St Thomas' News

FRIDAY 04 SEPTEMBER - St Thomas' Athletics Carnival PP - Y6

FRIDAY 11 SEPTEMBER - The Arts Show & Open Day for Prospective Students

TUESDAY 15 SEPTEMBER - Oracy Year 3 & Penance Parent/Child workshop 6-7 pm

WEDNESDAY 16 SEPTEMBER - Kings Park Excursion PP - Y6

THURSDAY 17 SEPTEMBER - EDU-DANCE Concert

TUESDAY 22 SEPTEMBER - School Photo Day

THURSDAY 24 SEPTEMBER - Last Day of Term for all students

2020 PUPIL FREE DAYS

Friday 25 September

Monday 12 October

Departing St Thomas': As we begin to plan for next year. Just a friendly reminder that you need to give one full terms notice in writing to the office if your child is not returning to St Thomas' in 2021. Student Departure Forms can be emailed to you or collected from the front office.

This means we need to be notified by the last day of this term (Term Three) 25 SEPTEMBER 2020. This does not apply to current Year Six students.

Please ensure you give the required notification to avoid the terms penalty fee. Notifications received after 25 September 2020 will incur a full terms fee.

Kindergaren 2021/2022: If you have a child commencing Kindy in 2021 or 2022 please ensure we have received your application. Both these years are nearly full.

Thank you

Administration

God our Father in heaven, Bless all the fathers in the world.

We ask that you guide them to be good role models

and loving to their children.

We also ask that you help them to be a father like you are.

Give them grace and patience to handle situations in a loving way.

Amen

Busy Bee

It was lovely to see so many of our families helping out at the school busy bee on Sunday afternoon. The school grounds look amazing! A big thank you to Joep Vaessen, Bianca Della Vedova and Sarah Chatfield for co-ordinating the event, to the P & F members for providing a sausage sizzle for all to enjoy, and everyone who assisted on the day. We are so blessed to belong to such a wonderful school community.

Sacramental Program Year 3 – Reconciliation

As part of their preparation for the Sacrament of Reconciliation, the Year 3 students attended a retreat on Wednesday led by Sr Catherine Warner, one of our Presentation Sisters. A big thank you to Mrs Sullivan and Mr Dwyer for their preparation and organisation of the day. Please keep the Year 3 students in your prayers as they continue their preparation.

Open Morning/Art Show

Next Friday 11 September St Thomas’ will host an Open Morning followed by our Biannual Art Show. The Open Morning is for prospective families, whereas the Art Show is open to all parents and friends. As the Art Show is essentially outdoors, we can safely go ahead with the event as long as we take into account our social distancing guidelines. It has been exciting to see the class art pieces come together with the assistance of parent helpers. These art pieces will be auctioned using a silent auction format on the day. Please see the flyer above to view the times of the Art Show.

Edudance

We are fortunate to have the opportunity to have the Edudance program rescheduled to Term 3, as all Term 2 bookings were cancelled due to COVID-19. Unfortunately, we have been unable to secure a venue big enough for our school community to view the concert given the indoor restrictions of social distancing. So that all parents are able to view their child’s dance, a videographer has been engaged to film the dance for each year level. All parents will be provided with a link to view the video. I appreciate that this is not ideal however it is a compromise that we have had to make so that parents can view the dance. Due to publication of images restrictions, we ask that video's are not uploaded onto social media and thank you for your support in this matter.

Athletics Carnival

Information for about the Athletics Carnival this Friday was emailed yesterday to parents and caregivers along with a schedule of events. This information is also available below. The carnival will be held at McGillivray Oval and parents are asked to drop their children to the oval ready for a 9.30am start. A reminder that the earliest time students may be dropped off is 8.45am as staff will be setting up equipment prior to the start. As this is an outdoor event, larger numbers are able to attend however we ask that you follow social distancing requirements. A big thank you to all parents who have offered to assist on the day to ensure the smooth running of the program.

