Upcoming

Events

Tuesday 11 September Catholic Schools Touch

Carnival

R/1 Liturgy in the Library at 9.30am

Wednesday 12 September Catholic Schools Music

Festival

6/7J Mass @10.15am

Thursday 13 September 6/7 Visit to Clayton Aged

Care Home

Tuesday 18 September Walk a Mile in My Boots

(Freemont Park)

Wednesday 19 September

School Board Meeting 7pm

Thursday 20 September

Catholic Schools 4/5 T-Ball Carnival Ridley Reserve

Friday 21 September

Whole School Assembly Led by R/1 CK 9am

SPORTS DAY FRIDAY 30

NOVEMBER

St Thomas More School

Newsletter Term 3 Week 7 Thursday 6 September 2018 Website: www.sttmore.catholic.edu.au Email: info@sttmore.catholic.edu.au

St Thomas More School recognises and acknowledges that we are living on traditional Aboriginal lands and we offer our respect and appreciation to all Aboriginal people.

St Thomas More School

50 Yorktown Road

Elizabeth Park SA 5113

PO Box 2002

Elizabeth Park SA 5113

Telephone: 8255 1699

Fax: 8287 0241

OSHC: 8255 1626

0409551699

Principal

Mr Joe Blefari

Acting Deputy Principal

Mrs Sonia Kilmister

Acting APRIM

Mrs Leah Williams

I take this opportunity to share with you that Mrs Sonia Elliott has concluded her time at St. Thomas More

School. Sonia has been on leave this year teaching at a Department school closer to home. Sonia has been a

highly committed, professional and caring teacher who has had very positive relationships with her students.

I have thoroughly enjoyed working alongside Sonia and have been particularly impressed by her ability to

successfully teach children from the early Years through to Year 7. Sonia has taught at STM for the last

seventeen years and always strived to grow and develop as an educator, work collaboratively with her peers

and provide young people in her care with the best possible learning experiences. Sonia’s gifts and talents

have also been recognised in her new school where she has been sharing her knowledge and experiences

with staff there. The STM school community will have the opportunity to acknowledge and thank Sonia for

her outstanding contributions to STM at a special whole school assembly on Wednesday 21st November at

10:30am in Jubilee Hall.

I certainly share the school communities’ frustration at what has perceived to be a lack of any real activity

with the redevelopment of the courtyard. Finally in the last week or two, we have started to see some

progress with this project. After encountering some unexpected issues I believe we are back on track.

We should now start to see some more work being

undertaken and the design taking shape.

Hopefully we can be blessed with some fine weather

which will also help to speed up the whole process.

Traditionally we have held Sports Day at the beginning of the year. This year we decided to wait until Term 4

in the hope that our courtyard redevelopment would be completed by then. Although it’s looking unlikely

that this will be the case, we have scheduled Sports Day to be held on Friday 30th November (Term 4, Week

7). If the courtyard is not finished by this time, we will still have enough room with our 2 ovals and the use of

Jubilee Hall. Please place this date in your diary as it promises to be another special event for our school

community.

Staffing News

Courtyard Update

Sports Day – Friday 30th November

Principal’s Report

As you may know, St Patrick’s Technical College is a purpose built specialist trade training school that offer a trade

focused South Australian Certificate of Education (SACE) curriculum and

award winning pre-apprenticeship training for Year 11 and 12 students.

Our Year 6 & 7 students have been invited by St. Patrick’s Technical College

to participate in a Come and Try-a-Trade experience in Term 4. This will provide

our senior students with the opportunity to visit and tour the college and

take part in activities which deepen their understanding of different trades and

the learning opportunities offered to Year 11 & 12 students. We are thankful to

the staff of St. Patrick’s for offering this is unique experience for our students.

We hope to continue this partnership into the future.

The Fortnite game continues to be a topic of conversation amongst, staff, students, parents and many

psychologists. As a school, we have been reflecting on how we are seeing this game affect our children and their

ability to solve conflict restoratively, treat others respectfully and behave in socially acceptable ways. Fortnite’s

game rating is 12+, this means that it is not appropriate for most primary aged children and for many good reasons.

Below are some excerpts from psychologists across the world who are now querying if this game is in fact, changing

the minds of our children;

”You must have the courage to say: This is not a good thing. Kids need to learn face-to-face social skills. They need

to be physically active, preferably outdoors. They need to get a good night’s sleep. A kid obsessed with Fortnite is

less likely to be doing any of these things.” Psychology Today

“………. Games like Fortnite are designed to exploit the brain’s vulnerabilities in the same way poker machines do”

Professor Yucel, a clinical neuropsychologist

“The American Academy of Paediatrics has concluded that games in which killing others is the central theme – a

good summary of Fortnite – are not appropriate for children. Video games should not use human or other living

targets or award points for killing and that parents should not allow their kids to play games which violate this

guideline. In case you haven’t seen it, Fortnite is a game in which the object of the game is to kill other humans.”

