From the Principal

It has been a nice and busy week here at STM, it has been great to see our teachers using their Cue to Start in all classes and it has been even better to see the students responding so well. Danielle George provides regular updates in the Learning and Teaching tab about the exciting improvements we are making at our wonderful school. At the moment we are in the midst of introducing a school wide behaviour curriculum. This is a great way for students and staff alike to work together to develop routines and structures that we all follow. There is a video in the School Advisory Board section that I urge parents/carers to go and have a look at. One simple way in which parents can help reinforce our routines and structures is when they attend school events such as assemblies to also follow the Cue to Start, our whole school Cue to Start is a slow count down 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Once the person gets to 1, the expectation is that all members of our community are ready to listen. 

Tomorrow we have a good sized team heading to District Cross Country, we congratulate these students on making the team and we also give thanks to Mrs Wicks for helping prepare the students for this event. We know they will do STM proud. 

Our school continues to grow, we welcome a new student Molly P in Year 2. I know this amazing community will make Molly and her family feel so very welcome as we always do.  

Next week is a very busy week for leaders at our school Mrs Saville, Mrs George and I will all be off site multiple days as we engage with MACS workshops across the Eastern Region. If you need to speak to a member of the leadership team and they are not at school that day please send them an email and they will respond in a timely manner. 

Our chickens have been laying eggs galore, we are currently thinking of ways in which we can sell the eggs to raise money to reinvest into the chicken program. We will have some more information about this early next week. 

On Tuesday we found this little guy in our roosting box in the chicken coop. He was safely removed by a wildlife expert. 

School Fees:

School fees are now payable. Fee payments can be set up flexibly with Tarnia in the office. We kindly ask for regular payments or if you intend to make a one off payment please just let us know when you plan to do so. All fees are due by the end of Term 3 (unless on a payment plan, these plans can run all year). If anyone has any questions about fees please speak to Tarnia or myself.

Working Bee - Term 2:

Due to my family commitments on Saturday mornings our term 2 working bee will be held after school on Friday 7th of June. We will start at 3:30pm and finish around 4:30pm-5:00pm. In Term 3 and 4 I will try to offer a couple of weekend options. 

New Chromebooks and IPads:

We are very excited that our 25 new Chromebooks and 20 new IPads have arrived. They have now started being distributed into our 4/5 and 2/3 classrooms. The plan is to purchase a bulk order each year until all of our older devices (which served us so well during COVID) have been replaced. 

St Thomas More Feast Day and Thommies Market:

On the 21st of June we will be celebrating St Thomas More Feast Day. This day is an event we celebrate in style every year and this year will be no different. We will once again be holding our Thommies Market, more information will begin to come home about this much anticipated event. 

All families are invited to share in mass with us on this day. Mass will begin at 9:00am in the Parish Church. 

Belgrave Preschool Open Day:

Lunch Orders - Mondays:

Subway Vermont South and Canteen Hub are very pleased to be able to offer the Subs For Your School Lunch Program.

• Every Monday 
• Place your order by 4:30 pm Sunday - the day before
• If you are using a VPN please select Australia
• Please register at canteenhub.com.au
• Select St Thomas More Primary School
• If you need to cancel your order this can be done via canteenhub.com.au under your profile up to the order cut-off time.
• Need help please email help@canteenhub.com  

Camp Manyung - June 12th - June 15th

We are now just under a month until our Year 5/6 Camp to Manyung. For families with children in Year 5 and 6 we will be holding a camp information evening on Wednesday 29th of May at 7pm. This information session will take place on Zoom and the link will be shared on the Monday prior. 

Please see attached a packing list for camp.

Any medications for camp will need to be authorised by a Doctor. The following form is the MACS Medical Authority form. Please note, no medication is legally allowed to be administered by teachers without this form. Hard copies of this form can be collected from the office. 

World MS Awareness Day (Thursday 30th of May, 2024):

A message from Mrs Carolyn Eekelschot. 

As a person living with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) for nearly 20 years I would like to encourage our school community to support World MS Awareness Day.

It is important to acknowledge those in our community, like myself, living with conditions largely invisible to others and to help them know that they are not alone and we “see” their challenges.

Please wear a touch of orange or pick up an orange ribbon from the office on Thursday May 30 to show your support for people with MS and their families.

Thank you for your support.

Semester 1 Reports:

As parents are aware, students receive achievement reports each semester. We are slightly adjusting these reports to be more friendly for parents to read and understand. An overview of each subject taught will be provided so parents can view what content has been covered throughout the semester. Students will then be given a curriculum progression point for each subject. This will be displayed in a graph that is easy to read, a key will also be provided. Students will also receive a teacher judgement mark on their Effort and Behaviour in class, this will be marked on a 5 point scale. Parents will access reports through their nForma portal. Printed copies can be provided on request after reports have been published and sent home. 

If you have any questions about the reporting process, please let me know. 

Victorian Premiers Reading Challenge:

If your child is interested in joining the Victorian Premiers' Reading Challenge, please let our school Library technician and LSO, Lisa Norris know. 

Lisa can be contacted on lnorris@smbelgrave.catholic.edu.au

2024 School Closure Days:

Friday 16th of August - School Closure 

Monday 21st of October - School Closure 

Monday 4th of November - School Closure

Tuesday 5th of November - Melbourne Cup (Public Holiday)

Friday 29th of November - School Closure

Monday 2nd of December - School Closure

Tuesday 17th of December - Students Last Day

Thank you and God bless

Declan