Happy Birthday to the following students and staff who are celebrating their birthday this week  29th October - 4th November

Dear Parents and Carers,

A Prayer for All Saints and All Souls Day

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord.
And let perpetual light shine upon them.
May they rest in peace.

Measuring the impact of such a relational aspect of being in a school community can be challenging, however we did conduct a survey with the children in Term 2 and again last week. One of the questions asked "Do other children at school speak to you in a friendly way?"

The responses from Term 2 are:

The responses from Term 4 are:

It has been pleasing to see an increase in the percentage of students selecting 'All of the time' or 'Most of the time.'

Another question was "Do you feel cared for by other children in our school?"

The results from Term 2 are:

Term 4 results are:

Once again, there is a pleasing increase in the percentage of children choosing 'Yes.'

While these results may indicate our focus on respectful relationships has had a positive impact, we know we need to continue supporting the children with developing meaningful and respectful connections with others.

Wishing you a great week,

Paul Moroney

Principal

ALL SAINTS DAY

In the calendar of the Catholic Church, every day has a saint’s Feast Day, often more than one. All Saints Day commemorates all the saints, as a sort of catch-up for any failures to properly worship any saint on his or her given day. Year 5 recognised this significant feast at a whole school liturgy held yesterday at the morning assembly on Tuesday, 1 November. We thank the Year 5 teachers and students for leading us in prayer to commemorate this special feast day.

On All Souls Day we keep alive the memories of all those people who have passed away. We celebrate this special feast tomorrow, 2 November.

YEAR 5 EXCURSION

Last week, Year 5 attended their overnight excursion to Wedderburn Christian Campsite on Thursday 26 October-Friday 27th October 2023.

The children had a wonderful experience, participating in a range of activities such as rockwall climbing, archery, water skirmish, a giant swing, mini olympics, campfire and nightwalk. These activities required students to challenge themselves and work together. Please read the children’s recount of the excursion below.

Thanks to Miss Clarke, Mrs Noy, Mrs Skinner, Mrs Small, Mrs Spence, Mr Williams and Mr Zamroz  for their dedication and time away from their families to support the Year 5 students with this overnight excursion. Thanks also to the parents and carers for transporting their children to and from Wedderburn.

?Year 5 Camp?

Year five camp was very extraordinary for us and was the first camp experience for some of us which we’ve learnt so much from. We’ve done so many fun and educational activities that we’ve reflected on that have taught us about the values of leadership. Year 5 camp was an amazing experience as children in grade 5 got to challenge themselves and push themselves out of their comfort zone to reach their goals like the giant swing, which at first we were very scared of but when we had the courage and bravery to get on that wild activity, we couldn’t get off it but some of us who only went half way wanted to go back on and do the full height. Like rock climbing, it challenged us to touch the red rock at the top and to do the harder wall plus all the other activities were so much fun and everyone loved them. Year 5 had a wonderful experience doing all the activities and having one foot in year 5 and one foot in year 6 with their responsibilities kind of like rock climbing,you have one foot closer to victory and a foot lower but are still supporting the other foot to go higher. This event was a significant event that no one wanted to miss out on, it was a once in a lifetime experience that us grade 5 students have learnt so much from. We really appreciate the school for organising this camp and we can’t wait for year 6 camp next year!!

Thank you so much!

By Clare.D and Kristie.N - 5 Blue 

I really enjoyed camp because I got to spend time with my friends doing fun activities such as rock climbing, archery, swimming and going on night walks. Personally, my favourite activity was the giant swing because you get to swing over a mountain, which had a thrilling and glamorous view. We spent the night by having a campfire, toasting and eating marshmallows and seeing plenty of kangaroos and rabbits. It was two spectacular days.

By Harry - 5 Blue 

On Thursday and Friday last week, year 5 went to Wedderburn Camp Facility. I thoroughly enjoyed my first school camp and mostly because the camp leaders told us that we were in charge of setting the limits and creating personal challenges. During activities we were encouraged to go one more step or even two and if we were feeling unsure we felt we could stop. My favourite activity was h20 skirmish because I liked getting hit by a sponge and I liked trying to win and the camp leader we had was really nice and she wouldn’t take any cheating. I enjoyed the variety of activities, lunch and dinner, but the real highlight for me was getting to eat jelly and ice-cream. 

