|
|
Congratulations to Mr Nick Mezzino who received the inaugural Laudato Si' Award last evening at the Catholic Education South Australia Awards ceremony!
Nick was nominated for his commitment and service to Catholic Education in the area of ecological conversion, environmental sustainability, student agency and leadership. A panel of educational leaders selected Nick as the most worthy recipient of this award from across all nominees in South Australia and they concluded the following: “Nick’s passion for ecological conversion and education was clearly evidenced to the panel through his commitment to a broad range of initiatives and activities over many years. He carefully inspires students to activate their voice and nurtures respect for, and relationship with, the environment through his mentoring of children through the initiatives he has developed and facilitates.”
It was wonderful to share in this moment with Nick, as his family and colleagues supported him at the awards ceremony, where he was presented in front of many dignitaries, leaders and other talented educators in Catholic Education. The evening commenced with a beautiful Mass held in the Cathedral celebrated by Archbishop Patrick O’Regan.
As this is the very first Laudato Si' Award, it is an absolute honour for Nick to be this recipient. We are incredibly proud of Nick for all his achievements and are thrilled that he has received recognition of this scale.
We say a heartfelt Congratulations to Nick on receiving this significant award and express our gratitude for his dedication and service to ecology at St Thomas School and Preschool!
|
|
|
|
from the Principal ..........
|
|
#LoveMyCatholicSchool
You may have seen this banner around social media this week promoting Catholic Education Week in South Australia: Throughout this week our schools are celebrating what it truly means to be part of a Catholic school and system. Our own students and staff have had some wonderful responses about the most favourite and appreciated features of St Thomas School and Preschool. It has given many of us pause for thought around what we really treasure about St Thomas and this really does deserve to be celebrated and promoted.
For me, I have been a part of Catholic Education South Australia for almost 20 years and have found it to be the most supportive, rewarding and encouraging system of education. This experience is for both myself as a professional, but also for my own children who have completed both primary and secondary schooling in Catholic schools. In my own experience I have found much fulfilment from a wholistic perspective. The spiritual nourishment and formation that I have received has been an important part of my own self development and connection to a faith community. Our Catholic identity, commitment to the Gospels and the honouring of every person and their story in the image of God is integral to our Catholic school. I always say to parents when I meet them for new enrolments, that when you step foot inside a Catholic school, this Catholic identity should come alive and be palpable, felt, seen and heard in every detail. This is what defines us. And this is what I feel in the St Thomas Community!
There are so many reasons to love St Thomas! We have such a great strength of community spirit, very positive family and school partnerships, the most amazing children at the very heart of our focus, talented and generous staff, wonderful facilities, outstanding learning opportunities, rich tradition and lived experience of faith, with a close connection to the Emmaus parish. Holding all of this together is much love and joy.
I hope this week that you take a moment also to reflect and celebrate all the great things that you love about St Thomas too.
#LoveMyCatholicSchool
Staffing announcement
This week we say farewell to Kath Roberts who has been our WHS coordinator since the beginning of last year. We wish Kath well in all her future endeavours and thank her for her generous contributions to our school community in the area of WHS.
In Term Three, we welcome a new Reception class and I am pleased to announce that the teachers for this class will be Ms Prue Dunn and Mrs Chloe Harford. Please join me in welcoming Prue and Chloe to our school community in this role.
COVID 19 update
Families will have received a letter this week advising of a small outbreak of positive COVID-19 cases within our school. As per the Catholic Education COVID-19 Management Plan, we are still required to monitor the positive COVID incidents within the school and to respond accordingly. We appreciate your timely advice when a child tests positive and thank you for keeping your child home when they present with symptoms of illness. Reminder that at this stage, until 31st of May, all adults visiting the site are recommended to wear masks indoors.
Belinda Burford
Principal
|
|
|
|
|
May
Tues 23rd Year 3 Theatre Excursion
Tues 30th Reception Transition Information Night 6pm
June
Wed 7th Term 3 Reception Transition Morning
Thurs 8th Confirmation Workshop 6pm
Fri 9th Pupil Free Day
St Thomas TERM 2 FAMILY Calendar 2023.pdf
|
|
|
|
|
THE IMPORTANCE OF RECONCILIATION AND REPAIRING ‘FRACTURES IN OUR FRIENDSHIPS’
Last week, 29 of our amazing St Thomas students celebrated the sacrament of First Reconciliation. This is one of the seven sacraments of the Catholic Church. Sacraments are moments on the spiritual journey in the Catholic faith. They require rich preparation, designed to help us grow to become the best version of ourselves. The seven sacraments include:
The Sacraments of Initiation: Baptism, Confirmation and First Eucharist
The Sacraments of Healing: Reconciliation and Anointing of the Sick
The Sacraments of Service: Marriage and Holy Orders
These 29 children have learnt the importance of being in right relationship with God and with others. They learnt about how humans are imperfect and make mistakes; and they learnt about their conscience and the ways it guides and supports us to make right choices and actions. But perhaps most importantly, they learnt that God loves them unconditionally and we are called to love others in this powerful way. They learnt that this love can be expressed in times of reconciliation and forgiveness.
