Prayer for Confirmation
Lord, You send out Your Spirit to touch the hearts of all people, so that they may believe in You and in Jesus whom You sent. Look kindly on all candidates for Confirmation as they listen to Your voice. Open their hearts to Your Spirit and bring to fulfilment the good work that You have begun in them. As we prepare these children for Confirmation, make each of us an instrument of Your love. Teach us to appreciate what is holy in others and be patient with what we do not understand. Deepen our faith in the Gospel and help us to pass it on by our example. We pray that You will continue to guide us and sustain us. Through Christ our Lord, Amen.
Amen.
Important Dates
TERM 3
Friday 26 July - 100 Days of School (PP & Y1)
Friday 26 July - Interschool Chess 12 - 3 pm
Friday 26 July - Confirmation Night Y6
Monday 29 July - Talk Money Incursion (Y5 & 6) 9:10 - 10:40 am
Monday 29 July - P&F Meeting 6:30 pm
Wednesday 31 July - Parish Mass (Y4 & PP)
Thursday 01 August - School Cross Country Carnival (selected students Yrs 3 - 6)
Friday 02 August - Assembly Y3 @ 9 am
Saturday 03 August - Parish Mass Y2 @ 12:30 pm
Tuesday 06 August - Advisory Council Meeting 7 pm
Wednesday 07 August - Parish Mass (Y3) 12:30 pm
Wednesday 07 August - Whole School Photos - full winter uniform
Thursday 08 August - St Mary of the Cross Mackillop Mass @ 9 am
Friday 09 August - Assembly Y2 @ 9 am
Monday 12 August - Science Week
Monday 12 August - Talk Money Incursion (Yrs 5 & 6)
Tuesday 13 August - Robogals (Yrs 4 - 6)
Wednesday 14 August - Speak Up Competition
Thursday 15 August - Feast of the Assumption Mass @ 9 am
Friday 16 August - Assembly Y1 @ 9am
Friday 16 August - Water Corp Incursion (PP - Y6)
MONDAY 19 AUGUST - PUPIL FREE DAY
Wednesday 21 August - Jumps (Yrs 3 - 6)
Wednesday 21 August - CPAF Choir 9:30 - 10:45 am
Thursday 22 August - Throws (Yrs 3 - 6)
Friday 23 August - Catchup Jumps & Throws
Tuesday 27 August - Father's Day Stall 8 - 8:30 am
Tuesday 27 August - Book Week Parade @ 8:45 am
Tuesday 27 August - Uganda Foundation Fundraiser
Wednesday 28 August - Father's Day Stall 8 - 8:30 am
Wednesday 28 August - CPAF Drama 11:15 am - 12:30 pm
Wednesday 28 August - Parish Mass (Yrs 6 & 2) 12:30 pm
Thursday 29 August - Father's Day Breakfast & Liturgy @ 8:45 am
Thursday 29 August - Market Stalls Yrs 5 & 6
Friday 30 August - St Thomas' Athletics Carnival - 9 am - 2 pm
Friday 30 August - CPAF Dance Rehearsal 3:30 pm
Friday 30 August - CPAF Dance / Perth Convention Centre
Sunday 01 September - Father's Day
Monday 02 September - P&F Meeting 6:30 pm
Thursday 05 September - Interschool Athletics training
Friday 06 September - Assembly Y4 @ 9 am
Saturday 07 September - Dad's Campout
Tuesday 10 September - Parent/Student Penance Workshop 6 pm
Tuesday 10 September - Advisory Council Meeting 7 pm
Thursday 12 September - Open Morning 9 - 10:30 am
Thursday 12 September - Interschool Athletics Training
Thursday 12 September - ARTs Show 1 pm
Friday 13 September - ARTs Show Parent Night
Tuesday 17 September - Interschool Athletics (Yrs 3 - 6)
Thursday 19 September - Perth Glory Soccer Clinic (Y4)
Friday 20 September - Assembly PP @ 9 am
Friday 20 September - Term Three Concludes
Please remember dates of events can be subject to change
(Full 2024 term dates at the end of this newsletter)
Welcome Back
As we start a new term, we are excited to have each one of you back with us, ready to dive into exciting learning adventures together. At St Thomas’, we firmly believe in our school values of inclusivity, excellence, truth, compassion, and community. As we gather again in our classrooms, we aspire to nurture the unique talents and potential of every child, encouraging them to flourish both academically and spiritually. As parents, you play an essential role in your child's education, and we are grateful for your unwavering support. Together, we can create a strong and nurturing community where every child can thrive.
This term, we extend a warm welcome to Ha (Year 5), Caoimhe (Year 4), Jacob (Year 1), and their families, as well as our four new families in Pre-kindergarten. We hope you enjoy our wonderful school community.
