Week 2

We acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we gather today - 

The Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation and pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging. 

Information in this week's newsletter

  Prayer 

A Prayer for Hope This Term

Lord, help me to hear you saying, "I am your hope" over all the other voices. Lord, your word says, you are the hope for hopeless so I'm running to you with both hands stretched out and grabbing on to you. Fill me up with hope and give me a tangible reminder today that hope is an unbreakable spiritual lifeline (Hebrews 6:19-20). God, you know those things in my heart that I barely dare to hope for, today I give them to you, I trust them to you, and ask that you because I know that you can do more than I could ever imagine.  (Eph 3:20). 

God, you are my hope and I trust you. Amen.

News from our Principal

Dear Families,

I hope this newsletter finds you well. The students have made a great start to the new term. We are thrilled to welcome back all our students, parents, and staff for what promises to be an exciting and eventful Term 3.

I would like to express my gratitude for the overwhelming positive feedback we received from parents during last term's parent-teacher interviews. Your involvement in your child's learning journey is greatly appreciated. The See-Saw posts have proven to be a valuable tool for keeping you informed and updated on your child's progress, and we will continue to utilise this platform throughout the upcoming term.

This term will be filled with numerous exciting events and activities that contribute to the vibrant life of our school. Please mark your calendars for the following events:

For the success of these events, we kindly request the support of our parent volunteers. If you have not signed up yet, please use the form that was sent in an email last Tuesday, July 11, to register as a volunteer.

Congratulations to our Year 6 students who received the Sacrament of Confirmation at our Parish Church by Fr Giang. Bishop Terry Curtin's visit was a great honour, and he was deeply impressed by the maturity and readiness of our students to receive the 'Gifts and Fruits of the Spirit.' It was great to see so many families come together to support our most senior students. Thank you to the Year 6 staff who supported the students and Clara Privitera who helped prepare and organise this important Sacrament. 

We are thrilled to welcome our new 2024 Prep students to STM! The MORE Learning program has already commenced, and our future Preps are embracing it with enthusiasm and smiles. These sessions will generally take place in the art room on Tuesdays from 9-10 am and on Fridays from 9-11am until December.

Please join us in warmly welcoming Rita Mancini to our staffing community. Rita will be teaching Year 3 White for the remainder of this year. Additionally, we congratulate Maree Gleeson on becoming a grandmother for the first time. We wish her all the joy and happiness with her new grandchild.

As the colder months approach, we kindly remind families to ensure that your child's asthma plan and medication are up to date. The safety and wellbeing of our students are of utmost importance to us. If you have any questions regarding medication please do not hesitate to ask. 

We had a significant number of unlabelled uniform items in the lost property at the end of last term. We kindly request parents to label their child's uniform clearly and check their child's bag for any uniforms that may not belong to them. Lost property is now located in the front office, and any found labelled uniforms will be returned to the respective student's classroom.

STM now has a secondhand uniform shop. Thank you to Jessica Brown for her efforts to support this initiative for the benefit of out school community. The second hand uniform shop will be open on Wednesday afternoons from 2:30 - 3:20pm. If you wish to purchase anything from the shop please sign in at the front office and Mary will direct you. Prices range from $10 to $20. 

On Friday August 4 the children will take part in our Sports Day. More information about this day will be provided to families this Friday, July 21. Please keep an eye out for an Operoo form. 

A gentle reminder that account statements must be finalised by 30th September 2023.

This term's curriculum day will be held on Friday, 11th August. This is a student free day. On this day, our staff will engage in professional development to enhance the learning and teaching experience for our students.

We look forward to another incredible term filled with learning, growth, and shared experiences. As always, thank you for your continued support and partnership in creating a nurturing and thriving environment for our students.

Wishing you all the best for the term ahead!

Warm regards,

David Hurn 

Principal 








Important dates - Events for Term 3

Click this link to subscribe directly to our STM Public Events Google Calendar

JULY

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER

**'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.

Learning and Teaching 

NAPLAN YEAR 3 and 5

The Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) have informed us that NAPLAN results started being distributed on Monday 17th July. From experience, this can take several days until we receive the reports. When they arrive, we will send them home to you in an envelope, with a letter from school. Year 5 parents, your child's secondary school will request a copy of this report.  Please keep this report in a safe place as we do not keep copies of NAPLAN reports at school.

