Dear Parents and Carers,

This week we have commenced the season of Winter.  Enjoy the cold mornings and sunny days.

Father God, you created seasons for a purpose.
Spring is full of expectation                                                                                  
buds breaking
frosts abating and an awakening
of creation before the first days of summer.
Now the sun gives warmth
and comfort to our lives
reviving aching joints
bringing colour, new life
and crops to fruiting.
Autumn gives nature space
to lean back, relax and enjoy the fruits of its labour
mellow colours in sky and landscape
as the earth prepares to rest.
Then winter, cold and bare as nature takes stock
rests, unwinds, sleeps until the time is right.                                                                                                                   
An endless cycle
and yet a perfect model.
We need a winter in our lives
a time of rest, a time to stand still
a time to reacquaint ourselves
with the faith in which we live.
It is only then that we can draw strength
from the one in whom we are rooted
take time to grow and rise through the darkness
into the warm glow of your springtime
to blossom and flourish
bring colour and vitality into this world
your garden.
Thank you Father
for the seasons of our lives

St Thomas More Feast Day

All parents, friends and parishioners are invited to celebrate

the feast of St Thomas More and 

200 years of Catholic Education in Australia.

Tuesday 22nd June 2021

12.00pm Mass 

which will be celebrated in the school grounds.

Followed by a BYO shared picnic lunch. 

There will be an opportunity to come view the school’s Art Exhibition.

Assistant Principal Terms 3 & 4 2021
This week Mrs Joanne MacFetters, our Assistant Principal has made the decision to not to return to St Thomas More School for the remainder of the 2021 school year.  Mrs MacFetters is still recovering from her major surgery undertaken at the beginning of the year.  She is currently recuperating slowly as well as working from home for the Wollongong Catholic Education Office. Mrs MacFetters’ decision was a tough one as she greatly misses the St Thomas More community, however she realises the need for an extended recovery time.

Thankfully, the Catholic Education Office has appointed Mrs Samantha McGarrity to remain as the acting Assistant Principal of our school for the remainder of 2021.  We thank Mrs McGarrity for accepting this position and we continue to look forward to her sharing her expertise with us.

Please continue to keep Mrs MacFetters in your prayers so that her recovery brings her to good health very soon.

Semester 1 Reports
The Semester 1 school reports will ‘go live’ on Compass on Friday Week 8, 11th June 2021.  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 and Year 2 this will be the first A-E report that your child will receive.  This is due to the interruptions of Covid in 2020 to student learning; 2020 reports did not reflect an overall grade for any Key Learning Area. 

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 9.  Details will be sent home to you in the coming days for you to book online a time and date to meet with your child’s class teacher.  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

Late Arrivals 
There is quite a large number of students in our school who are regularly late to school each day.  Parents and carers are reminded that school officially starts at 8.30am each morning.  It is understandable that on the odd occasion something may occur to prevent you from being at school on time, however a regular late arrival is very disruptive to the learning of all classes.  This year in 2021 we have reduced our morning assembly to only occur on Mondays with the aim of getting the children into class as soon as possible each morning after the 8.30am bell has sounded so that learning may commence.  Thank you to the students and families who are always at school and on time to commence their learning each and every day, 5 days a week.  

Wash Hands

Social Distancing

Stay Safe

Philip Barrington 
PRINCIPAL

Students and Staff at St Thomas More will be participating in a weekly garden maintenance initiative. The students will be learning about and participating in the maintenance of a natural environment within our school and how to care for our common home. Each student and staff member will be given a pair of gardening gloves and other safety materials to use when participating in this sustainability-themed teaching and learning initiative.

This initiative is meeting various NESA requirements that will benefit our students. It is specifically achieving cross-curriculum learning outcomes for English, Mathematics, Religion, Science and Technology, Creative Arts and HSIE. As stated in NESA's Sustainability Statement, "contributing and making decisions about sustainability will help shape a better future that requires an understanding...and needs to be informed by experiences" (NESA, 2021). It is clearly evident the importance this initiative will have on our students and wider community. 

This initiative has received many generous donations from Campbelltown Catholic Club, West Leagues Club and Bunnings Gregory Hills. We thank these organisations for their donations towards this sustainability initiative.  

If you have any questions regarding this school-wide initiative, please contact Mr Lachlan Carter.