I hope everyone had the chance to enjoy the long weekend. I know teachers were working away preparing for mid-year reports. These reports will be released on the online NForma portal in the last week of school. Please keep an eye out for an email from NForma that will come once the reports have been published.

I am writing this email slightly earlier this week as I will be away at Camp Manyung with our 5/6 students. We will have a dedicated section in next week's newsletter dedicated to the adventures of Camp. We look forward to sharing these experiences with the community next week.

On Channel Seven News on Monday night, they had a story about the teacher shortage that is facing many schools in Victoria at the moment. We also have been impacted by this, if teachers are away for the day we are having increased difficulty accessing release teachers which means our school leaders have stepped in. Fortunately we have not had to resort to splitting classes or canceling many specialist subjects. I ask parents to be patient and understanding as we navigate the next few weeks.

Catholic schools in the Melbourne Archdiocese will start co-branding marketing materials with the MACS (Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools) logo. You will begin to see the following logo on all of our marketing materials from Term 3 onwards.

The last day of Term 2 will be Friday June 28th (3:10 pm finish); Term 3 will begin on Monday July 15th.

Lighthouse Program:

Last Thursday Mrs Janky and I attended the Lighthouse Expo at St Joseph's College, Ferntree Gully. It was a wonderful showcase of the learning that has taken place over the last 8-10 weeks. We thank our St Joseph students; Finn, Alex and Josh who worked with our Year 6 boys to create a movie about a social justice issue. We look forward to being part of the program again in 2025!

Winter Sports:

Last Friday we had a large cohort of students represent our school in the Winter Sports Round Robin. We had teams in Soccer, Football and Volleyball. I heard stories of perseverance and great sportsmanship from all teams. We had some good success in Volleyball with one of our sides finishing on top of the ladder. I spent the day at King's Park with the Footy team. It was a long day and we played some very strong teams. The students never dropped their heads despite the tough opposition. Well done to our students.

Working Bee:

Thanks to the families who stayed back on Friday and supported our Working Bee. I wasn't sure how many families we would have but the turnout was amazing and we got through all of the jobs in no time at all. We now have 3 new garden beds which will be transformed into veggie gardens by Garden Club. In the coming weeks/months a small shed will be going in just near the library. This shed will store all of our gardening and chicken coop equipment.

Taster Day for Pre-Schoolers:

We have three or four registrations for this upcoming event next week. It would be great to have a few more. If you have a child already enrolled for next year or know of anyone still looking for a school please share this with them.

Invitation for St Thomas More Feast Day Mass:

Healthy Family Series: Inform and Empower:

Thommies Market:

Our annual Thommies Market Day will be held next Friday, 21st of June. The day will begin with mass and morning tea for families (please see the flier below). In the middle block students will participate in the fun of Thommies Market. The students will also have a free Sausage Sizzle lunch. An Operoo should have gone out already asking for dietary requirements. Students are asked to bring NO MORE than $5 worth of coins (preferably 10c, 20c and 50c pieces) to buy items from the different stalls on the day. All money raised on the day will be donated to the Cancer Council of Australia.

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

Belgrave Preschool Enrolment:

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

Graduation Dates 2024:

We have now finalised graduation dates for 2024.

Year 6 fun day - Thursday 28th of November - venue tbc

Passing on Ceremony - Wednesday 11th of December @ 2 pm

Graduation Lunch - Thursday 12th of December @ 12 pm (students only)

Graduation Mass and celebration - Thursday 12th of December @ 6 pm (families welcome)

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

Assembly Awards / Birthdays