Dear Parents and Carers,

Firstly, I would like to farewell Mrs Sonja Mingay, our Defence School Mentor and School Chaplain. Sonja is moving on to something different next year and will be setting a new career path for herself. Words cannot explain how much our community has been blessed to have Sonja working with us. Her dedication and commitment to her roles has been inspiring. She will be greatly missed and leaves behind a huge legacy at STM.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the School Community Council for all their work this year. Margaret Deerain, Fr Josh Scott, Fr Emil Milat, Lee Kormany, Sonia Skinn, Daniel Johnston, Michael Castrission, Bek Richardson, Nicole Mikkonen and Pam Sixsmith have shown such dedication to our community and our students. Each member is a strong advocate for continuous improvement in student learning and in the community engagement at STM.

I would also like to thank all the parent volunteers throughout 2019. Without your assistance, we could not function as we do. We are blessed at St Thomas More’s with a most generous parent community. Helpers have assisted with classroom reading and writing, covering library books, cooking BBQs, handing out pizza, cleaning up after morning teas, sporting carnivals and so on! Thank you for your generosity and continued support.

Home Readers

The Home Reading Program will finish up this week to allow our Learning Support Assistants to complete a stocktake and prepare for 2020. I encourage all families to maintain a reading regime during the holidays.

Candy Canes

We are fast approaching the season of candy canes. I would like to ask that you support a candy cane exclusion for several reasons. Firstly, health, extra sugar, preservatives and colouring. Secondly, the sticky fingers on everything and thirdly, the rubbish that ends up on our playground, not to mention running with sharp sticks in mouths. Thank you.

Staffing

Staffing will be announced in next week’s More Reminders. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Katherine Morris on her new employment next year. Katherine will be moving to Holy Spirit in Nicholls next year. Also, Sophie Brown has decided to stay at Ss Peter and Paul in Goulburn, while her and her husband await the birth of their second child next year. Caitlin Brown has also secured employment in the public service and so will not be returning to STM. Sophie, Caitlin and Katherine will be missed at STM and I wish them all the very best for their future.

Yr 6 Graduation

This Friday we have our Yr 6 Graduation and Liturgy. It will start at 1:30pm. The school community looks forward to farewelling our Yr 6 cohort.

Coloured Clothes and Pizza Day

The students are invited to wear coloured clothes on Monday to raise money for the St Vincent de Paul Drought Relief. Please ensure your child is wearing sun-safe clothing and enclosed shoes. Please send in a gold coin donation with your child. It’s also our Pizza Lunch Day on the same day. No need to organise lunch on Monday! 

Step-Up Afternoon

Next Wednesday afternoon, the students will have their “Step-Up Afternoon”. It will start after lunch once children have packed their bags. Children will spend the afternoon with their new teacher and classmates for 2020. This will benefit many students, but particularly our students who become anxious about change.

Yours sincerely,

Julie Wiley
Principal.