Dear Parents, Caregivers, Students and Friends of St Thomas More School Community,

Welcome everyone to 2025 and a new school year. We hope that you have all enjoyed a great holiday with some rest and relaxation. The children have had an exciting start to the year sharing stories from their holidays, catching up with friends and meeting new friends and teachers. Each morning greetings are exchanged along with so many happy, smiling faces, and students are keen to go into their classrooms for a day of learning. All teachers have been extremely busy over the last few weeks, preparing their classrooms for a new year, paying particular attention to providing a space that is inviting, welcoming and conducive to good quality learning. We look forward to working together this year starting with a very exciting and busy term 1.

Please take the time to read the newsletter in full as it contains important information for the 2025 school year.

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Meet our new staff members

We would like to warmly welcome our new staff members, as well as all our new students and their families to our school community. We trust that your experiences at St Thomas More School provide many opportunities for building connections with others and encourage your love of learning and a sense of wonder and curiosity.

A message from our Principal: Belinda Bennett

Hello families, I am Belinda Bennett, and I am excited to have come on board at St Thomas More School as Principal.

I am a mum of two adult sons, and recently added a beautiful daughter-in-law to the family. My husband Paul and I love to spend time with family and friends on the Murray River and I still enjoy kneeboarding (on flat water!). I love the beach as well and recently went snorkelling with turtles and swimming with seals. For the last 4 years I have been working in the Catholic Education South Australia office as a School Performance Leader, where I supported 14 schools in the Port Pirie Diocese. Prior to this I was Principal at Catherine McAuley School in Craigmore, and I am excited to re-join the Elizabeth Mercy School Cluster.

I love to read, do jig-saw puzzles, go for long walks, and enjoy going out for coffee. I also enjoy music and playing the guitar when I get the opportunity. And I especially love a chat!

I look forward to getting to know you all, developing positive relationships along the way.

Belinda Bennett
Principal, St Thomas More School

Our Principal is supported by a strong and dedicated leadership team

Head of School – Vicki Rubino
APRIM – Melissa Musolino
Leader of Learning Curriculum – Michael Clifford
Leader of Learning Wellbeing – Matt McGinty
Business Manager – Janelle Lieu

We’re also excited to welcome…

Megan Mawhinney – Year 2 teacher
Richard Symons – Auslan teacher

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2025 Class Structures and Staffing

Class Teachers

RBH – Brittney Hills
RMD – Marie D’occhio
1CC – Connie Carter
1MA – Michael Arthur
1/2JF – Jasmine Fischer
2MM – Megan Mawhinney
3RG – Rowan Grist
3/4KJ – Katelyn Jessop
3/4SH – Stav Haros
5/6MT – Malama Theodosi
5/6RT – Rosealyse Trimboli

Specialist Teachers

PE – Cristian Morgado
Arts/Choir – Rosemarie Villano
Auslan – Richard Symons

Co-educators

Lesley Swann
Sarah Woods
Linda Marsh
Tarah Edwards
Craig Drendel
Yana Kanelopoulos
Nikki Hemlin
Charli Poole
Brooke Jessop
Aston Smith
Julie Benham
Samia Rafi
Sarah Adeli

Administration / Non-teaching ESO

Finance Officer – John Matthew
School Counsellor – Tess Boyd
Enrolments, Marketing and Communications – Lisa Welford
Grounds/Maintenance – Andrew Scott
WHS – Michael Higgie
Canteen – Jane Wells
OSHC Director – Cheryl Bielby
Administration – Sara Hardy
Front Office – Alex Merritt

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Meet and Greet Bookings now open!

Meet & Greet sessions are an important, initial interaction between you, and your child’s new teacher. During this 15-minute session, you will have the chance to find out how your child is settling into school and ask any questions you may have.

Sessions will be running during Week 3, commencing Monday, 10 February. We encourage you to book your session in as soon as possible to ensure you can choose a time that is suited to your needs.