Psychology Today

At St. Thomas More we focus on our School Norms, restorative practices and student wellbeing. How

does Fortnite enhance the personal, social and psychological development of your child? Fitness is a key holistic

element of well-being, strongly correlated with positive outcomes such as success in school, better sleep

behaviours and reduced stress. When we move more, we are happier and healthier. If you wish to discuss gaming

and the possible effects on your child’s learning please speak to your class teacher, the leadership team or our

school counsellor.

St. Patrick’s Technical College - Try-a-Trade Program

Fortnite Game

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Students and families are reminded to be wary of approaches from strangers, especially when they are unaccompanied or travelling to and from school. If they are approached students should not respond and should not accept offers of rides or gifts.

Students should seek the assistance of other nearby adults if they feel unsafe and should report the event to a trusted adult (parent or school staff member) as soon as possible.

SAPOL advises that taking out a mobile phone and calling police can deter the offender and they recommend the student making a formal report to their closest police station.

I understand that the transition of Year 7 students from most catholic primary schools into catholic secondary

schools has been welcomed by many families, but also caused issues/concerns for some of our families. Further to

this initiative by the South Australian Catholic Education system, the state government has made a commitment

that all Year 7 public school students will commence in high school from Term 1, 2022. 2019 will see all Year 7

public school students continue to attend a public primary school. During 2019 the approach to moving Year 7 to

public high schools will continue to be formulated. How, and the extent to which, this approach will be effected in

public schools in 2020 and 2021 will be made known at a later date. The Department for Education has provided a

website address where the latest information about the government’s Year 7 to High School plans are located.

https://www.education.sa.gov.au/sites-and-facilities/year-7-high-school.

Please see me if you have any questions about this or about St. Thomas More School transitioning to a Year R-6

school in 2019.

I hope you have a great weekend ahead.

Yours sincerely,

Joe Blefari

Safety Alert

Year 7 Students

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Deputy Report

Page 4

Dear Parents/Caregivers

Last Friday 31st August and Saturday 1st September, I attended the Education Show at the Melbourne Convention and

Exhibition Centre for a series of lectures and seminars. The Education Show is a key event of The National Education Summit

which draws principals, school leaders, business managers and educators from R-12.

Friday’s sessions were all about school leadership and culture and were delivered by highly experienced educators and

consultants, with research based evidence. I found the learning extremely inspiring. The main points to come out of this for

our school were the following:

The importance of quality teaching practices and outstanding leadership

Continual reflection on our teaching practices

The significance of real time feedback in teaching, not just from colleagues or leadership, but also from students

Striving for improvement with our teaching practices

Our teachers working in professional learning teams

Ongoing peer observation clinics, where teachers observe each other teaching

Strategic goal setting to help stretch our students’ intellectual capacity

Focus on curiosity, engagement and empowerment for our students

Emphasis on what students can do, rather than what they can’t do

I must say that at St Thomas More School, our staff already work in Professional Learning Teams and are very reflective on

our practices, largely through strategically planned whole school opportunities provided to us by our Principal, Joe Blefari

over the years. With our Peer Observation Program and Curtin University Effective Schools Improvement Feedback Surveys,

we are certainly up with current best practices and trends, but as for everything in education, we strive for continual

improvement.

Saturday involved a motivational writing class in the morning and a Special Needs Symposium after lunch, which was made

up of a series of sessions about Autism Spectrum Disorder delivered by a psychologist, a speech pathologist, an occupational

therapist, two teachers and a young man on the Autism Spectrum, Miles Glaspole. I really enjoyed the input from all the

speakers and learned a lot about the needs of students on the Autism Spectrum including a couple of new strategies which I

will be sharing with staff. In particular I loved listening to Miles, who is also a comedian and has occasional appearances on

comedy shows on TV. It was so interesting to hear first-hand about Miles’ experiences growing up on the Autism Spectrum

through primary and secondary school. Miles explained how valuable primary school was for him in teaching him many

things such as social interaction skills and boundaries and he appreciated teachers who would take the time to understand

him and making him feel welcome. I believe we are very lucky at St Thomas More School, as our teachers are outstanding in

the way they tailor learning experiences for students on the Autism Spectrum in a way that is inclusive, whilst maximising

their learning potential.

Kind regards

Sonia Kilmister

Acting Deputy Principal

The Education Show

Dear Parents/Caregivers,

You may have received a letter in regards to the Walk a Mile in my Boots this week. We encourage

students to ask for sponsorship, if possible, from family members and friends to raise money for

the Hutt St

Centre. If you

have not seen this note, please let

your child’s teacher know. If you

would like to walk along with us, let

your child’s teacher know and pull

on your favourite shoes ready for

Tuesday 18th September at 12pm.

We thank you for your support.

As part of this initiative, we are

running another competition to

inspire our students’ creativity as

well as have a focus on what St

Thomas More School does for those

in need. As it states on the

advertisement below:

To remember our mission of helping others and our “Walk a Mile in our Boots” fundraiser, we are looking for creative

designs to be painted on some gumboots. These gumboots will then be filled with soil and we will grow plants in them in

our garden.

