Dear Parents and Carers,

Today I had the privilege of attending a Sorry Day Service with Mr Navarette and three Year 6 students.  This annual event was celebrated at Holy Trinity Church, Macquarie Fields along with local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and local schools.  National Sorry Day is actually being remembered tomorrow across Australia on Thursday 26 May and is a day when we pause to remember the Stolen Generations of Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.   Sorry Day falls during National Reconciliation Week which is held each year between 27 May and 3 June.  The theme for National Reconciliation Week 2022 is “Be Brave. Make Change”. Reconciliation Week is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures and achievements and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia.  For the Catholic Church in Australia, this week offers us a time to be fully the Church that God dreams for us - a Church in which Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples make their own unique contribution and that contribution is joyfully received by others.

Dear Loving Lord, Creator of all, 
you created us all in your own image,
one image - many colours,
one image - many cultures.
You made us come together like a rainbow,
separate parts but coming together in one creation.
Help us to see the beauty you have created 
in each and every one of us.

Walk Safely to School
Thanks to those families who were able to be part of ‘Walk Safely To School’ day last Friday.  The aim of this day was to raise awareness about health, road safety, transport and environmental benefits that regular walking, especially to and from school can provide for the long term well being of our children.  

Afternoon Dismissal
Thanks to those parents and carers who are abiding by the road rules and not blocking St Johns Road during afternoon pick up.  We seem to have some good days and not so good days.  We encourage all families to stagger their pick up time between 2.40pm and 3.00pm.  Your children are safe in the care of teachers until you arrive to collect them.  To assist with the flow of the pick up line we ask that parents who park their car to only pick up their children from the main playground - this means parking your car and walking down the path into the school.  Children cannot be collected from the Carline dismissal gate.  If your child is waiting in the Carline pickup area we will send them to the main playground for you to collect them.  A huge thank you to the staff of our school for their hard work and care of the children each afternoon.

Cross Country
St Thomas More School students: George O, Eva L, Jayden M, Ella P, Ethan L, Harrison H, Emily H, Christian B and Chloe F represented our school with pride at the Wollongong Diocese Regional Cross Country Selection Trials on Tuesday 24th May.  All runners gave their best, producing some excellent results. George and Ella both finished in the top 12, which is an outstanding effort. Congratulations to the team of runners and the parents and grandparents who came along in great support.

The St Thomas More School new award system is progressing very well with greater focus on positive choices made by the children.  Each week each class teacher presents White Awards to children who are following the school rules and making positive choices and actions within the school environment.  When a child receives five White Awards they are then awarded a Blue Award.  After five Blue Awards, a Gold Award is presented.  These awards are progressive throughout your child’s years at STM.  During this past week STM awarded its very first Blue Award.  Congratulations to Fletcher in 2 Blue.

Grade Liturgy
As stated in the last newsletter, parents are invited to a ‘Coffee and Conversation’ session after their child’s grades liturgy this term.  In the coming weeks Year 6 parents are invited to the Year 6 liturgy and ‘Coffee and Conversation’ on Tuesday 31 May at 8.45am.  Year 3 parents are invited to their liturgy and ‘Coffee and Conversation’ on Friday 3rd June at 8.45am.  

Kindergarten 2023 Enrolment Interviews
If you are aware of any families in our community who are looking to enrol in a great Catholic School please advise them to complete an enrolment application as soon as possible.

Wash Hands

Social Distancing

Stay Safe

Philip Barrington 
PRINCIPAL

There is nothing better than a good book! To encourage the love of reading and literature we are starting  “Book of the Week.”  A book will be chosen for Kindergarten to Year 2 and another for Year 3 - Year 6. Each class will have the opportunity to hear the book and have a short “book talk.” Children will then be able to be detectives, locating references to the books in various places around the school (a picture, or a word, or a sentence), the idea being to promote simple discussion about the books as they search.

The titles of the books will be listed in the newsletter, so feel free to chat to your children about them. Many of the titles will also be available on YouTube, perhaps you could even listen to them at home.

 We are kicking off this new adventure this week with the National Simultaneous Story Time book choice, ‘Family Tree’ by Josh Pyke.  https://youtu.be/YkQXX-uj_qM