As Jesus spent 40 days in the desert praying and fasting, let us follow his lead during the season of Lent with self-denial, repentance, giving, and renewal. Let's be reminded of God’s love and sacrifice, which should encourage each of us to deny self and make God first place in our lives. 

Dear Families, 

The beginning of the school year is a very exciting time for all of us. Our staff have been working hard to create a caring and inclusive learning environment and our students are beginning to settle into the routines of their new classrooms with their teachers and classmates. Setting up a positive learning environment where students feel valued and their voices heard is important to all here at STM. We are indeed privileged to do the work we do. Thank you to our families for the faith and trust you each continue to place in us to care, teach, guide and nurture your children.

Our Prep children have settled into the routine of school. They have been incredible in the way they are adapting to the challenges that school is presenting them. I thank our Prep parents on the way you prepared your child to begin their schooling in such a calm and positive manner.

Thank you to the families who attended our Commissioning Mass on Tuesday morning. This was a wonderful opportunity to welcome our new staff and also to acknowledge our new school leaders. Please see below a list of our school leaders below.  

Students will be supervised by staff from 8:30am. It is important that students are in the following areas before school begins. Students should be playing passively during this time. For safety reasons there are no ball games permitted during this time. 

• Prep - 2 students need to be on the Junior Green 

• Year 3 - 4 students need to be on the Senior Green (School side)

• Years 5 - 6 need to be on the Senior Green (Church side)

Our classes will begin at 8.50am and the roll is taken at 9:00am.

We have confirmed our dates for our upcoming open days. We will hold tours of the school on:

• Tuesday March 14 ~ 9:30am - 10:30am 

• Tuesday March 21 ~ 9:30am - 10:30am and 6:30 - 7:30pm 

On Friday February 24 staff will be attending a Professional Learning Day. This is a student free day.  This is an opportunity for our staff to develop their professional skills and knowledge in the curriculum area of English. There will be the option to enrol your child into OSHClub if you need this service on this day. If you have any questions about how to enrol your child in OSHClub please contact the office. 

Our senior students are very excited to start Interschool Sports this week. The students have been busy practising for soft ball, bat tennis and cricket. We wish our seniors well for their first round. Students are to wear their full sports uniform. 

On Tuesday March 7 students are invited to wear casual clothes and asked to bring in a donation of Easter items in lieu of a gold coin donation. The Easter items (chocolate, crafts, toys) collected will be made into Easter baskets and raffled off in the last week of Term 1. 

I have sent an email out to families seeking expressions of interest in being part of the St Thomas More School School Advisory Council. As Principal of the school, I will very much value the support and advice offered by members of the council on various matters such as:

• strategic direction of the school

• Religious Education program

• curriculum

• enrolments and enrolment policy

• school resources

• improvements in the school

• Annual Report to the School Community

• family partnerships.

If you wish to be part of the School Advisory Board please contact me directly at principal@stmhadfield.catholic.edu.au

A big thank you to Anthony Grima for organising the 'Dad's Dinner', it's not too late to rsvp your attendance, please see the section below. 

Enrolments for prep 2024 are now open. A reminder that siblings must have an enrolment form completed. If you know of anyone who is looking to enrol, please ask them to call the office for further information.

Have a great weekend,

Kind regards, 

David Hurn 

Principal 

FEBRUARY

• Tuesday 21st - Prep Parent Information night

• Wednesday 22nd - Ash Wednesday Mass

• Friday 24th - Curriculum Day / Student free day

MARCH

• Thursday 02nd - School Photos Day

• Tuesday 07th - Casual Clothes day in lieu of donations for the Easter raffle

• Tuesday 07th - Volunteering at STM Parent session @2.30pm in the staffroom (see info under Learning and Teaching)

• Wednesday 8th - STM Dad's Dinner  - see info below

• Monday 13th - Public Holiday - Labour Day

• Tuesday 14th - Open Day - 9:30am

• Tuesday 21st - Open Day - 9:30am & 6:30pm

APRIL

• Sunday 02nd - Daylight Saving Time ends

• Wednesday 5th - Inform and Empower Parent information session @7.00pm - see info below under Wellbeing

• Thursday 06th - Last day Term 1 

• Friday 07th - Good Friday

• Sunday 09th - Easter Sunday

• Monday 24th - 1st day back Term 2

• Tuesday 25th - Anzac Day - Public Holiday

'Public Events' are listed on our website under 'News and Events', the link being; https://www.stmhadfield.catholic.edu.au/news-events

On the bottom right hand side there is a blue box with a + symbol.

