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Friday 13 April PUPIL FREE DAY

Monday 30 April

Term 2 commences 8.50am

St Thomas More School

Newsletter Term 1 Week 11—Thursday 12 April 2018 Website: www.sttmore.catholic.edu.au Email: info@sttmore.catholic.edu.au

St. Thomas More School recognises and acknowledges that we are living on traditional Aboriginal lands and we offer our respect and appreciation to all Aboriginal people.

St Thomas More School

50 Yorktown Road

Elizabeth Park SA 5113

PO Box 2002

Elizabeth Park SA 5113

Telephone: 8255 1699

Fax: 8287 0241

OSHC: 8255 1626

0409551699

Principal

Mr Joe Blefari

Deputy Principal

Mr Shaun O’Leary

APRIM

Mrs Sonia Kilmister

We are extremely pleased to announce that we have booked the Carly Ryan Foundation to present

two separate seminars, one for our older students and one for all of our families. The parent

seminar will be held here at school on Thursday 7th June at 7-8pm. I strongly encourage parents and

careers of children of all ages to make this seminar a priority.

Our children are using the internet daily to connect with each other and the world around them. It

is important to empower students to make wise choices, to look after their digital reputation and

keep themselves and others safe while navigating the internet and apps.

The Carly Ryan Foundation delivers detailed online safety seminars nationally to parents giving

participants valuable information on how to navigate the worldwide web safely. The seminars are

presented by the Carly Ryan Foundation Founder & CEO, Sonya Ryan along with trained presenters

and include the following online support and safety information; Cyberbullying prevention and

support, resilience, critical thinking, understanding the law, communication, empowering young

people, online choices and real life consequences, practical guidance, mobile devices and settings,

managing applications and privacy settings and connection to support services.

As I have shared previously, I will be taking Long Service Leave in Term 2 this year. I’m looking

forward to spending some quality time with my young family and taking a rest from the busyness of

school life for a while. I’m pleased to announce that Mr Shaun O’Leary will be Acting Principal in my

absence and Mrs Sonia Kilmister will be Acting Deputy Principal. This is a wonderful outcome for our

community and I have great confidence that they will successfully lead the school during this time. I

am also pleased to announce that Mrs Leah Williams will be Acting Assistant Principal Religious

Identity and Mission (APRIM) replacing Sonia Kilmister in Term 2. Leah has a wealth of leadership

experience having been a Deputy Principal and an Acting APRIM. She is also currently our CEO

Special Education Consultant and already knows many of our children, family and staff. I wish

Shaun, Sonia and Leah every success and blessing as they lead St. Thomas More School in their new

roles throughout Term 2. I also warmly welcome Mrs Paula Fitzgerald who will be teaching in place

of Mrs Kilmister on Thursdays and Fridays in 4/5CK during Term 2.

Recently our staff undertook some professional learning in an online mathematics resource called

Numerical Acumen. This resource was created by Anthony Harradine, a teacher from Prince Alfred

College. Numerical Acumen was developed to support teachers in helping students to develop the

mechanical basics of a numerical mind. It supports students to:

Increase the speed at which they recall basic number facts and other mathematics facts.

Improve their accuracy when using their brain as a calculation device.

Improve their speed when using their brain as a calculation device.

Improve their understanding of when not to, and when to, use an electronic calculator.

If you would like to know more about this new program please feel free to chat to our Year 4-7

teachers.

Carly Ryan Foundation – Parent Online Safety Seminar – Thursday 7 June (7-8pm)

Staffing News

Numerical Acumen

Principal’s Report

We have a number of system policies and resources that we use with our children here at school. The following two

documents can be accessed on our website:

Policy for the Care, Wellbeing and Protection of Children and Young People 2011 Cybersafety: Keeping Children Safe in a Connected World

Each year we also teach all children from R-7 the Keeping Safe: Child Protection Curriculum.

Please see your child’s class teacher if you would like to know more.

I’m pleased to announce that we have engaged Horizons Constructions to undertake our courtyard redevelopment

and Chapel work. Horizons built St. Mary’s, our new classrooms in 2016 and were great to work alongside and very

professional. I am hopeful that they will be able to commence work early in Term 2. As a result, I am also hoping

that the view outside of my office window looks a bit different when I return from my LSL.

Camp is a wonderful opportunity for students to develop important life skills such as independence and resilience

and for teachers to learn more about each child away from their normal school context. Some of the best primary

school memories are created on camp. It is for these reasons and many other that we decided to reintroduce camps

at STM a couple of years ago.

The teachers have shared with me that the Year 6/7 camp to Illawonga Swan Reach was an enjoyable and

memorable experience for the students and staff. The children were involved in many fun and challenging activities,

individually and in teams. I believe the giant foam pit was a particular highlight for many.

Catholic Education South Australia would like to thank all school community members who took up the invitation to

support South Australian Catholic schools in the lead up to the recent State Election by writing to local political

candidates and sharing relevant information on social media.

