Important Dates
TERM TWO 2022
Friday 10 June - Running Club Yrs 1 - 6
Friday 10 June - Assembly Y4
Friday 10 June - AFL Clinics Yrs PP, 1 & 2
Tuesday 14 June - School Photos
Wednesday 15 June - Edudance
Thursday 16 June - Crazy Sock Day - gold coin donation
Thursday 16 June - AFL Clinics Yrs 3 - 6
Thursday 16 June - Drama Club: 3.15 - 4.15 pm
Thursday 16 June - Homework Club: 3.15 - 4.15 pm
Friday 17 June - Running Club Yrs 1 - 6
Friday 17 June - Assembly Y6
Friday 17 June - Around the World Day PP
Wednesday 22 June - Edudance
Wednesday 22 June - Edudance Concert 2:15 pm
Thursday 23 June - Winter Carnival Yrs 5 & 6
Thursday 23 June - Drama Club: 3.15 - 4.15 pm
Thursday 23 June - Homework Club: 3.15 - 4.15 pm
Friday 24 June - Feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
Friday 24 June - Running Club - Yrs 1 - 6
Friday 24 June - RoboGals (Y4 - 6 girls)
Monday 27 June - Semester 1 reports issued on SEQTA
Tuesday 28 June - Oracy Y4
Tuesday 28 June - Advisory Council Meeting Online 7pm
Wednesday 29 June - Academic All Stars
Thursday 30 June - AFL Clinics Yrs 3 - 6
Thursday 30 June - Drama Club: 3.15 - 4.15 pm
Thursday 30 June - Homework Club: 3.15 - 4.15 pm
Friday 01 July - St Thomas' Feast Day Mass 9 am
Friday 01 July - Talent Show (students only)
Friday 01 July - last day of Term 2
TERM THREE 2022
Monday 18 July - Pupil Free Day
Tuesday 19 July - All students commence K - 6 for Term 3
(Full 2022 term dates at the end of this newsletter)
Prayer for Pentecost
Pentecost is one of the most important feast days of the year. It concludes the Easter season and celebrates the beginning of the Church.
Pentecost occurs 50 days after the death and resurrection of Jesus, and ten days after his ascension into heaven. On Pentecost we celebrate the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles gathered in the upper room in Jerusalem; this event marks the beginning of the Church.
for the new life you offer in the Holy Spirit.
Fill me with your Holy Spirit and
set my heart ablaze with the fire of your love
that I may serve you in joy and freedom
Amen
Dear Parents and Caregivers
Disco
It was wonderful to see so many of our students enjoying the school Disco last Friday evening. A big thank you to Mrs Gibbs, the Year 6 parents, our P & F and all our parent helpers.
QSCER
It has been a week of celebrations as we showcased all aspects of school life at St Thomas’ during the Quality Catholic School Education Review held this week. Facilitated by a panel of Catholic Education WA representatives, this review consisted of a two-part process, consisting of the school improvement and Principal leadership contexts. Feedback was provided by the students, staff, Advisory Council and P & F representatives. I thank everyone for their contribution.
Interschool Cross Country
Congratulations to our Interschool Cross Country Team who performed with excellence at the recent Interschool carnival placing third overall in the competition. Many of our students placed in their event and continued to show positive sportsmanship throughout the day. A big thank you to Mrs Seaman for preparing our students and to you our parents, for your continued support.
Life Link Launch
On Wednesday 8 June, students in Year 6 participated in the virtual Life Link Launch for 2022. The Life Link Day schools’ initiative was established to assist people in real need within the community. Mrs Gibbs and the year 6 students participated in this launch. St Thomas’ will contribute to Life Link by providing funds from the ‘Crazy Sock Day’ towards this worthy cause.
Year 5 Assembly
Congratulations to the Year 5 students who performed a twisted fairy tale titled ‘A walk before breakfast‘ for parents last Friday. Under the guidance of Mrs Herbert, our Performing Arts Specialist, and using our newly acquired stage lights and sound, students performed a highly entertaining play for all to enjoy.