If you have a google account, you can link the 'Public Events' calendar to your own personal Google calendar and keep up to date with the most current events and times.

Please don't hesitate to contact the office if you have any questions.

SCHOOL PHOTO DAY IS COMING

SCHOOLPIX will be here on Thursday 02nd March 2023

PHOTO DAY TIPS:

Dress 

Clean and tidy as per school uniform guidelines.

Full Summer Uniform to be worn. (Maroon Jumpers are not required to be worn).

If your child has sport on this day, they may bring their runners to change into after their photos are taken.

Hair                              

Neat and swept off face

Online Orders

To pre-order online, take your personal Order and ID Numbers found on your order form and go to www.schoolpix.com.au. 

Forms are not required to be returned to school.

Sibling Orders

For a special photo of your children together order online. Only siblings that place an order will be photographed.

If you have any questions call SchoolPix on 1300 766 055 or email help@schoolpixx.com.au

Inquiry Learning - Curriculum

This term, the whole school focus is about Health and Wellbeing. 

Our health is the most important thing in our lives. Human health is affected by physical, spiritual, emotional and social factors. The environment, access to resources and people's choices contribute to health and wellbeing. Our students will develop an awareness and understanding of the consequences of choice and how the decisions we make impact on the health and wellbeing of themselves and others. We seek to encourage positive, responsible and well rounded individuals who are resilient when faced with life's opportunities and challenges.

This 'throughline' or overarching statement, together with the demands of the Health learning area in Victorian Curriculum is what drives our planning for learning and teaching. The curriculum sets out what students are expected to learn and is designed as a continuum of learning.  We would like to give you a snapshot of the exciting learning across the school. 

Prep 

Children will explore the food they need for energy and to help them keep working. They will also discover the choices we can make to help us maintain good health. Investigating how sleep, rest, exercise, food and water are essential for good health is also another understanding we strive to achieve.  We are looking forward to learning about different body systems and how they work to help us to be healthy. When we explore body parts and how they work

Year 1 and 2
The Victorian Achievement Standard for Health at this level is by the end of Year 2. Therefore, the learning foci are very similar, however, the learning pathways take into account the prior knowledge we collect to drive and design the knowledge and skills. 

Learning about our emotional health is crucial for our wellbeing. Recognising and naming a variety of emotions is what we will be exploring through literature, videos and our own experiences. Children will explore the Zones of Regulations and identify the feelings for each zone - Red, Blue, Yellow and Green. They will share their connections to feelings of frustration, worry, sadness, anger and happiness. Children will discover that when we feel happy and content - we are in the Green zone and this means we are ready to learn. They will also further investigate what they can do to move out of the Red, Yellow and Blue zones to be ready to learn. 

Year 3 and 4

Once again, the Victorian Achievement Standard for Health at this level is by the end of Year 4. We have collected and interpreted children's current understandings to design learning pathways which align with the curriculum demands. 

Children will explore the concept of community and develop an understanding of different types of communities, specifically focusing on their classroom community. They will discover the conditions that contribute to a positive community. Collaborating, listening to others, negotiating, compromising are the soft skills that children will learn to use while working within their community. Reflecting on their behaviour when working within their community will be an integral part of learning. They will  investigate how emotional responses vary and understand how to  interact positively with others in different situations including in  physical activities. Children will also describe the connections they have to their community and how these can  promote health and wellbeing. 

Year 5 and 6

The Victorian Achievement Standard for Health at this level is by the end of Year 4.  Once more, we have asked children their current understandings of concepts such as identity, influence and community. This contrasting information from the children in Years 5 and 6 has determined the learning pathway for each level. 

Year 5

Children will investigate their passions and strengths to assist them to demonstrate their own identity. They will explore how our identities may be similar or different from others, however this helps to strengthen communities. They will analyse how aspects of their own identities can be influenced by culture, faith,  attitudes and beliefs within our society. They will identify the reasons of the most significant influences on their identity. Investigating how their behaviours can affect their mental health is intrinsic to this learning. Identifying how emotions and behaviours affect their wellbeing, and of others within their community, requires personal identification and reflection. Additionally, children will explore ethical decision- making in context of a healthy community, and how decisions and choices can negatively and/or positively impact others.  

Year 6

Children will explore the influences on their identity. They will articulate what makes them who they are and the influences they have experienced to form their own identity. Children will then investigate how they can maintain their own identity within a diverse community, being respectful of others. They will examine how social media influences their identity and how it can be used positively and/or negatively. Children will unearth their interpretations and reactions to social media and how that impacts on their emotional and mental health. Children will also discover how we consume social media safely. 

Thank you!