Sacrament of Confirmation
This Friday evening, our Year 6 students will celebrate a significant milestone in their faith journey - the Sacrament of Confirmation. Confirmation is one of the Initiation Sacraments of the Catholic Church and helps the candidates to be united more firmly with Christ. Our celebration will be led by the Archbishop of Perth, The Most Reverend Timothy Costelloe SDB. Special thanks to Mr. Godsall, Mrs. Gibbs, Father Richard, and Sr. Catherine for preparing our Year 6 students. Please keep the candidates and their families in your prayers.
The 2024 Religious Education Assessment (REA)
In Catholic schools across Western Australia, students enrolled in Years 3, 5, and 9 will participate in a system-wide, online assessment in Religious Education. As a system-wide assessment, the REA informs teaching and assessment practices in Religious Education by providing classroom teachers, school, and system leaders with a ‘point in time’ snapshot of student achievement. Year 3 & 5 students will participate in this assessment next Wednesday.
Catholic Performing Arts Festival
The Catholic Performing Arts Festival runs from 21 July to 1 September. This year, the Choir will be performing in the Sacred Choral and Primary Choral categories and our Drama students will be performing in various categories. Last Friday, William & Annabelle (Year 6) and Charlie (Year 5) represented St Thomas’ in the Bible Reading section of the festival, the first event of the festival. They did a marvellous job of representing our school. We also have students performing solos and duets on piano, violin, guitar, and drums.
NAPLAN
NAPLAN is just one aspect of St Thomas’ assessment and reporting process. It doesn’t replace ongoing assessments made by teachers about student performance, but it can provide teachers with additional information about students’ educational progress. Overall, our students have done very well academically in these assessments. The Year 3 and 5 students will receive a hard copy of their NAPLAN results on Monday.
Olympics in the Classroom
With the Olympics beginning this Friday evening, our school is buzzing with Olympic fever! Mrs. Sharon Seaman, our Physical Education Specialist, kicked off the excitement by sharing her incredible Olympic experience with staff and students during our gathering on Monday morning. Mrs. Seaman's official role at the Sydney 2000 Olympics was a National Technical Official-Scorer for Indoor Volleyball. Over the next two weeks, students will participate in a range of Olympic-themed classroom activities. They'll explore the history and values of the Olympics, including lessons on sportsmanship, teamwork, and perseverance. Teachers will integrate Olympic-related topics into various subjects, making learning both fun and educational. We are excited to celebrate this global event and inspire our students with the Olympic spirit!
May God bless you and your family,
Natalia Thomson
Principal
Olympian Official @ STT
Catholic Performing Arts
What's been happening in Kindy
In Kindergarten we started Term 3 celebrating NAIDOC week. During the week we read dreamtime stories, explored mark making by creating symbols with mud, twigs, sand and natural items, made hand paintings using the colours red, yellow, white and black and made a shared NAIDOC artwork with our Year 3 buddies.
Science Week 2024
Science Week 2024: Species Survival. More than Just Sustainability
Week 5 of this term is Science Week. Mrs Cloud has posted 2 activities on SeeSaw that can be done at home, there is a small prize for everyone who does one or both activities. During Science Week, the Water Corporation are coming in for an incursion that will link very well with this year's theme, and we will do some activities related to Species Survival during our Science lessons.
Science Talent Search:
STAWA are holding their annual talent search again this year. Last year we had some wonderful entries to both the poster and the photography sections, and we had two students win a prize.
The theme for this year is Species Survival OR any Physical Science topic. If you would like to enter this year, please see the details on the website below (Under the "Science Communication" category; we will enter Posters for Pre-Primary to Year 2, and Photography for Years 3-6). Mrs Cloud will deliver the entries to STAWA on Monday 19th August, so please hand them in to her by FRIDAY 16th AUGUST.
For more information, please see the STAWA website https://www.stawa.net/student-activities/science-talent-search/ or email Mrs Cloud at natalie.cloud@cewa.edu.au
Parent Shoutout!
We extend our deepest gratitude to Lyndal Gallagher, Holly Toft, and the entire team of Year 6 parents who assisted in the success of the school disco. As a small school like Saint Thomas’, it’s truly inspiring to see the collaboration of parents, teachers, and students in creating memorable events. The school raised $213.70 which has been donated to Lifelink. The students had an incredible time, and this wouldn’t have been possible without the dedication and hard work of our Year 6 parent volunteers. Your efforts in coordinating, organizing, and executing the event are greatly appreciated.
From everyone at Saint Thomas’, thank you!
School Advisory Council
The School Advisory Council met for the fourth time in the final week of Term 2. It was wonderful to have Father Richard present at the meeting to share with us his journey and vision of catholic ethos at the school.
The advisory council had a number of initiatives to discuss at the meeting. Our initial topic commenced with the variety of marketing activities used to promote the school on social media, as well as an update on the soon to be launched brand new school website.
During Term 2, CEWA requested all Advisory Council’s throughout the CEWA system, comment and feedback on the current terms of reference. These terms of reference are the cornerstone of our activities and purpose for guiding us in our activities to support the school and the leadership team. This was completed and fed back to CEWA. We are now keen to understand if there are any changes to the terms of reference following this consultation process.
