Welcome back to Term 2! I hope families had an enjoyable two weeks for the school holidays.

Mini Vinnies

Our next Mini Vinnies meeting will be Thursday, 9 May (Week 2). We will start organising our activities for Term 2 which will include the Winter Clothing Appeal for St Vincent de Paul.

Ethical Easter Egg Raffle

Thank you so much for the donations towards the Ethical Easter Egg Raffle. We were able to make up five amazing Easter Baskets and four smaller bags all full of yummy ethical chocolate bunnies and eggs. The raffle was drawn on the last Thursday of Term 1.

Mini Vinnies created a play to educate our school community about child slavery in the chocolate industry. It included a number of scenes:

• a poor family where the children have to work because their parents cannot afford for them to go to school
• children being kidnapped to work on a cocoa farm
• what families at St Thomas More’s can do – buy slavery-free chocolate with the three slavery-free certification symbols of FAIRTRADE, UTZ and Rainforest Alliance.

$338.20 was raised and will be donated to the Kitenden Village Preschool Project (Maasai community in Tanzania, eastern Africa) http://www.futurewarriorsproject.org/our-projects/kitenden-village-preschool supported by St Thomas More’s Mini Vinnies since 2014.

ACRATH (Australian Catholic Religious Against Trafficking in Humans) and Cathnews published articles about our Ethical Easter Egg Raffle:

https://acrath.org.au/may-the-power-of-the-cocoa-bean-story-continue-long-after-easter/

http://cathnews.com/cathnews/34725-students-give-ethical-easter-eggs-the-thumbs-up

Seasons for Growth

Grief is our response to significant loss and/or change. It is a normal and natural response and can affect every part of our life, including our thoughts, feelings,behaviours, beliefs, physical health and our relationships with others.

Some examples of loss and/or change that a child may have experienced include: death of a family member, friend or pet; divorce or separation; moving locations; parental absence; family illness; and natural disaster.

Seasons for Growth is an education program for children which explores the effects of grief and specifically develops skills in communication, managing feelings, decision making and problem solving. The program aims to teach ways of understanding and coping skills that children and young people can apply to any change and loss experience in their lives.

It involves eight 45-minute sessions that occur once a week in the second half of Term 2 and first half of Term 3. Children will be organised into small groups and guided by trained companions. Please note it is an education program, not therapy.

St Thomas More’s will be providing the opportunity for children in Years 1-6 to partake in this program. If your son or daughter has experienced grief and you think they would benefit from the Seasons for Growth Program, you are encouraged to talk to him/her first about this as it is important that the child is ready and willing to participate. To nominate your child/ren for the program, please send an email to sonja.mingay@cg.catholic.edu.au by Friday, 10 May 2019 (Week 2). If you require further information please contact Sonja Mingay who is coordinating the program.

Feel welcome to visit or contact me on 6249 8869 or send an email to sonja.mingay@cg.catholic.edu.au .

Sonja Mingay
School Chaplain

Work hours: Thu 11am-3pm, Fri 9am-3pm