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- Important Dates to Remember
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- Heartbeat
- Grade News
- January Learning Labs 2020
- Waste Free Wednesday
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DAY | DATE | EVENT |
Thursday | 7th November | Playgroup continues Kinder 2020 |
Friday | 8th November | Primary Assembly 2.30pm in the Hall |
Monday | 11th November | Playgroup continues Kinder 2020 |
Tuesday | 12th November | Orientation Kinder 2020 - Session 1 9.15am-10.30am in the Hall |
Thursday | 14th November | Playgroup continues Kinder 2020 |
Monday | 18th November | Playgroup continues Kinder 2020 |
Tuesday | 19th November | Orientation Kinder 2020 - Session 2 9.15am-10.30am in the Hall |
Thursday | 21st November | Playgroup continues Kinder 2020 |
Friday | 22nd November | Primary Swimming Carnival (years 3-6) Bradbury Pool |
Tuesday | 26th November | Orientation Kinder 2020 - Session 3 9.15am-10.30am in the Hall |
Tuesday | 26th November | Parent Social Media Policy Workshops 2.30pm & 6.30pm |
Wednesday | 18th December | Last Day of Term for students |
Dear Parents and Carers,
The Gospel passage for last Sunday, tells us the beautiful story of someone who had a real conversion after an encounter with Jesus Christ. Zacchaeus, the chief tax collector of Jericho and tree-climber, ends up doing great things when the Lord comes to dine with him.
We are told Zacchaeus needed to climb a tree in order to see the passing Lord. This action says something about his tenacity or at least curiosity to know more about this man of whom many spoke. Seeing the Lord and listening to his words, Zacchaeus reveals a readiness to change his ways and make amends for any he may have defrauded.
The most important point, no matter what the profession of Zacchaeus or anyone else may be, is simply that “the Son of Man has come to search out and save what was lost,” as Jesus expressed it. While we rejoice in this reality, we must also apply it to our daily life, that is, never lose hope in others, either our friends, family, co-workers, perceived enemies, or whomever. We must keep striving to assist those in need, the loveable or not, and extend to them the loving hand of Jesus as best we can.
Over the coming week, consider the ways that you, just like Zacchaues, can try to catch a glimpse of Jesus in your everyday life.
CLASS FORMATION GROUPINGS 2020 – FINAL WEEK FOR PARENT REQUESTS.
This lengthy process of class formation for 2020 has now commenced in earnest this term.
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 by informing us in writing of any needs that may impact on class placement. Written requests could be submitted either through the class teacher or via an email to info@sjctdow.catholic.edu.au marked in the subject line – 2020 Class Formation.
Parents are able to provide input during Weeks 1 - 4 in Term 4. This means that all requests need to be made by this Friday 8th November 2020.
It is important to note that whilst parental 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 friendship group, please be aware that there may be circumstances surrounding such requests that may prevent it from being granted.
ANNUAL SCHOOL REPORT PARENT SURVEY
All parents have the opportunity, via an anonymous online survey, to provide input into areas affecting the education of their children and the general functioning of the school. All feedback is greatly valued and will assist in contributing not only to the preparation of the Annual School Report but also to the future directions in planning for school improvement.
The survey can be accessed by pasting the URL listed below into your web browser.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScnS8A8E8_ra0HO1Mpnch2FYJMTtSBCT6khDqrzC3sAOJaypA/viewform
Alternatively parents who prefer to complete this survey as a hard copy these will be available through the Office. A copy has also been included with this week’s bulletin.
We also would like to wish Mr Wayne Sly our best wishes as in 2020 he will be relocating to Western Australia for family reasons. Wayne has been a dedicated staff member at St John’s for the past four years. We wish Colleen and Wayne all the best as they will both be sadly missed at St John’s.
We wish to congratulate the staff members who will be continuing at St John’s in 2020 –
Hannah Witheridge, Jodie Owen, Manuela Brticevich, Andrew Astill and Alicia Sinfield. We also congratulate new staff who will be joining our community and look forward to welcoming Suzanne Johnstone in 2020. Further staffing appointments will be made over the coming weeks.
We are certainly blessed at St John’s to have passionate educators who are involved in contributing to the ongoing education of our students. We are grateful to all our staff for the contributions they make on a daily basis to making a difference to the lives of our students.
Enjoy the coming week and may we continue to walk in peace and joy,
Mrs Jane Webb
Acting Principal
Congratulations to the following students who have received a Principal's Award.
200 Stickers
100 Stickers
Michael Southby
Jessica Mathison
Cooper Anderson
Marlena Gonzales Apolinario
Levi Fitzpatrick
Tomasi Berryman
Troy Siupan
Iggy Giron
Aakash Patole
Adriana Slewo
Sophia Charadia
Bianca Basile
50 Stickers
David Yaqo
Congratulations to the following students who received the Good Samaritan Awards this week:
Dear Parents/Carers
Next week St John’s will be moving to a new Financial Management system, TechnologyOne, and adding enhancements to our Compass Student Information System. This is an exciting transition for our school and will result in more efficient electronic financial management for our school office.
