Dear Parents and Caregivers,

During my 2 weeks at St Thomas More I have felt very welcomed by students, staff and parents. Thank you especially to the dedicated staff of STM who have continued to provide the best learning experiences for your children in this time of change for the school and as we move into hopefully a more 'normal' way of life for 2022.

Just as us adults are hesitantly stepping out as restrictions end, so too are our children. After 2 interrupted years of schooling our students are adjusting to all the routines and social norms of school life such as managing friendships and being part of a bigger group. All of this takes time, thank you for working with us as we support our students in managing themselves back at school.

Changes to staggered drop off and pick up:

We have been aware that the staggered pick-up and drop-offs have been becoming increasingly difficult. We were hoping that our latest operations guide would see changes to expectations around this, but the recommendation remains.

We are still required to ensure that we are facilitating the safety of all and accommodating the distancing requirements.

In order to best manage the safety of all, we will make the following changes:

1. The staggered pick up and drop off times will be removed (meaning ALL children will now be released at the 3:20pm bell)

2. Students in junior grades will be released to their parents from their zone on the sports green (see map for zones)

Please bear with us as we trial this as a safe option and we thank you for your understanding with this change.

Students who usually meet their families at the gate can continue to do so and sports green pick ups will only be for students who are normally picked up from their classrooms.

Please be aware that this may mean increased traffic at both entrances to the school. Please ensure you are kind and respectful when picking up and dropping off your children.

Parents and caregivers are asked to refrain from parking and waiting in the pickup bays and staff will be requesting that anyone waiting in these areas for longer than a minute, do a lap and come back around so we can keep the traffic moving.

To ensure the safety of children, we kindly ask that parents do not call children through the car park to their cars and that they come and pick them up from the gate if they need to get their child.

Upcoming School Tours:

In 2 weeks' time we look forward to welcoming future families to our school for the first of our 2023 Enrolment Tours. The tours will be held on Tuesday March 15th (6pm), Wednesday March 16th (5pm) and Tuesday March 22nd (6pm). All attendees will need to RSVP via the online form to assist us in managing COVID safe practices. We cannot wait to show everyone the amazing learning spaces within our school! Feel free to direct any interested parents to the link. Please note that if you or any of your friends or extended family have a child ready for prep next year, ensure that you / they attend to bring in a completed enrolment form as soon as possible. Thank you so much to everyone who has actively promoted our wonderful school in the community. Word of mouth is very important to the growth of any organisation and we value your support in this area. A reminder that sibling enrolment forms for Prep 2023 should be sent to the office asap.

STM Parent Association:

This year we are looking forward to welcome our parents back to be involved in our Parent Association. The Parent Association is an integral part of the community of St Thomas More School. Parents join this association in a voluntary capacity to be part of their child’s education and to actively participate in the organisation of a range of social, fundraising and educational activities. Previously known as our Parents and Friends, our STMPA is comprised of:

• Parent reps from each grade (there can be more than one)

• An executive committee (Principal, Co-chairs, secretary and Dad’s rep)

We are asking our community to please consider nominating yourself to be a classroom rep or an exec committee member. Please refer to the following spreadsheet and add your name next to the relevant area (tab 1) and add your contact details (tab 2). School events and fundraisers cannot happen without the support of our parent volunteers. Whether you can help in a small or a large way, we encourage anyone to be involved!

Please note that any volunteers who come onsite to volunteer during school hours will need to be triple vaxxed.

LINK TO STMPA PARENT VOLUNTEER SPREADSHEET

We are looking to hold our first meeting via a Google meet in the next couple of weeks and hope our community can come together in these roles to support our school.

Easter Raffle / Hot Cross Bun drive - urgent volunteers needed

We are wanting to inject some joy back into our school events! One of the best events for our children in the past has been our Easter Raffle. It has also been a great fundraiser for our school. We are looking for volunteers to support us to organise the raffle and prize packs in the coming weeks in the lead up to Easter. We are also looking for someone to liaise with Maree Gleeson to organise a hot cross bun drive. If you are interested in helping make these events happen, please add your name to the volunteer spreadsheet.

Kate Korber will then contact you next week to organise a time to meet and plan the events / fundraisers.

Thank you in advance

Principal appointment: The process for appointing the new Principal for STM has officially begun. A selection panel has been appointed and this week the MACS regional leadership consultant met with student leaders and staff teams to discuss the qualities needed for the new Principal. These will then form the basis of the criteria for the application process. The position will be advertised through the MACS website and in The Age newspaper. Applications will then be shortlisted by the interview panel. The appointment will hopefully be made early in Term 2. The new Principal will begin in Term 3.

Congratulations: A big congratulations to Sofica, Lee and Lincoln Aitken who welcomed their daughter (and sister) Eden Anna Aitken on February 6th. We wish their family all the best and look forward to meeting her.

Our staff member Tarryn Healy is marrying Jake next weekend. Congratulation and best wishes to Tarryn and Jake as they celebrate their wedding day and life as a married couple.

COVID safety reminders:

• All students need to complete a RAT twice a week.

• Students in Year 3-6 need to continue wearing masks inside.

This week we marked Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Church season of Lent. Lent is a period of preparation in the Church’s Liturgical Year that orients the community towards Holy Week and the Season of Easter. It is a time of prayer, fasting and good works.

The students all looked amazing yesterday for school photo day!

Best wishes

School leadership Team.