Today, our staff took part in a day of reflection, discussion, and planning for our upcoming Cyclic Inquiry, which will take place in late September. This inquiry is a snapshot of how our school is improving and growing. It looks at the progress we’ve made through our Annual Improvement Plans, as well as other school and system data over time, including student performance. We look forward to parent consultation as part of this process next term.

Next Wednesday 11th June K-6 students will participate in our annual Athletics Carnival. This is a compulsory school day for all students and we look forward to a parent/staff/student relay! We have included our proposed schedule of the event below.A reminder that there will be NO Canteen on the day and as such students must bring their lunch/snacks/water from home.In the event of rain the carnival will still go ahead with track events. All field events will be held at a later date at school.

A huge thank you to the P & F for our recent School Disco. It was great to see so many students busting a move on the dance floor, and some teachers too!

Mrs Melissa Vella
Acting Principal

Semester 1 Reporting 
At the end of this term, Semester 1 reports will be available for parents/carers via the Compass portal. Grades are  given for individual achievement in different focus areas, as well as an overall grade. Students will receive  the grade that best matches the standard of their achievement at a particular point in time. 

Year 1 - 6 students will receive grades based on the 5 point Common Grade Scale, which is a standards-referenced approach to reporting. Kindergarten students will be reported against a 3 point scale. 

A parent information Zoom session on reporting at St Thomas More will be held on Wednesday 25 June. 

• 7:00pm - Kindergarten Reporting 

• 7:30pm - Year 1 - Year 6 Reporting 

The link for the Zoom session will be sent to all parents through Compass on Monday 23 June. 

Uniform
With the change to winter school uniform, a reminder that it is expected that ALL students would be in the full correct uniform each day,  this includes their school hat everyday. 

Year 6 are able to wear their Year 6 shirt on Monday or Friday as part of the sports uniform. 

There has been an increasing number of students wearing the sport uniform on the incorrect day. 

Uniform for each day of the week: 

• Monday - sport uniform 
• Tuesday - full winter uniform 
• Wednesday - full winter uniform 
• Thursday - full winter uniform 
• Friday - sport uniform

If your child is not able to wear the correct uniform, a written reason for this needs to be communicated to the school. This could be a note or an email to the class teacher.

Mr Andrew Astill
Assistant Principal

Pentecost

This Sunday, we joyfully celebrate Pentecost, the "birthday of the Church"! Pentecost commemorates the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles, fulfilling Jesus' promise and empowering them to boldly proclaim the Gospel to all nations. It's a powerful reminder that the Holy Spirit continues to be present in our lives, guiding us, strengthening us, and inspiring us to live out our faith. We encourage families to discuss the incredible gifts of the Holy Spirit – wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord – and how they can help us in our daily lives.

Join Us for St. Thomas More Feast Day on Friday, 20th June!

We're excited to invite all our families to celebrate the Feast Day of St. Thomas More, our beloved patron saint, on Friday, 20th June. This special day is a wonderful opportunity for our school community to come together in faith and fellowship.

We'll begin our celebrations with Mass at 9:30 AM at our Parish Church (43 Acacia Avenue, Ruse). It's a beautiful way to honour St. Thomas More and give thanks for his inspiring life.

Following Mass, we'd love for you to join us for a family picnic on the school grounds from 11:15 AM to 12:00 PM. Pack a delicious lunch and enjoy some quality time with your children and other school families.

The afternoon promises more fun with an Activities Afternoon, organised and led by our Year 6 students. Please note: The activities afternoon is a student-only event. The cost for the afternoon is $5 per student. All money raised will go directly towards the Year 6 students' end-of-year gift to the school – a wonderful way for them to leave a lasting legacy. Payments for the Activities Afternoon can be made through Compass.      

 

Parish Sacramental News

Preparation lessons for Confirmation have now commenced at our Parish Church. We pray for all the Confirmation candidates, from both our school and parish, as they prepare to confirm their faith through this sacrament. We also thank the members of the Parish Sacramental Team for their support of the candidates and their families. 

Mrs Liz Jensen
Religious Education Coordinator

What a busy term it has been so far for Year 2. We have been engaged in considerable explicit instruction to develop our knowledge across all Key Learning Areas. 

Religion:
Students have been learning about the beautiful traditions that occur in our Church during the Easter Season. Easter is a 50-day celebration that spans from Easter Sunday to Pentecost Sunday. During this period, Year 2 has learnt about the resurrection of Jesus, the Paschal Candle, Jesus’ Ascension and Pentecost. Students reflected on their qualities and responded through reflection and creation.

English:
During English, Year 2 has developed excellent skills in phonemic awareness. Our phonemic awareness lessons consist of systematic, explicit instruction, teaching students to isolate, substitute and delete phonemes, segment and blend phonemes and identify the phoneme-grapheme connection. These daily explicit drills are helping Year 2 develop their reading, spelling and writing skills.

History:
We are going back in time to discover simpler ways of life. We are learning how trains ran on steam, the development of the computer, and how a mobile phone used to be the size of a brick. We have also explored the changes in technology and compared them to current versions. Recently, we have learned about games that we still play today, like hopscotch. Year 2 has enjoyed playing some old-fashioned games, such as marbles. Sometimes, the games can be frustrating, but we need to try our best.

Mrs Crowe and Miss Writer
Year 2 Class Teachers

Year 4 visited the Australian National Maritime Museum in Darling Harbour last week, on May 30. It was an exciting day filled with lots of learning and discoveries. Led by an expert at the museum, each group was taken on guided tours to different places in the museum, including a visit to the replica ‘Endeavour’ - the ship Captain James Cook explored Australia’s east coast in, along with botanist Joseph Banks. Through this experience, Year 4 gained a better understanding of life on board a ship of exploration. 

This matched in perfectly with the learning that has been taking place in our classrooms. Year 4 has learnt about Captain James Cook and his many journeys, including to Australia, which ultimately led to the arrival of the First Fleet from Britain in 1788. We are currently studying the First Fleet and life in Sydney in the early colony, which was established as a place for British people who committed crimes in their home country. ‘Beth’ by Mark Wilson has been used as our mentor text, to help students gain an understanding of life as a convict in Sydney. The text is based on the events of a true convict, named Elizabeth Hayward, who was only 13 years of age when she was sentenced to Australia for stealing. Using our knowledge of life as a convict, and life for Beth in Sydney, we are currently planning and writing persuasive letters from Beth’s perspective to Governor Arthur Phillip, asking for a certificate of freedom. This certificate meant that convicts could live in Sydney as free settlers, and were no longer considered a convict, allowing them to earn their own money. 

In HSIE, we have begun learning about the impact that colonisation had on the Aboriginal Peoples of Sydney. We have learnt about traditional ways of living and are now exploring how these ways of living were impacted by the arrival of the British following the First Fleet.

Mrs Rachel Payne and Mr Sean Murphy
Year 4 Class Teachers

On Tuesday 27th May 2025, 5 students represented St Thomas More at the Wollongong Diocese Regional Cross Country Trials. Congratulations to Quinn H and Elliot S (Year 3), Stevie C (Year 4), Jack P and Matilda H (Year 6) on great performances on the day.

Special mention to Jack and Matilda who placed 9th overall in the region and were chosen to represent Wollongong Diocese at the MacKillop Carnival.  Well done.