St Thomas' News
06 February 2020
God of wisdom and might,
we praise you for the wonder of our being, for mind, body, and spirit.
Be with our children as they begin a new school year.
Bless them and their teachers and staff.
Give them the strength and grace as their bodies grow;
wisdom and knowledge to their minds as they search for understanding;
and peace and zeal to their hearts.
We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Friday 07 February – Whole School Mass - 9 am - everyone welcome
Tuesday 11 - Friday 14 February – Year 6 class on camp
Monday 17 February– P&F Meeting - school library - 9 am - everyone welcome
Tuesday 18 February - Board Meeting 7 pm
Friday 21 February - P&F Sundowner 6:30 pm - everyone welcome
FROM THE PRINCIPAL
Dear St. Thomas' Community,
We extend a warm welcome to the families who have joined the St Thomas’ Primary School community this year. We know you will be very happy as we work together to create a positive and dynamic learning environment for your child/children. It is going to be an exciting year as we commence a new decade of education at St Thomas’ Primary School.
We welcome three new staff, Ms Brianna Kirkbride (PP), Mr Liam Godsall (Year 5) and Miss Michelle Campbell (Education Assistant). We pray that your time with us will be rewarding and we look forward to your contribution to our school.
At St Thomas’, we believe it is essential for parents/carers to be involved in their child's/children's educational journey, so please, be on the look out for opportunities to take an active role in the education of your child.
Beginning of School Year Mass
We will be celebrating the commencement of the new school year with Mass this Friday 7 February at 9 am in the Church for students from Pre-primary to Year 6. All parents and friends are welcome.
P & F Sundowner
Our P & F Sundowner has been scheduled for Friday 21 February commencing at 6.30 pm on the oval. Please save the date in your diary and book your babysitters, as this is a wonderful opportunity to meet new parents and to catch up with friends.
Year 6 Camp
Next Tuesday February 11, students from Year 6 will travel to Jarrahfall Bush Camp in Dwellingup to commence a four-day Leadership Camp. Mrs Gibbs, Mr Godsall and I, will be attending with the students. We look forward to sharing their adventures when they return.
Uniforms
It is important as a school that we set standards for our students; how they look and feel about themselves is important and wearing our uniform correctly and with pride is essential for their development. Thank you so much to parents who have upheld the school uniform code and purchased the correct shoes, socks and uniforms. It really does make for a smooth start to the school year.
Thank you
It was lovely to meet parents at our ‘Welcome Cuppa’ on Monday morning and again at our ‘Parent Information Session’ on Wednesday evening. It is clear that St Thomas’ is a welcoming and faith filled school community and I look forward to working with staff and parents to educate students for the future.
God bless
Natalia Thomson
PRINCIPAL
ST THOMAS' NEWS
Family Health Care Cards
Anything changed?
Thank you.
Sports News
This year we are having swimming trials on the following days for each year group:
Thursday 27 Feb – Years 4 and 5 only Friday 28 Feb – Years 3 and 6 only.
To be selected for the Championship points for the St Thomas' Carnival and Interschool swimming team it would be advisable to attend these trials. We also need 8 parents to assist on each of the morning for timing purposes. If you are available please indicate on the permission notes sent home or email Sharon Seaman Sharon.seaman@cewa.edu.au.
Swimming Training for the Interschool Team will commence Week 7, after the St Thomas' Swimming Carnival, Thursday 28 February and each Thursday and Friday morning from 7.30 – 8.15 am, except for Friday 27 March.
UPCOMING SPORTING EVENTS
St Thomas’ Swimming Carnival – Friday 13th March – Notes have gone home this week. We require a number of parent helpers on the day. If you are able to assist with the running of the carnival can you indicate on the form please.
Year 5 & 6 Tennis and Cricket Carnival – Friday 27 March
Interschool Swimming Carnival – Tuesday 7 April – If parents are able to assist with calculating results in the computer room (you get the best view of the carnival!) please contact Sharon Seaman via email on Sharon.seaman@cewa.edu.au as we are the host school again for 2020.
Sporting Communities AFL Football – If you would like to child to participate in AFL football for Claremont Junior Football Club registrations are open and you may also contact www.claremontjuniorfc.com.au.
Netball Net Set Go – Term 1 & Tennis Factory – Term . Please see flyers attached to email link sent for this newsletter.
