Father's Day Prayer
Loving God,
We thank You for the fathers, grandfathers and special father figures in our lives.
Bless them with wisdom, strength and joy as they guide and care for their families. Help them to reflect Your love through their kindness, faith and generosity.
We remember with gratitude those who are no longer with us and pray for families for whom this day may be difficult.
May St Joseph inspire all fathers to lead with humility and love.
Amen
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Important Dates
Please remember dates of events can be subject to change
TERM THREE
- Thur 27 Aug – Advisory Council 7pm
- Thur 27 Aug – CPAF – Choral Performance
- Thur 27 Aug – TOMs Practice (3-4pm)
- Mon. 31 Aug – Stalls Father’s Day gifts 8-8.45am
- Tues. 1 Sept. – Stalls Father’s Day gifts 8-8.45am
- Tues. 1 Sept – Principals Forum hosted by St Thomas’ – 9-11.30am
- Wed. 2 Sept – Father’s Day Breakfast 7.15am in undercover
- Wed. 2 Sept – Liturgy Father’s Day – 8.45am in Church.
- Thurs. 3 Sept – TOMs Practice – 3-4pm
- Sat. 5 Sept.- Tournament of the Minds (TOMs) – Edith Cowan University
- Sun. 6 Sept. – Father’s Day
From the Principal
Book Week 2026
This week, St Thomas’ is celebrating the joy of reading, imagination and storytelling through Book Week. Students have enjoyed exploring this year’s theme and sharing their love of books through a range of engaging classroom activities. A highlight of the week was our Book Week Dress-Up Parade, where students proudly showcased their creative costumes inspired by favourite book characters. Thank you to our families for supporting this wonderful event and helping bring so many stories to life.
Students and families also had the opportunity to visit our Book Fair in the Library. The Book Fair is always a popular event, providing students with the chance to discover new books and foster a lifelong love of reading. We thank Mrs Sue Vincent, for making this event such a success.
Principal Forum
On Tuesday 2 September, St Thomas’ will host a Primary Principal Forum, welcoming principals from local Catholic schools as well as CEWA advisors and consultants. We are proud to showcase our wonderful school and share the great learning, strong relationships and welcoming community that make St Thomas’ such a special place. I know our visitors will be impressed by our students, staff and the positive spirit that is evident throughout our school.
Father’s Day Celebrations
Next week, on Wednesday 2 September, we look forward to celebrating the fathers, grandfathers and special father figures in the lives of our students.
We warmly invite families to join us for our Father’s Day Breakfast from 7.15am in the undercover area and surrounding grounds. This is a wonderful opportunity to come together as a community and celebrate the important role fathers and father figures play in nurturing, guiding and supporting our children. Following the breakfast, families are welcome to join us for our Father’s Day Liturgy at 8.45am in the Church, where we will give thanks for the many ways fathers and father figures enrich our lives and school community. This prayer service will be led by the pre-primary students.
Students will also can purchase a special gift for their dad, grandfather or another significant person in their life at the Father’s Day Stalls, which will be open in the undercover area on Monday and Tuesday morning from 8am- 8.40am.
We look forward to celebrating this special occasion with our St Thomas’ families and thank our P&F volunteers for their support in making these events possible.
Wishing all the fathers and special father figures in our St Thomas’ community a very Happy Father’s Day on Sunday 6 September.
Natalia Thomson
Principal
From the Assistant Principal
SCHOOL – EXCELLENCE BEYOND OURSELVES
This term, our students are exploring Excellence for Others. We often associate excellence with personal achievement, producing our best work, reaching a goal, or developing our talents. At St Thomas’, we want our students to understand that excellence has another important dimension. Our gifts become even more powerful when we use them for others in our community.
Across the school, we promote to students what it means to see the best in others, bring out the best in others and give their best to others. As Jesus did. For our youngest students, this might mean including someone in a game, listening carefully, or helping a friend. For older students, it may mean encouraging a peer, contributing fully to a team, showing leadership or standing beside someone who needs support. Our challenge this term is don’t just be your best, help someone else be their best too.
PHOTOS
Thank you again to parents for supporting our School photos. For those parents who have ordered photos, we expect delivery just before the end of the term, and will be distributed as soon as we receive them.
ICAS
All ICAS tests have now been completed. Thank you to parents for supporting these tests. Results are being released online over the next few weeks. When all results are available and we receive certificates, we will celebrate student results at a Gathering to be advised in the near future.
CO-CURRICULAR CLUBS
Please see our Term Three offerings by clicking here.
Heath Nankivell
Assistant Principal
P&F - Father's Day information
The Father’s Day Stalls will be held before school across two days, Monday 31 August and Tuesday 1 September from 8.00 – 8.30 am. We require volunteers for both mornings to assist the P&F team with this event as well as set up times.
This year to celebrate our Fathers and Caregivers, we will host a Father’s Day Breakfast that will be held on Wednesday 2 September at 7.15 – 8.30 am and children are welcome to attend this special event. The liturgy will start at 8.45 am after the breakfast celebration.
We greatly appreciate all the volunteers that sign up to assist these events across the 3 days.
