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Parent Information Night - Establish Engaged Partnerships Within our Community
Thank you to the over 50 families who were able to attend our Parent Information Night last night. It was a great opportunity to come together as a school community to find out who we are, how we teach, how we learn, and how we grow. During the presentation we launched our We are Xplorer Attributes, our framework to support students to develop their skills as a learner, and our 2023-2025 Strategic Plan goals. We then focussed on our 4th goal Establish engaged partnerships within our community where parents were invited to consider how they could be engaged in community at St Thomas More's rather than simply being involved. We would love to establish engaged partnerships with our families. There are many ways you can achieve this goal, it may be through joining the Community Council, volunteering to be a Parent Contact Coordinator, attending the Working Bee, helping at one of our school carnivals, or gathering business sponsorship for our Colour Run.
Strategic Plan Goals
We are Xplorers
TeamKids
Congratulations to TeamKids who were assessed by ACECQA over the holidays and received the highest rating during an assessment of Exceeding National Quality Standard. This rating places TeamKids among the best before and after-school providers around the country. We are so lucky to have TeamKids providing such high-quality care to the students of St Thomas More's. Enrolling your child at TeamKids is an easy process and spots are readily available on any day of the week at an affordable price. It is a win-win situation for both families and the school as the greater the enrolments, the greater the income to the school.
Community Council and Parent Class Contacts
We are looking for community members who are interested in joining our Community Council and/or volunteering to be the Parent Class Contact for Kindergarten, Year 1, Year 2, 3/4W or 5/6W. The Community Council is an advisory board that supports the leadership team in monitoring the running of the school and discussing school initiatives. There are 2 open places on the Community Council in 2023. Our Parent Class Contact is responsible for supporting families with questions they may have, coordinating a few informal get togethers throughout the year, and coordinating a school event allocated to your class. If you are interested in either of these roles please contact myself or Angela Kelley.
Canteen
Last year we announced that Savida Tanzer, one of our DSM's, would be coordinating the introduction of a canteen at St Thomas More's. Savida will be taking leave until the middle of March and will work towards commencing counter sales of snacks by the end of this term.
Allergies
Following the review of students with allergies in our school, we would like to announce that the school will remain nut-free and prefer that no egg is sent to school (cooked or raw). Our Year One families are asked to ensure food is nut and egg free to minimise risks to our students. We thank you for actioning this request and keeping our children safe.
Luke Donnelly
Principal
At St Thomas More’s we are committed to promoting the wellbeing of all our students. To enhance the current pastoral supports offered within the school, a Wellbeing Dog initiative will be introduced and implemented over this year. Our Wellbeing Dog initiative is designed to assist students and staff with their daily mental health needs. In particular, the Wellbeing Dog initiative aims to:
- Provide companionship, comfort and support to young people who are experiencing high levels of distress
- Promote healing and wellbeing
- Teach and develop empathy and appropriate interpersonal skills
- Help students develop social skills
- Assist students in regulating emotions
- Model caring and healthy relationships
Meet Annie! Annie is Mr. Donnelly’s 3-year-old cocker spaniel. Over Term 1, Annie will be completing her school induction program and will slowly be introduced to students. Annie loves pats and cuddles. She has a very gentle nature and will give you a lot of love and attention when you meet her. She is a very calm dog that settles easily into any environment. Annie is very cute (see photo) and has an extremely sweet personality. If you are having a bad day, Annie will make you smile! No student is ever forced to work with Annie, and we respect that some people do not like or are allergic to the dogs. Annie will always be in a harness, with a handler and will not be present where food is. We would ask parents to inform the school within the next two weeks of any student dog allergies, fears and/or phobias so that these can be considered before Annie commences her visit. |
From the DSM Desk:
Defence Club started week 1 and is now in full swing. We meet on the white tables outside the current kindergarten rooms every Wednesday at lunchtime for different activities. It is an opportunity for Defence children to connect and develop friendships across the year groups and have a buddy system among our students. Welcome again Defence families and we look forward to working with you and your children this term.
Savida Tanzer and Kate McErlean
Book Club
Book club brochures have gone home this week.
All orders must be placed online by 19th February 2023. All ordering is online,
instructions are in the brochure, NO CASH Orders accepted.
Hello from the School Counsellor ……and Important Information about how to access School Counselling.
Hello lovely St Thomas More’s families! My name is Sarah Foley and I have been part of the Catholiccare Student and Family Counselling team since 2006.
I am a registered psychologist with a passion for working with children, young people and their families. I have previously worked in marketing, community based aged care, crisis counselling and the homelessness sector.
In my school counselling work I provide short term client centred support to children and their families drawing from Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Strengths based, Mindfulness and Trauma informed approaches in a developmental context. For more complex issues I also provide referrals and information/parent consultation. I am at St.Thomas More’s all day Thursdays during each school term.
How to make an appointment.
Referrals and requests can be made by contacting the Principal Mr Luke Donnelly, your child’s class teacher or myself (via email sarah.foley@catholiccare.cg.org.au). We will forward you the appropriate counselling registration forms via a link.
Parent consent for counselling continues to be required for all primary school students and will be sought and provided via email. Once the referral has been received by myself- School Counsellor- I will make contact with parents on my next day at St.Thomas More’s to further discuss the referral.
More about School counselling/how to access school counselling at St.Thomas More’s.
As part of the pastoral care program for students at St.Thomas More’s, students have access to a Student and Family Counselling service provided by CatholicCare Canberra & Goulburn (CCG). CCG are contracted by the CEO to provide a counselling service to students and their families on site. There is no fee to access this service. The service offers short term counselling support (roughly up to six sessions per referral issue) to children and their families – the counsellor can also provide referrals for more complex issues requiring intensive or long term therapy/support.
The role of the counsellor is to focus on the emotional, social and educational well-being of the students. Counsellors welcome contact with students having difficulty with some part of their life, the problem does not have to be a big one. It is better to seek help sooner rather than later. Some typical concerns that counsellors work with include: anger, anxiety, behavioural problems, low mood, family changes/separation, grief and loss, learning and educational challenges, parenting challenges, peer and other social relationships, school avoidance, stress and study skills. As well as individual sessions with students, counsellors can run groups, consult with parents and teachers and make referrals to other services and supports.
Student and Family Counsellors subscribe to a set of professional ethics that include duty of care and respect for the individual rights to privacy and confidentiality. The counsellors’ obligation is to ensure the safety, wellbeing and confidentiality of the student they are working with. All counsellors are mandated to report any disclosure or sign of abuse (including self-harm) or neglect to Child Protection Services. Outside of our mandated requirements, all counselling sessions are confidential and the details will not be discussed with other parties unless written consent is given by the client.
Sarah Foley
Registered Psychologist
Ph: 02 6249 8869 , is onsite all day -Thursdays.