Dear Parents and Carers,

There are times when only a mother's love can understand our tears,
Can soothe our disappoints and calm all of our fears.
There are times when only a mother's love can share the joy we feel
When something we've dreamed about quite suddenly is real.
There are times when only a mother's faith can help us on life's way
And inspire in us the confidence we need from day to day.
For a mother's heart and a mother's faith and a mother's steadfast love
Were fashioned by the angels and sent from God above.

I would like to wish all our mums a wonderful Mother's Day on Sunday. I hope you get suitably spoiled!

Apologies for the delay with the distribution of this week's Newsletter due to yesterday's power outage. We may continue to see some disruption to the use of the Parish carpark over the new few days so please keep monitoring Compass for any updates, especially to drop-off and pick-up routines.

The second document outlines the election priorities from the National Catholic Education Commission.

Wishing you a happy and safe week,

Paul Moroney

Principal

WRITE ON COMPETITION

WriteOn 2022 is now open and closes at 4:00 pm on Friday, 17 June 2022.

WriteOn is an annual writing competition open to all NSW primary students in Years 1 to 6. Students compose an imaginative text of up to 500 words, using an image as the stimulus. The 2022 WriteOn stimulus can be found here.

This competition provides students with the opportunity to become published authors and showcase their incredible creativity. 

Ms Afchal has been promoting this writing competition. We hope there will be many entries from our students.

NAPLAN

The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) assessments happen every year. Next week our students in Years 3 & 5 will be tested on their fundamental literacy and numeracy skills. NAPLAN is an assessment implemented nationally to provide important data for schools to support students' learning.

The best way parents can help children prepare for NAPLAN is to reassure them that NAPLAN is just one part of the school program. We all encourage the children to simply do the best they can on the day.

We keep our Year 3 & 5 students in our prayers and thoughts next week.

KINDERGARTEN ENROLMENT INTERVIEWS

We are currently conducting enrolment interviews for Kindergarten 2023. It has been wonderful to meet the children and their families who are wishing to continue being part of or joining our school community. 

As part of the interview process, our Year 6 students have demonstrated wonderful skills in taking the children and their parents for a tour around the school. A special thank you to our Year 6 students for the great maturity and leadership they have demonstrated.

If you know of any families who are interested in enrolling their child at our wonderful school please invite them to visit the office for further information.

Happy Birthday to the following students and staff who are celebrating their

birthday this week , 1st May - 7th May

St John’s Athletics Carnival Program - Campbelltown Athletics Centre - May 11, 2022

Primary Order of Events (approximate times only - may be subject to change)

Primary Order of Events (approximate times only - may be subject to change)

Infants Order of Events (approximate times only - may be subject to change)

2:00 100m FINALS (Ages 8-12) and Cheering Competition

2:20 SIGN OUT (classes are called from the grandstands to meet their teacher on the field for dismissal where they will need to be signed out by their parent/carer) and remaining students are on BUSES BACK TO SCHOOL.

PREMIER’S READING CHALLENGE 2022

This year, St John’s will be participating in the Premier’s Reading Challenge. This is not a competition, but a challenge to each student to read, to read more, and to read more widely. At St John’s, we promote the importance of reading, and by participating in the Premier’s Reading Challenge, students will continue to develop their love of reading. The school library has a big selection of Premier’s Reading Challenge books on display, with the PRC ID on the book cover for students to add to their online Student Reading Record.

Kindergarten, Year 1 and Year 2 teachers will read 30 books to their class during class time, and these books will be logged as a class. 

Year 3 to Year 6 students will read 20 books from the PRC Booklist; however, 5 of these books can be Personal Choice books. Students will be required to complete their online Student Reading Record at home, using their user ID and password, by 20th August 2022. All Year 3 to Year 6 students will receive their user ID and password unless the school has been contacted and the student will not be participating.

At the completion of the Premier’s Reading Challenge, all Year 3 to Year 6 students who have successfully read and logged their books, and all Kindergarten to Year 2 students who have participated, will receive a certificate. Certificates have the student's name and school printed on them. Due to child protection issues, names are no longer published on an Honour Roll on the Premier's Reading Challenge website. For further information, go to the Premier’s Reading Challenge website at https://online.det.nsw.edu.au/prc/home.html

We hope that as many students as possible will participate. If you do not wish for your child to participate in the Premier’s Reading Challenge, please contact the school on (02) 46251171 or email info@sjctdow.catholic.edu.au by Friday 13th May 2022. 

Thank you for your support and encouragement of reading.

Mrs Alicia Sinfield 

PRC Coordinator