Thank you in advance.
St Thomas’ P&F Group
Advisory Council News
There was another well attended Advisory Council Meeting on the 25th of June.
An early order of business was to fill the position of Secretary which was empty as a result of changes within the Council. Matthew Kinder has very kindly offered to fill the role and we are very grateful to him for stepping up and taking on this important position within the Council.
Council discussion included an update on Grounds and Maintenance and how we might progress improving the early years area to give our current students a great outdoor play-space as well as offering an attractive option for prospective families. There is some complexity around design and budget so it will be managed through the year. However, you may have noticed the new gate which is not only much more secure but also looks a lot tidier than the previous gate.
Natalia advised the council that a new Grounds person had been recruited to help keep the grounds in order. This task had previously been performed by members of the teaching staff, and we thank them again for going above and beyond to make the school a welcoming and attractive place for our children.
Still on the subject of the Grounds, many of you will notice the new fan in the covered area, something that I am sure the children will appreciate in the warmer months. Our thanks go to PK and John Spears for arranging this. John worked incredibly hard to get the best deal for both the fan and its installation, wading through a lot of red tape in the process.
Since the last meeting, members of the Advisory Council were invited to meet with members of the Quality Catholic School Education Review panel (QCSER). At this meeting, members of the panel led a discussion on Catholic Identity, CEWA support and maintenance of school grounds as well as the challenges facing smaller schools in the face of competition from larger schools. It gave the Council members an opportunity to raise questions and comments with the Panel and help to provide a view from the school as to where they can help St Thomas continue to be a wonderful place of learning and community for our families.
Our Term 3 meeting will be on 27th August.
Paul Whitehouse
Advisory Council Chair
Sacred Choral Performance Catholic Performing Arts Festival
Congratulations to our Choir students who performed in the Sacred Choral category at the Catholic Performing Arts Festival.
Awards
Merit Awards
Values Award
Year 6 Raffle
Volunteers for 2027
As we look ahead to 2027, we are seeking parents who would like to become involved in supporting our wonderful school community through the P&F.
As we look ahead to 2027, we are seeking parents who would like to become involved in supporting our wonderful school community through the P&F.
Poet and Publisher, Rebecca Newman visits St Thomas’
On Tuesday the 25th of August, Rebecca Mary Newman came into the Year 5 classroom to share her love of poetry and to run a writing workshop. She is a published poet, and many of her poems have appeared in anthologies. As a class, we were making a book of six different types of poems. Mrs Gibbs our teacher, enjoyed reading the poems we wrote and submitted some to the Alphabet Soup website. We were very fortunate to receive not only an email response from Mrs Newman, but also a visit to our school.
It was interesting to listen to Mrs Newman’s journey as a published poet and how it takes hard work to get your name on the front of a book. She also encouraged us to enter writing competitions and to contact children’s magazines if you want your poems published. She explained how there are many competitions in our area and if you win, you could get your poem published! We liked the sound of that! Mrs Newman also talked about how she published her own anthologies with the help of Fremantle Press and received a grant to publish a book. Books and anthologies that she has published include, ‘If I Could Eat the Stars and Other Poems’ and ‘Right Way Down and Other Poems.
Mrs Newman shared her experiences, thoughts and concepts about creative writing, including why we should not use AI when creating our own poetry. She explained how AI can use other people’s poems and writing as information on how to copy a writer’s style. It was sad to learn that writers don’t get asked for permission to allow AI to use their writing for information and training material.
Overall, Rebecca taught us a lot about creative writing and how to participate in the creative world of writing. Year 5 would recommend checking out her poems and the Alphabet Soup website to submit or read any poems.
When Rebecca Newman visited our class, she taught us how to write a ‘Fibonacci’ poem. It was a fun and creative time as we worked together and shared ideas. We would like to share with you some of those poems we wrote.
Ellie, Elizabeth and Rocco
Year 5 Students
Introducing the Parent and Carer Code of Conduct
We are committed to building a school community where every child can flourish. The new Parent and Carer Code of Conduct articulates our shared expectations for respectful engagement, safety and support. By working together in partnership, families and staff help create a welcoming environment where all students are valued and empowered to succeed. Please view Parent and Carer Code of Conduct HERE.
Special Group Photos Ordering
2026 Special Group Photos captured on school photo day are now available for purchase!
Special Group Photos are Available for purchase at $25.00 per image until Sunday the 23rd of August 2026
Access the Gallery to Order Online:
📸 Scan the QR Code to access the Gallery.
Orders placed after the cut-off date will incur a $15.00 late order fee.
Please note: The late order fee covers the cost of additional templates and printing that are required to be set up at intervals during the production of bulk school jobs. It also covers the additional delivery/postage and administration fees.
2027 Pre-Kindy & Kindy Enrolments Now Open
Enrolments are now open for Pre-Kindy and Kindergarten 2027 at St Thomas’ Primary School.
