Dear Parents and Carers,

Our Yr 6 students will receive the Sacrament of Confirmation this Sunday at 11am. The Sacrament of Confirmation completes the Sacrament of Baptism. This Sacrament invites God to be present in the person’s life and to empower them as they live out Christ’s mission. Confirmation is a true Sacrament instituted by Jesus and differentfrom Baptism. It is administered by the bishop (in non-COVID times) through the laying-on of hands and anointing with chrism, accompanied by prayer. The effect of the Sacrament of Confirmation is to give strength in faith.

The Yr 6 Confirmation students have their retreat day tomorrow. Thank you to Fr Emil, Fr Josh, Rossen, Samantha and the Yr 6 teachers for all their work and time in making sure the students are fully prepared. This year, Fr Josh will confirm the students. Again, due to seating/number restrictions in the Church not all staff will be present on Sunday. Please pray for our candidates. 

PRAYER FOR CONFIRMATION CANDIDATES

Lord, You send out Your Spirit to touch the hearts of all people, so that they may believe in You and in Jesus whom You sent. 

Look kindly on all candidates for Confirmation as they listen to Your voice. 

Open their hearts to Your Spirit and bring to fulfilment the good work that You have begun in them. 

As we prepare these children for Confirmation, make each of us an instrument of Your love. 

Teach us to appreciate what is holy in others, and to be patient with what we do not understand. Deepen our faith in the Gospel and help us to pass it on by our example. 

We pray that You will continue to guide us and sustain us. 

Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Book Week Activities

We have had a wonderful Book Week. The cakes looked amazing – thanks to the 5/6 parents for assisting with this! The Book Parade and activities last Friday were so much fun! More activities tomorrow and then that’s a wrap for Book Week 2020! A huge thank you to Madeleine Reid, our Teacher Librarian, for all her organisation and Book Week ideas!  

Swimming for Kinder to Yr 2

Swimming lessons for Kinder to Year 2 will take place every day in the last 2 weeks of November (staring November 16). The cost will go onto Term 4 fees.

Questacon Incursion

On Friday 30^th October, we are very excited to have presenters from Questacon coming to our school. During this 1-hour interactive presentation, students will be stimulated and challenged to explore how aspects of our everyday life incorporate Science and Technology. Look out on FB for photos of this exciting incursion.

Class Placements 2021

The teaching staff and Leadership Team will soon begin the process of creating the class groups for next year (Yr 3 to 6).  When compiling classes, teachers are asked to take into consideration several factors; learning styles and abilities are of first concern; behavioural issues and special needs are also a high priority. To ensure the best learning environment for all, the teachers will determine which students should be together. This process takes many weeks. If you have a specific request regarding class placement that you would like to discuss with me, please contact Julie Ogden to make an appointment.

If you made a request last year, you would have to make a time with me again – the requests do not carry over from year-to-year. I do not take requests for specific teachers.

Yours sincerely,

Julie Wiley
Principal

Go the Cats!

Wow! What a delightful time we are having celebrating Book Week. The book parade was a huge success thanks to the enthusiasm of all the students and staff at St Thomas More’s. The children’s costumes were fantastic and revealed some amazing and surprising characters from many books. The teachers dressed as the curious characters from Alice in Wonderland and the parade was led by the White Rabbit, the Mad Hatter and a little silliness thrown in by Tweedledee and Tweedledum. The children proudly paraded their costumes for the Queen of Hearts. The children had a lot of fun and their smiles were infectious!

After the parade, Year 5/6 ran some wonderful small group activities for the younger students to enjoy. It was wonderful to see the kindness and fun shared amongst our students. Year 5/6 read to their group and led activities inspired by the characters in their chosen story. It was the perfect way to lift our spirits in what has been a very different year. 

On Monday, students were treated to some delectable cakes baked by our talented Year 5/6 students. Every year, we are amazed by the creativity of our students. It is a wonderful way to bring our school community together to celebrate. Many proud moments were had for our leaders to shine, including taking responsibility to run our Cake and Bake Stall. I am super proud of our Year 5/6 students. They continue to surprise and inspire me each day! The passion for reading is clear to see.

Tomorrow will be our final event. During Library lessons we will be heading outside with picnic rugs with a buddy class for rug reading, a curious creature scavenger hunt and nature play. Students will be treated to popcorn and poppers as part of the experience. The popcorn will be gluten free.

Thank you, families, for your support and interest in Book Week 2020. We couldn’t do it without you, and your efforts are very much appreciated! Check out the CBCA Books of the Year winners by clicking this link.

Mrs Reid
Librarian

Free Desks 

We have recently replaced the desks in our 5/6 classroom resulting in a surplus. The desks are in excellent condition and are height adustable.

Please contact the office if you are interested.