The principal’s report highlighted important areas under the four pillars of Catholic Education; Catholic Identity, Community, Education and Stewardship. The advisory council spent time discussing current and future enrolment strategies for the school. The Finance committee presented the financial figures for the month of May and our position looking forward for the next few months.
Finally, the Grounds and Maintenance committee have a number of important projects in the pipeline which are being progressed. In particular the lower primary play which aims to be finalised shortly with a plan to move forward.
We wished Mr Nankivell a very well-deserved long service break at the start of Term 3.
Susan Swift
Chair - Advisory Council
Digital Intelligence
Parents and carers play an important role in helping children to develop digital intelligence - the social, emotional, and practical skills needed to successfully navigate the digital world. Even for preschool children, it is never too early to instil good habits, and as your child gets older, it is useful to keep reminding them of these basic digital intelligence principles: respect, empathy, critical thinking, responsible behaviour, and resilience.
These are also principles you can emphasize with your child when things go wrong. For more tips, visit esafety.gov.au.
Year 6 Tech
Our Year 6 students have been having a blast in their technology classes, diving into the world of coding and robotics with EV3 Lego Mindstorms. Throughout the term, students will have to tackle set challenges and even devise their own innovative tasks and solutions. This process involves careful planning, creative problem-solving, and evaluation of their robotic solutions. Collaboration and trial and error will be key, as students work together to design, program, and refine their robotic solutions.
Sport News
Welcome back to the start of the term 3 which will be a busy one with the upcoming Athletics Carnival for PP – Year 6. Please see below the important dates and keep an eye out for the permission form and information regarding this carnival:
- Jumps and Throws – Years 3-6 – Wednesday 21 and Thursday 22 August (Week 6)
- St Thomas Athletics Carnival – Friday 30 August (Week 7)
- Interschool Athletics Carnival – Tuesday 17 September (Week 10)
2024 FOOTY SKILLS COMPETITION
Last Term, students in Years 4-6 were offered the opportunity to participate in the Freo Footy Skills Competition where the top students from schools competed against one another.
There are three competitions; Kwik kick – involves students kicking in pairs over a distance of 12 metres in three minutes, Freo Long Bomb – involves students kicking a football as far as they can and the Freo Fast ball a team handballing competition.
Students competed in the Kwik kick and Freo long bomb at St Thomas and those who won their respective divisions at school were offered to participate in the finals on Wednesday 3 July at Cockburn Central (Cockburn ARC). A few students attended on this day, and we would like to congratulate Bruno C and Luke F who won the Kwik Kick Year 5 competition. In the Long Bomb competition Luke F came second and Bruno C third overall. Massive congratulations to these boys and to the families for making the journey during the holidays.
STATE PRIMARY SCHOOLS CROSS COUNTRY CARNIVAL
On Thursday 1 August, 7 students will represent our school at the State Primary School Cross Country Carnival.
We wish the following students all the very best:
- Year 3 – Hudson W, Sam J and Sam W
- Year 4 – Maddy G
- Year 5 – Charlie J and Ben F
- Year 6 – James T
Ministers Running Challenge
We are not far away from the start of the Paris Olympic games and what a better way to embrace the Olympics spirit than for students and staff to get active in the 2024 Minsters Running Challenge.
Registrations are now open and will run for 9 weeks until 13 September.
Mrs Seaman is the schools captain to assist with motivating students and staff.
Please see the link to register https://www.ministersrunningchallenge.wa.gov.au/home
Student sporting achievements:
Congratulations to Winter S (Year 6) who has been selected to represent the Under 13 Western Australia State Team in the Yonex Under 13 Australian National Championships 2024, in Ballarat Victoria from 26 September to 2 October 2024.
Congratulations to Joe C (Year 5) and Billie B (Year 4) who have qualified for the WA Junior Swimming Short Course Championships which will be held at HBF at the end of August.
On behalf of St Thomas’ we wish all of these students the best at their upcoming championships.
Term 3 AFL Programs
Please see below the AFL programs that will commence afterschool during Term 3 which are run by the West Australian Football Commission.
The links for these programs are listed below for your perusal:
NAB AFL Auskick - Modified Program
https://www.playhq.com/afl/org/st-thomas-primary-term-3-auskick-centre/d656a9f1/register
NAB AFL Superkick - Schools
https://www.playhq.com/afl/org/st-thomas-primary-term-3-superkick-centre/47d5c5b4/register
If your child is participating in these programs especially children in the younger years K-2, Mrs Thomson has advised parental supervision must be considered as the school is not running these program. Parents will be responsible for their child or children if they are participating for dropping and picking up. Both programs will run from 3pm – 4pm. Students who are participating in these programs are allowed to wear their PE St Thomas uniform for those sessions.
If you require any further information regarding these programs please contact Alex Zulberti Participation Officer – Claremont, West Australian Football Commission azulberti@wafc.com.au .
Kind regards
Sharon Seaman
Physical Education Specialist Teacher
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