Semester 1 Reports

This semester you will receive your child's semester 1 report. This report will be available in the afternoon of Wednesday June 22 via the NOFMRA parent portal.

At St Thomas More the semester reports are intended to go hand in hand with the ongoing reporting you have received across the year through your child’s individual SeeSaw posts. The reports are a summation of the learning growth across term 1 and 2 for various areas of the curriculum.

Prep Parents - Report information session

On Tuesday June 14 I will be hosting an online information session to support prep parents in understanding the format of our school reports. This session will be held at 10am and 2pm via a Google Meet. More information will be sent in the coming week via email

Seesaw update

We have recently reviewed our Seesaw posting procedures and can share some changes that will help parents to have clarity around learning progressions throughout the year. Each term, you will receive three assessment posts which will unpack learning intentions and feedback for learning. These will be posted throughout the term for:

• Reading

• Writing

• Listening and Speaking

• Mathematics

• Inquiry

• Religious Education

• Respectful Relationships

You may also receive other Seesaw posts throughout the term for general communication and the sharing of learning experiences. The assessment posts however are aimed at providing clear feedback about student achievement and areas of need.

Report Conferences

This term is a short one at only 9 weeks. Staff spend a great deal of time gathering a wide range of evidence for report writing and the short term means that reports will go home in the final week. This means that our parent / teacher report conferences will be held in week 2 term 3 - Monday July 18 (half day finish) and Tuesday 19 (after school). In light of the reports that you will receive in term 2, these meetings will form 'learning conversations' about areas of growth and need in order to plan for your child's needs in term 3 and 4. More information will be given later this term about dates and booking times.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me

Kate Korber

Learning & Teaching Leader

STMPA New Letter Update

1st meeting of the STMPA was held on the 10th of May via Google Meet.

New committee members and year level representatives are looking forward to working closely with the Principal, staff and families to ensure support is provided where required, promoting wellbeing and identifying new opportunities adhering to COVID safe guidelines.

Focuses of STMPA for 2022

• Create opportunities for our parents, teachers, and children to gather and develop a sense of connectedness and community.

• Work together and support classroom teachers throughout the year to provide a balanced education by

improving communications between student, parents, and teachers.

• Coordinate fundraising opportunities for our children and families.

** STMPA fundraising for this year will be for new sports equipment and resources for literacy and numeracy **

Completed Events

• Easter Raffle and Hot Cross Bun Drive

• Mother’s Day Afternoon Tea

Future Events

Dads’ Dinner scheduled for the 15th of June at Cross Keys Hotel led by Anthony Grima and Mohit Pachauri.

Regards

Umith Wickramasinghe

STMPA Chair

Are you following STM on our Instagram and Facebook pages? Head on over and follow us for learning updates and community news! Click on the images below to be taken to our social accounts

Micro-habits to parent better every day

We’ve all received personal advice that makes us jump through hoops before we see any benefits. Get up at 5.00am and run 10 kilometres to get fit. Fast two days a week to lose weight. Take your children on a two-week holiday to build better bonds. So much hard work to implement.

The Japanese concept of Kaizen states that small habits are easy to do as they require no willpower. In time, they become a natural part of what you do, and you’re performing better, in this case parenting better, before you know it.

Following are five micro-habits that will impact positively your relationship with your child. You are encouraged to create your own micro-habits, but this list will get you started.

Greet your child with a smile every day

“Make a good first impression as first impressions count.” There’s incredible wisdom in this saying as your first interaction with someone will set the tone for all the interactions that follow. Make your first interaction with your child each day a happy, positive one by greeting them with a smile. Make your eyes light up and not only will you put yourself in a good mood, but you’ll establish an atmosphere of warmth for your child at the start of the day.

Point your feet toward your child when they have something important to tell you

Next time you are standing with someone at a party, social or networking event, glance down to see where their feet are pointing. If they are pointed your way, then you have their full attention. If they are pointed elsewhere, then you’d better talk quickly as they’ll soon be heading in the direction that their feet are pointing.

This principle applies doubly to family life. When you know your child has something to say, point your feet toward them and they’ll know that you’re giving them your full attention. If you are sitting and can’t swing your toes around, point your nose in their direction to achieve the same result.

When your child is upset, acknowledge their feelings first

When a child is annoyed, angry, or visibly upset, focus on their feelings before their behaviour. Often, we parent down heavily on behaviour (“Stop that yelling!” “Sit down before you hurt someone.” “That’s an outside noise.”) as we are programmed to control or bring order to a situation. This focus is often ineffective as it’s meeting our needs rather than the immediate needs of the child.

When we focus on feelings first, the behaviour will often improve because you’re meeting a child’s needs, or they finally feel understood. “I can see you’re angry at the moment.” “You seem very excited.” “I get it that your annoyed.”

Refer to good and bad behaviour as a choice

The advocates of respectful relationships rightfully say that all behaviours are a matter of choice, and aren’t driven by others, the environment or substance abuse. (There’s a caveat here for people experiencing severe mental health disorders where choice for many is not a sound option.) Parents can reinforce the idea of choice by consistently referring to a child’s positive or negative behaviour as a choice. “Good choice, sharing your toys with your brother.” “You could make a better choice and come home on time when your visit a friend.”

Look away and breathe when you want to yell

We’ve all experienced it. You’re at the end of your tether and you ask your child to clean up/help out/stop annoying a sibling and they flat out refuse. Before you know it, you’ve given your child some parenting advice that doesn’t come from any parenting books, only to regret it a few minutes later. Yes, you’ve just turned into a child yourself.

When you are about to get upset with your child step back, look away (taking your senses away from the source of stress) take three or four deep belly breaths through your nose before you speak. These small steps will instantly relax, and help you think from your pre-frontal cortex (the thinking part of the brain), rather than the reactive lizard brain, which is responsible for the fight/flight response. The key is to practise this micro-habit in low or no stress situations, so it becomes automatic when you’re under stress.

In closing

Behaviours become habits become patterns. You practise a behaviour once and it’s just that – a behaviour. Practise it repeatedly and it becomes a habit, which can easily be broken. Keep the habit up for long enough and it becomes a pattern that becomes an entrenched part of the way that you parent.