Rita Totino

Learning and Teaching Leader/ Deputy Principal

Dear Families,

Please find important information related to English at STM:

Reading Eggs

All Prep, Year 1 and Year 2 students are now subscribed to the Reading Eggs program. Classroom teachers will send home login details. Just a reminder that if your child already has a Reading Eggs account for use at home, you will not be required to use the new login details.

Take Home Books

Thank you to the Prep, Year 1 and 2 families for your patience as we have been doing a stock take of all of our resources and setting up a new colour coded borrowing system for our take home reading books. The books will be available in the next two weeks for the children to borrow.

School Closure Day

On Friday 24th February the staff at STM will be attending an on-site Professional Learning day where we will explore how we can use quality children’s literature to teach complexity and wonder in writing. Our aim for the day is to empower our students to see writing as an inspiring and imaginative craft enabled through the reading of mentor texts. We look forward to reading lots of amazing creative writing pieces by our STM students.

Help Needed

We are in the process of purchasing new books for our students and we are asking for any parent helpers who might be able to help with contacting books. Our hope is that we can create a group of helpers that can assist throughout the year. We will provide pre-cut contact for each book and the books can be contacted in your own time at home.

If this is something you would be interested in doing please contact Julie: jhanna@stmhadfield.catholic.edu.au

Thank you

Julie Hanna

Literacy Leader

KNOW WHAT MAKES GIRLS TICK

Girls can be a mystery to some parents, particularly when they reach the tween and teen years.  Following are some key principles to help you better understand, empower and parent the girls in your life.

Girls crave connection and contribution

Connection is at the core of working effectively with girls. Girls need to know if you like them. When you like her, then a connection exists and she can begin contributing to that relationship. Girls who have a sense that you like them and are interested in them will do anything to collaborate with you. Girls crave the feeling of contributing to an order that is greater than themselves, and they are driven to find purposeful relationships with others. Girls generally like teachers and adults who like them. They do their absolute best to give and receive attention from others. Disconnection is devastating for girls.

Being accepted is their #1 priority

Girls are very concerned about what others think of them. Girls need to be liked. What they desire most is acceptance and emotional security. The journey towards adolescence reinforces group approval, as most girls do not want to be seen as unique or different. As girls move through their developmental journey, they become increasingly concerned with being accepted and fitting into acceptable parameters. Being accepted by a frenemy is regarded as better than not being accepted at all.

Girls are challenged to find their true self

“Who am I?” is the proverbial girl question. Girls learn early about the costs and rewards of social approval. Their sense of personal power tends to be based on being liked and pleasing others. This can create confusion as they struggle with differentiating what they know to be true versus what others expect from them. Girls tend to morph their identities into what is expected of them. Finding their authentic identity can be a challenge.

Girls conceal their worth

Easily holding back from owning accomplishments, girls need help to embrace and acknowledge their strengths. By downplaying their strengths girls keep themselves safe from others expectations. Girls are more likely than boys to feel like they need to validate their achievements, providing a justification for their successes. Provide girls with opportunities to frequently assess their capabilities. Teach them to genuinely accept a compliment.

Girls feel immense pressure to conform

From an early age girls tend to have an easier time regulating their physical energy which makes them more familiar to hearing that they are good and pleasing to adults. Girls are more likely to surrender to the pressures of direct and indirect messages; they are more sensitive to being able to please. Adults and society generally treat this gender in a way that reinforces the ‘good girl’ image. Be careful that you are not doing things for girls to help them avoid failure. Setting up an expectation that ‘you must be perfect’ can inhibit resilience. Girls feel compelled to adhere to the ‘good girl’ image.

Girls often feel misunderstood

Many girls come to the conclusion that there isn’t a soul on earth who thinks or feels the same way she does. The inner workings of her mind are complex, and she fears that her thoughts and feelings may be misunderstood. Girls are desperate to be understood, even if it is just by one person.

Girls need other girls and women

The sisterhood helps girls to feel connected. Friendships are essential to life as they know it, and they will be their greatest sense of pleasure as well as their most intense source of pain. As girls move into adolescence and beyond, their exposure to strong women of substance needs to expand to fit their needs. Other girls and women are a protective factor for girls in a society driven by media messages. Exposure to other women and belonging to different friendship groups allow girls to be valued for their unique contribution.

Girls need to discover their passion and purpose

Discovering what is most important for them also helps girls discover their true self and their true source of happiness. The discovery of a girl’s ‘spark’ helps her connect to her values, her identity and to like-minded souls.  A connection to her passion and purpose increases a girl’s willingness to take risks and experience healthy relationships.