Filter Content
- Message from the Principal
- Term Dates, Public Holidays and School Closure Dates
- Important Dates Regarding Buses
- School Photos Tuesday 7th June
- Religion Education - St Thomas
- Cross Country
- Lights off for Science in Year 5!
- Merit Awards
- Art - Bottle tops mural repair
- Maddy McMillan - Sale Eisteddfod
- Bairnsdale Gymkhana
- School TV Launch
- School TV - Special Report
- Second Hand Uniform Shop
- Sion Campus Update
- Community Notices
Our school is a place of faith and learning
Dear Parents and Families,
CHILD SAFETY/WELLBEING
The Resilience Project
We hope that some families were able to attend the parent session last night which set out to explain the purpose of the project and information around some of the issues facing youth with respect to their emotional literacy and mental health.
The impact of young children and teens being able to access technology 24/7 brings its own range of issues around mental and physical health and we encourage parents to monitor their child’s access to technology and what they are accessing and sharing.
Please take the time to ask your child about some of the topics being explored when completing their Resilience Journal. It may provide the opportunities to further explore some of the questions your child may have about their emotions and feeling safe.
UNWELL CHILDREN AND STAFF
We continue to have a number of unwell students and staff throughout this term which impacts arrangements and routines for classrooms and the whole school.
Relief and current staff are being utilised to ensure learning continues, with some teachers taking on responsibilities in different classrooms.
We are looking at alternatives and plans to manage a variety of scenarios that may present themselves at the start of each day.
OPEN DAYS
Today, we had our last official Open Day. We welcomed a number of new and sibling families as they toured the school. Enrolment interviews will take place for new Foundation families next week and we will notify sibling families later in the term regarding interview dates for their children.
CONDOLENCES
We offer our sincere condolences and prayers to the family of Callum Wood, a past student and friend of many, who died over the weekend. We remember the many smiles he shared with his friends here at St Thomas’ and his warm greeting when crossing paths outside of school.
YEAR 6 CAMP
A reminder that Year 6 camp is currently being planned to take place at Gelantipy in August this year. More information will be shared with families prior to the end of term. We will be looking for registered volunteers to assist with camp. Staff will be meeting next week to discuss plans.
Please know we wish you all a lovely weekend.
Take care
God bless,
Anita and Staff
Term Dates, Public Holidays and School Closure Dates
2022 SCHOOL TERM DATES
TERM 2 - Tuesday 26th April - Friday 24th June
TERM 3 - Monday 11th July - Friday 16th September
TERM 4 - Monday 3rd October - Tuesday 20th December
SCHOOL CLOSURE DAYS 2022
Friday 24th June | Student Free day |
Monday 31st October | Student Free day |
Tuesday 20th December | Student Free day |
PUBLIC HOLIDAYS
Monday 13th June | Queens Birthday |
Tuesday 1st November | Melbourne Cup |
Important Dates Regarding Buses
IMPORTANT DATES FOR BUSES
BUSES 2022
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Buses will not run on the following days in 2022
Friday 10th June 2022
Monday 11th July 2022
Friday 25th November 2022
School Photos Tuesday 7th June
School Photos Tuesday 7th June
Annual school photos including sibling photos will be taken at St. Thomas’ Catholic Primary School by Arthur Reed Photos on Tuesday 7th June, 2022.
There is no need to return any forms or money to school.
Unique image codes will be issued to all students on/after photo day so families can register online to view images when they become available in the webshop.
Registration is simple, just follow the 3 simple steps on your child’s personalised flyer once you receive it and remember to add the codes for all your children attending this school.
Even if you registered last year, it’s important that you do again this year using your child’s 2022 image code to link their images for the current year with your contact details.
When images are ready to view and in the webshop, all parents who have registered will be notified by SMS and email.
Once registered, please wait for notification that 2022 images are online to view before making your purchase.
Religion Education - St Thomas
Term 2 Curriculum
The theme for this term in Religious Education is The Triune God. For many of us this may be a foreign term. It simply means that God the Father, Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit are one. Whenever we make the sign of the cross we acknowledge this. It is also called the Holy Trinity. We may remember that we were taught that St Patrick used a shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity, that it was one leaf with three parts. In teaching students about The Triune God, we try to further our understanding of the Trinity and how it can be a part of our lives today.
Across all grades, we are teaching different aspects of this concept, building on the knowledge children have about the Triune God each year. We begin in Foundation by understanding that we are special and that through prayer God is called Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In the grade 1 and 2 classes, we look further into our uniqueness and learn to appreciate our world that has been created by God and entrusted to us to care for it. God is identified as the loving creator who gives life.