If you are interested in taking part, ask your teacher for details. We have six

gumboots to be painted so six designs will be chosen. We ask that your

designs include; St Thomas More logo or an aspect of our school, a

representation of our role in caring for others or any other design that

demonstrates how we welcome all.

Please have your entries in to Mrs Williams by Monday 17th September

and the winners will be announced on Tuesday 18th September.

GO CREATE!!!

APRIM Report

Walk a Mile in My Boots

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APRIM Report

As we fundraise for the Hutt St Centre by Walking a Mile in my Boots in Week 9, this is also Mercy Week. To celebrate Mercy

Week we would like to recognise those that help others in our community and to think about those in need. To do this, our

students will be engaging in a variety of activities. These activities may include writing thank you letters to those who help in our

community, paintings for displays at shelters or writing prayers. A timetable of our day on Tuesday 18th September, is below.

Walk a Mile in my Boots and Mercy Activities

9.00am Mercy Activities in class

11.50pm Meet in Jubilee Hall for Prayer

12.00pm Classes to move out to begin “Walk a Mile in my Boots”

12.45pm Arrive back at school for lunch

1.30pm Mercy Activities in class

May you always feel God’s love and presence in your life,

Leah Williams ACTING APRIM

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Diary Dates

Date Special Event

Wednesday 5th

September R/1 Liturgy

Thursday 6th

September Casual Clothes Day for the Grace Olivia Foundation

Wednesday 12th

September Year 6/7 J Mercy Mass

7pm Confirmation Celebration at St Ann’s

Week 9 beginning 17th

September Mercy Week

Tuesday 18th

September Walk a Mile in my Boots

Saturday 22nd

and Sunday 23rd

September

6pm Saturday First Eucharist at St Thomas More Church

10am Sunday First Eucharist at St Thomas More Church

Friday 28th

September Pupil Free Day

Friday 1st June International Children’s Day

Walk a Mile Schedule and Mercy Activities

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On Thursday 30th September St Thomas More participated in the SAPSASA Rugby league Tag Carnival at the newly designed Eyre Sports Park. We entered two Year 6/7 teams with the students playing 6 games before finals. This carnival gave students a great opportunity to enhance their skills and knowledge taught in Physical Education lessons and build on teamwork. It was a brave effort by all participants considering the windy conditions most of the day making it extremely difficult to string three or four passes together.

All teams started confidently, sharing the ball around and maintaining a brilliant defensive line. They showed solid team work in defence and displayed great running power to score some brilliant tries. As the day progressed all teams grew in confidence and worked well as a team to gain many successful results. Overall the girls finished second losing the grand final 4-2 and the boys finished 4th. Well done everyone!!

Thank you to Mr Evans, Mrs Bickerdike, Mr Blefari and Mrs Oates for their help and support throughout the day.

Top Effort Everyone!

PE Co-ordinator

Fabian Chevalier

SAPSASA Rugby League Tag Carnival

Sport News

On Friday 24th August our students participated in the SAPSASA District Athletics Carnival at Munno Para Little Athletics Club. Thirty-five Year 4-7 students represented the school extremely well and showed outstanding athleticism.

The carnival is divided into two sections; large and small schools. We competed in the small schools section and finished 1st in our section and 4th overall in our district which is a magnificent achievement. Competing against 16 other schools within our district the students achieved a fantastic result.

Throughout the day there were many outstanding individual performances and those students will go on to compete at Santos Stadium at the State Athletics Championships later this term. Good Luck to Jimmy Gray, Zoe Jackson and Mia Glancey.

St Thomas More also achieved outstanding results in all team relay events. Our students competed in eight running relays and claimed a top four finish in seven out of the eight relays. Great effort team!!

Thank you to all of the students for their efforts and commitment in representing St Thomas More School. I would also like to thank Mrs Jenkins, Miss Borasso and Mrs Bickerdike for their help and support on the day, ensuring that each student made it to their event on time.

Thank you to the parents/teachers who helped transport the students to and from the carnival and those that came to support and barrack on the day.

Great effort team!

Mr Chevalier

PE Coordinator

SAPSASA District Athletics Carnival Small School Champions

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Page 9

Enrolment Information

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If you have a sibling ready to start school in 2019 enrolments are CLOSING SOON!

Is someone you know interested in attending St Thomas More School—let them know about our Principal

Tours.

The best way to get a sense of our school community is on a principal tour. Tours will be held on the first

Tuesday of the Month (excluding school holidays).

Please call Principal Assistant Kerry Oates on 8255 1699 to register for a tour.

Thank you to all of our Volunteers who help out in our school. From the Canteen to the Library and the

classrooms! We appreciate your help and would love to have more people helping out in our school.

If you are interested please contact Leeanne in the Front Office 8255 1699.

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We are lucky to be connected with Elizabeth

Community Connections at our school. They

offer some amazing programs including

these two targeted at 1 to 5 Year olds.

Please also tell friends and family that they

are more than welcome to join the groups!

You do not have to be at school to be

involved.

ALL WELCOME!

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Library News