Marketing
A big thank you to our two parent representatives Danah Dunkeld and Saeed Heidari for offering to assist on our school Marketing Team.
Student Leadership
On 31 May, our Year 6 student leaders attended the GRIP conference at the Perth Convention Centre with their teacher Mrs Gibbs. Please view student leader reflections in this newsletter.
St Thomas’ Feast Day
We are celebrating our school Feast Day on Friday 1 July with a whole school Mass at 9am. All parents and friends are welcome to attend Mass followed by morning tea in the hall. For catering, please RSVP to Julie Wray by Friday 24 June if you are able to attend morning tea.
I hope you enjoyed a relaxing long weekend and had a chance to take a breath in your busy lives!
Have a wonderful week
May God bless you
Natalia Thomson
PRINCIPAL
From the Assistant Principal
BISHOPS’ LITERACY ASSESSMENT
On Monday 28 July, all Year Three and Year Five students will take part in a practice and familiarisation session with the Bishops’ Religious Literacy Assessment (BRLA). As with NAPLAN, it is important that students are familiar with logging on to the BRLA website, as well as how the online assessment will present questions to them. The assessment will take place on Thursday 4 August (Week Three of Term Three). It is important that students have fully charged iPads for the practice session and the actual assessment, headphones and keyboards if they are comfortable using these devices. I ask parents to ensure students arrive at school on time so they can participate in this important assessment. If you have any queries or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact me via email at heath.nankivell@cewa.edu.au.
REPORTING – END OF SEMESTER ONE
KINDERGARTEN – A hard-copy report will be sent home with students on Monday 27 June. This report will detail individual student progress linked to the Early Years Learning Framework, as well as a general comment regarding the student’s achievement.
PRE-PRIMARY – descriptors from the Western Australian Curriculum will be used to report student achievement to parents. Comments will be given that elaborate on these descriptors in Religious Education, English and Mathematics. An adjusted achievement scale (not A-E) is used for Pre-primary reports. Personal and Social Development will also be reported to parents through descriptors and a general comment.
YEARS 1-6 – Students will be graded via an ‘A-E’ 5-point scale in all learning areas and strands of learning areas (except in Religious Education, which will have one overall grade only). For example, English will have an overall grade reported, as well as grades for the three strands of Writing, Reading & Viewing, and Speaking & Listening. Teacher comments further communicating your child’s progress will be made in Religious Education, English and Mathematics. Personal and Social Development reporting will include descriptors and a general comment.
Please note that all St Thomas’ Primary School reporting procedures are in line with the School Curriculum and Standards Authority’s reporting requirements. Students working from a modified programme will have this noted on the report. PP-Year 6 reports will be available by download from SEQTA Engage on the afternoon of Monday 27 June. All PP-Year 6 parents will be notified by email when they are available. Thank you for your support.
Mr Heath Nankivell
Assistant Principal
P&F News
Last Friday night was Out of This World! The stars were twinkling and the planets orbiting as astronauts, martians, aliens, shooting stars and many characters from Star Wars and Star Trek descended on our School Hall for this year's Space Disco! The children all had a wonderful night dancing and playing games, and enjoyed a sausage sizzle with their friends. An enormous thank you to Mrs Lila Gibbs (our Yr 6 Teacher), Celeste Hartfield and Mel and Ross Trend for all the hard work, effort, energy and time you put in to organising this year's Disco, and a very big thank you to the many parents and our Year 6 student volunteers who gave up their time to assist on the day in setting up and cleaning up the Hall, manning the door, supervising our children and cooking and serving the sausage sizzle. We couldn't have done it without you!