PROJECTS - STUDENT LED INQUIRIES IN YEAR 5 & 6

“The meaning of ‘knowing’ has shifted from being able to remember and repeat information to being able to find and use it.”
(National Research Council, 2007)

Last week, we introduced Projects or student led inquiries in Years 5 and 6. The enthusiasm, curiosity and questions was evident across all classes. Students have continued to show keen interest and yearning to continue to learn! Students will choose whether they want to MAKE, KNOW or DO a project. At times, a KNOW project may lead to DO or MAKE. 

Project learning is a broad pedagogical approach, which can be defined as ‘seeking for truth, information or knowledge / understanding’ and is used in all

facets and phases of life. Specific processes of inquiry, which the students will learn to use in teacher led inquiries. are central to knowledge building in a range 

of learning domains (e.g. scientific process, design process), problem solving process. Students will use these processes to explore an area of curiosity.  

Projects or an inquiry based approach is driven by students' curiosity about the world around them. It encourages connection, co-operation, and collaboration by allowing students to pose and solve problems either independently or collaboratively, and with their communities in shared, authentic learning experiences.

"Inquiry Learning is an active, student-centred pedagogy that enables children to experience the process of knowledge creation. "

– Lipson, 2017


Projects are different from traditional approaches because it reverses the order of learning. Instead of presenting information, or ‘the answer’, up-front, students start to explore their passions or  sparked new interests, where the overall goal is for students to make meaning. While teachers guide and scaffold the inquiry to various degrees,  and set parameters for a classroom inquiry, true inquiry is internally motivated. Students will use a process to plan  their project, choosing an inquiry process that will support their investigation to complete a project that will stretch their thinking. 

Inquiry-based learning prioritises problems that require critical and creative thinking so students can develop their abilities to ask questions, design investigations, interpret evidence, form explanations and arguments, and communicate findings.

The following pivotal capabilities are intrinsic in Projects.

Each week, students will have time in class specifically designated to Projects. We eagerly look forward to continuing this process with the students and excitedly look forward to sharing their learning with you. 

Learning and Teaching Leader          

Rita Totino           

Religion

We congratulate our newly confirmed students who had the honour of being confirmed by Bishop Terry Curtin at the end of last term. The parish celebration of Confirmation gives the candidate's strength in their faith and our parish and Church hope for the future..


A special thanks to Father Giang for his continued support and ministry at our parish it truly was a solemn and beautiful ceremony.


We also thank the staff who supported the children and were very proud to witness their last rite of Initiation in the Catholic Church.  Finally, we thank our newly confirmed students for committing to Christ as young adults.  They have done so in a very public and communal way and that is most commendable.  I ask you to continue to pray for them that they will stay close to Christ and bear witness to the Lord in their lives.

Dear Families, 

This term our students will explore the importance of human dignity and hope through scripture, guided by Jesus’ commandment to love one another. Through the partnership of the non-for-profit organisation Hope in a Suitcase, students will reflect upon Jesus’ teachings of being a disciple to others and respond to the call of Jesus through collecting donations of essential items to fill suitcases for children in foster care. 


Hope in a Suitcase provides suitcases to foster care children to ensure they have a safe and secure place in which to pack their belongings and take with them wherever their journey may lead. Each year level will be given a suitcase to fill with essential items such as toiletries, underwear, a set of pyjamas, journals, comfort toys, puzzles and clothing to name a few.  


We will be hosting a pyjama day on Monday 31st July to raise money to purchase these essential items.  We are asking for children to make a gold coin donation through the CDF pay  app. If not, you can bring in a gold coin donation on the day.

Link to CDF Pay

We aim to bring HOPE, LOVE and SUPPORT to the lives of others. 


Religious Education Leader 

Clara Privitera      

English

Book Week 2023

The theme for Book Week this year is: Read, Grow, Inspire. Book Week is celebrated August 21-25, with our main celebration day taking place Friday 25th August. On this day we will have a dress-up parade in the morning and the students will participate in book themed activities throughout the day, including a class quiz based on the shortlisted CBCA books. We invite all families to attend the Book Week Parade and encourage any younger siblings as well as parents and carers to dress up if you would like. The students will be able to purchase a book week themed cookie on the day for $2:00 (gluten-free options available). Looking forward to a fun filled day where we have the opportunity to celebrate the wonder of books. More details to follow in the next newsletter. Please let Lou or Julie know if you have any questions.