Father's Day

On Sunday we celebrate Father’s Day. The best present we can give our dad is to spend some special time with him and let him know we appreciate all he does for our family. We hope all our Dads, Grandfathers and fathering figures in our community have a wonderful Father’s Day on Sunday.

Have a wonderful week.

May God bless you

Natalia Thomson

Principal

Congratulations to the Year 4 students who received the Sacrament of Eucharist last Friday evening. Special thanks to Mrs Meyers and Father Wayne for preparing our students for this special Sacrament

Jo Myers is our resident Scientist in Schools. Jo ran a Marine Debris course for Year 4. They looked at litter in the marine environment and how it represents both a hazard to marine life as well as an unwanted source of pollution. They will continue to look at what we can do using the ‘R’ principals (Reduce, Replace, Reuse, Recycle).

St Thomas’ E-Challengers put on a Science Extravaganza for the entire school. Their task was to entertain an audience, taking into consideration that the ages ranged from 4-54, with a ‘WOW’ experiment and explaining the science behind it. We had hydraulic arms, vacuum chambers, dried ice, lolly snakes turning into glass, paperclips with memories and of course a colourful bicarb and vinegar explosion. The task involved higher order thinking skills and allowed the E-Challenge group to take it as far as they wanted to as the open-ended task had no boundaries. At St Thomas’, we encourage all children to use their gifts and talents to extend and enrich their learning opportunities.

St Thomas’ Chess Club faced many challenges in Semester 1 with COVID restrictions but still managed to play in the true spirit of the game. Well done to the entire team and congratulations to our tournament winners.

The St Thomas’ School Board met on Tuesday 25th August.

It’s great to see the school back in full swing, with so many activities happening and planned for the remainder of the term. Mrs Thomson outlined what’s happening around the school in line with the CEWA Guidelines and the St Thomas Strategic Plan:

• Catholic Identity – The Year 4’s held a beautiful retreat day for the celebration of the Eucharist, followed by a beautiful first communion, prayer services are happening in lieu of mass.
• Education – Heaps going on! The Art is being prepared for the Art show on the 11th September, Years 3&4 started Oracy, and the 5&6’s are preparing for their interschool debating next week. Coral speaking is getting strong support and several students have entered the performing Arts festival. The kindies are having a Pyjama day while the PP’s and 1’s are celebrating 101 days at school.
• Community – The dad’s are organising the Dwellingup Camp Out, the Class reps are ready to make the Art show the best ever, the school has been spruced up at the Busy bee with a great turnout last Saturday. PARTY TIME – SAVE THE DATE – NOVEMBER 14TH (more to come)
• Stewardship – We’ve had the Govt Census, a CEWA Wifi Audit, a briefing on new IT plans and the release of the new CEWA delegations of Authority.

Mrs Thomson also outlined plans for the school Open Day on the morning of the 11 September, where we welcome prospective families into our community.

Phew……

The Board discussed the plans for Edudance this year due to COVID19 requirements, which will be moving online following an in school performance on Thursday 17th. Stay tuned for further details.

The Maintenance Crew outlined exciting plans for the school, with new Bike rack’s being installed, the commencement of the new nature play area later in the term (yay!). The school gates have been repaired twice so far this term! So we have new gates and front fence coming soon, and the basketball Court will be resealed over the summer!

Mrs Meyers Marketing Crew outlined our latest social adventures resulting in a 10% increase to over 5,000 views and open day advertising in the Post last week.

The Board considered the half yearly results and revised budget, with the Board committing to completing it’s capital plans for the year on the back of promising school enrolment numbers forecast for next year.

Finally, Mr Greg Ward, the school Improvement Advisor from CEWA outlined planned changes to the Catholic Education System Delegations of Authority which are being developed following Corporatisation of CEWA last year. The Board is working closely with CEWA on these changes and are looking forward to contributing to the ongoing discussion.

The St Thomas’ School Board continues to work closely with the Principal, staff and community of St Thomas’ to deliver the best Primary School educational experience your money can buy in the western suburbs!

