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Dear Families and Friends of St Thomas,
It has been wonderful to witness the independence and confidence shown by our Foundation students as they begin full days at school this week.
With the support of our student leaders and parents, routines are becoming established at the beginning of the day as they move to their classrooms and a sense of pride is evident on the faces as our students as they learn how to ‘do school’. Routines are a focus across all our learning communities as we begin the new year so a safe, predictable and calm environment can be created.
Routines are a sequence of actions, that through repetition become habit. When we can predict the events to occur throughout the day, we are more likely to engage and feel safe and confident in our environment. It can be the same at home as it is at school.
Dr Justin Coulson, author of Happy Families, tells us that starting a new year off right, after a holiday period or a break from routine, can take time and effort but have such a reward for everyone in the family if all voices are engaged and everyone is committed.
Setting up a system where everyone is on board is the first step. The real secret to successful routines is helping the kids become self-sufficient.
It takes time, but teaching them to toast their bread or crumpets, fry or scramble some egg, or organise their cereal or yogurt, or even blend a smoothie means that there is less friction with your routine. They feel good about doing what needs to be done because they know how to do it. And while it’s slow at first, it becomes wonderfully effecient over time .
To read the article in full, please find attached to the newsletter below.
Like home, school is also successful when routines are established, expectation is clear, all voices are heard and the opportunity for practice to get it right is frequently carried out.
Like many of us, when routines are interrupted by the busyness of life, our children can feel wobbly or unsure about what the day will look like for them.
If you are concerned about how your child/ren are feeling in the morning, please do not hesitate to let your child’s teacher know via an email or Seesaw. Through ongoing conversations between home and school, we can work together to ensure the best possible outcomes for our students where predictable, safe and calm environments can be created and sustained.
Have a great week everyone.
Jen Gulavin
Reconciliation – Confession or Reconciliation?
We have completed both Parent Formation Nights now and the enthusiasm for this sacrament has been overwhelming. Many thanks and congratulations to all the parents who have enrolled.
Parents were able to see how the sacrament of Reconciliation has evolved over time – especially in the period of time this generation of parents have lived. And this is important to know. How we were taught about Reconciliation is vastly different to how the children of today are taught. For a start, the words used to label this sacrament have changed. It used to be called ‘Penance’ or ‘Confession’. Whilst these words are used to describe various aspects of the process, it is ultimately the whole process that is more aptly titled, ‘Reconciliation’. Do we want to come away from this sacrament knowing that we have confessed, or do we want to know that we are reconciled? I hope answering this question, gives you a sense of how we have moved on from these words. Most importantly, we don’t view this sacrament as a sad event to endure, but more that we view it as a beautiful healing process. A process worth celebrating!
Next Step for Reconciliation Families…
Parent/Child Workshops
14th & 15th March 6:45pm (venue could be at school or at the new Church – fingers crossed)
Parish News
The Parish Bulletin can be accessed weekly on a Friday after 5pm via the following link
https://stthomasap.
St Thomas the Apostle Church Dedication Mass will be on Sunday 23 April 2023. All are invited.
More details coming soon.
Dear Families,
During the term we will be profiling our new staff members to the school community.
This week I would like to introduce four of our wonderful Teaching staff:
Susan Boyes, Jodie Bawden, Britanny Botten and Nuwani Bandara
My name is Nuwani Bandara and I'm delighted to introduce myself as a Foundation teacher at St Thomas the Apostle Primary School. I originate from a Sri Lankan family background and I currently live with my family here.
I started my career as a Kindergarten teacher after I graduated as the first step into my teaching career. After all the years spent in kindergarten, I finally decided that it is the right time to step into primary education and therefore I chose to join St Thomas the Apostle Primary School this year.
I'm delighted to have gained the perfect opportunity to use my experience in early years and support the young learners with a smooth transition into school, using my passion in teaching and to support their learning and development throughout.
Student Safety and Carpark Use
A number of families have noticed the changes to the fencing at the front of the school. In addition to this we have also changed the carpark system so that the main driveway near Ferrari Drive is the main entrance and the other drive way is the main exit. This is also referenced on the signage that was installed last year. Those families wanting to drop off or pick up their child in the car line must follow the green arrow system.
If you would like to park to drop off or pick up your child you can follow the white arrows. Please ensure you follow the car park system when dropping off and collecting your child/ren.
Please refer to the map below.
ILLNESS
If your child is unwell please do not send your child to school . If your child has tested positive , please notify the school and isolate as per the governement regulations.
REMINDER
School Photo Day is tomorrow – Friday 24th March
- Students are to wear their full summer uniform. If your child/ren have sports they are not to wear their sport uniform.
- Please do not send sick students to school just for their photo as we must continue to follow procedures around illnesses and COVID -19.
- There will be a running order for the day commencing with the Foundation students and ending with the Gr 6 students, followed by sibling photos. The order will not be changed so please ensure that you do not schedule any appointments for the day. We cannot give out specific times as to when students will be photographed as this can change on the day depending on cooperation with the photographers, weather etc.
- Please note that only LEGAL NAMES as per your child's birth certificate will be printed on the photos and all printed products and cannot be altered.
Please carefully read below regarding ordering of your child’s individual, class and sibling photos:-
- All orders must be placed online at Advanced life www.advancedlife.com.au
- The school office will not take orders or payment
- The school code is T92RYHLDC.
- All students will be photographed individually as well as in their class group whether an order has been placed or not by photo day.
- Sibling photos will only be taken for those students that have ordered.
- For individual and class photo orders, these can be ordered up to 7 working days afterwards with no late fees. After that time , late orders will incur a $15 late fee per package.
