Dear Parents and Carers,

Next week is Holy Week, where Christians worldwide remember the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  We too, at St Thomas More Catholic Primary School have been reflecting and praying about these events. Holy Week begins on Palm Sunday and ends on Holy Saturday.

Palm Sunday (Passion Sunday):
The sixth Sunday of Lent honours the welcoming of Jesus into Jerusalem. He rode into the city on a donkey. The crowds that gathered waved palm branches and said, "Hosanna! Blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord." Jesus riding on a donkey represents His humility.

Holy Thursday:
This day commemorates Jesus' Last Supper with His twelve disciples. The first Holy  Communion was celebrated. Jesus said “Do this in memory of me”.

Good Friday:
This day of sorrow commemorates the arrest, trial, crucifixion, death and burial of Jesus Christ, Son of God.  He suffered and died on the cross to redeem all sinners.

Holy Saturday:On the seventh and final day of Holy Week, Jesus rested in the tomb.  It is a quiet day of meditation. The Vigil service reflects on the retelling of the salvation story from Genesis to Jesus.  This is traditionally a day for baptism.  

Easter Sunday:
This is the day of rejoicing because Jesus rose from the dead and conquered death once and

for all.  On this day we celebrate the joy and hope Easter morning represents to Christians all over the world when we proclaim:   “Alleluia! Christ is Risen! He is Risen indeed!  Alleluia!”

May the peace of the risen Lord be with all families of the St Thomas More community during this Easter season.

Please refer to the Liturgy timetable further in this newsletter of the liturgies being celebrated at St Thomas More Ruse Parish Church.

Best wishes for the holiday break,

Philip Barrington

PRINCIPAL

Wakakirri
Today was the last day for parents to return the firms and money for Wakakirri. We need to pay the entrance fee for our entry into Wakakirri tomorrow. This is charged per child in Wakakirri. We do not want to pay for students who may have changed their mind and not let us know.

A number of parents have made contact with the office to make alternate arrangements in regard to the return of the forms and money and this is quite OK.

If you have not made contact with the office and have not returned your forms and money, it will now be assumed that your child is not taking part in Wakairri and their spot will be offered to a child on the waiting list.

Failure, what a genius idea!
I have included an article about allowing children to experience failure. Please take the time to have a read.

Afternoon carline
Please be reminded to use the 3pm Carline pick up students must be able to get themselves into the car, with their bag, on the footpath side of the car and do up their own seatbelt. Pick up needs to be quick, to keep the flow of cars moving.

Parents or caregivers are not permitted to get out of the car to assist students. If you need to help a child out of the car, please park in the carpark, and walk over to collect your child.

Earn and Learn
It is Woolies ‘Earn and Learn’ time again. Each time this is offered, we are able to earn some fabulous resources for the school.
We ask parents, family members and friends to collect the stickers each time they visit Woolies between 1^st May and 25^th June.
Please stick the stickers onto a collection sheet (we will have some at school if you need them) and send ‘filled’ sheets to school.
Each class will keep a tally of their sheets and the class with the most sheets, will be able to order a resource from the catalogue to use in their room alone.

Boys Hair Cuts
We are continuing to have a problem with the haircuts of some of the boys. Hair must not be shorter than a No. 2 and should be of a uniform length. This means no shaved sides and long on top. We are asking for parent support with this and to be diligent when visiting the hairdresser and make sure they are aware of what you want.

Congratulations to Miss Daniella Biasi who is getting married these coming holidays.  We send our best wishes to Miss Biasi and her fiance James for their big day. Miss Biasi returns to us in Term 2 as Mrs Thompson.

A huge thank you to all parents in our community who have assisted our school during Term 1.  A special thank you to P&F for their support and coordination of many events, particularly the welcome to Kindergarten morning tea, Mother’s Club morning tea,  the welcome family barbeque, school disco and the wonderfully successful Colour Run. Thank you to those parents who have assisted in classrooms and to those who have supported the life of our school in any way.  

Students return to school for Term 2 on Tuesday 30th April 2019.  For the first two weeks of Term 2 parents may decide as to whether they send their child to school in their Summer or Winter uniform.  However from Monday 13th May all children must be in their Winter uniform.

It has been great to see so many children in our school working hard and earning many Merit Awards each week.  Next term, during Weeks 1, 2 and 3 (while there is no official school assembly) we will be holding an “Awards only assembly” at 2.20pm in the School Hall.  Weeks 4-9 we will hold the usual school assembly with a particular grade presenting and sharing some of their work followed by the awards. Also from now on, only the child’s name will read when presenting the awards, as parents can read the reason for the award when their child brings it home.  Please refer to the School Calendar for the Friday afternoon assemblies.

Please see the below link to read our Religous Education News

Please take a moment to view the new Social Media Policy that was recently released by Catholic Education Diocese of Wollongong.  Also have you seen the new official St Thomas More Catholic Primary School Facebook page? A few recent school events have been included on our school’s Facebook page.  Have you ‘LIKED’ our page and stories?

Clean Up Schools Day - Friday 1st March 2019

On Friday 1st March, the students of STM all lent a hand to clean up our school grounds in awareness of Clean Up Schools Day. It was great to see our school community embracing the clean up. As you can see our Year 5 students did a thorough job of cleaning up the Oval for our school.

Harmony Day - 21st March 2019

On Thursday 21st March, STM celebrated Harmony Day. It’s a day that as a school community you can celebrate diversity! A day of cultural respect for everyone who calls Australia home, from the traditional owners of this land to those who have come from many countries around the world. Students can learn and understand how all Australians from diverse backgrounds equally belong to this nation and enrich it.

        

All classes participated in classroom activities to celebrate diversity and remember that everyone belongs. Here are some photos of activities and students embracing the celebration with wearing a splash of orange colour on the day.

Mrs Lauren Morris

Please see attached the St Thomas More Catholic Parish Primary School Sporting Representation Policy and Safety Standards which applies to all students representing our school in sport.

Read the latest fete news

Donation list can be viewed here:

Below is the school holiday program for the upcoming holidays. Your children must be registered with Little Green Frogs to attend, they can be contacted on 4625 9940