Dear Families, 

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all members of the St. Thomas More school community for their warm and kind welcome.  I have certainly enjoyed getting to know everyone in my first coupe of weeks at your wonderful school.  I have really appreciated everyone stopping to say hello as you enter and exit the school each day.

Year 4 students' experience on Camp

On Tuesday 4th March the Year 4 students and their teachers headed off to camp Sunnystones for their overnight stay.  The students certainly enjoyed the activities on offer at the camp and spending time together.  Camp is a great opportunity for the students to explore new experiences and get out of their comfort zones.  We look forward to hearing more about the Year 4 camp experiences at our next Assembly.  

Cross Country for Years 4, 5 and 6 

We are looking forward to the Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6 students attending the Cross Country trials on Friday 7th March.  This is an opportunity for the students to run a timed trial, with the finalists to progress to the Divisional Competition.  

NAPLAN Year 3 and 5

A reminder that next week on Wednesday 12th March the Year 3 and Year 5 students will begin their NAPLAN assessment.  Please see more information below for the days/times for NAPLAN 2025.

Staffing changes

Please be advised that Rebecca Russo will be leaving St Thomas More at the end of Term 1. Rebecca has been at the school since 2014, contributing significantly to both classroom teaching and our Wellbeing team. She has accepted the position of Wellbeing Leader at St Christopher's in Airport West, and we extend our best wishes to her in this new role.

We are pleased to announce that Anthony Montesano will join us as the new Year 1 teacher, replacing Rebecca. Anthony brings extensive experience and has been a valued Casual Relief Teacher at STM for many years.

Tarryn Cehner will also not be returning to St. Thomas More  as she has accepted a position much closer to her family. Tarryn has been a valued member of our school community since 2015 and we wish her all the best at her new school. Please be assured that the position has been advertised, and we are working diligently to fill it. We will update you as soon as a new teacher is appointed.

Location of Before and After School care - OSH CLUB

Please note that with the recent renovations having been completed the School Hall is now available to be used for both Before and After School Care.  Please be advised that the change of location will begin from Tuesday 11th March.

Parent Teacher Interviews information

An email was sent last Friday with information regarding booking your children for Parent Teacher Interviews on Monday 31st March from 12.15pm. Your Parent Teacher Interview is of a 10 minute duration and is an opportunity to discuss your child's learning progress with their classroom teacher, this includes learning strengths and areas of need. For the smooth running of this event, it is important to keep to this schedule. If you have more than one child at school, we advise parents not to book back to back appointments and to leave at least a 10 minute interval between appointments. This way teachers can run their appointments on time, and parents can have a full 10 minute interview. Please visit www.schoolinterviews.com.au and use the following event code to book an interview with your child's teacher, Event code: xuxs9.  Please also note that school will conclude at 12pm on Monday 31st March for the Parent Teacher Interviews.

Laura Petrie
Acting Principal

Buongiorno!

Grazie  to those of you who completed our end of year reflection form last year. We kindly invite parents of year 1-6 studenti to complete this reflection form. This information is not only invaluable to us, however, will be supporting the continued work of the MACS (Melbourne Archdiocese of Catholic Schools) Languages Team. We will use this information to inform our future direction for teaching and learning of Languages at St Thomas More.

This week i studenti are reflecting on their learning so far before they move onto their next unit next week. The vocabulary for the next 3 weeks will be as follows. 

Grazie e arrivederci

Adriana Bonacci and Maria Vainieri

Michelle Rinaldi

Literacy Leader

Year 1- Magic Beans Partitioning

In Mathematics our Year 1 students have been learning about partitioning numbers. Using "Magic Beans" (with gold and white sides), they explored how one and two-digit numbers can be broken down into different parts. Students shook their beans, recorded the number of gold and white beans, and created number sentences to represent the relationship between the whole and its parts. This hands-on activity helps develop students' number sense and lays a foundation for future mental computation. We are very proud of their progress!

Vanessa Cutajar

Mathematics Leader

Donations 

Thank you so much to the families that have donated the most beautiful books to our library. If anyone has picture books in wonderful used condition they could donate, we would love them for our new Thomas' Tales initiative.

Scholastic Book Club and Book Fair

Issue 2 of the Scholastic Book Club catalogue has been sent home. Orders for this issue close on the 24th of March, so get your orders in now to avoid disappointment. All orders help the school buy new books for the library.

We would really like to run a Book Fair next term. Book Fairs provide a lovely boost in funds for the library and are a really exciting event for the children. To run the Book Fair we  would like to know if any parents could help out in the morning or afternoon. The fair will be open in the mornings from 8.30 to 8.50 and in the afternoon from 3.20 till 3.40. We have a tentative date of the 13th of March - 20th of March. Contact Lou leveston@stmhadfield.catholic.edu.au if you are interested in helping out. 

Registration for the Premiers’ Reading Challenge 2025 opened this week

The Challenge has become an important part of the STM calendar and encourages students to read a set number of books over the year and record their efforts online. 

Since the Challenge first began in 2005, more than 4.3 million students have read over 60 million books.

You can follow this link to find out more https://www.vic.gov.au/premiers-reading-challenge

If you would like your child to participate please contact Miss Lou leveston@stmhadfield.catholic.edu.au for sign in details.

See below for a message from the Premier, Jacinta Allen.....

Message from the Premier

Welcome to the 2025 Victorian Premiers' Reading Challenge.

The Challenge is about helping young Victorians discover new books, and a love of reading.

And this year the Challenge is even more special – celebrating its 20th birthday!

Over the past 20 years, more than 4.5 million young Victorians have taken up the Challenge – and I'm thrilled that you're joining them.

If you're looking for more – you can follow the official Victorian Premiers' Reading Challenge Facebook page and join a community of participating parents, teachers and families.

Good luck to everyone picking up a book this year, and most importantly, happy reading!

Jacinta Allan
Proud mum of two
Member for Bendigo East
Premier of Victoria

PARENT REPRESENTATIVES:

A big thank you to the parents who have volunteered to be Parent Representatives! We're still looking for a few more volunteers to represent all classes. If you're interested, please email Lisa at lsalemme@stmhadfield.catholic.edu.au.

Here's a brief overview of the Parent Representative role:

• Facilitate Communication: Keep parents informed about important classroom and school events, such as reminders about special activities and excursions.

• Community Engagement: Help build a strong classroom community by connecting with other parents. This could include recruiting volunteers for school events or organizing informal get-togethers for the class outside of school.