Dear Parents and Carers,

During this time of Lent we are all challenged to pray more so as to prepare ourselves for the great feast of Easter.  In the busy lives that we all lead - going to school, going to work, sports practice, homework, visiting friends and family - sometimes it is easy to forget to stop and pray.   During this past week I came across a website that provides some simple prayers for families, but also highlights the important times when we can pray each day:   http://www.living-prayers.com/

There are three natural points in the day when we can offer our prayers to God and dwell on his 
goodness. When we awake, when we eat, and when we lay our heads down at night to sleep. 

The morning time is a great time to pray. As the sun rises we have a new opportunity to give ourselves 
over to God, worship Him and make a brand new start. Everything that has happened before has gone.
Here we can invite God to speak to us as the day unfolds and offer ourselves over to Him -
all our gifts and talents - for Him to take and use.

Praying when we eat is another time when we can come to God in thanks and worship. In the 
consumerist world in which we live it is all too easy to take for granted something as simple as food 
and eating. Praying reminds us that everything ultimately comes from the living, creator God.

At night time, we can reflect on the day and remind ourselves of the times we have sensed God with 
us - his protection and love. Praying before bed is also important because it stills our hearts and prepares 
us for sleep. The bible exhorts us to "cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you" (1 Peter 5:7). 
As we lay down to sleep we surrender our worries to God and remind ourselves of his care.

Each day as a school we take the opportunity to pray our school prayer as a faith community.  On Mondays the Year 6 students lead us all very prayerfully at the morning assembly.  Our school prayer is a wonderful reminder to us of the things that we value most and that we need God’s help always in all that we do.

Dear Jesus,
Help me today at school to show respect to all those who work with me.  
To do my best in class and to play fairly with my friends.  
Help me to make this a happy day for myself and all those I meet.  
Thank you for parents who look after me, friends who play with me and teachers who are patient with me.  
We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Enrolling now for 2022 
The enrolment period for 2022 has opened.  If you have a child who is to start Kindergarten in 2022, please collect an enrolment form from the School Office.  The enrolment period closes on Thursday 1st April and interviews will be conducted early in Term 2.

P&F AGM 2020 
The rescheduled 2020 P&F AGM will be held on Monday 15th March 7.00pm-8.00pm in our School Hall.  Due to the restrictions parents must pre-register their attendance by contacting the School Office.    All parents and carers of St Thomas More Catholic Parish Primary School are invited to the Annual General Meeting of the St Thomas More Parents and Friends Association for 2020. At the AGM you will hear various reports about the life of our school during 2020 and all positions on the P&F Executive will be declared vacant and a voting process will occur.

Friday Afternoon Assemblies 
As some of the Covid-19 restrictions have begun to ease parents are now invited back into the school for our weekly Friday afternoon school assembly.  This commences this week on Friday 12/3/21.  Friday afternoon assemblies are now conducted in the Undercover Area and only run for 15 minutes.  These are an ‘Awards Only’ assembly.  Children from Kindergarten to Year 6 will be presented with their weekly awards.  Please note that the assembly will start at 2.15pm SHARP.  The Year 6 Pedestrian Gate and the Bottom Main Pedestrian Gate will be opened at 2.10pm.  Parents/carers who attend will need to sign in via the QR code that will be displayed on the poles in the Undercover Area.  Parents will need to socially distance at all times and are asked to stand/sit at the back of the school assembly, in front of the Year 3 classrooms.  At times the assembly will need to be cancelled at the last minute when we are experiencing poor weather.  (Parents will be notified via Compass in such a case.)  At the end of the assembly children will be dismissed and allowed to go home with their parents.  All other children will be taken to their dismissal areas for the 2.40pm usual dismissal.  When the assembly has finished parents are asked to leave the school property straight away.  Parents are not permitted to stay on the school property. 

Afternoon Dismissal
Thanks again for your cooperation with our afternoon dismissal.  A reminder that parents will be unable to collect their child from the carlines gate until the Year 6 pedestrian gate has closed.  This is normally around 2.48pm.  Could all parents please communicate this with everyone who collects your children each day?  We will continually review our processes so as to ensure safety for everyone in our school.

NAPLAN 2021          

Parents and Carers of Year 3 and Year 5 students are reminded of the following important dates for NAPLAN 2021.

• Students will be involved in some practice tests between 22 March - 1 April.  One of the main aims for the practice sessions is to test the school’s capacity with the technological demands during NAPLAN.
• 11 May: Year 3 Writing Test
• 11-12 May: Year 5 Writing Test  
• 11-21 May:  Reading Test / Conventions of Language Test / Numeracy Test

In the coming weeks Year 3 and Year 5 will be notified of the specific date for each of the tests.

Representative Sport
Congratulations and thank you to those students who have represented St Thomas More School in recent diocesan representative sports opportunities.  Students have represented our school in Swimming, AFL, Rugby League, Netball and Soccer.  Well done to Sophia Wragg-Leighton who broke the Under 8's 50m freestyle record which has been in place since 1998.  Special congratulations to the following students who now progress through to the next round in a variety of sports.  

Swimming =   Sophia Wragg-Leighton (Year 2), Emily Harris (Year 3), Elly Webster (Year 5) and Isabella Wragg-Leighton (Year 5)
AFL = Sullivan O’Dwyer (Year 6)
Rugby League = Max Cowie (Year 5) and Nathaniel Leal (Year 6)
Netball = Alanna Shipley (Year 6) and Sienna Harley (Year 6)
Also, Sophia and Isabella have now progressed onto the MacKillop swimming trials.  Well done girls.

Wash Hands

Social Distancing

Stay Safe

Philip Barrington 

PRINCIPAL

Learning and Teaching at STM Ruse

During the past month, I have visited every classroom and found myself excited to see all the students engaged in their learning. I am proud to say that our community offers fabulous supportive learning environments in which our wonderful teachers plan for and implement rich, interesting and well-structured learning experiences.

I witnessed students in learning opportunities that utilised techniques and strategies that had each student working on tasks that engage and challenge them to achieve their personal best. It was clear that the teachers had an understanding of how their students learn by the way they teach and provide each student with their own entry point to the lesson.

In Kindergarten I observed play-based learning, where the students were engaged in conversations at the washing line, of counting pegs and the identification of the colours.

In Year 1, I had an opportunity to be in the classroom, where I found the students were able to tell me of the routines they need to follow to ensure everyone can learn.

In Year 2, I was able to read with students and get an indication of how well they comprehend what they read.

In Year 3, I saw effective small group instruction that was led by the classroom teacher and the students showing they were ready to learn.

In Year 4, I viewed a Religious Education lesson in which the students were listening to the story of the Israelites escaping from Egypt, and the students were asked what to wonder and take the place of a character from the story.

In Year 5, I noticed how respectfully students responded in class discussions and listened to each other.

Finally, in Year 6, I have had the privilege to teach each week and have seen how the students have quickly built a rapport with the teachers which has had an impact on how they approach their learning, in an extremely positive and effective manner.

The students of STM are a credit to their first teacher, you, the parents and guardians. It warms my heart that they are so excited about learning.

  

Mrs Dulcie Ryman
Acting Assistant Principal

Today the eldest child of each family will recieve this Wakakirri expression of interest.

Our preloved uniform shop will be open each Wednesday 8:00am-9:00am and 2:00pm-3:00pm.

There is lots of stock available in the shop. Items can be purchased from $7 each.

To ensure we following our COVID safe plan, there will be a QR code on the uniform shop door which you'll need to scan and register.