Principal's Report
Dear Parents and Carers,
Welcome to 2022 and what is sure to be an exciting year of learning and growth for our community. I am privileged to be joining the team at St Thomas More's and am so grateful for the warm welcome I have received from staff, students and families. I look forward to working with all of you to ensure we are true to our vision of being centred in faith and learning, inspiring minds and nurturing hearts.
I am hoping to meet your children individually before the end of the week and anticipate meeting all of you over the coming months.
A special welcome to Veronica Ellis who has joined our staff as our specialist Arts teacher each Tuesday and Liarna Miller as our new Youth Minister. Welcome also to those students and families who are joining the St Thomas More’s Primary School community for the first time.
Last week staff participated in a week of professional learning that was a little different to previous years. We still had the opportunity to come together in prayer to launch our scripture focus, have administrative meetings and update our first aid. However, Friday was spent preparing for the uncertainty that COVID may bring this term. I thank the staff for their efforts in putting together the learning from home pack that you have since received in your goodie bags. Have you had a chance to check out our St Thomas More's Learning from Home website? The site has been created as a 'one-stop shop' for your family to utilise should you find yourself in isolation. The website can be found here: https://sites.google.com/cg.catholic.edu.au/stmlearningfromhome
COVID-19 Information
All information regarding the return to school, COVID safe measures and reporting of cases has been sent out through Compass. If you have any concerns regarding COVID-19 please do not hesitate to contact me at the school.
Parent Information Night
Included in your goodie bags was an invitation to our Parent Information Night to be held next Tuesday 8 February from 5:00 - 5:40 pm. We will gather as a whole school community over MS Teams for the leadership team to present and then break into grade presentations. These presentations will be recorded so that families with multiple children can view additional presentations at a later time. Staff will be happy for parents to ask clarifying questions and will answer these in their Weekly Update which will include a link to the recorded presentation.
Affirmations
Following a discussion with staff and in keeping with current COVID-19 measures we have made the decision to move our fortnightly affirmations to a Friday. Affirmations will be announced over the PA and will be presented by myself and the Assistant Principal. The first notification of affirmations will occur in More News Term 1, Week 3. This allows staff the full fortnight to observe their students and make decisions on affirmations. We understand the disappointment families feel not having the opportunity to witness their child receive their affirmation, so we will be taking photos of students and disseminating them to their family via email as a keepsake. If you would not like your child to be photographed, and an email sent to you, please let your class teacher know.
Newsletter
The newsletter link is sent out to families every Wednesday via Compass. During odd weeks, we have “More News” and in even weeks we send out “More Reminders”.
St Thomas More's Parish
Mass times and other parish information can be found by clicking on the link below -
http://www.stthomasmore.org.au This Sunday, staff will receive a blessing for the beginning of the school year at the 9:30 am Mass.
School Counsellor
Our school counsellor is Sarah Foley; Sarah will work every Thursday.
Supervision Hours
School hours are 8:50 am to 3:00 pm. Students are supervised each day from 8:20 am until 3:30 pm. I would like to remind parents of the importance of ensuring that children are not dropped at school prior to 8:20 am. Before and After School Care is available through Team Kids.
Uniform
Thank you to families for ensuring students are in full school uniform. P.E. days are Wednesday and Friday. Boys are to wear navy socks with their summer uniform (not white). White socks are to be worn with the PE uniform.
Leadership Badges
As we are unable to hold school gathers we will need to make decisions around the best way of handing out leadership badges. We will notify families of this decision next week.
Did you know we have a Facebook page? Find us @stmcampbell
Yours sincerely
Luke Donnelly
Principal