Dear Parents & Caregivers,

I hope all the sick amongst us and in our families are on the way back to good health. It has been a strange few weeks with so many students and staff affected by the early seasonal coughs & colds. Thank you everyone for keeping your children home if they have any symptoms of cold or flu. Although we are nearing the end of a very short term, I think the 2 week break will be a welcome relief to families that have had illnesses. Rapid Antigen Testing is still recommended.

The STM bookfair was been very well attended. Thank you for supporting the school in purchasing books and also encouraging your child's reading habits. Thank you to Lou Eveston for organising the book fair.

Congratulations to our Year 6 Interschool sport teams and coaches for another great term of sportsmanship and skill! Good luck to our football and soccer teams who have made it through to grand finals today. All of our teams have been wonderful representatives for St Thomas More School and we are very proud of their efforts. Thank you to Sarah Tarquinio for organising all the details with local schools for a successful inter school competition this term.

Our Prep 2023 enrolment process has been completed with 65 families accepting places for Prep 2023 at STM. We look forward to welcoming our new 2023 Prep children to our More Learning Prep transition program beginning Week 2 Term 3. Information about More Learning has been sent out to all Prep 2023 families.

Term 2 celebration of learning. Our second term of school has come and gone so quickly, let us thank Father Giang for offering weekly Masses to all our students and families. The weekly gatherings in the church were so beautifully celebrated and it was lovely to see so many school parents attending.

The Feast Day of our school Patron saint, St Thomas More will be celebrated next Wednesday the 22nd commencing with Parish Mass at 10am. Our students will celebrate his life and complete some fun St Thomas More activities in the classroom throughout the day.

Term 3 Sacraments - Next term we will formally begin our program to prepare our students for their upcoming Sacraments. These sacraments are a way our children can relate to God throughout their life and help them nourish, strengthen, and express their faith. Further information about each sacrament will be shared with you shortly.

The following dates for Sacraments are as follows:

• Year 6 CONFIRMATION - Thursday, 1st September at 6pm in our church

• Year 4 FIRST EUCHARIST - Sunday, 11th September at 2pm in our church

STMPA - By all accounts the recent Dad’s night was very well supported by the school dads with over 35 in attendance and a good night had by all. We look forward to further events that have been decided for 2022. Umith has provided a report further in the newsletter, we still require a couple of class reps please.

We look forward to celebrating PJ day next Tuesday, donations of warm clothing, blankets etc will be collected for St Vinnies Winter Warmers Appeal.

Next Friday we farewelll for the time being to staff members Emma Kelly and Belinda Surace who will both begin parental leave - we wish you well Emma and Belinda in this waiting time and look forward to sharing your happy news. We also bid farewell to Marisa Paravizzini who will be leaving the STM staff to focus on her uni studies, thank you Marisa for your contributions to STM.

Term 2 ends at 3.20 next Friday 24th June. Reports will be live on Wednesday 22nd.

Thank you for a wonderful term, we wish you a safe and healthy term break.

Geraldine & Leadership Team.

Your child's semester 1 report will be available on Wednesday 22nd June at 4pm. Reports will be available via the Online Parent Portal. The link to the portal is https://parent.nforma.ct.com.au/app/index.html?schooldomain=stmhadfield#/login

Please find below information about what to expect for new parents, and existing parents who have used the portal before.

What to expect for new parents to our school in 2022

1. New parents to our school will receive an email with a unique username and password to access the Parent Portal

2. These details will need to be used to access your child's report via the link provided in the email

3. Please note that this email will come from NFORMA (not St Thomas More) and may be in your junk mail

4. Examples of the email you will receive and report view of the portal are attached below.

5. This email will be sent to the email address you have connected to the school's admin. Please ensure that you check the correct email address.

What to expect if you are an existing parent who has used the portal previously

1. Head to the portal link: https://parent.nforma.ct.com.au/app/index.html?schooldomain=stmhadfield#/login

2. Use your existing username and password that you were sent last year.

3. If not, follow the reset password link

4. This will send you a temporary password that you will need to reset. Follow the prompts.

5. If you are needing to create a new password for the parent portal, please keep in mind that this needs to be at least 7 characters long, and include on that is non alpha numeric. This means that it needs to include at least one character that is not a letter or a number. Examples of these could include a *, - or /.

Please try to log in now to ensure that you have access. Please be patient and take your time with the process. The password is very case sensitive.

You will also receive an email once the reports are live.