Sharon Seaman
Physical Education Teacher
Curriculum Corner
1. The transition back to school affects not only children but also their families. Family routines will change and many parents re-focus on work as they watch hopefully, but often with anxiety, to see how their children will fare. If children do well, we parents relax and share in the excitement and feelings of success. If the transition is difficult it can cause us worries. Nonetheless, the start of the school year offers parents opportunities both to smooth their children’s immediate adjustment and to help build patterns of coping with transitions that will last a life-time. Parents can help their children with the school year transition through considering the following points:
2. Communicate. The most important tool for easing the back-to-school transition and helping children manage their stress is communication. Keeping an open channel of parent- child communication is key. Children should feel free to talk about their hopes and their disappointments, their successes and failures, their joys and their anxieties, all with the confidence that their parents can handle whatever they hear and will respond without undue judgement or reproach. Accept whatever your children are feeling and then move on to helping them learn how to cope. Remember also that such communication should not be a one-time event, but rather on ongoing conversation.
3. Encourage responsibility: Buy them a small whiteboard for their bedroom with their timetable laid out and a list of what they will need to bring every day. Encourage them to pack/ unpack their own bags and organise themselves for school.
4. Have a regular bedtime routine: To function at their optimum children need at least 10 hours of sleep at night. As an adult, we know how cranky we get when we are tired, and so do our children. Encourage no screen time in the hour before bed and quiet reading.
5. Normalise: When Appropriate. The beginnings of new experiences are often hard, at school, at work, in relationships, and in community activities. It is normal for children to have fears and it is normal for transitions to be rough. Letting our children know that this is so and that we have faith in their ability to cope is a good foundation for subsequent action.
6. Coping Rather than Protection! Many parents understandably have the desire to solve their children’s problems, to make it all better. However, this does not take full advantage of the opportunity that helping with schooltransitions offers. It is better to have a conversation with our children about how they can cope, how they can manage the academic challenges and the social strains, than to take care of these issues ourselves. Coaching our children on how to cope will bring benefits that last far longer than solving their problems for them.
5:30 pm Choir Retires
I now invite interested musicians and singers to come together to form a new choir to lead us now on Saturday nights. If you are interested or know someone who would be, please see me after mass or contact me at the parish office.
Fr Wayne
St Thomas' Fathering Project
Dad’s Meeting
Monday 17 February
School Hall 7.00 pm
Please join the St Thomas Dad’s for a quick meeting to plan the activities for 2020 and to work out who’s doing what. A quick beer afterwards at the Claremont should get the get the ideas flowing.
Come along, get involved and make a difference to your school community.
Extend Before & After School Care
Monday- AM: Q-Tip Painting Activity PM: DIY Chef Hats, Kangaroo and Crocodile Tag Game Tuesday- AM: Balloon Game PM: DIY Stress ball Making, Cooking Activity- Honey Joys, Pretend Play
Wednesday- AM: Magic Milk Science PM: Apron Making- Sewing Activity and Soccer Match Thursday- AM: Colouring in, Drawing PM: Musical Statue/ Talent Show, Gardening
Friday- AM: Bracelet and Necklace making PM: Dream Catcher Making, Running Race
The Extend Superstars are… Miguel Kerber Araujo for using his initiative to help reset the room! He helped others and did an awesome job to make the room look fantastic!
Mimi Grosse for volunteering to be the leader on the first day and for creating a positive environment by being cheerful, warm and friendly especially to the new faces in Extend.
Welcome Back to School! The holidays have flown by and we are excited to get back into the fun of Before & After School Care. A big warm welcome to all the new families joining St Thomas Primary for 2020; we hope to meet many of you in the coming weeks. To kick off the new term we have been doing fun games and activities to learn more about each other, including what our favourite games and foods are so we can work on incorporating these into our program. We have also been busy making paper flowers, painting, drawing and colouring in activities, slime making and playdough making. We enjoyed playing pretend play “Shops” and “Teachers” cooking activities and planting seeds, lego construction, marble race track and Pingpong tournament. Stay tuned for more info about our upcoming activities for Term 1!
If you have any queries about our school care service we invite you to pop in and say hello during one of our sessions. This is a great way to introduce your child to our educators and to what’s available to play with!
Enrol and book now: extend.com.au
We hope you have a great week!
Liezel Menguito,
Service Coordinator
St Thomas' Community Partners
St Thomas' Primary School
Email: admin@stthomas.wa.edu.au
Website: stthomas.wa.edu.au
Location: 8 Warden Street Claremont WA 6010
Phone: (08 9286 9500
Facebook: www.facebook.com/stthomasprimaryschoolclaremont
Twitter: @StThomasCPS