On Monday evening, we were treated to an awesome spectacle as our Year 4-6 classes presented songs at our Music Concert. Held at the HEART, the students were able to perform with proper sound engineering, lighting and being up on stage…and they did an amazing job! I was super impressed with just what a great performance they gave and how professional they sounded. A special mention to Margaux Lewis, Cecilia Byrne, Ava Patterson, Mikah Bien and Ila Yee Wilson for their solo efforts too. A huge thank you to Mr Cameron McRae for all his work in organising and setting up the stage and to both him and Ms Sian Fenn for their work in preparing the students for this. Also to the P&F for making it a free event for our parents. I would also like to acknowledge the help of Arts Margaret River and the Shire of Augusta Margaret River for their assistance in not only setting it up, but helping to make sure we can utilise such a wonderful venue for our students to perform.

A massive THANK YOU and congratulations to our school community on the success of our Spring Fair last Saturday. Everyone put in a tremendous amount of work and time and we are so grateful for all the donations, energy and assistance our school community put in to make this so successful. Special thanks to Hannah Ranson Cook and Rowena Metcalfe for their work in coordinating the fair – this was a wonderful opportunity to not only showcase our school to the wider community, but also to raise money for our new playground. Unfortunately we do not get
any money from either the State or Federal government for things like playgrounds, so it relies on our parent groups to work to raise money for these types of things. The P&F did a fabulous job in trying to raise enough money over the past two years to get this for our students – so it is exciting to say this will be installed in just over two weeks’ time.

Only 2 more sleeps until our Spring Fair Day! This Saturday from 10:00am-2:00pm, there will be lots of activities, food and fun to be had – so we hope to see every family coming along!

Rest assured, with Mr Wylie away on camp, our school is still in safe hands! The staff has activated ‘Operation Keep Calm and Carry On.’ We’ve even got a cardboard cutout mask of Mr. Wylie to supervise the undercover area in the morning! Don’t be surprised if you hear it reminding students to walk, not run! So, while he’s on Rottnest Island making friends with quokkas, know that everything here is under control… mostly!

Tomorrow, the school will join together with the parish community to celebrate All Saints Day – a traditional holy day of obligation. Whilst it is no longer celebrated as a holy day of obligation in Australia, we feel, as a Catholic school community, it is important to still teach our students about the saints and celebrate the life and example they gave to us. St Mary of the Cross MacKillop, Australia’s first saint, who is connected to our school through the involvement of the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart is a great example of how we remember to ‘never see a need without doing something about it.’ I am sure the Year 6 class, who will lead us in this Mass tomorrow will do an amazing job.

Tomorrow we celebrate World Teacher’s Day – a day to recognise the hard work, commitment and love our teachers demonstrate to improving education outcomes for each of our students. As a Principal, I am very blessed to have a staff who are dedicated, caring and really great people to work with…which makes our school such a wonderful place to be. I would like to thank each and every staff member who works at St Thomas More for the way they work so hard to make a positive difference in the lives of every child here. Great job! Thank you too, to the P&F for organising an amazing Morning Tea for the staff to enjoy tomorrow…I know they are very excited!

It was so wonderful to see the children dressing up as their favourite book character yesterday, to celebrate Book Week. I was super impressed with how many students (and teachers) got involved with this. A huge thank you to the parents for supporting your children with this. With the theme of ‘Reading is Magic, it is a good reminder for us of the importance of reading and using our imagination. Our Book Fair was a great success, and I thank both parents and students in supporting this. The sale of these books helps the school to purchase new books for our library.

A very warm welcome back to all our students and families for our last term of the year. As I visit each of the classrooms, I can already see the students engaging in their learning and getting ready for the end of the year. As always, this term will be an incredibly busy and industrious time of the year for staff, students, our P&F and School Advisory Council.

With the holidays just around the corner, I hope everyone takes the chance to rest and recharge, knowing that the time we give to ourselves helps us bring our best energy to those around us.

Thank you to all those parents and family members who came along to our Learning Journey afternoon. It was wonderful to see so much engagement between the children and their parents, explaining the learning that has been taking place over the term. We feel it is a great opportunity for parents to see their child’s work and for the children to really begin to take responsibility for their learning. I appreciate the work the teachers put into their rooms to ensure the children’s work was displayed so creatively.