All year 3 - 6 students are invited to participate in the Prime Minister's 2023 Spelling Bee. If your child would like to take part in this competition  we will require parent/carer consent via an Operoo form so please look out for this in the upcoming week. Please take note of the due date for Operoo consent forms (Thursday 27th July)  as unfortunately we cannot submit late replies.

This competition has been extended  and will now close on Friday, October 27. Please visit the following link for more information: Junior Journo

Please let me know if you have questions about these events. 

Kind regards

Julie Hanna

Family Engagement

As we begin Term 3, we are looking forward to a lot of exciting community events on the calendar including;

As with all community events, we rely on our wonderful school community to ensure they are as great as they can possibly be.

In order for the following events to go ahead, we are in search of:

If you are able to volunteer for these events please fill out this form.

As always, thank you for your support

Regards,
Kate Mackintosh

Community News and Announcements

Please complete this form by Tuesday 25th of July if you are interested in Sponsoring the STM School Concert.

Things are changing- puberty information night (online) - Parent Puberty Information Night - Grade 5 and 6

 Dear Parents,


Please find the following information from Karen Doyle: 

As your child approaches or experiences puberty, they will undergo a significant period of rapid growth and change. To support you as their primary educator during this sensitive phase, your school will be hosting a puberty parent night VIA ZOOM on August 1st at 7pm. We strongly encourage all families to attend this event, as it will serve as the foundation for our classroom discussions the following week.

This parent night will be facilitated by a qualified Family Life Educator using the program Things Are Changing, which is an endorsed resource by the Bishop and Catholic Schools Office of Melbourne. The event will run for 60 minutes and will cover various topics, including:

At the end of the parent night, you will receive a link to a parent pack containing a video, a parent book, and a student workbook. These resources are designed to assist you in continuing the conversation with your child and supporting their development.

If you have any questions or concerns about this information, please do not hesitate to contact me.

***************************************************

Karen Doyle is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: St Thomas Moore Hadfeild G5/6 VIRTUAL PUBERTY PARENT EVENING
Time: Aug 1, 2023 07:00 PM Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83910087219

Meeting ID: 839 1008 7219


Kind Regards, 

Melanie Horan Student Wellbeing Leader

Book Fair is back at STM! 

The Book Fair will run in the Library from the 1st of August to the 8th of August. 

Opening times are as follows:

Tues 1st August : 3.20-4.00

Wed 2nd August : 8.30-8.50 and 3.20-4.00

Thurs 3rd August :  8.30-8.50 and 3.20-4.00

Fri 4th August : Closed for Sports Day

Mon 7th August : 8.30-8.50 and 3.20-4.00

Tues 8th August : 8.30-8.50


This is a great opportunity to foster your child's love of reading and support our beautiful library at the same time. 

Lou Eveston

Librarian

STM Term 3 2023.pdf
Term 3- 5-6 parent information.pdf
KU flyer for St Thomas Mores School (Hadfield) (1).pdf

Dear families, 


After a successful term 2 of Chess, we have decided to continue offering this for Term 3. Please see the above flyer to book a spot for your child!

Pascoe Vale & Surrounds - All Girls T3 Flyer.pdf

Re: Free Session (Soccer) - Football Star Academy at STM

Exciting news! Sport Star Academy (SSA) will be launching this month at St Thomas More Primary School Hadfield.

SSA is delighted to have received such a positive response from you and are excited to announce that the first sport program they will be launching at STM is Soccer (Football Star Academy) on Thursday 27th July 2023. This initial session will be held after school from 3.30-4.30pm and will be a come and try "FREE" session over on the Soccer pitches. 

Please click on the link below to book in your FREE session:

https://sportstaracademy.com/football/programs/clinic?id=13472

You don't have to be a Matilda or a Socceroo to join our programs. We understand that each child has a different pathway. Whether that’s from beginner to elite, shy to confident or solo player to team player, these programs are a child’s pathway to thrive and they are for all abilities. These programs will be open to any of your children - STM students and siblings!  

Please note: all future sessions will be held on either Tuesdays or Thursdays - depending on your age group, between 3.30pm - 4.30pm during the term.

We look forward to having you join in on the fun!  

Please note that students attending this program will need to be picked up from North St only (Church side) as Angus St gate is locked from 3.30pm.

Awards

Adreana A - for making meaningful connections between the learning and her personal experiences, sharing her ideas with clarity. 

