Thomas has had a couple of very good years, handling his school work for Years 3 and 4 with great ease and skill.  This year in particular, he has impressed willingness to learn and his school report, as usual, was excellent.  His teacher is very pleased with him and often comments on what a lovely person he is to have in class.  He still says he hates homework but is now responsible enough to mostly do it unprompted. 

He did an interesting family history project, which involved interviewing Great Auntie Rita about her childhood and school years. Sister Rita had her 80th birthday this year, so her childhood experiences were very different from Tom’s.

Tom showed unexpected talent in the school’s 2004 dance concert. He displayed enough rhythm and proficiency for the teacher to place him in the front row, and still entertains us with performances down the hallway.

Here he is with our friends Anna and Juliet, getting ready for the concert.  Ceridwen couldn't get home early that night so James, realising that makeup was totally out of his area of expertise, sought the assistance of Anna and Juliet's mother, Clare, to get Tom suitably 'buffed up'!  Tom's attitude to it all can be readily ascertained from the photo above..

At home, the activity Thomas enjoys most is playing on the computer.  He has some favourite games, including Age of Mythology, Warcraft, Starcraft, the various Panzer Generals, European Air War and Star Wars.

Inspired by his games he then constructs many things, such as this Trojan horse made from his blocks.

He still is very interested in all things military and often constructs huge battles that cover most of the house!

The aftermath of a World War 2 battle involving figures, buildings and fortifications constructed from wooden construction toys.  This is after the tanks have rolled through!

He doesn't confine himself to the modern era, this Medival/Roman battle raged for weeks!

In 2004 he took to reading in a big way, reading and almost reread all five Harry Potter books (which only took 4 weeks!), and also enjoyed “Lion Boy” and the Tashi books.  At the moment he has just finished the "Children of the Lamp" series and recently read the series of teenage spy novels featuring Alex Rider.

While not at all keen on soccer, (which is a shame since he is quite good at it and probably better than Dad ;-) he has improved his skills massively through the last two seasons and has become a very effective member of the backline, where he has specialised in the right wing position.  He is a far more intelligent player than the majority of his age group and can always be relied upon to be in the right place at the right time, anticipating how the play will develop and making use of his very strong, accurate kicking to clear the ball away from the goal area.

Tom played for the Epping YMCA in 2004, but transferred to the Beecroft club in 2005.

He attended Cubs for most of 2004.

Tom's family of cats and other animals continue to expand.

Here are a couple of them attempting to hijack the car.
Tom and his catz are a bolshie lot and have recently come up with the following manifesto...

And lastly, a traditional Goodbye from Tom!