Important Dates
TERM FOUR
Friday 16 October: Years 1-6 St Thomas’ Cross Country Carnival
Saturday 17 - Sunday 18 October: Dad's & Children's Campout - Dwellingup
Wednesday 21 October: Book Week Dress Up Parade 9am
Thursday 22 October: Gym sessions K - PP
Friday 23 October: Gym Sessions Yrs 1 & 2
Monday 26 October: Interschool Cross Country (selected students)
Monday 26 October: P&F Meeting 7pm - all welcome
Tuesday 27 October: iPad Information Day (current Y2 students) 2pm
Thursday 29 October: Leukaemia Crazy Sock Free Dress Day - gold coin donation
Thursday 29 October: Cyber Safety Information for parents 6-7 pm
Friday 30 October: Y6 Confirmation 5:30 pm
Wednesday 04 November: Interschool Chess
Saturday 07 - Sunday 08 November - Y6 families Ledge Point Weekend
Friday 13 November: Yrs 5 & 6 Cricket Carnival
Saturday 14 November: St Thomas' Party
Monday 16 November: Night of the Notables - selected Y4-6 students
Tuesday 17 November: Volunteers Morning Tea - by invitation
Monday 23 November: P&F Meeting 7 pm
Monday 23 November - Friday 04 December: Swimming lessons PP - Y6
Thursday 26 November: AGM 7 pm
Friday 27 November: School Disco
Tuesday 08 December: Christmas Concert
Wednesday 09 December: Graduation Mass & Graduation Dinner
Thursday 10 December: Reports issued
Friday 11 December: End of school year for students
A Parents' Prayer
I know they are a gift from you.
Each day I need your strength and wisdom to guide
them on the right path.
Give me patience and a joyful heart.
Let me be an example of your love and forgiveness.
Thank you, God, for the honour and privilege of being a parent.
Amen
Dear Parents and Friends
Welcome back to school after the holidays. It was lovely to see all the smiles as students returned to school on Tuesday. Term 4 will be busy with Reconciliation, Confirmation, the Cross Country and Interschool Athletics Carnivals, the Interschool Chess Competition, Night of the Notables for enrichment students, Year 6 Surfing, our Annual School Community Meeting, Graduation and various end of year meetings and activities.
Term 4 events have been added to the Term Planner. Please ensure that you check the calendar and newsletter regularly for any updates. The calendar on the website is fluid, so please check for any changes throughout the term. Just a reminder that our school-managed Facebook page is also a great way to keep up to date with what is happening. Search for ‘St Thomas’ School’ on Facebook and ‘like’ our page.
Camp Out
The Dad’s Campout in Dwellingup this weekend is set to be an fantastic event with 130 booked to attend. This overnight camp is a wonderful opportunity for Dad’s and Father figures, to enjoy some dedicated time with their kids as well as getting to know other people within the community. A big thank you to Joep Vaessen and the team of Dad’s organising this event. We look forward to hearing all about the camp on your return.
Cross Country Carnival
This Friday students from Years 1-6 will participate in our Cross Country Carnival. This event usually takes place earlier in the year however COVID restrictions prevented this from occurring. A big thank you to Mrs Seaman for preparing this event and organising it to fit into a very busy term. We are also thankful to our parent helpers who will be assisting on the day.
Sacraments
Students in Year 3 are preparing to receive their First Reconciliation and students in Year 6 are preparing to receive their Confirmation. Both Sacraments will be celebrated in week 3 of this term. Please keep these students in your prayers.
Excellence in action!
Congratulations to our talented Year 3 & 4 Oracy students, our Academic All Star Champions from Year 5 and our amazing Tournament of the Minds competitors for 2020. Some outstanding results!
A big thank you to Mrs Keatch for preparing our students for these challenging events and to all our students for excelling in these activities. Please see more information and photos below.
Cyber Safety App
With funding from Bankwest, the Telethon Kids Institute has developed a cyber safety educational app designed to keep parents and carers up to date with trusted, tailored information to help them teach their children to interact safely online. The Beacon app is the result of a decade of WA research on children’s technology use, cyber safety, and parent behaviour. The app aims to provide parents and carer with knowledge and skills to help children thrive in a digital world by building their capacity to support children to use digital technology in a positive way. The app delivers reliable information backed by research and behavioural science, as well as ideas, strategies and personalised support.
