Important Dates
TERM ONE
Wednesday 31 March - Stations of the Cross 9am - Parents welcome
Thursday 1 April - Interschool Swimming Carnival - Years 3-6
Thursday 1 April - Last day of term for students
TERM TWO
Monday 19 April - Pupil Free Day
Tuesday 20 April - Students commence back at school
11 -21 May - NAPLAN Years 3 & 5
Dear Parents and Friends
Thank you for attending parent/teacher interviews this week. Communication is important and we recognise the important role that parents play in encouraging and motivating children to learn. We are keen to work in partnership with you to educate your child in a Christ centred, child focused environment. Please feel free to contact your class teacher if you wish to discuss your child's progress as we journey through the school year.
Harmony Day
It was wonderful to see so many students and staff wearing orange or cultural dress on Harmony Day. Harmony Day celebrations commenced with a prayer service acknowledging that ‘Everyone Belongs’. A beautiful song sung by the Choir students ‘I am the Earth’ and activities with our buddies, was topped off by a ‘A taste of Italy’ provided by our P & F and Nonno Joe playing his accordion. A big thank you to Bianca Della Vedova, our P & F President, and her wonderful team, for their contributions, and to all our staff for organising the events on the day.
Disco
A big thank you to the P & F Team, Mrs Gibbs, Year 6 parents, and all the parent helpers for organising the Disco last Friday evening. Students had an amazing time! DJ Shaun organized games throughout each session, and it was lovely to see Jewel Grosse (Year 6) amaze us with her DJ skills during the Year 3-6 session under the mentorship of DJ Shaun.
Kindergarten 2022 – Applications are now due
Enrolments are now being taken for siblings and new students wishing to commence Kindergarten at St Thomas’ in 2022. Families with children eligible for Kindergarten 2022 (born from July 2017-June 2018) are required to fill out a St Thomas’ Primary School Enrolment Form.
St Thomas’ will continue to operate a three day program next year with the days of attendance being Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
Kindergarten places are limited, so it is important that parents within the St Thomas’ Primary School community submit their applications as soon as possible. Forms can be obtained from the office or by accessing the following link.
https://www.stthomas.wa.edu.au/enrolment-form/
Mobile Phone Policy
Mobile phones and wearable devices are allowed on premises, but strict rules apply to their usage. Students will require permission from parents to bring a mobile phone to school. Our school Mobile Phone Policy for students may be accessed along with the permission form on the school website.
Mobile-Phone-Usuage-Policy.pdf
Link to Permission Form Student-Mobile-Phone-Permission-Form-2021-docx.pdf
Uniform Policy
Students in Years 1-6 will be wearing their winter uniform when they return after the school holidays. A reminder that jewellery and nail polish are not to be worn at school and students are required to tie back their hair if it is too long. Uniform requirements are outlined in our uniform policy on the website.
https://www.stthomas.wa.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Uniform-Policy-2020-5.pdf
Holy Week
As we approach Easter, the most important festival in the Christian calendar, we are reminded of God’s sacrifice of his son, and also God’s love for his people. Holy Week prayer at St Thomas’ Primary will include a ‘Journey to Cross’ sequence of prayers telling the Easter Story. On Wednesday, the Year 5 students will lead us in the Stations of the Cross. Parents are welcome to join us at 9am on Wednesday outside the hall for this liturgy.
Interschool Swimming Carnival
Wishing our Year 3-6 students all the very best in the Interschool Swimming Carnival next Thursday 1 April.
Term 2
Have a joyous Easter and a safe and restful holiday break. We look forward to seeing all of our students return to school on Tuesday 20 April in their winter uniform.
May God bless you and your family
Natalia Thomson
Principal.
Announcing the Performing Arts Captains for 2021!
Drama Club Captain- Archie R
Drama Club Vice Captain- Matilda G
Choir Captain- Maddison Z
Choir Vice Captain- Lauren S
Elected by their peers, these amazing year 6 arts leaders will be kept busy assisting with drama club and choir over the following months as the teams are working hard to prepare for the 2021 Catholic Performing Arts Festival. Applications for the 32nd Catholic Performing Festival have now opened and St Thomas Students will represent their school in Bible Reading, Solo Instrumental, Sacred and Choral Choir, Short Play, Monologue and Duologue Drama categories. An estimated 20000 students from 163 Catholic Schools across Western Australia will take part in this years festival hosted by a variety of venues across Perth throughout term 3. The festival offers our students not only the opportunity to perform in front of a live audience but also to participate with other like minded students who share a passionate for the arts. Further information regarding events will be forwarded to participants early in term 2.
Feast of St Joseph
This year Pope Francis has proclaimed as the ‘Year of St Joseph.’ In his letter ‘With A Father’s Heart’ Pope Francis describes St Joseph as a father who is much loved and loving, tender, obedient, accepting, creatively courageous, working and caring.
We recognise the attributes of St Joseph and the very special role that he had in the Holy Family as the father of Jesus and the husband of Mary. As a school we acknowledged the Feast of St Joseph with whole school prayer on Friday 19 March.