Zoie B -  for demonstrating the value of Responsibility by offering her assistance to help with jobs around the classroom. 

Zachary I - for aiming to apply teacher modelling to his own work to extend his knowledge and learning. Well done superstar! 

Stacey S - for always displaying kindness, respect and responsibility with her learning and in daily interactions with her friends and teachers. Way to go! 

Emmanuel E - for working with sustained focus and consistently putting your best effort in all you do. You are a superstar!

Milana T - For always offering and giving a helping hand in cleaning and looking after our classroom. You are exceptional! 

George K - for showing fantastic problem solving strategies in Maths and explaining his thinking. Keep up the great work!

Christian M - for showing empathy and kindness to his classmates when they need support and cheering up. You should be so proud of yourself! 

Noah M - for consistently applying himself to all tasks, taking on teacher feedback and taking pride in his work. Well done Noah! keep it up! 

Eva T - for coming into school this term with a big smile and showing empathy and kindness to her classmates. What a fantastic start to the term, Eva! Well done! 

Hryso G - for your consistent kindness and empathy. You are an amazing friend who includes everyone, checks in when people are upset and give beaitiful compliments that make people smile. We also love hearing your life lessons and advice, such as when you taught us to treat others how we want to be treated. 

Yianna T - for beginning Term 3 with a positive mindset. You have challenged yourself in your learning, and displayed kindness everyday by helping both your teachers and peers.

Xander C - for always following and upholding school expectations and working with resilience to try your best. You are a superstar Xander!

Lily C - for consistently modelling responsible and respectful behaviour in class. You are a fantastic role model to others, Lily! 

Rebecca P - for her respect and eagerness to learn about Indigenous cultures when celebrating NAIDOC week at school.

Harvey S - for his outstanding organisation, engagement and enthusiasm throughout the swimming program 

Nakita H - for being a role model to others by consistently modelling responsible and respectful behaviour in class. Keep up the great work, Nakita! 

Finn H - for always being organised and ready to learn with a positive attitude and smile on his face. Keep up the great work, Finn!

Zac C - for showing persitence and confidence when practising for concert. Great work Zac!

Audrey C - for consistently showing respect towards her teachers and peers.You are a fantastic role model to others 

Isla L - for follow the school values of responsiblity and respect by following directions and speaking to others politely. 

Indie M - for being confident in her abilities in her maths learning and persisting when she is finding learning challenging. 

Savannah C - for consistently showing respect to her teachers and peers and being a positive role model to others 

Christian C - for demonstrating the school value of responsibility by being a focused learner and showing pride in your work. Well done! 

Brandon M - Congratulations! You can recall all your times tables at random and accurately 

Emma P - For taking risks in Drama and challenging herself and challenging herself by not giving up 

Max G - This award is proudly presented to Max for approaching all learning tasks with a positive attitude and showing determination towards achieving his goals

Alessandra P - for hitting the ground running in term 3. Well done for taking on task with passion and dedication 

Noah L - for making a great start to Term 3 by engaging well with learning tasks and showing the value of responsibility by helping a fellow student on the yard. Well done Noah! 

Xavier M - for making a great start to Term 3 by being an active participant in class discussions and showing responsibility by helping a fellow student on the yard. Well done Xavier!

Charlie S - for consistently modelling responsible and respectful behaviour inside and outside of class. You are a fantastic role model to others 

Michael T - for displaying persistence and determination in his learning and committing to learn all times tables by practicing regularly. Well done Michael, keep it up!

Zara H -  for her insightful contributions to class discussions, building on the ideas of others and connecting prior knowledge and learning to new concepts 

Vincent T - for his positive attitude and persistence when tackling new or challenging tasks and for bringing his beautiful smile to light up the class each day 

Tiffany C - For borrowing ideas and creative vocabulary from mentor texts in order to enhance her own writing 

Luke T - for attempting the challenge tasks in Mathematics as to extend himself and for being calm and collected when errors occur

Jaydon G - For showing a positive attitude, resilience and a growth mindset during difficult situatuions 

Isaac R - For consistently putting in a great effort when completing his school work and displaying a positve attitude 

Allegra G - For a well researched and exciting Podcast on the influences that Cathy Freeman and Edith Cowan have had on Australia 

Alexander N - For a well researched and exciting Podcast on the influences that Patty Mills and Steve Irwin have had on Australia 

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