All bookings are made through our Schoolzine platform. You can make your bookings by clicking the link below, or using your Szapp App on your mobile device (hint: look for the light blue tile on the top, left-hand-side of your homescreen “Meet & Greet”.

Please arrive a few minutes early to ensure the scheduling is adhered to as best as possible. And, of course if you require assistance with your bookings you can contact our Front Office or your child’s teacher via Seesaw.

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Safety and Duty of Care Reminders

At St Thomas More School safety of our students and other members of our community is one of our highest priorities.

Our school is situated on a main road and in a suburban street, which can make the movement of traffic difficult during peak school drop off and pick up times. To ensure that the students are safe during this time teachers are on duty at the school’s front gate, ensuring the safe use of the school crossing on Yorktown Road and safe crossing and at the entry gate on Shillabeer Road. Families are asked to follow the road rules to ensure everyone’s safety.

Gates Opening and Closing Times and Duty of Care Reminder

Before School

• School gates are open between 8.30am and 9.00am.
• Children who arrive before 8.30am will be directed to Out School Hours Care and families will incur a fee for this service.

After School

• School gates will open at 2.50pm.
• To minimize the disruption to teachers’ instructional time, children’s learning time and to maintain our Duty of Care, parents/guardians are requested not to be on site before the gates are opened at 2.50pm.
• We also ask that you do not enter the school grounds through the Front Office.
• Staff will be on duty from 3.00pm to 3.20pm. Children not collected by 3.20pm will be directed to Out School Hours Care and families will incur a fee for this service.

Late Arrival and Early Pickup

Children arriving late to class can find it difficult to settle and organise themselves for the day’s events and picking children up early at the end of a school day can cause disruption to the teaching program in progress. We ask that all children arrive to settle in for the start of the school day at 8.45am and they are then dismissed at 3.00pm each day.

Please note:

• ​Any children arriving after 9.00am are to enter via the Front Office and take their Late Slip to their classroom teacher.
• If you wish to collect your child early from school, you will need to enter the front office and sign them out recording your pickup time and reason.

Family Holidays during School Terms

Students away from school for 3 days or more, during term time must have lodged an application for exemption from school attendance with the Principal. Forms are available from the Front Office.

It is expected that whenever your child is absent you will notify the school either by phone or on schoolzine at the start of the day. Any accompanying notes and / or medical certificate can be sent on the child’s return to school. If possible, this note / certificate should be in the child’s diary/communication book.

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Uniform Orders and Reminders

St Thomas More School uniform items are ordered via the Qkr! App. Please note that when making orders after 9am on any given school day, these items will likely not be ready for collection on the same day. However, if orders are made via the Qkr! App before 9am, they will be ready for collection on the same day. In many instances, our Front Office can arrange for these items to go home with you child.

If you require more information, please contact our Front Office, or visit our Uniform and Presentation page on our website to download the Qkr! App.

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Join us for our first assembly in 2025

We invite family and friends to join us for a special assembly tomorrow at 9am in Jubilee Hall. Come along for these special presentations:

• Year 6 Seniors presented with their Senior Top
• School Ambassadors announced
• House Team Captains annouced

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Student Information Checklist (action required)

On Monday next week your child will bring home the annual ‘Student Information Checklist’.

This checklist contains the information St Thomas More School currently has on file for you and your family. It is important that this information is correct and up to date. Please take the time to review the details on the Student Information Checklist, and ensure any corrections are noted on the checklist or accompanying form, that it is signed, and returned to the school by Friday, 7 February.

We appreciate your support.

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School Calendar and Key Events

Our school calendar can be accessed here. Please continue to refer to this calendar for all important dates including:

• Extra-Curricular Events and Carnivals
• Assembly’s and Masses
• Religious Feast Days
• Community Days and Events
• Pupil Free Days and Public Holidays
• Meet & Greet / Learning Conversations
• …and more!