St Thomas' News

St Thomas’ Primary School is part of a faith community centred on the life of Jesus, as expressed in our Motto,

‘Together in Christ’

Our Vision is to 'Educate the Whole Child' and empower learners as global citizens, to be curious, collaborative, creative and critical thinkers, inspired by Christ.

We thank you Lord, for this term.

For the challenges, the successes,

and the mistakes from which we have learnt.

Be with us as we spend our time with family and friends.

Give us strength and courage to do what is right;

to be witnesses of our faith.

Help us to be a practical Christian these holidays,

to appreciate what others do for us,

to give time and effort to help others,

to be peacemakers in our family.

Keep us safe in our activities;

give us good rest and good fun.

Bring us back refreshed and ready for a new term.

We thank you for our classmates, teachers, parents

and a community that cares for us.

May we always be conscious of you in our lives. Amen

A friendly reminder that Friday 22 September is a Pupil Free Day.

• TERM THREE

Thursday 21 September - Last day Term Three for students

Friday 22 September - Pupil Free Day

• TERM FOUR

Monday 9 October - Students return - first day of Term Four

Friday 8 December - Final day of the year for students

Please remember dates of events can be subject to change

(Full 2023 term dates at the end of this newsletter)

STAFFING

We wish Miss Lee and Miss Mulholland the very best for their upcoming weddings over the next few weeks. Parents of students in Pre-primary and Year Five have been advised of staffing changes, with Mrs Azzopardi taking Pre-primary whilst Miss Lee is away, and Mrs Cloud stepping in for Miss Mulholland for the first two weeks of next term in Year Five. Miss Antulov will take the Year Two class next term whilst Mrs MacDonald takes maternity leave.

INTERSCHOOL ATHLETICS

Congratulations to our interschool Athletics team at Tuesday’s carnival at the State Athletics Stadium. St Thomas’ place 2nd in the girls overall, 2nd in the boys overall, and finished 2nd in overall points. A remarkable achievement showing excellence on the track and in field events. Of particular note was the outstanding behaviour and sportsmanship noted by staff, parents and other schools. A massive thank you to Mrs Seaman for her tireless work within our Physical Education and Sport program. Sharon coordinated the event yesterday, and its seamless running is a result of her organisation and planning, as well as her attention to detail, which gives our students the opportunity to shine in the sporting domain. Thank you also to the parents who attended to support the students, and a massive well done to the students who participated.

CONGRATUALTIONS

The Catholic Performing Arts Festival has concluded for 2023. Multiple shields, excellence and merit awards have been presented to students, and I commend them on sharing their talents with the wider Catholic schools community. Well done to all participants!

We also congratulate William Swift (Year Five) for advancing through to the finals of the Speak Up awards. William progressed through the stages in ths state-wide competition, and is congratulated on making through to the final 12 speakers in the state. Congratulations William!

NATIONAL EA DAY

Last Wednesday the staff celebrated National Education Assistants Day with a morning tea. St Thomas’ is blessed to have such a dedicated Education Assistant group who support the teaching and learning program. Thank you EAs for the special you role you play in the students’ education journey.

ABSENTEES ADVICE

When a student is absent from school, I ask parents to email St Thomas’ admin and the child’s teacher. If advice is not received, an SMS will be sent to parents, and subsequently a phone call to account for their child. This process happens on a daily occurrence, so we ask for parents to advise the school and teacher every day their child is away, including if the student was absent the day prior. Please sign your child in at the office if your child presents to school after 9am.

INTERIM REPORTS

Please note that the Term Three Interim reports are now live through Seqta. Kindergarten received hard copies of their report on Monday. Pre-primary students’ reports were made available in Week Eight due to Miss Lee’s leave for her wedding. Year Two parents will be informed of their reports as soon as they are made available. Thank you for your support with our school reporting process.

PUPIL FREE DAY - THIS FRIDAY 22/9

Term Three concludes this Thursday 21 September. Term Four commences on Monday 9 October. This Friday, staff will be working on understanding the Sacraments and Faith Formation with Sr Catherine Warner. A gentle reminder that the school year concludes on Friday 8 December, and all students should attend until this date, although we understand the lure of families beginning the holidays period early. Thank you for your understanding in this regard.

Mr Heath Nankivell

Acting Principal

Its that time of year when final planning is underway for the following school year. Should your child/ren not be continuing at St Thomas' Primary in 2024 please ensure you contact our office and request a Student Departure Form today.

A full terms notice must be given in writing to avoid the penalty of a terms school fees, so please ensure you contact the office and return the required paperwork on or before the last student day of this term (TOMORROW - Thursday 21 September, 2023).

If your child/ren is continuing there is no need to contact our office their enrolment will be automatically rolled over.

Thank you for your continued support and assisting us in planning for the 2024 school year!

This term has been a busy term for Science with not only the usual curriculum learning in the Physical Sciences strand taking place but with Science Week occurring as well as some students submitting entries for the STAWA Science Talent Search 2023.

Pre-Primary

The Pre-Primaries have been learning about movement, in particular how things move depending on their size and shape, making their own moving toy based on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander toys.

Year 1

Year Ones have learnt about natural and artificial sources of light as well as investigating sound, focusing on how different actions are used on musical instruments to make sounds which can vary in volume and pitch, and making their own musical instruments.