School fee management will also move to TechnologyOne. Please be aware that:
- Your school fee statement and receipts for payments will look different
- The school fee statement you receive from the new financial system will have a ‘balance carried forward’ and any transactions that have occurred during the month rather than a detailed list of any transactions completed during the year due to the movement of the fees from the old financial system to TechnologyOne
- All current BPay, Direct Debit and Centrepay arrangements will continue as normal and be electronically redirected to your new school fee account in TechnologyOne
- After you receive your first statement from TechnologyOne, if you do pay via BPay we ask that you update the BPay details as per the new reference numbers on your statement
As part of this change we will also have new features available in Compass. These will include:
- Visibility of your school fee account in the Parent Portal
- The ability to pay school fees and pay for events such as excursions via the Parent Portal
We will provide you with further information on these Compass enhancements when they become available next week.
Should you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact the school office. We appreciate your patience and understanding throughout the next few weeks as we move through this change.
We welcome all our new Kindergarten Students starting in 2020 to our playgroup sessions.
Please see attached note regarding Diocesan Sport Trials 2020 Nomination Form. Nominations close on 29th November 2019.
ICAS ENGLISH COMPETITION – Year 2
Congratulations to the following students in Year 2 who recently participated in the ICAS English Competition. 17 students in Year 2 participated and were awarded 3 Credits, 1 Merit and 13 Participation Certificates.
These certificates will be presented to Year 2 students at the Infants Assembly on Friday 15th November in Week 5.
Name of Student | Result |
Rocket Hager | Credit |
Anitta Jino | Credit |
Sophie Kagame | Credit |
Jayden Venal | Merit |
Riya Bhattarai | Participation |
Xavier Clarke | Participation |
Hannah Cleuskens | Participation |
Levi Fitzpatrick | Participation |
Harrison Gardner | Participation |
Zane Huang | Participation |
Nayan Kharel | Participation |
Ariana Moy | Participation |
Aakash Patole | Participation |
Olivia Sawdy | Participation |
Kensi Sbrana | Participation |
Xi Wang | Participation |
Merola Zakhary | Participation |
Accessing your Child’s ICAS Results through UNSW Global
Dear Parents,
Over the coming weeks, the children’s ICAS results will be published in the upcoming newsletters. Publishing the student’s names has been staggered throughout Term 4 due to the high number of certificates we need to hand out across 2-6.
If you would like to access your child’s ICAS results prior to this time, you may go through the UNSW Global website at the email address below:
assessments@unswglobal.unsw.edu.au
OR call 89 362 210 and provide the following required 5 point ID scale:
1) Student Full Name
2) Year level
3) School Name
4) All ICAS Tests the child sat this year
5) Students date of Birth
If you have any queries at all please ask your child’s teacher or call the school office.
Kind Regards
Helen Libro
Acting Assistant Principal
Digital Citizenship Work Did you know that in 2020 the Catholic diocese of Wollongong will be following a new social media policy? This policy offers guidance for staff, families and students in their use of social media. One of the main aims of the policy is to help ensure student safety when using digital technology. One of the expectations of the policy is that all K-12 schools within the Wollongong diocese teach digital citizenship to the students. This must take place annually so that students are consistently reminded of the expectations and best practice for internet use. At St. John’s we will have a big focus on digital citizenship during our Term 1 learning. Teachers will also receive digital citizenship training at the beginning of each school year to ensure consistency across our diocese. 2020 Social Media Policy Parent Sessions This policy has implications for staff, students and parents. Our school will be hosting an information session at alternate times for interested parents to understand the role of the policy and its implications on parent social media use. The sessions will be facilitated by Rebecca Hill from the Catholic Education Office and will run at the following times in the tiered learning space. Date: Tuesday 26th November 2019 |
On Friday, the Stage 2, Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander students from Year 3 and Year 4 joined Miss Polsen on an excursion to UWS, Macarthur Campus.
Heartbeat is an initiative run by the University of Western Sydney. It is an opportunity for Aboriginal and Torres Straight Island students to engage with a variety of learning experiences around the topic of health and wellbeing.
The day was filed with a lot of hands on opportunities and the students had so much fun.
YEAR 4 NEWSLETTER
YEAR 5 OVERNIGHT EXCURSION
Last Thursday and Friday Year 5 were away from school in order to participate in an overnight leadership camp at Wedderburn Christian Camp. This camp provided an opportunity for the students to explore, in a very practical sense some of the qualities of leadership that they have been discussing, as they prepare to embark upon the election process for 2020 school leaders.
Thank you to Mrs Aliphon, Mrs Seweryn, Mr Borg, Mrs Noy, Mrs Katon and Mrs Libro who all stepped away from their own family responsibilities in order to facilitate these opportunities for the students. It is wonderful to be able to offer extra-curricula experiences, but these experiences should never be taken for granted. Especially in the case of overnight excursions, these experiences are only possible due to the generosity of our staff, who accept additional unpaid work hours and enormous responsibility in order to extend the learning that is occurring in the classroom and facilitate these memorable experiences for our students. The students gained a great deal from this experience.
