Come, Holy Spirit of Pentecost. Come, Holy Spirit of the Great South Land.

O God, bless and unite all your people in Australia and guide us on the pilgrim way of the Plenary Council.

Give us the grace to see your face in one another and to recognise Jesus, our companion on the road.

Give us the courage to tell our stories and to speak boldly of your truth.

Give us ears to listen humbly to each other and a discerning heart to hear what you are saying.

Lead your Church into a hope-filled future, that we may live the joy of the Gospel.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord, bread for the journey from age to age.

Amen

Saturday 18 August – School/Parish Mass & Sausage Sizzle (Year 1's organising)

Tuesday 21 August – P&F Meeting - School Library - 7.00pm

Wednesday 22 August – Book Week Dress Up Parade

Wednesday 22 August – Year 2 & 6 Buddy Excursion Claremont Library

Wednesday 22 August – Parish Mass - Year 5

Friday 24 August – St. Thomas' Athletics Carnival

Tuesday 28 August - School Board Meeting

Wednesday 29 August – Buddy lunch

Wednesday 29 August - Confirmation Parent Meeting

Friday 31 August - Father's Day Breakfast & Liturgy

Staffing: I would like to take this opportunity to farewell Mrs. Migliore as she starts her Maternity Leave from St. Thomas' tomorrow afternoon. Kelly is an outstanding teacher. She is dedicated, driven and always strives for the best for the students in her care. She will be missed deeply whilst on leave. We all certainly wish you the very best in the next chapter of your life.

I would like to announce that Mrs Suzanne Richardson will be retiring at the end of the 2018 school year. Suzanne has worked at St. Thomas' since 1997 and has been a valued member of the St. Thomas' staff. Suzanne dedication to the students in her care cannot be questioned.

Mrs Jenny Kell will be reducing her work days at St. Thomas'. Jenny will reduce her contract from 3 days per week to 1 day a week. In 2019, Jenny will be utilising her Long Service Leave for the first 6 months of the year. Therefore, will not start back at St. Thomas until Semester Two.

Further staffing announcements will be shared when I have further details.

I recently attended the CEWA Leader's Forum. This forum is held once a semester and representatives from CEWA outline the events and strategies that will guide our system into the future are presented. One of the sessions related to Plenary Council 2020 which is being held in Australia. The Plenary Council is the highest formal gathering of local churches in the country. It is a chance for all catholic communities around Australia to enter into a dialogue about the current state of the Church in Australia and how our church can stay relevant within the contemporary society of Australia.

Why are we having the Plenary Council?

When the Australian Catholic Bishops announced the decision to hold a Plenary Council, Archbishop of Brisbane Mark Coleridge said that “the Church is not the presence in our society it once was. We need to take a measure of that and make decisions accordingly. The culture in which we have to proclaim the Gospel is very different to what it was even 20 or 30 years ago.”

Anyone is Australia can have their say as we are all invited to respond online to the following question: What do you think God is asking of us in Australia at this time?

As a staff and school, we will be working on submitting our responses to this question. Bishop Timothy is calling on us to speak boldly, listen with an open heart, to pray, to question and to discern. Everyone’s experience of faith and the Church is different and unique, and it is important that the Plenary Council hears responses from as many people as possible. Please go to the website for further information: http://plenarycouncil.catholic.org.au/

Father’s Day Breakfast and Liturgy: On Friday 31 August we will be having our Annual Father’s Day Breakfast and Liturgy. Thanks to Miss Canalini and Mrs. Vincent for preparing the Liturgy and to the P&F for their assistance with the breakfast. Breakfast will take place in the school hall starting at 8.00am with the Liturgy taking place in the Church at 9.00am. We would love to see as many Dads, Granddads, Poppas, etc. in attendance.

P&F Meeting: The next P&F Meeting will be held on Tuesday 21 August at 7.00pm in the School Library.

Join the Leadership team on Thursday 6th September straight after drop-off for coffee and an informal chat for 20 minutes. For more info, watch the short (45-second) video below. Each month we will hold this event - a chance for us to hear from the St Thomas' community. And don't worry - this has nothing to do with marketing!

* Please note, this is not a time to discuss individual childen. This should still be done by appointment with the classroom teacher.

Yesterday, we celebrated The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Church celebrates the Feast Day of the Assumption of Our Lady when according to our faith, the Holy Mother, "having completed her course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory".The Assumption signals the end of Mary's earthly life and marks her return to heaven to be reunited with Jesus. While the bodies of both Jesus and Mary are now in heaven, there is a difference between the Assumption and the Resurrection. Where Jesus arose from the tomb and ascended into heaven by his own power, Mary's body was taken up to heaven by the power of her Son.

Confirmation: Please keep in your prayers the Year Six class who are preparing for their Confirmation. This is a significant event in their faith/life journey. The Confirmation Mass will take place on Friday 7 September starting at 6.00pm sharp. The Parent Information Meeting will take place on Wednesday 29 August, with the Retreat for the students taking place on Friday 31 August.

School Bags for Jesus: We have been given 100 schoolbags to fill for the SchoolBags for Jesus Social Justice Challenge the Mini-Vinnies have undertaken. Due to your generous donations we are well on our way but still need 143 Erasers, 121 Black Pens, 148 48 Page exercise books, 39 small toys, 29 storybooks. If you wish to make a donation please leave in the MakerSpace under the window or the Assistant Principals' Office. Thank you!

