Dear Families,

During this week we hit the half-way mark of the term. Given this, I asked our staff to take a mid-term reflection on what to stop, start and continue:

• Stop doing those things that might cause us frustration or may use time inefficiently.
• Start or take up those life-giving and professional elements which meet our passions, strengths and needs.
• Continue those elements which are working well for us.

I think these are very applicable to students too, and I know many classes are working with something similar as we hit this half-way point. We’ve had a such a great start and that has continued into an excellent and busy week, including:

• Ash Wednesday - the start of Lent, 40 days before Easter (not including Sundays). In a Literal Truth sense, these are the days that Jesus wandered the desert when he was at his weakest, where he was tempted many times to make a poor choice. The parallel for us is that when we are at our weakest- when we are tired, frustrated, alone and out of relationship - doing what we know is right is difficult. This is a great reflection point over the next seven weeks before Easter, when I'm sure there will be times where we are not at our greatest and a poor choice becomes an easy one. Conversely, there is strength in kindness, compassion, and doing good work - which we all do at TMC!
• Principal Tour - Tuesday saw our first ‘sold out’ Principal’s Tour, with some families looking for 2030!
• Sports Day - probably the largest and most significant community event at TMC; we do it well. What a great day to gather, connect, enjoy our school and compete.
• Building Opening & Blessing - today we have hosted a variety of guests for the official opening and blessing of the Faulkner building and Gabriel extensions, completed last year. It is a physical delivery of the learning entitlement of our students; it’s what our community deserves. More will come in our next newsletter.
• International Women's Day - this is one of the most significant events of this week. There has been recent media discussion about, in particular, women’s sport and having to continuously justify its promotion and celebration. Having this debate air out across media platforms is a stark reminder of why this day is so important to our young women and men. Having said that, the intent of the day is not supposed to be reactionary, and nor should it be in 2025. Rather than reaction, the intent is pro-action, exemplified by 2025 theme of #AccelerateNow. From the website:

"At the current rate of progress, it will take until 2158, which is roughly five generations from now, to reach full gender parity, according to data from the World Economic Forum." <https://www.internationalwomensday.com/Theme

This is important for our over 50% population of our school who are young women, and for our female staff; it is just as important for our male students and staff, for TMC, and for our community. This year Ms Cannon and Ms Taylor will accompany some of our female and male student leaders to be present at the IWD Breakfast, hosted by Penny Wong, in the city. At TMC, in 2025 we commemorate this with mass-awareness and action with our students through some key symbols, as well as fund and awareness raisers for Project Compassion.

What a week @ TMC!

Formal Launch of Theme
I am really pleased to formally launch our 2025 Theme for Thomas More College:

Transforming Perspectives, Expanding Futures.
Our staff deeply explored the broad notion of perspective and what it means for leaders, staff, and students. I love that our theme starts with an idea to frame our planning and thinking for the year and is then co-constructed with staff as we all grow to develop an understanding, appreciation, and application of where it can take us.

2025 finds Thomas More College in its most successful place over our 46-year history. Enrolments are at a record high, our recent Year 12 results are the highest on record, student wellbeing data is at its peak, and our diversity measures are at levels where they are celebrated and well resourced. One perspective on this is to commemorate, take stock and be satisfied.

But we are aiming for more at Thomas More College in 2025. Our perspective on this year involves looking forward, focusing on growth, and embracing continuous improvement. We stand on the shoulders of giants and aspire to achieve more.

In 2025, looking at challenges from different angles helps us to innovate and create positive change. This is the perspective through which we view our aspirations for our students and our community in 2025. Through transforming perspectives, our students, staff, and our school are best placed to expand our futures. One action leads to another, both through the power of the action verbs and also the causality and impact of different perspectives on students' futures.

As a Catholic School, we are also inspired by the power of perspective. It shapes how we see the world, how we understand our place in it, and how we relate to one another. As humans, our perspectives are limited by our experiences and our circumstances, as well as the biases we carry. God's perspective is vast, eternal, and all-encompassing. May we be open to seeing as God sees and may that shift in perspective lead us to a deeper understanding of God’s love amongst our Thomas More College Community.

