Term 4 - Week 3 - Newsletter

Prayer of the Week

From our Principal

I don’t know about you but one thing that used to annoy me was the complete difference in how my children behaved at home compared to at school or at other people’s houses. It was like they had split personalities. I would get compliments on having beautifully mannered children who would engage in adult conversation. My replies were something like….”Are you talking about the same person that resides at the other end of my house? I think you must have mistaken them for someone else!”

So why do kids behave well for others and save their worst behaviour for their parents? It’s simple really…. because you love them. It’s hard to be good all the time. When we are fully accepted by others we tend to show them our true selves warts n’ all.

The same theory applies with all our relationships, including dating. When you first started dating, you more than likely put huge energy into making the best possible impression. In the early days of dating you more than likely dressed to impress, were always ready on time and wore a perpetual smile. When the relationship became more stable, you probably loosened up. You didn’t always dress to impress; you may have turned up late a few times and you were less fussed about presenting your best possible face all the time. In short, familiarity breeds contentedness.

The same happens with kids. They become so relaxed with their parents that they will show their worst side to them. They’ll be very polite to their teacher, barely speaking out of turn in class yet they can be downright rude and overbearing at home. They’ll be friendly to peers at school but painful for siblings at home. Such is the way of family-life. We’d all love our kids to behave appropriately all the time, but the reality is they won’t. Most kids have ‘L plates’ when it comes to learning how to fit in and behave around others. They make mistakes, yet they are always on a path to improvement…or should be.

It’s important that they know how to behave. That means parents teach their kids good manners; they teach them right from wrong; and also you teach them how to behave well in a variety of social situations so that when they are outside the house and around others, they know how to behave in public.

I have seen first-hand over many years where the lack of parent teaching their children on how to behave has resulted in unruly behaviour and lack of respect, especially in public.

One big no-no in particular that I urge all parents to refrain from, is negative or derogatory talk about other children, parents or teachers, especially whilst their own children are in earshot. Kids will repeat word for word what their parents say and such talk provides young minds with an unfair opinion of others.

Michael Grose, educational and parenting expert, provides us with four smart strategies you can use to teach kids of all ages to behave well – both outside and inside the family home:

1. Modelling:Kids are born mimics. The minute you become a parent you become a walking, talking social studies lesson (as in how to be social, generous and pleasant to others). They need to see adults and significant others such as parents behave well, behave generously and use appropriate manners (cos’ they will speak like you in public). Model the behaviours you want in your kids… as much as is humanly possible.

1. Mentoring:Good behaviour comes easily to some, but many kids need to be taught the nuances of behaving well and socialising. Boys, in particular, benefit from a parent who is willing to invest time and energy into helping them behave well. Toddler and teens both benefit from explicit teaching and coaching in what to do and say in the company of others. They benefit from hearing messages such as “Say thank you”, “Look your teacher in the eye when you speak”, “Address her parents by name”

1. Messaging:Astute parents give kids social scripts that they can use in a variety of situations. This social scripting starts when we tell a toddler to say hello to a relative and continues to providing more complex scripts to use in a variety of situations such as in a restaurant, at a friend’s house, at school, even online. It also helps if kids rehearse their lines before they use them in social situations. Behaviour rehearsal is particularly important for boys who are usually tactile, practical learners.

1. Manoeuvring:A great way to prepare kids to excel is through manoeuvring social situations much in the same way as sporting codes create junior versions of their games, so kids can learn the basics without being overwhelmed by adult rules. Look for opportunities for kids to socialise at home in ways that mimic situations that they’ll encounter in public. For instance, once a week set up your mealtimes and model table manners and etiquette so they know how to behave when eating at a restaurant.

Thanks for reading….

God Bless,

Duane Wann

Principal

2024 Staffing Update

In the coming weeks, I will endeavour to progressively update the school community regarding staff changes for 2024.  At present, the following staff will be returning or departing St Thomas More’s.