Last Wednesday, we had our second P&F Meeting for the term, both online and in person. Thank you to Mrs Kate Byrne (our Arts Specialist) and Mrs Corinna Herbert (our Performing Arts Specialist) for joining us at our meeting and sharing their vision for this year's Art Show. The P&F will be working with Mrs Byrne and Mrs Herbert on this year's Art Show which promises to be a true coming together of our School and local community as we celebrate our children's many artistic and creative talents and the Arts of St Thomas. Stay tuned for more details and how you can get involved.
The P&F has also approved a fundraising drive for this year and we are currently researching the production of a St Thomas picnic rug, tea towel and reusable shopping bag which will be available to purchase later this year. We look forward to sharing with our community more information as this fun and exciting project develops.
This week, the P&F was pleased to take part in the Quality Catholic Education School Review (QCSER). I met with the Panel on behalf of our parent community. It was an insightful and productive session.
Finally, a very big welcome to Sarah Van Bockxmeer who has taken up the role as our P&F Treasurer. Sarah's son, is in Pre Kindy and we are absolutely delighted to welcome Sarah to the P&F Executive, who brings with her many years of book-keeping and accounting experience. Sarah will formally begin in the Treasurer role in Term 3. Thank you for taking on this role. Welcome Sarah!
Wishing you and your family a wonderful week.
Bianca Della Vedova
P&F President
Enrolments 2023 - 2024
We would hate to disappoint as we give priority to siblings of our existing families, however, we are getting applications for quite a few years in advance and realise some years may fill prior to receiving all our existing families applications.
Advisory Council Meeting 3 May 2022
The St Thomas' School Advisory Council (AC) met for the third time in 2022 on Tuesday, 3 May, its first face-to-face meeting of the year.
The AC members enjoyed catching up in person following a disrupted start to the year. We discussed the ongoing COVID situation and agreed it was nice to see things starting to return to normal and acknowledged all the hard work and dedication shown by the staff to support students and the school community during this period.
A key focus of the meeting was in relation to the Quality Catholic Education School Review (QCSER) being undertaken in June. The Advisory Council was briefed regarding the QCSER process and its role in providing feedback. A further and more detailed update will be provided in the next newsletter, following the QCSER panel visit to the school on 7-9 June which included a meeting with the AC.
The AC was also briefed about data analysis recently undertaken regarding NAPLAN results on the My School website. This showed excellent results being achieved across reading, writing and numeracy at St Thomas. The evidence indicates that results are above National and similar schools with an increasing trend.
We also heard from all the AC committees. After the Principal’s and the P&F report (where AC members received feedback regarding the P&F plans for the year and a financial update), the Finance, and Grounds and Maintenance committees presented their relevant updates. It was good to hear progress was being made across a number of initiatives previously discussed by the AC.
The AC would also like to acknowledge Liz Dawson’s contribution over the past ~18 months. Liz tendered her resignation from the AC during the month due to increasing workload and other commitments. We have been exceptionally fortunate to have someone of Liz’s calibre and experience on the AC. Her energy, input and time commitment to the school in this role has been such an asset to the school and gratefully appreciated.
The next Advisory Council meeting is scheduled for Tuesday 28 June and will take place online.
Daniel Dell Vedova- on behalf of the Advisory Council
School photos will be taken next Tuesday 14 June. Online ordering instructions have been sent home with students. If your child has not given you this form or you cannot locate it please contact Julie in the office for your child's individual shoot key. Orders need to be made directly with MSP Photography by 20 June to avoid additional late order fees. There is no requirement for you to order your child's photograph, should you not wish too.
All Year 1-6 students are required to wear formal St Thomas’ PS uniform during the day, including a school tie. A school jumper will be required for the photos. If students attend training before or after school, they will need to change into their formal uniform. Students in Pre Primary need to wear their white polo top together with the full maroon tracksuit pants & jacket. Students in Kindergarten need to wear an Early Years T-shirt of any colour.
Any queries please contact the school office.