If you experience issues accessing the portal, please ensure that you follow these steps to trouble shoot:

Report Conferences

Report conferences will be held on 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.

These conversations will this year be held online. Parents will be sent a link next week to make bookings via the School Interviews website.

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

Kate Korber

Learning & Teaching Leader

NEw Child Safe standards and ministerial order 1359

Victoria has new Child Safe Standards and all schools in Victoria are reviewing their Child Safe policies and procedures.

• The new Child Safety and Student Wellbeing Policy is available and we welcome your feedback via google form. Here

• Please complete by the end of term

• Information about the eleven new Child Safe Standards can be found here

NEW CHILD SAFE STANDARDS

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

STMPA New Letter Update

Vacant STMPA positions

Three vacant positions are seeking volunteers to join an enthusiastic group of mums and dads who are working with the Principal and teachers to make 2022 an exciting and fun educational experience for our children.

Please reach out if you are interested in volunteering for;

• STMPA Secretary

• Classroom Representatives - 5B and 6B

Communication Channels

Various channels (Facebook, WhatsApp, Messenger) currently exist where regular information is shared amongst parents of each year level. Your classroom representative can direct you to the right channel for up-to-date information STMPA activities.

Completed Events

A successful Dad’s Dinner was held at the Cross Keys Hotel on the 15th of June with 32 dads attending. A much-needed break, LoLs and conversations for everyone after being housebound with COVID 19 restrictions.

A huge thank you for Anthony Grima and Mohit Pachauri for organising the event and for all the dads for coming along.

Term 3 Events

A few exciting events have been planned for term three with a few dates confirmed. Funds raised will be allocated towards new sports equipment and resources for literacy and numeracy.

• Sports Day Sausage Sizzle – 8 th August

• STM Art Show – 13 th October (term 4)

• Parent Trivia Night

• Father’s Day Breakfast

• Father’s Day Stall

A fine young man

He’s a fine young man, your son.” Imagine how you’d feel if you received this compliment. I suspect you’d feel fantastic as acknowledgement that you’ve raised a fine man is probably the ultimate compliment for any parent of boys.

What traits should a male possess to make this assessment ring true?

My involvement in education and parenting over four decades has brought me close with many males at every stage of development. It appears that some males grow old but never grow up or reach that type of maturity that benefits others and allows them to prosper. Fortunately, many boys do become men who are mature, stable and reliable and it’s this model as a society that we need to set our sights on.

There are a number of traits that mature men have in common that are worth noting as we move our boys toward mature manhood. The following traits are the mark of a mature man, but by no means is it a complete list.

Gentleness

The twentieth century saw manhood associated with strength, toughness and hardiness. Two world wars saw the rise of the myth that a male couldn’t cut the mustard unless he was strong, tough and hardy. Hollywood and the celebrity culture it birthed helped perpetuate this image starting way back with Marlin Brando in the ‘50s and Clint Eastwood in the ‘70s. Gentleness has been seen as a weakness for too long, which is the antithesis of the 19^th Century notion that a man should always strive to be a ‘gentleman’.

Gentleness comes from confidence and mental assuredness. A gentle man is in control of his emotions and feels comfortable with the full gamut of sadness, anger, love and hope. A gentleman acts kindly and is guided by a mindset of caring, empathy and contribution.

Generosity

A measure of majority is seen by how much a person can give of themselves to others. A generous man will help others, support and guide others without the wish for compensation.

Maturity also is shown when a person gives of themselves fully in a relationship, whether in friendship or an intimate relationship. Sadly, too many men hold back their thoughts and true feelings and look inward rather than outward with both their friends and life partners. Maturity only happens when a man realises that life is not about him, but about something greater.

Discipline

A mark of a mature man is shown through his ability to put up with short-term pain or discomfort for long-term gain. Whether it’s an athlete sweating it out on the track, a student giving up a night out with mates to study for an exam or a father forgoing a weekend away so he can be at his child’s birthday, the ability to forgo short-term pleasure takes discipline and self-control.

Discipline, conscientiousness and self-control are required to develop the habits and patterns of behaviour that contribute to a man’s long-term healthy development. Boys often struggle to see past the immediate moment, whereas a mature man can look ahead and stick a plan, even though the journey may be long and difficult.

In closing

The world wants men to grow up, see maturity as worthwhile and take the necessary steps to achieve it. As you point your son toward manhood, make gentleness, generosity and discipline the guideposts to aim for. These traits won’t limit his freedoms, but expand his possibilities as a he develops into a fine young man.