John Daziel (Groundsperson): John has recently been appointed to the Groundsperson position for 12 hours per week commencing Monday 23^rd October.  John brings a wealth of experience in managing facilities and grounds maintenance to the role.  This position will continue into 2024.

Kris Byrne: (Assistant Principal – Religious Education):  Miss Byrne will be returning to her role as Assistant Principal – Religious Education in 2024 after acting as the Assistant Principal Religious Education/Middle Leader at St Patrick’s Primary School, St George since Semester Two. 

Annette Grimshaw (Class Teacher):  Mrs Grimshaw has opted to take leave from teaching for 2024.

Shae Sore (Class Teacher): Miss Sore will continue her Maternity Leave for 2024.

From our Acting APRE

Children's Mission Day Liturgy – Wednesday 18^th October

As part of Mission Month, St. Thomas More’s Primary School has been invited to hold the Children’s Mission Day Liturgy. The liturgy will be held on Wednesday 18th October commencing at 11.30 am in the St Thomas More’s Church and will be led by our Service Club. Parents are more than welcome to attend.

SOCKTOBER – Thursday 19th October

This Thursday, 19^th October, STM students will be taking part in the Socktober Catholic Mission Event Day. Children can wear their normal school uniform with their craziest socks for a gold coin donation.

Family Mass – Saturday, October 28th.

This Term we celebrate Family Mass on Saturday, October 28^th as part of the 6:00 pm Mass at the St Thomas More’s Church. We warmly invite all STM families to come along and join the parish to pray and celebrate.

Families who would like to be part of the Mass in a special way (reading carrying forward symbols or singing) will need to let Mrs Wardle know via email ASAP.

It would be great to see as many families as possible at Mass on Saturday 28^th October!

Grandparent's Day.

It was lovely to have so many grandparent visitors here at STM on Friday to celebrate Grandparent’s day with us! We hope all the children and grandparents had a lovely morning celebrating together. 

God Bless,

Mrs. Wardle

Acting APRE

Important Dates to Remember

Student Protection Contacts

From our Sports Desk

Senior Swimming Carnival 

The senior swimming carnival will be held at Glennie on Tuesday 28th November. This carnival is open to all children born from 2011 – 2015. Keep an eye on for the nomination link that will be sent out to families in the coming weeks.   

Junior Swimming Carnival 

This year our Junior Swimming Carnival will be held at the TAS (Toowoomba Anglican School) swimming pool, access via Wirra Wirra Street. Children in Prep – Year 2 will have the opportunity to participate at this carnival. We invite parents to attend this carnival if they wish. We are just awaiting final confirmation of which day in the last week of term it will be held.  

We encourage all students to attend regardless of their swimming ability. Shorter lap lengths and novelty races ensure that this is a memorable day, whilst building confidence in the water prior to joining the more competitive races at the upper school swimming carnival in years to come. Some events will include freestyle/kickboard, noodle and other novelty races. 

No ribbons will be awarded at this carnival as this is purely a non-competitive carnival to encourage fun in the water. Adults will be placed in each swimming lane and will be available on the sides of the pool to assist if required.  

The school will provide busses to transport students to and from the carnival.  

Children can wear their sports uniform and wear their togs underneath. They will also need to bring a towel, goggles (if needed), swimming cap, sunscreen, morning tea and a drink bottle.  

If you have any further queries, please don’t hesitate to contact your child’s classroom teacher or myself. 

God Bless,

Stacey Hancock

HPE Teacher

Toowoomba Chess Club

Thinking STM for Prep in 2024 ...

Class Newsletters

Catch up on all the individual classroom news, click the link below.

From our P & F

A reminder, at our last meeting we had no nominations for x3 positions on the executive (President, Vice President or Secretary).
 
If you’re interested in nominating for any positions or just want to know more - feel free to contact Kylie (Kyliehaywoodbusiness@gmail.com) or Shontelle (Shontelle.Petrie@gmail.com) 

From our Tuckshop

Open every Wednesday & Friday.  Please place your childs order through FlexiSchools by 1pm Tuesday for Wednesday & 1pm Thursday for Friday. 