Sports News
INTER SCHOOL CROSS COUNTRY RESULTS 2022
On Monday 30th May, 36 students represented the school in the Interschool Cross Country Carnival at UWA Sports McGillvary Oval which was a new venue this year. Students ran as a team in their respective year group and competed against seven other Catholic primary schools.
The students tackled the course with great enthusiasm giving everything they had. This year St Thomas’ came 3rd overall and 3rd most improved school in 2022 based on our results from the previous year. I congratulate then not only on their results but also on the students fantastic behaviour and sportsmanship they displayed on the day.
Thank you to the following volunteers: Peter L, Gary P, Trish C, Libby C and Carin P for your assistance as a course marshal on the day and to Mr Nankerviell and Mrs Hurst for supervising the team as well.
Congratulations to these students who were placed in the top four in their respective year group:
Charlie J (Year 3) – 2nd
Lily G (Year 5) – 3rd
Caoimhe P (Year 5) – 4th
Jude K (Year 6) – 3rd
Placings in Years Groups:
Year 3 Girls – 7th
Year 3 Boys – 2nd
Year 4 Girls – 7th
Year 4 Boys – 5th
Year 5 Girls – 3rd
Year 5 Boys – 5th
Year 6 Girls – 3rd
Year 6 Boys – 2nd
Congratulations to all the runners as these results reflect an awesome team effort and I am super proud of you all.
UPCOMING EVENTS Winter Lightning Carnival Year 5 and 6 – Thursday 23rd June at Wembley sports park from 10am – 2pm.
Netball – Matthews (State Netball Centre)
Soccer and AFL – Pat Goodridge and Wembley Sports Park.
As we require parents to assist with coaching and/or assisting on the day for Netball, Soccer and AFL. If you can assist or have expertise in those sports, can you please indicate on the permission forms sent out or alternately email Sharon.seaman@cewa.edu.au
Thank you
Sharon Seaman
PHYSICAL EDUCATION SPECIALIST
Eight confidence-building strategies every parent should know
Installing confidence takes more than heaping praise on kids. Here are eight practical confidence-building strategies for parents and teachers of children and young people. Children with healthy self-esteem and self-confidence learn more, achieve more and are generally happier than those with low confidence levels. Building children’s and young people’s confidence is complex. It’s more than being a praise robot and heaping positive comments on a child at the first sign of them doing something well. Confidence building requires a number of approaches that impact on how they think, how they feel and what they can do.
Here are eight practical strategies that you can use to build real self confidence in kids of all ages:
1. Model environment.
Parents and teachers, play a part in modelling confident thinking and behaviour particularly when it comes to tackling new activities. In particular, let kids hear positive self-talk when you tackle something new. They should hear something like, “I’ll have a go at this. If I don’t do so well then I can try again tomorrow.” This is far more effective than “I’m no good at this. I’ll probably stuff it up.
2. Focus on effort and improvement
Current thinking shows that people who believe that they can increase their intelligence through effort and challenge actually get smarter and do better in school, work, and life over time. One way to develop a growth mindset is to focus your language on effort and improvement rather than on the results of what they do. By linking success with effort, you are teaching them success comes from something other than purely their ability, talents, or smarts.
3. Praise Strategy
While effort is key for achievement, it’s not the only thing. Kids need to try new strategies and seek input from others when they’re stuck. They need this repertoire of approaches – not just sheer effort – to learn and improve. It helps too to focus language on better and smarter ways on improving. Comments such as “That was a smart idea to tackle the hardest task while you were fresh!” (strategy) and “You recognised the first few steps were the most important but then alert that you were right” are descriptive statements that have significant instructional value for kids.
4. Develop self-help skills from an early age
A child’s self-esteem comes as a result of his or her successes and accomplishments. The most important competencies to build confidence are basic self-help skills. These form the building blocks upon which other competencies such as organisational skills and many social skills are formed.
5. Give them real responsibility
From a young age start giving children responsibility for some aspects of their lives. By giving kids responsibility for many aspects of their lives we are sending a powerful message that we think they are capable. Also, they are learning the skills necessary to care for themselves.