St Thomas’ as part of CEWA, through our Child Safe Framework, is committed to modelling healthy, respectful relationships for our students both in the physical and online environments. The “Beacon: Cyber Safety” app is available to download now for both Android and iOS. Parents you may want to use this app with your children to support the understanding of cyber safety.
Cyber Safety Information Session for Parents
We are pleased to offer parents a Cyber Safety presentation by Y-Safe, Australia’s leading provider of cyber safety information. Students from Years 3-6 will attend a session on Cyber Safety during the day appropriate to their year level. A parent session is scheduled for Thursday 29 October from 6-7pm. Please view information below which also contains a link to register. Babysitting will be available in the Library for parents who wish to attend.
Nature Playground
The Nature Play Project situated on the back corner of the bottom oval was due to commence this week, however, we have just been advised that this project will now commence in early November. This exciting initiative will provide another play area within the school to cater for the needs of our students. Plans have been put into place to ensure that students still have sufficient play space during the construction phase of the project.
Book Week Dress Up Parade
The theme for Children's Book Week 2020 is 'Curious Creatures, Wild Minds'. Students are invited to dress up a book character on Wednesday 21 October. A dress up parade will be held at 9am on the top oval. As the event will be outside, parents may attend the parade, but are asked to social distance on the perimeter of the top oval.
Leukemia Fundraiser
On Thursday 29 October we will be raising money for the Leukemia Foundation. Students are invited to wear crazy/funny/silly/colourful pair of socks with their sports uniform and bring a gold coin donation for this worthy cause.
May God bless your week
Natalia Thomson
Principal
Academic All Stars Tournament
Academic All Stars Tournament is an interschool, Year 5, multi-disciplined competition comprising of challenges in the following areas: Chess, Engineering, Poetry, Art, English, Mathematics, General Knowledge and Drama.
St Thomas’ came first in the Chess, Poetry and Drama divisions and became All Stars Champions for 2020. We will be hosting the competition in 2021. Congratulations to our talented Year 5 All Stars Champions.
School Fees
Should you be experiencing financial difficulties please ensure you contact Leanne Hancock on finance@stthomas.wa.edu.au to discuss payment options. All arrangements are strickly confidential.
Tournament of Minds (TOM)
An Australian educational program challenging the world to develop problem solving skills
Tournament of Minds (TOM) offers teams of primary and secondary students the opportunity to solve authentic, open-ended challenges that foster creative, divergent thinking whilst developing collaborative enterprise, excellence and teamwork.
Our talented St Thomas’ ToMs team competed in the 2020 Super Challenge. We will be awarding their certificates and showing their video at Morning Gathering Monday 19 October.
Oracy
Oracy - the ability to express oneself fluently and grammatically in speech.
St Thomas’ offers an Oracy course for all Year 3 and Year 4 students where each student presents a 2 minute Oral Presentation, a Memorised Poem, an Excerpt from a book and the opportunity to Listen and Respond. Both the Year 3 and Year 4 classes presented with confidence and enthusiasm.
Sports News
INTERSCHOOL ATHLETIC RESULTS 2020
On Thursday 24 September, 55 students represented our school at the Interschool Athletics Carnival at the WA State Athletics centre.
St Thomas’ came 2nd overall which was the highest achievement the school has placed and a top 3 finish in all of the divisions. A massive congratulations to all of the students for your efforts in the lead up and on the day. A big congratulations to Saskia Brogan (Year 3) who broke two records; Year 3 Interschool 400m record with a time of 1.18.98 (previous record 1.20.30) and the Interschool Year 3 Teeball throw with a huge throw of 28.34m (previous record 22.92). Congratulations and well done Saskia.
The results are below:
Overall winning school
2nd St Thomas’
Girls trophy
3rd St Thomas’
Boys Trophy
2nd St Thomas’
Most Improved school
2nd St Thomas’
UPCOMING EVENTS
St Thomas Cross Country Carnival - Friday 16th October 2020
The Cross Country Carnival will be held at Rowe Park on Friday 16 October. The carnival format has changed as it be a morning session with two year groups walking down to Rowe Park together, running their event and presentations will be awarded at the conclusion of those two year groups.