By Patrick - 5 Blue 

5R Camp newspaper

By: Lucy, Jasper and Kaitlyn 

This year yr 5 went on a camp excursion to wedderburn Christian campsite there were many activities.

At the end of the day year 5 most likely loved the food more than anything, they had roast beef boiled vegetables, chips and gravy. For dessert they had ice cream and jelly and breakfast was scrambled, toast and bacon.

The giant swing was so much fun year 5 all had a turn at it, the swing went up so high up at about 15 m from the ground.Nobody regretted going up,yr 5 would swing  over the cliff and they could see George’s river, lots of trees and some birds,( so pretty) year 5 loved it.

One of the wonderful activities at the camp was rock climbing.This activity was a challenge by choice so the students could pick how far up they wanted to go up on the wall before they felt uncomfortable yr 5 could also pick to go up one more step up the rock wall.

Archery was an activity at the campsite campus they used real bows and arrows with safety so they didn't get hurt luckily nobody got injured but it was a fun thing for yr 5 using the targets and bows for all parents who were worried nothing dangerous happened or was there.

 Here we will be talking about H2O skirmish this was a great activity because:

1. People like to get wet and this was like living in a video game with different battle modes to play and have fun with.
2. Each battle mode had great fun leadership purposes such as working together to protect a person/object and working problem solving skills.
3. Also the teacher/instructor was super calm and fun. She even joined in on the infected game mode. 

All in all, the skirmish was absolutely amazing and I want to go back and do it again.

The night activity was also awesome. Prior to the night walk we lit the campfire and watched the awesome effect. Then we went koala hunting unfortunately we didn’t find any but when we got back we roasted marshmallows and that was absolutely delicious.

Peter and Marcus 5 Gold

Camp was one of most fun places to visit mainly because of the people and the activities like H20 Skirmish, Giant Swing and Mini Olympics. The people there were very friendly and kind. They gave us good food. Our cabins were very clean when we first arrived. They also gave us a lot of free time and also let us go to sleep at 10 pm. The pool was cool even though it was cold and the showers were amazing. The beds were comfortable so altogether it was an amazing experience. I would give this experience ten out of ten.

London and Amelia 5 Gold

We enjoyed camp very much, we had great cabins to sleep in and fun activities. There was rock wall climbing, H20 squirmish, mini olympics, giant swing (15m high), archery and we swam in the pool which was very entertaining. For dinner we had roast beef with veggies and chips. Breakfast was bacon and eggs and for lunch we had chicken wraps. The meals filled us right up and had a warm, toasty campfire at night and got to roast our marshmallows. We went on a night walk and tried to find koalas.

We had a great playground to play on in our free time. It was very fun and I wish to go there again.

We had a great experience at Christian Campsite Wedderburn!

A REMINDER ABOUT STUDENTS ARRIVING TO SCHOOL ON TIME

Today there were 61 students late for school. We recognise that families may have been celebrating Halloween last night but in future we please ask to consider the impact that this may have the following morning.

As mentioned previously, we understand the challenges that come with getting students ready for school and ensuring they arrive on time. However, we'd like to emphasise the importance of punctuality, as it plays a significant role in your child's education and overall well-being.

Welcoming

KR- Sayee J - for always coming into the classroom with a welcoming smile

1R - Korban H - for welcoming his peers into learning activities in the classroom.

2R Joelle M - for being a friendly face to all and always sharing kind words with others.

3R - Joey G for always welcoming others to our classroom with a cheerful heart. 

4R - Aarav R - for welcoming his peers into learning activities in the classroom.

5R Luke S - for being inclusive and supportive of others.

6R Karl B - For being inclusive of his peers on the playground and in the classroom.

 Week 3 - Awards: INFANTS

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 

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.

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