Our Catholic belief is that God is the source of all things and all love. So moments where we experience love are moments we experience God. God’s gentle Spirit is constantly guiding us, through our conscience, to be in right relationship with others.
As we approach National Reconciliation Week, our focus becomes the reconciliation needed in our wider Australian community. But fundamentally, this national movement is grounded in the same call to live in right relationship, to say sorry and make things right. Healing can take time, but it is always grounded in understanding; and words and actions of love.
But what does reconciliation look like in our everyday lives?
Part of my role at St Thomas involves facilitating regular restorative conversations for groups of students who have experienced some degree of disharmony in their friendships and connections. This disharmony always grows out of unresolved past issues or fractures in their friendship which have been allowed to grow over time.
Supporting students through the process of restoring relationships is key to Catholic Education and can, not surprisingly, be extremely positive and rewarding for all involved. Our Catholic belief is that God created all things out of love; to exist in an interconnected web. The power of this love can be experienced within our human relationships and connections. It is for this reason, we yearn to exist in right relationship with others and experience true happiness when all is well.
The truth is, the more we can ensure small fractures in our relationships are repaired quickly, the less we will need to worry and stress over them becoming big fractures, which can sometimes seem irreparable!
These fractures can be caused by small moments of disagreement or miscommunication and they can grow to become enormous voids which can be impossible to mend in the future. So much of the disharmony in our lives comes from these ‘fractures’ in our relationships which are left to grow- without being addressed as soon as possible. The key to this repair is students taking responsibility for their words and actions – it certainly requires a great deal of self-reflection.
Our Fractured Friendships Check is one way to support our learners in considering their role in getting along with others. We want our learners to be thriving people- and part of being a thriving person is our ability to take responsibility for the health of our own relationships. You may like to continue these conversations at home with our Fractured Friendships Check.
Fractured Friendships Check…
Fractured Friendships Poster.pdf
Part of this learning is also the skill of saying sorry.
Sorry has three important parts:
- We need to feel sorry (by considering the other’s perspective)
- We need to say sorry (and be specific)
- We need to make a change (so we learn from mistakes)
If we leave out one of these important parts of saying sorry, it doesn’t have any meaning.
The need to apologise is an integral part of becoming fully human and the best version of ourselves. To grow strong relationships, we need to be really good at it and we need to do it authentically. Therefore, this is one of the most important things for our young people to learn.
Go gently,
Paul Mensforth
Deputy Principal
|
|
|
|
|
A big thank you to all our families and students for supporting each other as we adjust ourselves to the new parking restrictions around St Thomas. The council have been very grateful for our support of the changes.
Thank you for caring for the safety and well being of all in our community, including our local neighbours!
We also extend a big thank you to the Banner Crew for their support in creating the added signage.
Just a few reminders to keep things moving smoothly...
When using the Angus Street drop-off/pick-up zone, can drivers please move up to the eastern end, similar to a taxi rank, especially at the end of the school day. This will further increase safety for students.
It will be important for grandparents and anyone else doing drop-off and pick-ups to have information about the new restrictions.
Can parents ensure disabled car parks are available for those with a disabled parking permit. It is important we are respecting these spaces for those who are most vulnerable in our community.
Follow this link to access the Road Safety and Parking Information for families...
Find out more > |
|
|
|
|
Feast of Pentecost - Happy Birthday to the Catholic Church
You are warmly invited to a birthday party!
When: Pentecost Sunday 28 May 2023 10.30 am
Where: Holy Cross Church Goodwood
Why: To Celebrate the Church’s Birthday
Are you confused by this invitation? Did you know that the feast of Pentecost is often referred to as the birthday of the Church? It is called that because Pentecost is when the apostles went out among the people and began spreading Jesus’ message, thus establishing the beginning of the Church.
Pentecost (Greek for 50th day) is celebrated by Christians 50 days after Easter, and marks the day that the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles while they were cowering and hiding behind locked doors following Jesus’ resurrection. After receiving the power and gifts of the Holy Spirit, the apostles immediately went out and preached Jesus’ message to everyone—even those who spoke other languages.
Actually, Pentecost was originally a Jewish feast that concluded the 50 days of Passover and celebrated the end of the barley harvest, plus the beginning of the wheat harvest. The Jewish people at Pentecost also celebrate the gift of the law to Moses at Mt. Sinai.
Symbols of Pentecost
The symbols of Pentecost are wind, fire and a dove.
The first symbol—wind—is taken from the noise the apostles heard as the Spirit descended upon them (Acts 2:2).
After the wind, something appeared like flames appeared and rested upon the heads of each of the apostles (Acts 2:3).
A dove serves as a symbol of the Holy Spirit. There is no mention of a dove in Acts, but we associate a dove with the Holy Spirit because of the story about Jesus’ baptism: “After Jesus was baptized, he came up from the water and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove” (Matthew 3:16).
