to Samuel hill, Thomas chambers & Brodie Mathews on winning the Fair Play Award in The NTJSA's under-12 gold team in Canberra over the school holidays.