If you have a child who may be eligible, we encourage you to let us know as soon as possible:
· Pre-Kindy 2027: Children turning 3 years of age in 2027
· Kindergarten 2027: Children turning 4 years of age on or before 30 June 2027
As places can be limited, enrolment applications are considered in the following order of priority:
1. Catholic students from the Claremont Parish with a Parish Priest reference
2. Catholic students from outside the Parish with a Parish Priest reference
3. Other Catholic students
4. Siblings of non-Catholic students
5. Non-Catholic students from other Christian denominations
6. Other non-Catholic students
Families applying for enrolment are asked to support and abide by the policies and practices of Catholic Education Western Australia (CEWA).
If your family has a younger child who is eligible, or if you know of other families who may be interested, please encourage them to visit our website to book a tour and access enrolment information: https://stthomas.wa.edu.au/our-school/enrolment/
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the school office.
Djilba Native Wattle Observational Paintings
Djilba Native Wattle Observational Paintings
To celebrate the start of Djilba the Kindy children used water colour paints to create observational paintings of native wattle flowers.
Merit Awards
Premiers Reading Challenge
Values Award
Fundraiser for Life Link – Crazy Hair Day
Mini Vinnies Second Hand Book & Toy Stall
A huge thank you to our St Thomas’ community for supporting the Mini Vinnies second-hand book and toy fundraiser! With every gold coin donation, our students helped raise funds for Wheelchairs for Kids, making a meaningful difference in the lives of children in need. Thank you for your generosity and support.
Merit Awards
Premiers Reading Challenge
Values Award
Fundraiser for Life Link – Crazy Hair Day
St Thomas Students Carry Nano's Light at the NEAA National Conference
St Thomas’ Students Carry Nano Nagle’s Light at the NEAA (Nagle Education Alliance of Australia) Student Conference 2026
Four students from St Thomas’ Primary School were honoured to join students from Presentation Primary and Secondary schools across Australia as carriers of the light. The special conference provided opportunities for students to participate in interactive experiences, collaborative think tanks, and meaningful discussions centred on the legacy of Nano Nagle.
Throughout the conference, students shared ideas about how they can continue Nano Nagle’s mission in their own school communities by living out her values of compassion, justice, hospitality and simplicity. They explored ways to make a positive difference within their schools and beyond, inspiring one another to be leaders of hope and kindness.
Representing St Thomas’, the students embraced the opportunity to learn from their peers, build new connections, and reflect on how they can continue Nano Nagle’s good work in their everyday lives.
A sincere thank you to Dr Gemma Thomson and the team at Iona Presentation College for so warmly hosting the conference. We are deeply grateful for the opportunity given to our students to learn, collaborate and be inspired alongside other young people from Presentation schools across Australia. The experience was both meaningful and memorable, and we appreciate the care, hospitality and dedication that made this special event possible.
Tiny Toms
· Free
· 0-3 children & parents/grandparents
· Every Wednesday 9 -10.30am
· Pre-kindy room at St Thomas’
· Entry through Melville Street entrance
· All welcome.
Pre-kindy Self Portraits with Recycled Materials
Student Assistant Payments
The West Australian Government have once again initiated the West Australian Student Assistant Payment (WASAP) for families with school-aged children.
The program commenced on Monday 20 July and will run until Friday 25 September 2026.
All eligible parents and caregivers can claim: • $150 for every child enrolled in kindergarten and primary school. • $250 for every child enrolled in secondary school.
It is expected that most families will submit their claim through the ServiceWA App, however paper-based forms will also be accessible from the Department of Education. Parents/ Caregivers may contact the ServiceWA Customer Care 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for any assistance on 13 33 WA (13 33 92) or email support@digital.wa.gov.au during business hours.
If you require assistance with your child’s identity verification or locating your child’s West Australian Student Number (WASN) please contact our school office on 9286 9500 or email admin@stthomas.edu.au.
Council for Catholic Women
Understanding the Real Paul – Friday 4 September 6-8pm OR Saturday 5 September 9am-3pm
The Council for Catholic Women Perth invites you to hear renowned scripture scholar Dr Michele Connolly rsj discuss the life and influence of the real St Paul through his seven authentic letters and his radical vision of God in Christ. Attend a lecture on Friday 4 September 6-8pm or a workshop on Saturday 5 September 9am-3pm, both at James Nestor Hall Catholic Education Office 50 Ruislip St West Leederville. Cost: Donation. Light refreshments provided. RSVP by Wednesday 2 September to kerrymacfarlane2@gmail.com or text 0400 886 835.
Save the Date -
2026 St Thomas' Arts Show
VacSwim Bookings Open
Edu-sing
2026 Term Dates
TERM DATES:
TERM 2 – Tuesday 21 Apr – Friday 3 Jul (11 week term)
TERM 3 – Tuesday 21 Jul – Thursday 24 Sep (10 week term)
TERM 4 – Monday 12 Oct – Friday 11 Dec (9 week term)
PUPIL FREE DAYS:
Friday 29 May
Monday 20 Jul
Monday 24 Aug
Friday 25 Sep
PUBLIC HOLIDAYS:
Monday 1 Jun (WA Day)
Monday 28 Sep (King’s Birthday)- in school holidays