In Grade 3 and 4 we begin to use the word Trinity to explain the Triune God. We begin to recognise that we are created in the image of God and develop further, the responsibility of stewardship towards creation. We begin to understand that Jesus is the Son of God, whose life, death and resurrection reveals God’s Love. We identify some titles and images for the Holy Spirit and how it supports and enlivens us.
In Grade 5 and 6, we then look at the term Messiah and that Jesus is both divine and human. The Holy Spirit is the love expressed between the Father and the Son. We take a closer look at the responsibility we are entrusted with to respect and nurture life, that the human person created in the image of God has dignity and natural rights, which must be considered in morally challenging situations.
Tony Capurso
Religious Education Leader
Cross Country
Congratulations to our strong team of runners who competed at the SSV Division Cross Country event held on Monday at the Yarram Golf Course. Due to their impressive effort, these runners have now progressed to compete at the Gippsland Regional Cross Country Championships at Lardner Park next Thursday. Good luck team.
Lights off for Science in Year 5!
Our Grade 5's have been busy experimenting with torches in the classroom to explore shadows. They also created different tests to see if they could get light to bend
Congratulations to the following students who received Merit Awards this week.
Merit Awards
Foundation A - Mrs Goudie/ Mrs Phillips | Evelyn Edwards & Archie Aurisch | ||
Year 1 A - Mrs Irwin | Thomas Irving, Phoebe Francis & Allison De Boer | ||
Year 2 A - Mrs Bennett | Mrs Lee | ||
Year 3 B - Mrs Manning / Mr Anrup | Abbey Heywood & Ava Fairhall | ||
Year 4 B - Mrs Glover / Mrs Wilson | Fletcher Goodwin & Addison Henry | ||
Year 5 A - Mr Capurso / Mrs Wilson | Summah Coleman & Mason Lucieer | ||
Year 5 B - Miss Madeley / Mrs Colley | Archer Mooney & Charlie Goodwin | ||
Year 6 B - Mrs Morelli | Jemima Wright & Victoria Adams |
Art - Bottle tops mural repair
Maddy McMillan - Sale Eisteddfod
SchoolTV Launch
St Thomas’ Sale is now offering a valuable resource called SchoolTV to parents.
Parenting our children is a complex, challenging and rewarding experience. However, the demands on parents to remain current with technology, drug and alcohol advice and safe practices in a virtual and social media world, as well as dealing with anxiety and wellbeing, add to our busy and diverse family lives.
SchoolTV is a new ongoing resource that is now available to all St Thomas’ parents. Each online edition will address a major topic with expert interviews, fact sheets, a parent quiz, recommended apps, books and more. SchoolTV combines information from a host of reliable resources, including BeyondBlue and ReachOut. It provides a single stream of independent factual information that saves parents time and the confusion of searching across multiple online sites for information. Whenever you complete a quiz or an online survey on School TV, all answers are anonymous.
You can access the SchoolTV archive here https://sttsale.catholic.schooltv.me/
You can also access School TV via PAM Parent Links or our School Website.
During the School year we will publish various topics for you to access.
The topics covered may be pertinent to your immediate situation, or the resource may be useful for you at a later date.
We hope that you find SchoolTV to be informative and a useful source of current well-researched information.
In this edition of SchoolTV - MANAGING SCREEN TIME
As a result of the global pandemic, there has been a noticeable shift in the amount of time people spend on screen-based devices. Families are transitioning back to pre-COVID routines but many are still struggling to re-establish the boundaries and rules around screen use. Some continue to deal with digital conflict and tech-tantrums on a daily basis. The latest research found that 77% of teenagers spend more than five hours on screens per day, but it is important to note that not all screen time is considered equal.
Parents play a crucial role in modelling a positive and healthy approach to using screens and assisting children to navigate the content they watch. It is better to model and mentor screen use, rather than monitor it. Children tend to do more of what they see us do, and less of what we tell them to do. However, it is still important to outline the risks and highlight the benefits of screen use to ensure you keep a balanced attitude. Encourage discussions around the issues that people experience in monitoring their screen time and be honest about your own difficulties.
Parents need to remain firm in their approach to managing screen time. Excessive screen time can be detrimental to a child’s overall wellbeing. Ensuring the correct privacy settings are in place is vital to prevent children from being inadvertently exposed to inappropriate content or online predators. Parents need to also be mindful of the potential impact screen time can have on a child’s social, emotional, educational, behavioural, and even physical domains.
In this edition of SchoolTV, care-givers will be provided with a range of guidelines and strategies to help manage screen time at home.
We hope you take time to reflect on the information offered in this edition of SchoolTV and we always welcome your feedback. If you have any concerns about your child, please contact the school counsellor for further information or seek medical or professional help.
Here is the link to your special report: