Dear Parents and Carers,

A Prayer for Peace in Israel and Gaza

God, we pray for your peace and reconciliation to overcome conflict.

We ask that you give wisdom and discernment to our global leaders and those in positions of power who have the ability to impact the course of peace.

Help us to be bold advocates and agents of peace in our own communities.

We lift our prayer to you. Amen.

World Teachers' Day

This Friday 27 October is designated as World Teachers' Day. This is a wonderful opportunity to acknowledge our wonderful teachers who give so generously of themselves to support the faith, learning and wellbeing of the children each day. I am in awe of our teachers at St John's who work with such dedication and commitment. Over recent years I have witnessed the workload of teachers increase with extra compliance and accountabilities, just as has happened in many industries. However, our teachers always ensure the children come first in everything they do. As a committed member of our Catholic community, they very much show that they are the 'face of Christ.'

Your children are very welcome to show their appreciation of their teacher in some way this Friday.

Transition to School Playgroup

We are now in the second week of our Transition to School Playgroup which is aimed at supporting the new Kindergarten students of 2024 in making new friends and in becoming more familiar with 'big school.' It is also a great opportunity for parents to meet other parents. Long term friendships can be made at such gatherings.

If your child is commencing Kindergarten with us next year and you have not been able to attend one of the playgroup sessions up to now, you are strongly encouraged to attend over the following two weeks. Just contact our office for details of dates and times.

Wishing you a great week,

Paul Moroney

Principal

TERM 4 CLASS CAPTAINS

Congratulations to our Term 4 Class Captains who received their badges and were acknowledged at our morning assembly on Monday, 23 October. We thank our Class Captains in anticipation of their leadership for the remainder of this year. There names are listed below:

Class Captains for Term 4 2023

FIRST RECONCILIATION

Many of our Year 2 students will be preparing to make their First Reconciliation on Wednesday, 29 November. The children will commence the sacramental program next week on a Monday or Tuesday.

Thank you in anticipation to many of our staff members and the Parish Sacramental Team for their hard work in preparing the children at the workshops, alongside their parents and carers.

Please keep these children and their families in your thoughts and prayers.

YEAR 5 CAMP

The Year 5 overnight excursion to Wedderburn Christian Campsite has been organised for this week on Thursday 26 October-Friday 27th October 2023.

The excursion will allow the children to participate in a range of activities such as rockwall climbing, archery, water skirmish, a giant swing, mini olympics, campfire and nightwalk. All activities will be supervised and led by qualified instructors. These activities require students to challenge themselves and work together. It will also help to develop leadership skills, such as teamwork, while encouraging self-worth and analytical thinking. 

We thank our teachers and SSO’s in anticipation of their dedication and time away from their families to support the Year 5 students with this overnight excursion.

The process of class formation for 2024 has now commenced. This process involves the current class teachers preparing draft lists for next year's classes. This process takes into consideration the academic, social, emotional and physical needs of each individual student. Decisions are made to establish balanced, equitable class groups with the potential to work well together. As the teachers know the students within the school environment exceptionally well, the best interests of each individual student is always considered during the discernment process.

Parents are invited annually to contribute to the process of class formation. Even if you have made similar reuqests in the past, we ask that you submit them again. All requests need to be made by Friday 10th November 2024.

It is important to note that whilst parent requests are considered, there is never a guarantee that these requests will be granted. If parents make a request, particularly about their child being placed within a certain friendship group, please be aware that there may be circumstances surrounding such requests that may prevent it from being granted.

Requests are to be made using this link.

Any families who know that they will be leaving St John's at the end of the year (except for year 6) can you please notify the school as soon as possible. We do have an exit form that will need to be filled in

Thank you in advance 

Happy Birthday to the following students and staff who are celebrating their birthday this week 22nd October - 28th October

The P&F will hold their next meeting on Wednesday 15 November at 9am.  All parents are invited to attend.

To boost education opportunities and narrow the digital divide, the Australian Government, Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts, is working with NBN Co to provide up to 30,000 families with no internet at home free NBN for 12 months. 

The process for families to apply for the initiative is as follows:

• Contact the National Referral Centre on 1800 954 610 (10 am - 6 pm AEDT Monday to Friday)
• The National Referral will determine the family's eligibility
• Once eligibility has been determined they will issue the family with a voucher for 12 months of free NBN Internet to be used with a carrier of choice
• More information can be found at https://www.anglicarevic.org.au/student-internet/

To be eligible, a family must:

• Have a child living at home enrolled in an Australian school
• Have no active broadband service over the NBN network
• Live in a premise where they can access a standard NBN service
• Not have had an active NBN service during the previous 14 days.