Our School

St Thomas More’s Primary School, Campbell, established by the Sisters of the Holy Faith in 1961, is a Catholic Archdiocesan School. Being a small school, we provide a special opportunity for children to develop in a friendly atmosphere where the needs of each individual are recognised and catered for.

As approximately 50% of our children come from Defence families, we are familiar with the challenges of relocation, and therefore endeavour to create a secure environment where all children grow in self-esteem and resilience.

St Thomas More’s has a current enrolment of approximately 170 children. We have a dedicated, professional staff, who work hard to ensure that the programs offered are implemented to allow for the total development of each child. We base all our actions on Catholic beliefs and values.

St Thomas More’s is a parish-based school consisting of classes for children from Kindergarten to Year Six. The class structure consists of single grade and multi-age class groups.

School Motto

The crest originated when the Holy Faith Sisters started St Thomas More’s in 1961. The Latin words on our crest, unus dominus, una fides,  are our school motto and translate to ‘One Lord, One Faith’.

Our Patron Saint

 St Thomas More lived in England over 400 years ago. He studied to be a lawyer, was a monk for a short while, and had many books published. He placed great importance on prayer and fasting. He was asked to be Lord Chancellor by King Henry VIII, but Thomas did not want to take the job. He didn’t agree 

with the King’s attitudes towards the Pope in Rome. King Henry VIII wanted to be the head of the church in England because he didn’t want to follow all the Church’s rules. Thomas had the courage to make a choice to follow the truth and not the King and was sent to the Tower of London to try to change his mind. Thomas spent over a year in prison and in the end, the King put Thomas to death. When he died, Thomas More said, “I die the King’s good servant, but God’s first”. Thomas More lived a life of Wisdom, Courage and Peace.

The St Thomas More’s School Creed

Our School Creed is a belief statement encompassing our mission, vision, values and expectations. The students at St Thomas More’s know our School Creed as it forms our School Prayer and our School Song. Our School Creed is lived through our teaching and learning in Xplore More, Student Welfare and Pastoral Care practices, Catholic Identity and within all aspects of life at St Thomas More’s.

We Are Explorers

Learning Excellence is captured at St Thomas Mores through our strong focus on Literacy and Numeracy and in our teaching and learning practice of Xplore More. Teachers deliver curriculum based on The Science of Learning using a combination of explicit direct instruction and inquiry approaches. Our We are Xplorers attributes support students to apply their content knowledge through transferable skills.

Sport Houses

Our three sporting houses were named to align with our School Creed and connect them to our traditions, heritage and location in the suburb of 

Campbell.

Honour

Legacy

Valour

Defence School Mentors

St Thomas More’s Primary School is a great choice of school for children of Defence families because:

• the school has been attended by Defence families for many years and the teachers and staff are familiar with issues associated with high mobility and deployments
• it is a comparatively small primary school with a friendly and inclusive community
• the school is located in close proximity to ADFA and RMC which fall within the immediate catchment area for enrolment; also, close to Russell, Campbell Park, Duntroon and Brindabella Park Offices.
• a Defence School Mentors (DSM) are on staff and dedicated to supporting Defence families.

The current DSMs are Kate McErlean kate.mcerlean@cg.catholic.edu.au (Mon - Wed) and Savida Tanzer savida.tanzer@cg.catholic.edu.au (Wed - Fri). They can be contacted on 6249 8869.