JP – Board Chair

Encourage kids to be problemsolvers by Michael Grose

When parents solve all children’s problems we not only increase their dependency on adults but we teach kids to be afraid of making mistakes and to blame themselves for not being good enough. That’s fertile ground for anxiety and depressive illness. So, how can we raise kids to be courageous problem-solvers rather than self-critical scaredy cats? Here are six practical ideas to get you started.

1. Turn requests into problems for kids to solve Kids get used to bringing their problems to parents to solve. If you keeping solving them, they’ll keep bringing them. ‘Mum, my sister is annoying me!’ ‘Dad, can you ask my teacher to pick me for the team?’ ‘Hey, I can’t find my socks!’ It’s tempting if you are in a time-poor family to simply jump in and help kids out. Alternatively, you can take a problem-solving approach, cuing them to resolve their own problems and take responsibility for their concerns. ‘What can you do to make her stop annoying you?’ ‘What’s the best approach to take with your teacher?’ ‘Socks, smocks! Where might they be?’

2. Ask good questions to prompt problem-solving. A problem-solving approach relies on asking good questions, which can be challenging if you are used to solving your child’s problems. The first question when a child brings you a problem should be: ‘Can you handle this on your own?’ Next should be, ‘What do you want me to do to help you solve the problem?’ These questions are not meant to deter children from coming to you; rather, to encourage and teach them to start working through their own concerns themselves.

3. Coach them through problems and concerns. So, your child feels she was unfairly left out of a school sports team by a teacher and asks you get involved. The easiest solution may be to meet with the teacher and find out what’s going on. You may or may not resolve the problem but in doing so you are teaching a child to become dependent on you. Alternatively, you could coach your child to speak to the teacher herself and find out why she was left out. Obviously, there are times when children need their parents to be advocates for them such as when they are being bullied, but we need to make the most of the opportunities for children to speak for themselves. Better to help your child find the right words to use and discuss the best way to approach another person when they have problems. These are great skills to take into adulthood.

4. Prepare kids for problems and contingencies. You may coach your child to be independent – walk to school, spend some time alone at home (when old enough), catch a train with friends – but does he know what to do in an emergency? What happens if he comes home after school and the house is locked? Who should he go to? Discuss different scenarios with children whenever they enter new or potentially risky situations so that they won’t fall apart when things don’t go their way. Remember the Boy Scouts motto – be prepared!

5. Show a little faith. Sometimes you’ve got to show faith in children. We can easily trip them up with our negative expectations, such as by saying ‘Don’t spill it!’ to a child who is carrying a glass filled with water. Of course, your child doesn’t want to spill it, but you’ve just conveyed your expectations with that statement. We need to be careful that we don’t sabotage children’s efforts to be independent problem-solvers with comments such as, ‘Now don’t stuff it up!’ ‘You’ll be okay … won’t you?’ ‘You’re not very good at looking after yourself!’

6. Applaud mistakes and stuff-ups. Would a child who accidentally breaks a plate in your family while emptying the dishwasher be met with a ‘That’s really annoying, you can be clumsy sometimes’ response or an ‘It doesn’t matter, thanks for your help’ type of response? Hopefully it won’t be the first response, because nothing shuts a child’s natural tendencies to extend themselves down quicker than an adult who can’t abide mistakes.If you have a low-risk-taking, perfectionist, consider throwing a little party rather than making a fuss when they make errors so they can learn that mistakes don’t reflect on them personally, and that the sun will still shine even if they break a plate, tell a joke that falls flat or don’t get a perfect examination score.

Michael Grose, founder of Parenting Ideas, is one of Australia’s leading parenting educators. He’s the author of 10 books for parents including Thriving! and the bestselling Why First Borns Rule the World and Last Borns Want to Change It, and his latest release Spoonfed Generation: How to raise independent children.

ST THOMAS ATHLETICS CARNIVAL

Tomorrow it’s the St Thomas’ Athletics Carnival at McGillivray Oval, UWA Sport Park from 9.30am – 2.30pm. Students have been busy preparing during sport lessons and on Friday afternoons.