A reminder that St Thomas' is a nut-aware school. There are several children in our school who are severely allergic to nuts, so we ask that you do not send food containing nuts in your children's recess or lunch. We thank you for your cooperation.

We have to ask that you please keep your children home if they are showing signs of being unwell. Unfortunately we are sometimes having to contact parents prior to the first bell to inform them that their child is unfit for school. As you can imagine schools are great incubators and germs are very easily spread. We would really appreciate your assistance in this matter, so that the current wave of sore throats, tummy upsets and high temperatures gets under control. Thank you.

A VERY BIG 'Thank you' to those families who have paid their fees. A gentle 'reminder' for those yet to pay, that the third and final instalment for 2018 is due by this Friday 17 August. Please see Julie or Leanne in the Office for any further queries.

Also a timely reminder that you need to give a terms notice in writing, to avoid penalty fees, if you currently have a child in Kindergarten to Year Five who will not be continuing their education at St Thomas' in 2019. Student Departure Forms are available from the front office.

ALL STUDENTS: DRESS-UP PARADE WEDNESDAY 22 AUGUST

A reminder that the St Thomas' dress-up parade for Book Week will be on Wednesday 22 August at 9am in the undercover area. All students (Kindy to Year 6) and staff are invited to come dressed as a book character for the day.

The Children's Book Council of Australia sets a theme for Book Week every year. This year's theme is 'FIND YOUR TREASURE'. We look forward to celebrating a week of book treasure with the students!

As part of our sustainability initiatives, next week on Thursday we will hold a 'Book Swap.' If students wish to participate, all they need to do is bring in a book they wish to swap. Before Thursday students can give any pre-loved books into the Library and then on Thursday morning each class will explore these books and take a new book.

Tonight the Year 6's are sleeping over at school as part of the World Vision 40 Hour Backpack Challenge. This challenge is designed to raise awareness and money for refugees and displaced persons around the world. Did you know there are 68.5 million refugee and displaced people globally, and more than half are under 18!

As part of this challenge the Year 6's, with Mr vB and Miss Hubbard, are living out of their school bags from 8:30am this morning till 3:00pm tomorrow. Inside their backpack they must have ALL their bedding, food and clothing for the entire two days - what a challenge!! They will be sleeping in the school hall.

The class has decided to raise money for World Vision. If you would like to donate to this cause and sponsor us doing the backpack challenge, please visit: https://www.40hourfamine.com.au/supporters/2665751.

On 1 July 2015 the Australian Government introduced the Office of Children’s eSafety Commissioner and the Enhancing Online Safety for Children Act 2015. The Act allows children suffering from serious cyberbulling to contact the Office of the Children eSafety Commissioner to have content removed if social media companies do not remove the offending content after it has been reported to them. Resources can be found on the Office’s website www.esafety.gov.au. I encourage you to talk to your children about this issue and access this website and its many resources.

Ryan von Bergheim

Assistant Principal

This term at St Thomas’ we are continuing one of our many initiatives from The Green Team:

Nude Food Tuesday

‘Nude food’ is food without excess packaging, meaning less waste goes to landfill. Durable and re-usable containers are a great way to bring food to school, providing long term cost savings and environmental benefits.

Members of the green team will be on the lookout for the year level with the least amount of waste each week.

Below are some links to tips and ideas when creating a ‘nude food’ lunch for your child.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mN4pdClNsdM

http://www.wow.sa.gov.au/nude-food.html

https://www.kidspot.com.au/kitchen/galleries/lunch-box-ideas/11-quick-and-easy-ways-to-make-a-nude-food-lunch-box

https://mumsgrapevine.com.au/2015/01/nude-food-lunch/

St Thomas’ Athletics Carnival: The St. Thomas' Athletic Carnival will take place next Friday 24 August. Fingers crossed for a day of beautiful weather.

Vac Swim: With swimming pools and beaches a big part of the Western Australian lifestyle, ensuring your children can swim competently and safely is essential.

You can now enrol your children in VacSwim swimming lessons during the October and December/January school holidays.

VacSwim is for all children - from beginners to more advanced swimmers and young people doing their Bronze Medallion. Your children can start as young as five years old.

Your children can join in the fun of learning to swim at pools and open water venues across the State. Enrol your children in VacSwim now at education.wa.edu.au/swimming

Hello everyone!

We have had lots of fun completing activities during the past two weeks such as Yo-yo making, Lego Challenge activity, Blow Painting, Charades, Pictionary and Superhero Craft. We have had fun “Learning Chinese” with Taka and had a healthy biscuit cooking activity. For our weather week theme, we have been busy making Paper Plate Weather Chart, Paper Plate Umbrella, Rainbow Paper, Raindrop Suncatcher and Rain Cloud craft. We have learnt how to make a Cloud and a Storm in a Jar Science Experiment, it was fun! We have had Snowball Relay Race, Farmer Sam Tag Game and a Badminton match. We had an incredible team effort in making our poster for the “Kids Club Art Competition”. Well done Extend kids!

Our Extend Superstars are:

Ivy for always being keen and enthusiastically sharing her thoughts, and for bringing joy to her friends with her cheerful attitude.

Levi for his high level of interest in sport and for his warm and friendly attitude.

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