Congratulations to the 16 students from Year 3, 4 and 6 who received the Sacrament of Reconciliation last night. I was so pleased to see the way these children were able to turn back to God and reflected on the times they had not made such great choices and how, moving forward, they could change their lives. A big thank you to Mr O’Brien in his careful preparation of the students and along with Mrs Achmad in their assistance in organising the Sacrament. Also a big thank you to Father Mat for his work helping the students to receive this Sacrament.

Congratulations to all students who participated in our St Thomas More Swimming Carnival last Thursday. Well done to Mr McRae for organising a wonderful swimming event for our students. A big thank you to all the parents who volunteered their time to help. Thanks to our special guest Shane Gould for her words of wisdom and presentation of medals

Today our students participated in a Faction Swimming Carnival at the Margaret River
Recreation Centre. It was lovely to see the school spirit with students supporting each
other and the parent community celebrating the achievements and efforts of all
students. Thank you to Mr McRae for organising a well-run event and to our Year 6
students for their leadership, encouragement and support for our students and
teachers.

Welcome back to a new term! Our Principal Russell Wylie has taken some well-deserved Long Service Leave for the first three weeks of this term, we welcome Mrs Kristie Chapman as Acting Assistant Principal during this time.

There are many things to look forward to this term. We will be having our school and Interschool Cross Country carnivals, Father’s Day Colour run and sundowner, Year 5 camp, Learning Journey night, the Sacrament of Reconciliation and the Sacrament of Eucharist throughout the term, just to name a few. Our Year 2, 3, 4, and 5 classes will all be preparing and leading Whole School Masses and Prayer Services for our school community over the course of the term.

Last Friday, the school gathered to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of St Thomas More Catholic Primary School. Opening in 1993, the school catered for students from PrePrimary to Year 5. Over the years, we have had students from 3 Year Old Kindy through to Year 7 attend St Thomas More and a range in school size, peaking at 215 students. Over the years, one thing that is apparent is the consistency of the community and their dedication to supporting our school. This was evident on Friday night, when the P&F hosted a Sundowner to celebrate this. I would like to offer a huge thank you to P&F President Kat Devine and her amazing group of helpers for making such a wonderful night! A special thank you also to Silas Mountford for taking our 30th photo with his drone…looks great!

This week, the students have been participating in some sessions focusing on wellbeing. This has included spiritual, mental, physical and emotional wellbeing. On Monday, we had Kinesiologist Jess Koontz talk to the students about breathing and she utilised some sound bowls, on Tuesday Sean Allen, a local Martial Arts instructor spoke with our Year 5 and 6 students about the Rock and Water program which works with the students to develop Body Awareness, Emotional Awareness and Self Awareness. The Pre-Primary to Year 4 students also worked with Mrs Achmad to make Meditation Jars. On Wednesday, the children worked with me to create Personal Gift handprints, which will be used to create a ‘Gift Tree’ and will be displayed in the Library. This morning, the children also worked with Ms Knowles to do some meditation and reflection on our connection to others and to our environment. We also had a disco in the Undercover Area and the students have enjoyed participating in daily fitness, led by our Year 6 students and having daily meditations in class, using the Smiling Mind app. The winner of the healthy lunchbox competition will be announced tomorrow at our afternoon assembly. I really hope all students have enjoyed this week and have been able to take away lots of different ideas and strategies to help them in their lives.

Next week is Wellness Week! We will be having a focus on wellbeing with different activities organised to support the mental, emotional and physical wellbeing of our staff and students.

Today our Year 5 and 6 students travelled up to Bunbury to participate in an Interschool Carnival with teams competing in both Netball and Football. Competing against 12 other schools, our teams performed exceptionally well! Congratulations to all those students who competed and represented our school so well.

Last Sunday, we were privileged to witness 13 of our Year 6 students receive the Sacrament of Confirmation. Bishop Gerard reminded the students not to have fear in their decision to become adults in the Catholic faith and asked the community to always support our youth in their spiritual development. I encourage each of these students to open the gifts they received from the Holy Spirit and to try and use them each day and pray that the Holy Spirit will continue to guide and protect each of these students throughout their lives. A special thank you to Mr McDonald, Mrs Achmad, Fr Mat and the St Thomas More staff for their assistance in making this day so special for the Confirmands and their families. What a special day!

All parents have been sent a link to complete a survey about St Thomas More and your feelings about how things are going for both yourselves and your children. It is important that we have a good response to this to gauge the level of satisfaction of our families and make plans for improvement if it is needed. Click on the ‘Start Questionnaire’ tab and enter the code STMPACS. This survey is completely confidential, and the school will be provided with a de-identified collated summary. If you have any questions or difficulties in accessing the link, please contact Nicolle Achmad – nicolle.achmad@cewa.edu.au