Prayer for St Joseph
You were receptive to God working in your life
You kept Jesus and Mary in your care
You taught Jesus your trade and prayers
You said ‘Yes’ to God’s plan and spent your life serving others.
May we be strengthened by your life of faithfulness and love and follow your example.
Amen.
Curriculum Corner
At St Thomas’ we identify that building strong oral language skills will assist a child in becoming a successful reader, a strong communicator, as well as increasing their confidence and overall sense of well-being. The ability to use oral language effectively will contribute towards a child’s ability to learn and progress, build relationships and achieve academic success. Below are some ideas that parents can do at home to build their child’s oral language skills at home:
· Children learn what they hear: Repeated exposure to words, books, and conversation allows a child to learn new words and develop strong oral language skills.
· Children learn words for things and events that interest them: Talk about what your child is interested in and showing curiosity in. Children will learn more when they are interested.
· Children learn best when they are engaged and interacting: Talk with your child rather than at them, expand on what your child says, comment on what your child is interested in and ask lots of questions.
· Children learn best in meaningful contexts: Play and engage with your child. This will allow greater learning opportunities.
· Children need to hear a wide range of examples of words and language structures: Talk with your child about lots of topics, read a wide range of books, sing songs and rhymes. Quality is important, not quantity.
Sport News
Tennis and Cricket Carnival – Friday 26th March
Wishing our Year 5 and 6 students all the best on Friday at this year’s Tennis and Cricket carnival. Thank you to the parent volunteers and staff who will be accompanying the teams on the day.
Cricket games will be held at Abbett park Scarborough and the Tennis games at Scarborough Tennis club (next door to Abbett Park). All parents and friends are welcome to attend.
Interschool Swimming Carnival – Thursday 1st April
Next Thursday, selected students in Years 3-6 will be representing the school at the Catholic Primary School Interschool swimming carnival. This will be held at HBF stadium from 9.30am – 2.30pm. All parents and friends are welcome at attend with an entry fee of $2.60. Students will need to wear St Thomas school bathers and the school will provide the swimming caps and an Interschool Top to wear on the day.
Good luck to everyone involved.
Mrs Sharon Seaman
Physical Education Teacher
Parents & Friends (P & F) News
The P&F was delighted to provide our St Thomas children with a “taste of Italy” to celebrate Harmony Day. We hope all our children enjoyed their fresh, locally made gelato to the sound of some traditional Italian music. Thank you to Mel Trend and Celeste Hartfield for your bellissimo gelato service.
Friday night saw our School Hall transform to an ocean cave under the sea full of mermaids, pirates, life savers and beach goers at our Oceans Disco!
Many thanks to the P&F Exec and the exceptional team of parent volunteers who worked tirelessly to ensure the Hall was superbly set up (and cleaned up!), the sausages were sizzling and served and a fun and safe night was had by all, and to our wonderful teachers who helped parents supervise the event.
Special thanks to Mrs Lila Gibbs and the Year 6 Class Reps Linda Foot, Ash Warren and Caroline Rubina Acuna for their hard work in helping organise the event. A big thank you to Party Town in Claremont and Northern Star Seafood who generously donated some under the sea decorations to help transform our hall. We are grateful to have such generous support from a local business in our community.
Thank you to everyone who completed our P&F Survey. It has given us great insight into our community’s views. Thank you to Mel Di Latte for her efforts in facilitating this survey. We’re looking forward to implementing your ideas and actioning your feedback.To begin we are excited to share that we’ll be organizing a Parent Quiz Night in Term 2, Family Busy Bee in Term 3 and a community event in Term 4, so stay tuned for further details.
All P&F events and initiatives bring our community together and not only create fun and special memories for our kids, but enable us to financially support projects and initiatives that benefit our kids and our school. Many hands make light work so keep an eye out for ways in which you can get involved - we’d love to have you on board.
Wishing you and your family a happy and safe Easter holiday.
Warm regards
Bianca Della Vedova
St Thomas P&F President
METRONET
These April school holidays METRONET will have a full-scale model on display at Yagan Square, giving people an early opportunity to see inside Perth’s new C-Series trains.
METRONET would like to invite you to attend the free family-friendly event from Saturday, 3 April to Sunday, 18 April between 9am and 5pm.
Visitors can walk through the carriage and along with the railcar, there is a 1:50 scale model on display, and kids can get involved with a scavenger hunt.
Thursday mornings between 9am-10am are reserved for Quiet Hour, where the display will be low sensory to cater for those who prefer to experience the train in this environment.
Walk-ins will be welcome and families wanting to skip the queue will be able to register for free VIP tickets at www.metronet.wa.gov.au/all-aboard.
As the biggest railcar order in the state’s history, the METRONET Railcar Program will deliver 246 new C-series railcars to Perth’s rail network.
The trains will service an increased demand from METRONET projects and replace the A-series trains that currently operate on the Armadale/Thornlie, Fremantle and Midland lines.
Find out more about the Railcar Program and METRONET at www.metronet.wa.gov.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