Dear Parents/Carers,

Last Thursday evening, staff from our school joined with others from all the schools in our diocese to celebrate Mass as part of Catholic Schools Week. As well as being a wonderful liturgical celebration, Peter Hill (our new Director of Schools) reminded us all that “the teacher does not write on inanimate material, but on the very spirits of human beings.” St John’s is very blessed to have teachers who are committed to the growth and development of the children – emotionally, intellectually, socially and spiritually. They certainly play a significant role and I thank you for the many ways that you support them in their work.

Thank you to the many parents and visitors who were able to join us for the Catholic Schools Week celebration last Friday. I hope that you enjoyed the liturgy and the opportunity to see some of the learning that your child has been doing. I especially thank the P & F for providing the morning tea for our visitors.

Notifications from the school

You are reminded that the main source of notifications from the school is via Compass. It is strongly recommended that you check the Compass app daily to see if any new notifications have been pushed out. Logging onto the app on a desktop, rather than a phone, will also give you more features which would also be worth exploring.

The app is also the source of information about upcoming events, including giving you the capacity to approve your child’s attendance at these events. Please note the information about the Cross Country is now available on the app. We are asking that you approve attendance at this ASAP.

If you have any questions about using the Compass app, do not hesitate to contact the school office.

Staff Development Days (Pupil Free Days)

To assist you with planning for care of your children, I can let you know that there will be two Staff Development Days (Pupil Free Days) during this year, Friday 15 May and Friday 25 September.

I hope that you have a great week,

Paul Moroney
Principal

Congratulation to the following students who received Good Samaritan Awards this week:

Happy Birthday to the following students and staff who are celebrating their birthday this week, March 9 - March 15

The RE Newsletter from 1 March is attached.

PREMIER’S READING CHALLENGE 2020  - 2 March - 28 August 2020

The Premier’s Reading Challenge is running again this year!

At St Johns we promote the importance of reading and acknowledge that we all read for many different purposes. It is hoped that by participating in the PRC that students will continue to develop their love of reading. 

All K-2 classrooms will be participating in the PRC, with class teachers reading 30 books to their classes during class time up until August 25 and these books will be logged as a class. 

Year 3 - 6 students will be required to read 20 books - 15 from the PRC booklist and 5 self choice books. They will be required to self log their books. 

At the completion of the PRC, all students who have successfully read and logged their books will receive a certificate. 

ALL parents who wish their child to participate in PRC need to give permission through the COMPASS app notification by Tuesday 24 March.  

Any questions please contact Mr Astill at info@sjctdow.catholic.edu.au 

Mr Andrew Astill 

Literacy Contact 

Perspective – How big is my problem,

Often we go to battle over little things; in doing so we teach our children that every little thing matters and that there is no room for compromise or development. Children grow by pushing back at times; they will test boundaries as they being to feel safer in exploring the world they live in. Children develop vital negotiation skills and learn the art of give and take by their interactions with others. However if our children believe every small thing is a big thing they can often have emotional reactions that are out of proportion to the problem they are facing. The playground is the area that children often need to gain perspective on the size of their problems. Children can often be caught up in the moment and become heavily invested in arguments that won't matter in 5 years time or even in 5 hours times. Teaching your child how to recognize the perspective of what is happening for them helps them set health boundaries, learning when to ignore something, walk way, stand strong, or ask for help.  Below is a table that shows emotional response to the size of a problem, teaching your child this will help them develop a sound understanding of emotional response and healthy communication in relation to problems they may face.

NDIS ASSISTANCE THROUGH CATHOLIC CARE

Waste Free Wednesday is back again this year. We ask that students pack their lunch in re-usable containers to reduce the amount of classroom waste around the school. Points are awarded to classes for the least amount of rubbish each Wednesday.

RETURN AND EARN DRIVE WEDNESDAY 18 MARCH – START COLLECTING NOW!

St John’s will hold our first return and earn drive on Wednesday 18 March.  All items received will be collected by St Vincent De Paul raising funds for their important work in the community.

On 18 March students will be invited to place their return and earn items in their house colour under the COLA. The team that brings the most items will get 200 points, 2nd will get 150, 3rd 100 and 4th 50. The points will help them to earn the Waste Warrior Trophy each term in addition to the waste free Wednesday points

Any glass items should be placed in the blue bin that will be located with your house colour - do not leave them on the ground with the plastic items.

School Crossing Supervisor

The RMS have advised that there will be a further delay in the appointment of a crossing supervisor for our School. At this time they are unable to advise when the appointment will be made.

Please take extra care when crossing the road during this time.

Sisterhood is a rapidly growing national movement of Catholic women seeking to deepen our personal relationship with Jesus Christ and those we do life with. We are regular everyday women; students, sisters, daughters, wives, mums, career women and grandmothers, walking alongside one another and doing life together.

Sisterhood has now been operating for the past 14 years. Each year the conference draws between 200-300 Catholic women of all ages and from right across Australia for a weekend of prayer and formation on what it means to be a Catholic woman in the Church today.

Through keynote talks and workshops, mass, adoration of the blessed sacrament, reconciliation and quality sisterhood with other women, women are given the opportunity to deepen in their personal relationship with Jesus Christ and develop community with other women. The conference seeks to provide keynote inputs which are both spiritually enriching but also practical to the lives of women of all ages and stages of life.

We are excited to announce the 2020 Sisterhood National Catholic Women’s Conference, ‘Anointed’ will be held from 20 – 22 March 2020 at The Tops Conference Centre, Stanwell Tops. Tickets can be purchased via Trybooking - https://www.trybooking.com/BFQZP

This year's keynote speakers include the very beautiful and well known singer Alyssa Agius from Melbourne and Katie Kobler. Katie has a passion for seeing women released to be who they are created to be.  She also has a powerful personal story to share. The other keynote speakers include: The Dominican Sisters of St Cecilia of Nashville Tennessee, Trish Macarthy, Vivian Dolar, Carrie McCormack, Renee Doyle, Kate Seseljia and more. 

We want to invite women to what will be an incredible weekend of dynamic talks, quality sisterhood time and most importantly an encounter with an amazing God who loves us beyond measure and pours His Grace abundantly.

See attached information on the Melanoma March Macarthur which will be held this Sunday 15 March at Camden Town Farm.  Mrs Stolzenhein and family will be "Doing it for Pete" at this event.  To donate go to melanomamarch.org.au

School Banking Day is Wednesday!