Celebrating Pentecost
Pentecost is probably one of the most important days on the Church calendar, but it often gets overlooked. Here are some ways that your family can help celebrate this very important day:
Because Pentecost is the birthday of the Church, celebrate it just as you would any other birthday in your home—break out the cake and ice cream. Rather than singing “Happy Birthday,” recite a prayer for Pentecost. Most prayer books contain special prayers for this special day.
Wear something red. The colour of the vestments worn by priests on Pentecost is red, to symbolize the love of the Holy Spirit, or the tongues of fire that appeared over the heads of the apostles on Pentecost. And don’t just stop at wearing red. Use a red tablecloth for dinner, eat off red paper plates, eat red foods, etc. See how many ways you can incorporate the colour red in your celebration.
Watch the following short movies about Pentecost:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TZofFP0WTM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TB25h0-24ow
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPrmuuWr8PU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uECHfHgWlEw
Sebestyen Maglai
REC
|
|
|
|
from Chair of the School Board
|
|
I get to
I want you to change one word today.
See how changing one word in your daily sentences can make a difference.
Remove the word “have to” – and replace it with “get to”.
We all are living with life, work, health and cost of living stressors. It is easy to fall into the trap of looking at these stressors and thinking what you have to do next.
You have to get to work, you have to go for the run in the morning, you have to pick up the kids from school.
Recently, through some family health challenges, this 'have to' mentality was a recurring theme for me and I could hear myself constantly complaining. It’s a busy week – I have to organise specialist, medicines, appointments and so on.
Then I changed this thinking to - “I get to.” And my mindset changed to gratitude, and I became stronger.
I am fortunate to live in society where I get to access healthcare system, I get to have the support, I get to make appointments for the family.
I get to pull on my running shoes each morning, I get to go to a job that I love, and I get to have manic, busy, sometimes ugly, sometimes beautiful school pick-ups.
Change the word. Change it from “have to” – and replace with “get to.” I can’t guarantee I won’t still complain, and to my school mum family who gets to be on the end of those complaints and tears, please know on these days, there is “get to” feeling buried somewhere.
When you realise you are fortunate enough to have the word “get” in your life – your gratitude, strength and resilience will grow.
I have to go do the pile of laundry now.
That word stays as “have to.”
Trish Jarvis
Chair - School Board
|
|
|
|
|
BUILDING RESILIENCE- DEVELOPING FRIENDSHIP SKILLS IN CHILDREN
Michael Grose, a parenting expert, author and former teacher, says, ‘Resilience is the art of staying steadfast in the face of life’s difficulties. It is the ability to bungy-jump your way through life when you experience loss, disappointment and hardship. We all want our children to be resilient. It will help them deal with some of life’s smaller and bigger hurdles.
In his book “Bringing Out Your Child’s Resilience,” Michael suggests that there are 21 attributes which contribute to the development of resilience.
Follow this link to discover all 21 attributes…
St Thomas Resilience Series by Michael Grose- 00 Attributes of Resilience.pdf
We will aim to provide ongoing information and resources on these 21 attributes to support our St Thomas families in the great work of growing their children!
Follow this link to access the fifth attribute… Handling Rejection….
St Thomas Resilience Series by Michael Grose- 05 Handling Rejection.pdf
|
|
|
|
|
I congratulate all the forty brilliant young minds who have registered to participate in the esteemed Oliphant Science Awards! The Oliphant Science Awards have long been a competition that showcases the exceptional talent and innovative ideas of young scientists like yourselves. This competition encourages curiosity, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills across different categories. Topics being entered in the competition include;
Are Dragonflies Safe to Eat?
Clean Tech
Colours of Chemistry
Comparing Crystals
Destructive Disasters
eDNA- the future of conservation
Evolving Creatures
Fabulous Fibonacci
Fantastic Fungi
Formation of Planets
Getting Slimy with Science: Understanding Non-Newtonian Fluids
How Trees Help the Environment
Life in Space
Life on the Moon
Nature Up Close
Save the Snakes
The Age of One Life
The Amazing Car
THE Birds of the Laratinga
The Human Body
The Human Inner Ear
The Wonderful World of Worms
Vibrations
|
|
|
|
|
Reminder for families that Fee Payments for Term 2 are due Friday 19th May.
If you have any queries with regards to school fees, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Jodi Jansons
Business Manager
accounts@stg.catholic.edu.au
|
|
|
|
|
Resilience Confidence Discipline Fitness
• Children can start at the age of 5
• Self defence and anti bullying program
• Non - Contact Training
• Experienced WWCC Instructors
• Sports Voucher approved provider
• Olympic Sport
BEGINNERS WELCOME ANYTIME
Enquiries: info@worldtaekwondo.com.au
Ph: 0412 909 500
Website: www.worldtaekwondo.com.au Sports Voucher Approved Provider
|
|
|
|
|
School FLYERS.pdf