Dear Parents/Carers,

Welcome to the first edition of our school newsletter for 2025! I am thrilled to be part of the St Thomas More community and excited to work alongside you to bring our theme for the year to life: BE AWESOME! Our teachers and school support staff have put in a tremendous amount of effort to ensure that every student, from Kindergarten to Year 6, has had a smooth, positive, and productive start to the year.

We’ve had a wonderful start to the term, with a great turnout at our Welcome BBQ and Parent Information Night held on Wednesday. By now, you should have received the slides from the Leadership Presentation, as well as your child’s Curriculum Overview and a Grade Parent Questionnaire via Compass. Please take a moment to complete the questionnaire—it will help our staff get to know your child better. There are also a couple of questions regarding the Welcome BBQ and Parent Information Night, and we’d love to hear your feedback.

Today, we had the privilege of celebrating our Opening School Mass with our Parish Priest, Father Michael. It was a beautiful service, and I was so proud of our Kindergarten students for making their first big outing such a success. Father Michael remarked on how wonderful it was to have them there. This Mass also marked a special moment for our Student Leadership Team, as they had their badges blessed by Father Michael and presented by their families. I would like to acknowledge all of our leaders and the outstanding way they’ve begun the year in their leadership roles. Below is the list of our Year 6 School Leadership Team for 2025:

School Captains:
Levi Wulf and Matilda Harley

Vice Captains:
Lilly Geddes and Jack Petersen

Chisholm - Red House:
Grace Morretti and Jacob Crowe

MacKillop - Gold House:
Ivy Checko and Hendrix Marsden

Polding - Blue House:
Anastasia Baker and Indianna Nakasenh

Marcellin - Green House:
Noah Eldridge and Leonardo Haddad

In order to better serve our community, we have reviewed our communication strategy. Based on data about newsletter readership and Compass usage, we have decided to publish three newsletters per term, in Weeks 3, 6, and 9. For more specific events and information, we will continue to use Compass as our primary communication tool.

Thank you for taking the time to read our newsletter. I look forward to a year full of growth, learning, and faith. If you have any questions or need assistance, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Together, we will make this year unforgettable for all our students.

Wishing you a blessed and joyful week ahead.

Warm regards,

Mrs. Melissa Vella
Principal

Annual Improvement Goal - focus on Grammar and Punctuation

This year our school goal is “Through the use of evidenced-based pedagogies, students will achieve growth in their understanding and application of grammar and punctuation.” 

Throughout the year staff will be undertaking professional learning to deepen their content knowledge of grammar and punctuation in the NSW K-6 English syllabus. They will be undertaking online modules developed by the NSW Education Standards Authority and collaborative practices such as Learning Walks that focus on how grammar and punctuation is taught. 

There may be times this year when you hear your child start to use words like; adverbial phrase, dependent clause, nominalisation and declarative statements - these aren’t made up words, but language that your child has learnt and how they are used in their writing. 

Grammar can be fun, and who knows; us adults may learn how to use the correct to too. 

Mr Andrew Astill
Assistant Principal

It’s hard to believe that we are already in Week 3 of Term 1! 

It has been wonderful to see all the smiling faces of our children as they returned to school for 2025 and meeting the new members of our community. 

I look forward to working with our community again throughout 2025 and sharing with you what is happening in the area of Religious Education at St Thomas More Primary School.

Opening School Mass:
Today, we gathered as a school at the church for our Opening Mass for 2025. The students are to be congratulated on the reverant way in which they participated in Mass. It was wonderful to share this celebration with Fr. Michael, as well as our parent/carer community.

Congratulations to our 2025 Student Leadership Team, who received their badges from their parents after Mass during our Badging Ceremony.

Parish Sacramental Program News:
The Parish Sacramental team have sent through the dates for this year’s Sacramental Program. Parent Information Nights will be held at the church on the following dates: 

NAPLAN tests students' ability in three domains of literacy—reading, writing and language conventions (spelling, grammar and punctuation)—and in numeracy. This year, the NAPLAN assessment window will be from March 12th to March 24th. Don't forget to mark your calendars with these important dates.

Students who miss a test day for any reason will have the opportunity to make that test up during the test window dates only.

Firstly, a HUGE thank you to the amazing ‘book coverers’ - 1,700 new books have been added to our Home Readers. Your generosity of time was very much appreciated. I’d still be covering those books if it wasn’t for all of you, so again thank you!

A few dates for your calendar : 

Book Club :  Brochures were distributed this week and the due date is 21st February (online only orders are accepted, no cash).

Premier’s Reading Challenge : Opens Monday 24th February and closes Friday 22nd August.

National Simultaneous Storytime : Wednesday 21st May. The Truck Cat by Deborah Frenkel is the picture book for this year.

Book Week : 16th - 23rd August - Book an Adventure is the theme for this year.

Thank you for encouraging our students to have a love of reading by sending them to school on their Library borrowing day with a Library bag and sharing your time to read the books with them.

Ms Santa Maria
Library Manager

Do you ever wonder what some of the words teachers use mean? Things like syllabus, curriculum, KLA, summative assessment?

Let Catholic Schools NSW, in conjunction with The Council of Catholic School Parents NSW/ACT, give you a quick ‘lesson’ in ‘schoolspeak’! Learning the ‘lingo’ of school will help you talk to your child and teachers so you can best support your child’s learning. 

Presented by Mary Ryan, Head of Professional Learning at Catholic Schools NSW, find out about scope and sequence, how curriculum develops, what NESA does, NAPLAN, what’s different about the new K–12 curriculum and how you can work with the school to improve your child’s achievements and wellbeing.

Register now for a day or evening session:

• Tuesday 25 February 2025, 12.30 pm – 1 pm
• Wednesday 26 February 2025, 7.30 pm – 8 pm

Click here to register.

Do you know what’s influencing your kids? With young people spending so much time online, what they see and do can impact their behaviours and beliefs. Online disrespect is one of the ways violence-supportive attitudes can start to develop. 

Stop it at the Start has partnered with Tomorrow Man and Tomorrow Woman to help parents, carers, and other significant adults of young people aged 10-17 understand how the online world influences views on respect and gender. The workshop also shares practical ways to build relationships and start important conversations.

Join facilitators Ryder Jack and Kasey Miles for a free, interactive, evidence-based 90-minute session focused on connecting with young people, fostering healthier masculinity, and providing families with practical tools for everyday use.

Click here to register.

See Compass or click here to view full 2025 calendar