Dear Parents/Carers,

This week is NAIDOC Week which gives us the opportunity to acknowledge the first people's of our country. The theme of this year's celebration is 'Always Was, Always Will Be.' The very long story of our country is recognised around the world, with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people engraving the world's first maps, making the earliest paintings of ceremony and inventing unique technologies (naidoc.org.au). 

At St John's we acknowledge and pay tribute to the Aboriginal people as the custodians of the land on which we gather each day. We work hard to help the students learn about our nation's 60,000+ year history. On Monday they had the opportunity to participate in a workshop that highlighted for them many of the cultural traditions of the first peoples. 

Year 6 Camp

From all reports, Year 6 has enjoyed a very successful camp over the last two days. I am so pleased that they were able to have this experience as their excursion to Canberra earlier in the year had to be cancelled, and I am disappointed that I was unable to join them at Teen Ranch. While their final year in Primary school hasn't been what they expected, I hope the camp provides them with some wonderful memories.

COVID restrictions

Following on from the letter that was distributed via Compass last Friday, there has been some easing of restrictions for schools. They mainly affect assemblies, Masses and end-of-year gatherings for students. For any whole-school events we are unable to have parents attend (in fact, any such event can only have 30 people attend), children can only sit together with their Stage group and we are still unable to sing. Therefore, we will be unable to hold a Christmas Concert (or similar event) at the end of the year. However, we have begun plans on creating something special for families - watch this space!

Due to the size of our church, we are still not able to have large groups of students inside that space for Mass. We are planning to have an end-of-year liturgy with the children outside. 

Our Year 6 students will be able to have a Graduation Ceremony on 8 December. We will inform their parents about the details of this event once planning has been finalised.

Our school Swimming Carnival will be able to take place on 9 December, however it will only be for competitive swimmers (i.e. they must be able to competently swim 50m). This is because we do not have exclusive use of the indoor pool, a requirement of the COVID directives. More information will be distributed about the carnival in coming days.

Thank you for your patience and understanding as we continue to work with the ever-changing directives.

Wishing you a safe and enjoyable week,

Paul Moroney
Principal

Happy Birthday to the following students and staff who are celebrating their birthday this week ,  November 7th - November 13th

Congratulations to the following students for receiving a Good Samaritan Award this week

KR - Amelia Y

1R - Emily P

2B - Hermione K

2R - Petal J

3R - Hannah C

4R - Jaq S

5R - David Y

Week 4 - Awards: PRIMARY 

Veggie Garden News

We have been excited to see our zucchini plants growing in our school veggie garden. These plants are part of the cucurbit family. Their huge leaves take up a lot of space but we have managed to plant 2 zucchini plants in one of our garden beds. We have been harvesting zucchini in the last week and they should produce more fruit for the next few weeks! We should pick the zucchini when it is about 15cm long as it has the most flavour. They have been watered regularly and we have been using Powerfeed weekly. When we water it is always best to water directly into the soil rather than wet the leaves. This will help prevent powdery mildew, a white powder on the leaves. Zucchini’s are great in so many different sweet and savoury dishes. We hope you get to try one!

We also want to say thank you to Francis.....from year 5 for his donations of gardening equipment.

Just wanted to share some exciting news for Rhys M

 He competed in Elite Junior D division on the 5m Platform for the first time, scoring 168.1 which means he has qualified for Elite Junior National Champs in Brisbane in April 2021!

WELL DONE RHYS 

The Lengthy Process of class formation for 2021 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 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 email to info@sjctdow.catholic.edu.au marked in the subject line - 2021 Class Formation

Parents are able to provide input during weeks 3 - 5 in term 4. This means that all requests need to be made by Friday 13th November 2021.

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.

Orientation day for Mount Carmel, was on the 20 November 2020.  Due to Covid restrictions this date has changed to 4 December 2020. 

We will be contacting  parents directly to inform them of the change, along with details of the day

St Vincent de Paul Return and Earn

The St Vincent de Paul Return and Earn bins were delivered back to School this week.   Children will again be able to recycle their cans, milk, juice or plastic drink containers with money raised through the program to go towards the good works of St Vincent de Paul.

A bin is also located at the front of the office for families to contribute by bringing return and earn items from home.  In 2019 St John’s raised $800 through this program for St Vincent de Paul coming 11^th in the Diocese including high schools.  We can aim to improve our position and raise more money for “Vinnies” with your help!

Just a reminder that due to Covid restrictions and CEO directives Children are unable to bring in any type of food/gifts for sharing with their class. There is the option of purchasing Zooper Doopers from the canteen, Just give the canteen a couple of days notice to ensure they have enough, you can order through the office and a bill will be sent home.

Thank you for your understanding with this matter

If your child is away from school it is important to let the school know as soon as possible with a specific reason, e.g. what type of illness they have, If you are filling in a note on the Compass app, please add an explanation in the details/comments box .

It is really important to keep your child at home if they are unwell, this will help with the spread of illness. In the current COVID 19 climate ,if you child displays cold/flu symptoms you will need to get a medical clearance for your child to return to school 

If your child has a covid test, please notify the school when they have the test and as soon as you get your results please forward these on to the school.

Due to COVID restrictions parents are currently not allowed on school grounds. We also need to limit the amount of visitors that come into the office, so please only come into the office if necessary.

  It is important that you let the office know as soon as possible, via email or phone, if you are picking your child up prior to dismissal (including time).  We can then arrange to have them in the office ready for you. Please note we are unable to arrange collection of your children during break times (11.15am-12 & 1.15pm-2pm) without prior notice. Please do not enter late arrivals or early departures into compass, this needs to be done by the school office.

Thank you for your assistance with this matter.