Dear Families,

Firstly I would like to thank the STM community for the warm welcome I have received. It is never easy starting at a new school but the students, families and staff have been wonderful.

We have had a positive start to the term. Over the past two weeks I have been visiting classrooms and introducing myself to the students. Thank you to Clara Privitera and Fr Tran who organised a Welcome Mass for me on Friday 7 October. It has been a long time since the students have been together in the church.

We have had the first of our Zoo Snooze camps begin this week in years 3 and 4. The Zoo Snooze camp has provided our students with the unique overnight educational experience at Melbourne Zoo. It was wonderful to see the smiling faces return to school, albeit very tired. I look forward to the remaining students having the opportunity to attend this camp in the coming weeks.

Unfortunately we have had to postpone the Art Show due to inclement weather. In order to honour the amount of work that has gone into planning this event and in light of the possible safety implications, we have decided to reschedule the Art Show to Wednesday next week, October 19. The students have worked hard over the last few terms to build up some fabulous art portfolios and the Art Show is all set up and ready to wow you all! A big thank you to Annette Mantello, our Art teacher, all of our classroom teachers and our LSOs for all their hard work towards the preparation and set up. The event will run as originally planned (same times and same events), just on this different date. We thank you for your understanding and we look forward to seeing you there!

I would like to take this opportunity to celebrate our ICT Leader, Kate MacKintosh, who was recently accepted into the Google for Education Certified Innovator program in a highly competitive process. Since its launch the program have only recognised 2,200 educators globally, selecting just 120 new innovators this year, Kate is one of those innovators! The Certified Innovator program is a 12-month professional development experience including mentorship, learning activities, and an online Innovation Academy focused on helping new Innovators launch a transformative project related to a challenge or opportunity they see in education. Kate Mackintosh will come back to STM with fresh ideas and skills for leading innovation in education. Amazing job Kate!

Construction of the new car park is very much underway. Please be mindful when dropping your children off at Angus street and ensuring they are exiting the car behind the orange makers as this is replacing the footpath at present. All going well we anticipate that the car park will be complete by November.

We are very excited to meet our new prep students. The following Transition days for Prep 2023 students are:

Monday 7^th November, 2022

9.15am-11.00am (Children only)

Tuesday 8^th November, 2022

9.15am-11.00am (Compulsory attendance for all children and parents).

On this day, the leadership team will work with our new parents in the hall. We will help give you an insight into life and learning at St Thomas More Primary School.

Tuesday 22^nd November, 2022

9.15am-11.00am (Compulsory attendance for all children and parents).

On this day, the leadership team will also work with our parents in our hall to give you important information about transition, preparing for prep, practical tips and advice. You will also have the chance to mingle with other new families and get to know one another. Please don't hesitate to contact the office if you have any further questions.

Changes to COVID-19 isolation requirements:

It is strongly recommended that students:

• who test positive for COVID-19 should stay home and isolate for five days

• should not attend school after five days if still symptomatic

• who are symptomatic but have not tested positive should not attend school.

Where students become symptomatic at school, they should:

• be collected by their parents/carers

• undergo testing for COVID-19.

Term 4 is always a great term that brings with it the sun and warmer weather. Please ensure that your child brings a hat and sunscreen to school.

David Hurn

Make caring common

Caring or successful? Which would you choose for your child?

Fortunately, the two aims aren’t mutually exclusive, but it’s an interesting question as your answer will demonstrate your values.

Are you more likely to encourage kindness or effort in your child? Are you more likely to recognise a child’s words of encouragement to a sibling or their clever turn of phrase?

I suspect most parents rank a sense of caring for others as a high priority. Few parents want to raise a mean-spirited, self-centred child with little empathy or care for the welfare of others. But looking out for others doesn’t come easily to all children, particularly when families are small and child-centric.

Caring is important for community wellbeing

If the basic task of parents is to socialise children, then a focus on caring for others should be a higher priority than individual success. The wellbeing of our community depends on the first rather than the latter.

Author Anthony D’Angelo wrote, “Without a sense of caring, there can be no sense of community.” Families and schools are better places when care takes priority over attainment. They are both toxic when caring for others is not valued or encouraged.

Caring for others sits with community development and individual competency as essential leadership qualities to develop in children and young people. Caring for others is also a quality that you can encourage at home. These strategies will help you get the ball rolling.

Put caring into words

Families have their own proprietary language. That is, they develop meaningful words and phrases that reflect their values and activities. In my family, the term ‘non-negotiable’ has specific meaning, referencing a ritual such as mealtime that everyone is expected to attend. Its ‘non-negotiable’ nature reinforces our core value of family connectedness. Similarly, regular use of caring language such as encouragement, words of kindness and phrases of appreciation can become an integral part of your family’s vernacular.

Making kindness normal

Kindness is caring in action. It’s impossible to be kind to another person and be selfish at the same time. A smile, a small gift, an offer of assistance are simple acts of kindness that display caring and connection to others. You can promote kindness in your child through encouragement, modelling and recognition.

Practise concern for others

Three-year-old Grace fell heavily from a table, giving herself a shock. Five-year-old Ruby immediately reached for her sister, hugging her until she calmed down. Ruby’s immediate concern was for her sister’s wellbeing, which was acknowledged by her grateful parents.

Help at home, without being paid

Children in families that place a high value on caring for others generally perform household chores without the lure of money. They do so because they’ve been taught that helping is a caring activity. “We help each other because we care for each other” is the unspoken code here. Kids who care for others think “what’s in it for we” rather than “what’s in it for me”. The latter is a self-centred approach to life.

In closing

Caring is a higher-level quality that needs nurturing. It doesn’t always occur naturally. Studies have shown that caring is kick started earlier in children who belong to large families presumably because children are put in a position to care for and look out for siblings in quasi parenting roles. Being raised in small families doesn’t deny altruism development in kids. It does mean that you may need to work a little harder to awaken caring in your child.

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