All students must be dropped off at McGillivray Oval, UWA Sport Park from 8.45am – 9.00am no earlier please.

At the conclusion of the day, parents must see the child’s classroom teacher before they are dismissed

Sent home yesterday was information for the parents and a copy of the program. Please note times are approximate. Please refer to the permission note sent earlier in the term for other information.

Unfortunately, this year we are unable to secure a coffee van due to COVID and those vans who are in business are already booked for other carnivals.

We look forward seeing parents and friends attending tomorrow’s carnival.

Jumps and Throws

This year we have changed the format of the carnival so that all events can take place on the day and the Jumps and Throws were completed last week at school.

There were a number of records broken and these recipients will be recognized for their efforts. Well done to all of the students as you all were amazing and your results go towards champion and faction points.

Upcoming events:

Interschool Athletics Carnival – Thursday 24 September

Sharon Seaman

Physical Education Teacher

St Thomas Athletics Carnival Information for parents

General Information

All parents and spectators are required to sit in the designated areas. Please observe COVID-19 restrictions that are still in place, including the 1.5 metre social distancing. Parents are not permitted to enter the faction bays, approach the finish line or run on the track and will be asked to return to the parent’s area. Any parents who come into this area will be asked to move and races will not commence until parents are in the designated parents and spectator area.

We encourage all spectators to please support all of the participants and the judge’s decision no matter the result. There will be no discussion on final places as all finish line results will be recorded by the timing gates and chief judges.

Photos and Filming

Parents may take photos and film their own child. Please check all photos contain images of your child only prior to posting on social media

Official Roles

Only parents who are in official roles are permitted on the track or recording tent when they are performing an official duty.

Lunch Break

During the lunch break, parents are able to have lunch with their child outside of the Faction Bays. Please be aware that if you remove your child from the Faction Bay you

are responsible for them. Please inform the Faction Bay supervisors if you would like to take your own child from the bay to have lunch. An announcement will be made when children need to return to the Faction Bays for the Carnival to resume.

At this stage we do not have a coffee van available for the day.

Parking

Parking is available at HBF stadium and at the carpark south of the oval. Please observe any parking signs in the area.

Coloured Hair Spray and Zinc

Coloured hair spray and coloured zinc must be applied at home. Children are not permitted to bring these items to the carnival and for the use of any other children.

Streamers and Balloons

We have been informed that crepe paper streamers and balloons are not permitted. If children are bringing streamers they must be made of ribbon or fabric.

Conclusion of the Carnival

All children will gather with their classroom teacher. Parents must see the class teacher and get their name ticked off the roll prior to departing the carnival.

St Thomas Athletics Carnival 2020

Order of Events

Approximate Times and Order of Events:

Starting time approximately 9.30am

PP Team Game

Yr 3-6 400m

PP Team Game

50m Yr 1-2, PP

200m Yr 3-6

PP Team Game

100m Yr 1-6

PP-2 Baton Exchange Relay

Yr 3-6 4 x 100m Relay

12.00 noon Lunch - PP’s Return to school

12.45pm Yr 1-6 Team Games

1.30pm Open Girls and Boys 800m

1.45pm Parents v Students v Staff Races

2.00pm Presentations

2.15pm Dismissal

Rory M in Year 4 plays at the Swanbourne Tigers Junior Football Club and would like to help them with their charity collection for FairGame WA. This is a WA charity which collects sports equipment and good-condition boots to send to remote WA communities so that people in these communities can play sport.

If you have any spare equipment (see list below), please bring it and put it in the FairGame WA basket so that it can go to people who will really appreciate it.

We are looking for the following equipment, which must of course be in good condition:

Footballs

Basketballs

Soccer Balls

Netballs

Cricket equipment

Softball and teeball equipment

Hockey sticks/balls

Sports boots or shoes (outgrown, MUST be good condition)

Thanks for your help!

Any questions, please email claremcilree@hotmail.com

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