Some facts about Saint Thomas More...

• Thomas More was born in London on February 7, 1478.

• It is likely that Thomas was positively influenced from a young age by his mother and siblings. 

• Thomas More entered Oxford in 1492, where he would learn Latin, Greek and prepared for his future studies. In 1494, he left Oxford to become a lawyer and he trained in London until 1502 when he was finally approved to begin practice.

• Thomas More married his first wife, Jane Colt in 1505. They would have four children together before her death in 1511. Their marriage was reportedly happy and Thomas often tutored her in music and literature.

• Thomas was considered a doting father, and he often wrote letters to his children when he was away on work. He also insisted that his daughters receive the same education as his son. His daughters were well known for their academic accomplishments.

• In 1504, More was elected to Parliament.  During his service to the people of London, he earned a reputation as being honest and effective.

• More used his skills as a theologian and a writer. Among his most famous works is "Utopia," about a fictional, idealistic island society. 

• From 1517 on, Henry VIII took a liking to Thomas More, and gave him posts of ever increasing responsibility. 

• More was immediately effective, working with speed and precision that is admired today. He was likely one of Henry VIII's most effective servants, and was fiercely loyal to the king.

• During his tenure as Lord Chancellor, More prosecuted those accused of heresy and worked tirelessly to defend the Catholic faith in England. However, in 1530, as Henry worked to obtain an annulment from his wife, Catherine, More refused to sign a letter to the Pope, requesting an annulment. This was More's first time crossing Henry.

• The relationship between More and Henry became strained again when seeking to isolate More, Henry purged many of the clergy who supported the Pope. It became clear to all that Henry was prepared to break away from the Church in Rome, something More knew he could not condone

• In 1532, More found himself unable to work for Henry VIII, whom he felt had lost his way as a Catholic.

• More accepted Henry's marriage to Anne, but refused to acknowledge Henry as head of the church, or his annulment from Catherine. This led to his arrest and imprisonment. He was locked away in the Tower of London.

• The court sentenced him to be hanged, drawn, and quartered, which was the traditional punishment for treason.  As a final act of mercy, Henry commuted More's punishment to mere decapitation. 

• Thomas More has been widely remembered as a man of tremendous integrity, and he has since been described as a martyr and canonised a saint

• Thomas More was beatified in 1886, and he was canonised on May 19, 1935.

• His feast day is June 22.

• He is the patron saint of adopted children, lawyers, civil servants, politicians, and difficult marriages.

Adapted from https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=324

Semester 1 Reports

The Semester 1 school reports will ‘go live’ on Compass on Friday Week 9, 23rd June 2023.  Parents who have children in the upper grades would be very familiar with the five point A-E scale used to indicate student achievement.  For students in Year 1 this will be the first A-E report that your child will receive.  

A-E reporting is a requirement from the Federal Government.  The words in the five point scale are directly linked to the A-E common grade scale and describe the level of achievement attained.  Educators around Australia are continuously reminding their students that a “C” achievement is ‘“Sound” achievement and the standard expectation of the class.   Therefore children and parents should not be having conversations like: “How many C’s did you get?”  You need to be asking: “In what areas did you record Sound achievement?”

Parent/teacher interviews are being conducted in Week 10.  Parents are encouraged to bring their children along to the interview for the discussion about learning with the class teachers.  Although Kindergarten students do not receive a written report for Semester 1 parents are encouraged to attend the parent/teacher interviews.

Achievement Levels for Years 1-6

As this is the last newsletter for Term 2 it is an opportune time to say thank you to everyone for another great term of learning.  Thank you to the hard working students, who for the majority, have been dedicated to their learning goals and tried very hard with their school work.  These results are most certainly reflected in the Learning Gains/Achievements highlighted in the Semester 1 reports.  Thank you to the wonderful St Thomas More staff who work tirelessly in catering for the needs and providing many opportunities for the children.  The staff have been extremely supportive of the school particularly in recent weeks with writing reports, preparing for interviews, organising feast day celebrations, athletics carnival, Confirmation sacramental program as well as maintaining teaching and learning programs in the classrooms each day.  The children at STM Ruse are very lucky to have such teachers and staff looking out for them each day.  Thank you also to the parents and carers of our students who support us in so many ways - through your communication and attendance at events and through your support of what we do best - educating your children.  The entire community can look forward to the coming Winter holidays with a sense of a ‘job done well’ for the first half of 2023.   

Best wishes for the coming holiday break,

Philip Barrington 
PRINCIPAL