Parents are welcome to attend but will need to observe COVID 19 social distancing guidelines.
The approximate time for the races are as follows, but please be aware that races may begin 10 minutes earlier or later.
Time Class Distance
9.00am Yr 3 1000m – 2 laps
9.15am Yr 4 1250m – 2 ½ laps
Presentations - Years 3 and 4
9.30am Yr 1 500m – 1 lap
9.45am Yr 2 750m – 1 ½ laps
Presentations - Years 1 and 2
10.00am Yr 5 1750m – 3 ½ laps
10.15am Yr 6 2000m – 4 laps
Presentations - Years 5 and 6
A final presentation for the overall faction and spirit award recipients will be presented at the conclusion of the day at St Thomas Primary school at 2.45pm.
Participation: Each class will participate in their race and return to school to continue with their regular school day. As this is a school event, all students are expected to participate in their class event.
On the day, students wear their faction sports uniform and bring a water bottle. It would be wise to bring rainwear, a change of clothes and a towel in case of wet weather. All items brought to school should be clearly marked with the students name.
Cancellation: Cancellation, if necessary due to extreme weather, will be made by 8.30am on the day of the carnival.
Parent helpers: Volunteers are a very important part of the smooth running of our carnival and we will require assistance of 6 parents to help with marshalling around the course for the morning. No experience is necessary, you just need to encourage the children as they run around the course. If you can help on the day please let me know as soon as possible Sharon.seaman@cewa.edu.au
At this stage I have no parental assistance. If you are coming along to watch your child and if you are able to stand at a checkpoint and encourage the children running, can you please let me know.
Presentations: At the conclusion of two year group at a time, presentations will be made at Rowe Park. Final presentations of the overall faction winner and spirit award will be held at St Thomas at 2.45pm on Friday 16th October.
Years 3-6 students: Those students who finish in the top five will represent the school at the Interschool Cross Country held on Monday 26th October.
Monday 26th October – Interschool Cross Country carnival, Dianella Reserve, Light street. This will be from 11.30am and details will follow in a permission note to those students are who representing the school.
If there are parents who can assist with marshalling on the course, no experience necessary please email Sharon.seaman@cewa.edu.au
TBC - Friday 13th November – Year 5/6 Cricket and Tennis carnival – Scarborough Tennis club/Abbett Park.
Parent Cyber Safety Presentation
Protecting children in their digital worlds is an ever-evolving task for Australian families. Now more than ever parents are looking for guidance in how to manage screen time and navigate the world of games and social media.
We are therefore pleased to help our parent community by offering a crucial and engaging education session with ySafe, Australia’s leading provider of cyber safety education. This practical, strategy-rich session will cover the most important points that all families need to know about online safety, covering key information about social media and gaming, screen time recommendations and step-by-step instructions on how to set up a cyber safe home for kids of all ages.
If you’ve ever struggled with getting your kids off their games and into bed, worried about the content of the games that they are playing or felt concerned that your child was spending too much time in the digital world, this workshop is for you!
The session at St Thomas’ will held on Thursday 29 October in the Hall from 6-7pm.
Babysitting will be provided in the Library.
Once you have registered for the session, you will receive a reminder about the event the day before the session. You will also be sent an information summary and follow-up resources after the session.
Please register for this event by following the link provided. This is an important school event for all parents to attend. http://bit.ly/stthomasparents
North Cottesloe Coldwater Classic
The annual North Cottesloe Cold Water Classic will be held this Sunday 18 October. Please get involved to support this worthy cause. All funds raised go to support awareness for the Leukaemia Foundation. If swimming isn’t your thing there is a beach walk with a gold coin donation.
https://www.northcottcoldwaterclassic.com
Before School Tennis Lessons
Enrol in tennis for term 4! The sessions are held before-school (typically 7.45-8.30am) and are a great way to introduce your child to tennis. Book online at www.tennisfactory.com.au/enrol/ click on GROUP LESSON > ST. THOMAS PRIMARY or email us at admin@tennisfactory.com.au
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