Year 2

Year Twos have studied Pushes and Pulls, investigating how pushes and pulls affect the way an object moves or changes shape, and making their own toys that use a push and/or a pull.

Year 3

Year Threes’ topic was Heat, ask them about conduction, insulations, convection, and how heat is made; they enjoyed playing with Themochromatic playdough which changed colour as their hands heated it up.

Year 4

Year Fours have also looked at forces and Newton’s Laws of Motion, investigating how the magnitude and direction of a force affects an object, as well as investigating magnetism and how forces can be exerted on objects through direct and indirect contact.

Year 5

Year Fives’ topic on light this term had them making a torch light maze where they had to hit a target with their beam of light using their knowledge of reflection, they have learnt about the eye and how our brain interprets signals to turn them into images, they have investigated refraction and learnt how we see objects’ colours. They used their knowledge of shadows to write and act out a shadow puppet show.

Year 6

Year Six have enjoyed their topic on Electricity; they have learnt about different components of electrical circuits, what series and parallel circuits are, and have carried out an investigation into which materials are good conductors of electricity. They have looked at more sustainable forms of energy and completed calculations to discover how much money and energy can be saved by making a few energy saving tricks.

Science Week

Science Week’s theme this year was Innovation. Years 3-6 listened to a talk from Mr. Travers about how he has been involved in many innovations including West Australian, Barry Marshall’s, Nobel Prize winning innovation for stomach ulcer treatment. Mr. Travers grew up in Floreat, just like some of our students, and told us that if he could be involved in things like that then so could we and we don’t have to wait until we’re older to start. All years from Pre-Primary to Year 6 had a chance to innovate by making improved paper planes and string and cup phones.

STAWA Science Talent Search

The Science Teacher’s Association of WA’s Talent Search judging is ongoing, St Thomas’s entered some incredible posters and photography entries, well done to all of those who produced an entry, the quality was of a very high standard and we’ll keep our fingers crossed for some wins when we get the results in Term 4!

INTERSCHOOL ATHLETICS CARNIVAL

On Tuesday 19 September, 48 students represented our school at the Interschool Athletics carnival at the WA State Athletics centre.

Overall, St Thomas came 2nd, being separated between 1st and 2nd place by 15 points which is an amazing result.

The Boys and Girls overall both finished 2nd and we just missed out on the Most Improved school by 3 points.

In my time here at St Thomas, these are the highest our students have placed, and I am so very proud of everyone for their dedication to training and performance on the day.

Well done to those students who run up a division and/or filled in events for those students who were unable to attend. Once again, the student’s behaviour was immaculate and admired their sportsmanship way of supporting one another all day. A huge credit to everyone for finishing their races and performing at the jump and throws stations. Well done St Thomas’.

Kind regards,

Sharon Seaman

Physical Education Specialist Teacher

Well done to everyone in the school for creating beautiful and inspiring art works so far this year.

We look forward to exhibiting all of your art in 2024 in our next big Arts Exhibition at our school.

Some children’s works where chosen to represent our school at the annual Angelico Exhibition this year.

Unfortunately, we are only able to select a few of the amazing art pieces from our school for the Angelico Exhibition.

The children who were selected this year are:

Susana Q year 2

Elizabeth G Year 3

Ha D Year 4

Annabel H Year 5

Arielle P Year 5

Harrison C Year 5

Miriam S Year 6

Congratulations to these children.

I am very proud of your work, and I am looking forward to seeing everyone’s work up in the exhibition next year.

If you would like to view the arts works online, please see the link here.

Keep on being arty!

Mrs Byrne

Visual Arts Specialist

'Parenting Principles for our Digital Natives' is a free webinar that is being run this term presented by Claire Orange, the founder of Best Programs 4 Kids and the Highway Heroes program. Parents can view at no cost - Parenting Principles for our Digital Natives. This practical webinar steps parents through what's actually happening in the online space and how to manage their child's access effectively. It's a no-nonsense 45-minute exploration of the big issues we're facing and the most practical ways to start tackling them.

Access the webinar here.

Enrolments are now open for VacSwim swimming lessons during the summer school holidays. VacSwim offers fun lessons at beach or pool locations. They are a great school holiday activity and they teach valuable safety skills to help keep your child safe in the water. Enrol at education.wa.edu.au/vacswim

Instrumental music lessons are available at St Thomas' Primary. Children can learn voice, keyboard, piano, violin, drums, guitar and flute. Please contact the school office for a music form if your child is interested in commencing music lessons in 2023.

At St Thomas', we are keen to start a school community directory to support the family and friends of our school. If you have a small business that you would like to share, promote and support, please complete the form on this LINK

• TERM 1
• Wednesday 1 February - Thursday 6 April
• TERM 2
• Wednesday 26 April – Friday 30 June
• TERM 3
• Tuesday 18 July – Thursday 21 September
• TERM 4
• Monday 09 October – Friday 9 December

Pupil free days:

Monday 24 April

Friday 2 June

Monday 17 July

Friday 18 August

Friday 22 September

Public Holidays

Monday 6 March (Labour Day)

Friday 7 April (Good Friday)

Tuesday 25 April (ANZAC Day)

Monday 5 June (WA Day)

Monday 25 September (Kings birthday)

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