Year 5 Camp
On Thursday at 8:30am we put all our luggage on the bus. At around 8:36 we departed for our camp adventure.
When we arrived at Wedderburn we took out our heavy luggage then went to the cafeteria which was huge. In the cafeteria we got told some rules and our cabin groups. After that we looked at our cabin’s (which looked quite good), unpacked our suitcases and got told our activity groups.
After unpacking we participated in three really fun and cool activities throughout the day which could have been the giant swing, an eco walk, rock climbing, water skirmish or archery.
We then had dinner which was nice, warm meat, hot chips and vegetables. Then of course we had dessert (jelly and ice cream). When the sun went down we went on a walk around the campsite then roasted some marshmallows!
The next day we had breakfast and you could choose whether you wanted eggs, bacon and toast or cereal... or like some of us, both! Throughout the day we did two more of the activities then packed up our suitcases. At 2:30 we were on the way back to school!
Throughout our camp experience we came in to contact with some wildlife and enjoyed what the outdoors has to offer. What a great experience all of Year 5 had at camp!
I, Abbie enjoyed the giant swing the most because you went up really high and when you swung down you went super fast. It was that speed that gave you an adrenaline rush.
I, Phoebe also loved the giant swing as well because I am a thrill seeker and I love rides.
By Abbie Nelson and Phoebe Eagleton
Applications are open! The University of Wollongong invites students to participate in LITTLE and EARLY LEARNING LABS, an academic enrichment holiday program. It targets students from Year 1 to 6 during 2019, who are passionate, self-motivated and curious learners.
Dates: Little Learning Labs (Years 1 and 2): 6th – 8th January 2020
Early Learning Labs (Years 3 to 6): 14th – 16th January 2020
Venue: University of Wollongong (Wollongong campus only)
Applications close: 12th November 2019
APPLICATION PROCESS
· Parents/Guardian fill out the online application form.
First-time applicants are required to demonstrate their suitability for the program. One piece of supporting documentation is required. Please note that the Teacher Nomination Letter can be used as a supporting document. If students have participated before they can self- nominate.
Workshops fill very quickly. - Below are some options for the workshops in 2020.
InPIring Mathematics In this exciting hands-on workshop, you will discover extraordinary mathematics and put your problem-solving skills to the test. It will promote your deeper understanding of mathematics, test your abstract thinking and reasoning skills, make you question the world around you, and give you a new appreciation for this universal language.
The Joys of Writing Writing - gives you a chance to find your point of view and to explore ways of composing the stories that you want to share. You will experiment with different ways of writing to discover what suits your storytelling as you will have the opportunity to create interesting characters facing challenges and tensions in worlds that you imagine. Be prepared to challenge yourself to find ways to express your ideas and to construct engaging stories.
EV3 Robotics - Bring the fascinating world of robotics alive with Lego Mindstorms EV2. We’ll go through the process of assembling sturdy robots that you can modify or customise and then work with your partner to problem solve your way through a number of challenges before we prepare our robots for the grand finale – a Sumo battle!
Clay Cafe - Come join us at Clay Cafe where you get to develop your clay sculpting skills whilst creating any food (made completely out of air-dry clay!) your tastebuds desire. Warning: You may leave this workshop with an increased appetite!
Please contact Mr Astill if you have any questions about the workshops or suitability.
For more detailed workshop descriptions, how to apply, FAQ’s, and the online application form, please go to: www.uow.info/learninglabs
Remember Waste Free Wednesday every week.
Support children through change
Change is a natural part of life, the ability to help our children cope with change allows them to build resilience and navigate everyday change in a positive and productive way. Change can look as simple as having something different for breakfast, or lunch due to not having the normal supplies at home. It can be a change in routine, a casual teacher at school, change in school pick up and drop off, and even school holidays. Bigger change in life can include moving schools, starting high school, family situations and friendship groups changing. No matter what change is occurring our children will deal with it differently and what may impact one child may not impact another. Change can be scary and can cause anxiety however by following these guidelines below we help set our children up for success during times of change:
- Give time to prepare – allowing children time to process changes that will be happening in the future helps them accept change
- Listen to concerns – change brings about many different emotions and by listening to how our children feel we can help them navigate these emotions and accept change
- Safety in Routine – if we can keep as many routines such as bed time, meal time consistent this helps create a sense of safety and predictability that allow children to adjust to any change that may be happening
- Get them involved – if change is about moving or school change encourage your children to help in some the choice being made – for example if moving ask them what they would like for the first meal in the new home.
- Reflect on previous changes - reflecting on how they have successfully coped with change previously and can help a child understand that can do the same with this change they are facing
Remember change can be scary however it is a natural part of life and helping our child navigate small changes now develops them a solid foundation to adapt to change in the future.
Please see attached flyer from Lowes regarding their 1 Day Sale on Thursday 14th November 2019.