Dear Parents and Carers,

Holy Father, God of Love, teach us to respect all cultures. Help us to bring about spiritual and social change. Open up our hearts so that we may hear the message you teach of a world in which the wrongs of the past are recognised - a world in which a reconciled people walk and talk together sharing stories; a world in which all burn with the desire to have your peace and justice reign. Amen.

Recently our nation acknowledged NAIDOC Week under the theme of 'For our Elders' which was an opportunity for all Australians to learn about First Nations cultures and histories and participate in celebrations of the oldest, continuous living cultures on earth. Being part of a Catholic school, it is incumbent on all of us in the St John's community to ensure we are living in true reconciliation just as Jesus taught us, to sit and listen to the story of all peoples, to honour the dignity of all and to not let anyone feel unsupported or marginalised.

As has been mentioned we will be celebrating 'For our Elders'/Grandparents Day next Tuesday 25 July from 10.00am. This is always a special event for our school. Visitors are reminded to bring a chair for the Mass being held under the COLA. Children can be taken home by their grandparent/special visitor once the Open Classrooms have concluded (approximately 12.45pm).

We are seeking assistance in providing something for the morning tea (this can be left at the Office). If you are able to help with setting up and serving the morning tea, please let the office know. Thank you.

P & F Trivia Night

We look forward to the Trivia Night being held this Saturday 22 July. There are still places available so please consider coming along to what promises to be a great night. On our school's Facebook page you can also bid for a 'class artwork' that will be part of a Silent Auction on the night - don't miss out on your chance for a piece of great creativity done by the children.

The P & F are providing funds to go toward a playground for the children which is being installed during August. The Trivia Night is their major fundraiser so your support of this event would be greatly appreciated.

End of Term 3

To assist with your own family organisation, please note that the last day of Term 3 for all students will be Thursday 21 September.

Paul Moroney

Principal

Happy Birthday to the following students and staff who are celebrating their birthday this week and over the holidays  2nd - 22nd July

WELCOME BACK TO TERM 3

We all hope the children and their families had a wonderful winter break. It certainly was well deserved after a busy Semester One. 

We look forward to the students engaging in new learning and experiences this term. There are some special events taking place this term for the whole school community. This begins next week when we celebrate Grandparents Day and open classrooms.

TERM 3 CLASS CAPTAINS

It is wonderful to be recognised for leadership qualities. We have had many students from years 1 - 6 recognised for such qualities by their peers and teachers. We will congratulate these children who have been selected as Class Captains for this term and look forward to providing opportunities in which they can demonstrate their leadership skills.

These students will be provided with their badge at Monday mornings assembly- 31 July 2023. We will inform parents via Compass by the Friday before, who our Term 3 Class Captains are, so you might be available to grab a photo and see your child receive their badge.

We are confident that our student leaders will be great examples for others and demonstrate our Good Samaritan values. 

NATIONAL SCIENCE WEEK AT ST JOHN’S

National Science Week is celebrated between 12-20 August this year. The theme in 2023 is ‘Innovation: Powering Future Industries.’ 

We will be celebrating National Science Week during Week 4 (8-11 August) of this term.

During these days, classes will visit the school hall to be involved in a range of engaging, hands-on science experiments, activities and demonstrations. The aim is to develop a sense of curiosity about the world of Science & Technology. These activities will involve and develop problem solving and prediction skills. 

Our Year 6 students will work with younger children in the activities. There will also be a special day for parents, carers and friends to attend on Friday, 11 August. Please refer to the flyer below. 

FEAST OF ST ANNE & ST JOACHIM

Next Wednesday, 26 July, we celebrate the feast day for St Anne and St Joachim, the parents of Mary and grandparents of Jesus. Mary had good, faithful parents who raised her with a love and devotion to God like none other except Jesus Christ Himself.

Joachim and Anne serve as role models for parents and both deserve to be honored and emulated for their devotion to God and Our Lady Mary, the Mother of God.

On this day we give thanks for all the grandparents and grandfriends, particularly in our school and parish community.

St. Anne & St. Joachim ……… pray for us.

Dearest Saints Joachim and Anne,

Pray that our families may grow in holiness and that our homes may become grace filled sanctuaries of love.

By your powerful intercession, protect and guide all grandparents that they may be great examples of faith.

In these current times of pandemic, Lord, please protect our Church, take care of our families, our parishioners and those who are sick.

Lord, we commend to you all those who are dear to us, especially at this time our parents and grandparents.

Amen.

Welcome back to Term 3. This week the Student Environment Club met up to plan our focuses for Term 3. As a Club the students agreed upon to focus on:

• To continue encouraging the St John’s community to participate in Waste Free Wednesday
• Create repurposed bags from old t-shirts.

During Term 1 the Year 6 WEN leaders attended the Primary WEN Connect Day where they participated in an activity to create a ‘No Sew Bag’ out of an old t-shirt. 

The Environment Club is asking for a donation/s of an old clean t-shirt without any writing on it so that they can repurpose those t-shirts into bags in preparation for an upcoming school event. This is inspired from the over saturation of ‘Fast Fashion’ in today’s society. It is also a part of the following steps to reduce waste in the following order:

• Refuse
• Reduce
• Reuse
• Repurpose
• Recycle

Please note how ‘Recycling’ should be our last step when we are looking to reduce waste.

Year 6 students making the ‘No Sew Bags’

T-shirt donations can be brought into school to your child’s class. Thank you for your support.

Stephen Zamroz

Year 5 Teacher and WEN contact teacher

Parents of Year 2 children are strongly encouraged to attend a presentation which will explain our school-managed iPad program for students in Year 3-6. This presentation will be held on Tuesday 1 August 2.00-3.00pm in the Tiered Learning Space. There will also be the option of attending the meeting via Zoom. A recording of the meeting will also be made available for those unable to attend.