Tuckshop Menu

From our Uniform Shop

From our OSHC

We hope you have had a wonderful week. As another week draws to a close, we are busy planning our vacation care program already. We would like to get organised early so your children have a wonderful Christmas/New Year vacation program.

We are asking for any empty jam jars, as we are planning on an activity that requires jars. If you could bring them to OSHC that would be wonderful. Also, if you have paper towel cylinders. We are not able to use toilet rolls, due to hygiene reasons, however paper towel cylinders we can use.

Staffing-

Miss Gemma has been away all week sick. Hopefully, she has been well rested and ready to return next week.

Miss Jannali has an extra-long weekend this weekend and will return Tuesday.

Miss Hayley has next Thursday afternoon, and Friday off. Miss Jannali will work on Friday afternoon to replace Miss Hayley. This will provide continuity in care.

It was Minion’s week this week, as chosen by the children. Every child is asked on Tuesday afternoon after group time what theme they would like, and then majority rules. So, we had everything Minion this week.

Monday – Miss Jannali facilitated a program where the children drew minions.  The results are displayed on the wall. Please come and have a look.

Tuesday- Miss Hannah and the children made two fresh batches of playdough in yellow and blue. The children loved this activity and as you can see by the photos attached, a lot of fun was had. Mainly the boys participated in this activity.

Wednesday Miss Gemma was away, and Miss Hannah stepped in and made banana bread . The children really enjoy cooking days.

Thursday – Miss Hayley held an activity where the children made Minions out of paper plates. These are also displayed on the wall.

Friday- Miss Laetitia will be having an activity where the children will make paper roll Minions.

Every day we have been watching a small 3-to-4-minute video clip of the Minions. This is when the room is super quiet as all eyes are glued to the screen. We then have 3 questions after, and the children get a small prize if they answer correctly. We ask the children who have won a prize in this week to not answer the question so that everyone can have a chance of winning, or if they have won in the last couple of days to gift their prize to someone else,  which they happily do.

Next week’s theme , chosen by Nicholas is Paw Patrol. Look out for more photos of these activities next week.

Reminders;

• If you require a casual booking for your child/ren and have sent a tx, that has not been replied to, if possible, please give us a quick call as I endeavour to answer tx messages immediately, however I may be in a meeting, and it could be missed.
• If I have sent you an email . or tx about updating Asthma Action Plans , can you please provide an updated plan at your earliest convenience. Asthma Action plans are only valid for 12 months, and by law we must have a current one of file. Children with out-of-date medical information cannot attend until this has been updated.
• This also includes medication that has changed, we are not able to give that medication until the Medication Authorisation Plan has been signed with the correct information. Every time your child’s medication changes, i.e., dosage or times given change, a new Medication Authorisation Form must be completed and signed before any medication can be administered.  A medication Authorisation Plan will not be current if your child’s medication has changed, or the dosage/times  have changed.  
•  If your child no longer requires medication to be administered at the service ,however, still takes it at home, we will complete a medication authorisation to state what medication is administered at home. This is in the case of an ambulance needing to be called , then we will have on record what medication is taken at home for the first responders.

• If you have any questions about the above, please feel free to drop in, or reply to this email.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend with your loved ones.

Until next week,

Kind Regards

Debbie and the team

A Snapshot of our week!

Madeline Blaike was our first recipient to achieve 30 points and a $20 Big W Gift voucher. Congratulations Madeline. You will have to let us know what you buy.

Minions creations was Miss Jannali’s planned activity on Monday.

Tuesdays Miss Hannah made yellow and Blue Playdough and the children made their own minions from the playdough.

Thursday Miss Hayley ran an activity where the children made Minions from Paper plates.

Conner had a great game of Handball with other children and Miss Debbie and Miss Charlotte . Next week we are going to play it with teams.

Adeline being creative in the morning with painting activities being a spontaneous activity.

Thank you!

A huge thank you to Westridge Fruit and Vegetables for their continued support with the donation of fresh fruit every week for our students!

A huge thank you to Meat Cellar for their continued support for our school events.

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