6. Practice unconditional acceptance
Your ability to accept children and young people’s best efforts in any area of endeavour, irrespective of the results, will go a long way toward determining their self-esteem and confidence. If a child makes their bed to the very best of their ability, resist fixing it, even though it may fall short of your adult standards. Instead remind them next time of how to do it well.
7. Expand their horizons
Some kids are confident and capable at home but are fearful and nervous when it comes to new social situations and unfamiliar environments. Children today, have less opportunity than those in the past to negotiate and explore unpredictable situations. Wherever possible, look for opportunities to expand children’s horizons to include unfamiliar places and unfamiliar locations including catching public transport.
8. Recognise improvement
Focus your comments on children’s effort and improvement rather than on winning the game or getting top marks. Help kids set realistic goals in line with their capabilities and interests. Learning five new spelling words a week maybe more realistic than 20 words. Most importantly, great parents and teachers have a knack of communicating confidence in kids. They find ways to let kids know that they believe in them – that they know their kids will perform and succeed, that they have faith that they can deal with life’s challenges and know that they can become more improvement.
Dad's and Father Figure Camp Out
The St Thomas Dad's Camp Out is back!
All St Thomas dads and father figures are warmly invited to this year's Camp Out. An overnight adventure full of fun, mateship and trying new things with your kids in the great outdoors!
When: Saturday 29 October - Sunday 30 October 2022
Where: The Jarrahfall Bush Camp & Dare Adventures Team, Dwellingup
Please secure your tickets via https://www.trybooking.com/BYDSF
International Competitions and Assessments for Schools (ICAS)
We are delighted to inform you that St Thomas’ Primary School will be participating in the International Competitions and Assessments for Schools (ICAS) again this year.
ICAS Assessments are designed to recognise academic excellence. Students are assessed on their ability to apply classroom learning to new contexts, using higher order thinking and problem-solving skills.
Students from Years 2-6 are eligible to enter the ICAS Competition.
The assessments are suitable for students wishing to extend themselves academically and take up the personal challenge of competing in an international assessment. Your child will be presented with high-quality, expert-developed questions, allowing them to apply their learning without the need for prior study or revision.
2022 Participation
ICAS Assessments are online.
You are invited to choose all, or any of the assessments for your child to sit.
Payment for the online assessments will be done via the Parent Payment Portal.
Visit the online Parent Payment System to make a direct payment to UNSW Global and to nominate the assessments you would like your child to participate in. The Parent Payment System is a simple and secure online payment service specifically for parents to purchase ICAS Assessments.
ACCESS DETAILS FOR PARENTS
School access code is: QQK865
Your parent page link is:
https://shop.icasassessments.com/pages/pps
Online payment closes Friday, 1 August 2022
IMPORTANT: Please enter your child’s name accurately into the system as it will appear on their ICAS certificate.
Sitting date – St Thomas’ School
Assessments will be administered at school.
- ICAS Science Years 2-6 (Online) 22 Aug -26 Aug
- ICAS Digital Technologies Years 3-6 (Online) 8 Aug – 12 Aug
- ICAS English Years 2-6 (Online) 15-19 Aug
- ICAS Mathematics Years 2-6 (Online) 29 Aug – 2 Sept
Cost per test: $19.25
Parents are also encouraged to visit the ICAS website unsw.global/ICAS to gather more background information on these competitions and to access practice items to help your child prepare for the competition.
Students are welcome to borrow past papers from the school to practice. These will be available to borrow from the Makerspace Room in the Library, from the beginning of Term 3.
Self-Reporting Portal for COVID-19
It is vitally important that parents and caregivers inform the school if your child tests positive for COVID-19. Parents and caregivers can inform the school of their child’s positive or negative COVID result via this LINK.
A friendly reminder to also register your positive RAT result to the WA Health RAT Register on this LINK
Thank you
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