Significant Staff Farewells
Over the next two weeks we have two significant farewells for staff members, for different reasons:

• Our Business Manager, Brian Trumble, will finish with us in two weeks to relocate back to Victoria. Brian's resignation comes with somewhat of a heavy heart given the strong connections he has made, and his long list of achievements, within his first two years here. He also loves TMC and our community. This decision takes him closer to family which is a priority. Brian has been an outstanding leader for our College. In a short time, he has connected extremely well with the different facets of our large school. He has led the building and master planning processes, including the recruitment of our new architects. Brian's leadership of business and finance have us continuing to be in an excellent place; his work is aligned beautifully with our Catholic and progressive ethos and every decision he makes, and project he leads, starts from this place. This is a direct result of having Brian as Business Manager over the last two years. Our recruitment process is well underway and as you may imagine there is very strong interest in the role. We will have an announcement soon.
• Lisa Kolesnikowicz has informed us that she will retire from teaching next week. Lisa already had long service leave planned for later this term, and will still take this leave, but will move into happy retirement after this. Lisa has been at Thomas More for 35 years (minus a few years' leave along the journey), starting with us in 1990. Lisa was also a foundation student at TMC, starting in Year 8 as the school started in 1979 and finishing in 1983. Lisa's family was educated at TMC and so she has a long history at the College. Amongst other roles, Lisa has taught primarily across PE and Italian and has led in both of those areas too. Lisa has made a significant contribution to our school, and to Catholic Education in SA; thank you Lisa!

Take care,

Corey Tavella
Principal

This week marked the beginning of the Easter season of Lent, a significant time in the Catholic calendar. On Monday, we prepared for Ash Wednesday with the tradition of burning of the palms. Ms Taylor and Ms Prince, with the help of their Year 8 RE class burned the palm leaves from last years Palm Sunday service, to create the Ash for the upcoming Mass and Liturgies.

Shrove Tuesday’s tradition of cooking pancakes had the Executive Team preparing pancakes to share with students and staff on the MacKillop lawns. It was a great opportunity to come together as a community to celebrate in our Catholic tradition with some delicious morning tea!

On the 24 February, we gathered for the first time at the Water World Aquatic Centre for the annual TMC Splash Carnival. The event was filled with energy and excitement, where students displayed great sportsmanship and spirit. This year, the coveted Spirit Cup was again awarded to the Travers House, who embodied teamwork, enthusiasm, and encouragement throughout the day. Spirit Medallions were presented to outstanding individuals from each house:

• Travers: Cosmin Radu
• Hosking:  Ashleigh Borlace 
• McLuskey:  Calan Bryne
• McDonald:  Emilio Obst

In an exciting finish, the McLuskey House emerged victorious, securing the overall win with 567 points, claiming the victory on the very last event.

The Year 10 Outdoor Education class completed a rock climbing excursion at Vertical Reality, an indoor climbing gym. The students were eager to challenge themselves and push their limits. Students began with an introduction to the basics of rock climbing and the important safety measures, including the crucial role of belaying.

Students took turns climbing and belaying, learning to trust and rely on each other. The belayers had to stay attentive and responsive, ensuring the safety of their climbing partner. Students were also able to have a go at bouldering. Each student faced their own unique challenges, whether it was overcoming a fear of heights or mastering a difficult route. Encouragement and support were great throughout the day which helped students improve their resilience. By the end of the excursion, the students had built stronger bonds with their peers. GO TMC OE!!

Uniform Shop Opening Hours
Mondays:  2:00pm - 4:00pm
Thursdays: 2:00pm - 4:00pm
Fridays: 8:00am - 10:00am

Year 10 Visual Art and Design students were lucky enough to attend the Art Gallery of South Australia to look at the artwork of Grace Cossington Smith in support their painting task ‘Interior Worlds’. They were tasked with sketching their version of her art and explored the Gallery to find their favourite version of Interior, to draw as well. Another key work for them to investigate was Chiharu Shiota large contemporary string installation, ‘Absence Embodied’. Where students sat under, walked in and through, took photos and had different viewpoints of this work in an attempt to develop an understanding how a contemporary artist can create an immersive interior environment. This excursion is a new addition to the Visual Arts calendar, and now that they’ve entered this creative realm, they are about to embark on a three-week journey of painting their own ‘Interior World’ on canvas.