“Your advocacy resulted in the Liberal Government committing to support the recent budget increases in recurrent

funding to Catholic schools and also maintaining newly budgeted capital grants to Catholic schools,” says Dr Neil

McGoran, Director of Catholic Education South Australia.

“At the local level this will help your school to provide the best possible outcomes for your students.

Thank you for your commitment to your school and the wider Catholic education community.”

I hope the children have an enjoyable and safe upcoming break and I look forward to returning to our community at

the beginning of Term 3.

God bless,

Joe

Child Protection Curriculum

Courtyard Redevelopment & Chapel Work

Year 6/7 School Camp – April 3-5

Thank you for supporting Catholic Education’s Fair Funding Campaign

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Deputy Report

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Newsletter Term 1 Week 11

The Church Season of Easter

During the season of Easter, we celebrate the essence of our faith: Jesus Lives! Without this truth, faith falls apart and we, as church,

become irrelevant. But we believe! Jesus Lives! And it is our privilege and responsibility to bear witness to the belief that Jesus lives

among us. The Church season of Easter lasts for 7 weeks leading up to Pentecost. It is a time to celebrate the love of God in our lives and

the gifts which have been given to us. The gifts of family, friends, freedom of choice and the environment, just to name a few. We see

Jesus everyday through the actions of those around us. We can continue to live the word of Jesus through our interactions with others.

The way we speak to each other, care for each other, value each other and allow those we are in disagreement with to maintain their

dignity, are all ways we can live Jesus’ call to create a just and fair world for all people.

Curriculum

I have included two mathematical tasks which you might like to have a go at with your child/children.

This week’s Mathematical tasks:

Reception to Year 3

How many objects can you find that are longer than three of your foot lengths but shorter than four of your foot lengths?

Years 4-7

I have drawn a shape with a perimeter of 24cm. Record all the different ways my shape may look?

Happy inquiry.

Below is part of an article that has been published in the Sydney Morning Herald focusing on the benefits of reading to children.

Melbourne researchers have proven what parents have intuitively known all along - the more often you read to your children from an early age, the greater the positive effect on their reading and thinking skills. The Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research has not only proven a causal effect between the frequency of reading to a child and his or her development, but have also for the first time measured the benefits. Children four to five years old who are read to three to five times a week have the same reading ability as children six months older (who are read to only twice or less a week). Reading to children six to seven days a week puts them almost a year ahead of those who are not being read to. It was also found that reading to small children has a positive effect on the development of numeracy skills. ''It does appear to be the case that children who are read to more often keep doing better as they age than other children,'' said Professor Guyonne Kalb, director of the institute's Labour Economics and Social Policy Program, and co-author of the study. The research - which was funded by the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development - found the positive outcomes occurred in children regardless of parental income, education level or cultural background. ''We wanted to try and determine whether reading itself is leading to better outcomes, or do parents who read to their children have other things going on,'' Professor Kalb said. ''We worked with children representing a whole range of families, from all different backgrounds and economic circumstances. We found it doesn't matter if a child is from a poor or rich family, or if the parents are highly educated or not, doing this basic thing of reading to them leads to better developmental outcomes.'' The longitudinal study followed the reading skills of more than 4000 children, aged four to five years in 2004, through to age 10 to 11. Victorian Minister for Children and Early Childhood Development Wendy Lovell said the research was ''an exciting step forward'' in understanding the importance of reading to young children. Happy reading.

Wishing all our families a safe and happy holiday.

Shaun O’Leary

Deputy Principal

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APRIM Report

Dear Parents and Caregivers Easter

First of all, Happy Easter! I hope you all had a lovely Easter celebration with your loved ones. We are now officially in the season of Easter, which lasts for 50 days. Easter is the most important season of the Catholic Church calendar and offers us new hope and optimism for the future. Following Easter Sunday, the season of Easter begins and lasts for seven weeks, ending with Pentecost. Our liturgical colour during Easter is white. John 11:25-26 New International Version (NIV)

25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even

though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.

Fundraising for Project Compassion – A Big Thank You!

During Lent the whole school worked hard in the lead up to Mission Day to raise money for Project

Compassion. Angela Hart from Caritas attended our Mission Day and was very impressed with our

students’ enthusiasm and passion to raise this money. We raised a total of $1,191.30, which will go a

long way to helping those people who are severely disadvantaged in our world.

I would like to thank all the students, teachers and of course the families for helping out by donating

items to sell, making cakes and so on, as we would not have been able to raise such a considerable

amount without such a team effort.

May God bless you and keep you safe over the school holiday break.

Sonia Kilmister

APRIM

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Wednesday Lunch Specials - Term 2

WEEK 1 / 2nd May WEEK 2 / 9th May WEEK 3 / 16th May WEEK 4 / 23rd May

WEEK 5 / 30th May WEEK 6 / 6th June WEEK 7 / 13th June WEEK 8 / 20th June

WEEK 9 / 27th June

WEEK 10 / 4th July All Specials $5

Please place order through classroom lunch order box by 9am.

All other menu items are still available on Wednesday special

day.

Canteen closed on Mondays