Dear Parents/Carers,

As we are now in the first full week of Lent, many of the classes will have focused their Religious Education lessons around the actions that we are encouraged to do during this time of reflection. As a result, many of the children will have chosen to give something up. Fasting is one way in which we deepen our awareness of God. Denying ourselves a luxury enables us to step back from the usual habits and distractions and give particular attention to God, reminding ourselves to give time to God so that He may speak to us in the silence of our heart. All major faiths encourage fasting as spiritual disciplines. The Christian faith is no exception.  Jesus himself fasted in the desert as part of his preparation to deepen his relationship with his father.

Finding our what your child might be choosing to do during Lent could surprise you.

School priorities

Each year our staff gathers data and feedback to establish priorities that will assist us in supporting the growth and development of the students and their families. The priorities that we have nominated for 2021 are:

• Supporting the ALPHA Parish Spiritual Formation Program.

• Providing students with rich assessment opportunities in Religious Education.

• Improving the oral language proficiency of students.

• Establishing effective processes and practices to ensure that students’ learning needs are identified and met.
• Supporting the social and emotional learning of all students.

Parent-School Partnership Framework

This week I would like to highlight the fourth of the principles of the Parent-School Partnership Framework - "Connected Community." This principle focuses on creating a connected and welcoming community. To succeed in this area, it is incumbent on all of us to: ensure we are aware of, and participate in, school and parish events; participate in informal and formal opportunities to receive information and receive feedback; and to model positive messaging about the school and parish. 

Paul Moroney
Principal

No Hat, No Play

Our uniform focus next week will once again be on hats.  Students will receive a token for their house if they are wearing their bucket hat or legionnaire cap at all times when on the playground, and if they have their name clearly marked in the hat.

Our current procedure for students not wearing a hat is to allow them to just play in the shade. Next week we will alter this procedure, by asking any students without hats to sit in a designated area and not play.  They will however be able to have a friend with them that they can talk to.

The purpose of this change is to teach the students to be more responsible by making the notion of remembering your hat more attractive.  If your child forgets their hat, they are not in trouble.  Not being able to play is the natural consequence that occurs when they don’t have a hat.  In a similar way, if they forget their library bag, they can’t borrow books.  If they forget their iPad, they use pen and paper.  We are encouraging the students to be responsible for their hat - it's’ not mum and dad’s job.  For this reason we encourage you not to drop their hat off if they forget it.  They will only miss play for the day they don’t have their hat.  They won’t be in trouble and of course they can play again the next day when they remember their hat.

Please contact the office if you have any concerns or questions regarding this slight change.

Happy Birthday to the following students and staff who are celebrating their birthday this week and during the holidays, 21st February - 27th February

EARLY BIRD READING

While at St John’s it is an expectation that all students read each night, we know how busy life can be.  In order to support families with their child's reading we will introduce Early Bird Reading from Monday.  Students in Years 1-3 are invited to read their home reader to a Year 4-6 student in the library before school starts.  Kindergarten students can have a book read to them (or if able, they can read a book to an older student).  This is completely voluntary, however, we are working on a reward system for regular attendance.  Early Bird Reading will occur from 8.30am-8.50am Monday-Wednesday and Friday.  While listening to your child read at home is irreplaceable, we hope this initiative will provide an additional opportunity for your child to practice their reading.

 

Newsletter – Week 5

Project Compassion

We are starting our fundraising for Project Compassion for this year.  This year, Caritas asks us to ‘BE MORE’ to help people in need.

During Lent, we are doing a few different things this year to raise funds to support Caritas.

Chickens for Eggs

We know that just $5 can buy a chicken to provide eggs for a school in the Solomon Islands. Children are invited to decorate one (or more) chickens at $5 each. Your $5 donation will give you one chicken, decorated by your child with brightly coloured feathers, with your child’s name clearly marked on the chicken. These will be displayed in the office windows. This is completely optional. Families may opt to buy one chicken for the family. Children will be invited to decorate their chicken(s) during lunch time. Any questions, please contact the office.

Tanks for Living

Caritas tells us that for $600, they can construct a water point to provide clean, reliable water for a community in Tanzania.

We are having a blue mufti day on Friday 5 March 2021 to raise money that could go towards this cause.  We ask that every child bring in a gold coin donation towards this worthwhile project and wear blue clothing that day. Please be aware that children need to wear enclosed shoes and a hat. 

Project Compassion boxes

These have been placed on all prayer spaces in all classrooms.  We will keep a tally of each classes’ total each week. 

Congratulations to all our award recipients this week

KG - Brydee H 

1G - Mariana G

2G - Luca J

3G - Rosie T

4G - Levi F

5G - Jaq S

6G - Erica T

K-6 G - Robert W

What is happening in the veggie garden?

The veggie garden at St John’s School has had countless hours of planting, watering, harvesting and sharing with the school community. Many great questions, ideas and healthy conversations have been had near the veggie garden. The school composting system has worked well. The collection of fruit and vegetable scraps mixed with mulch has made organic, dark compost, full of earth worms. This is a real example of a sustainable system especially when it all goes back into the veggie garden beds. This year we would like to extend the veggie garden beds by adding wicking beds.

What is a wicking bed?

A wicking bed is a self-watering garden. The soil in the garden acts as a ‘wick’ and draws up the water it needs through its root system from the water reservoir in the bottom of the garden bed. The reason for this gardening choice is so that the veggie gardens will always have access to water especially in the hot, dry summer months at school. We have been fortunate enough to obtain some intermediate bulk containers (IBC) to create this wicking bed system. For more information about this have a look at the YouTube clip by Gardening Australia.

https://youtu.be/obNWr8MD0uU

So watch this space as we plan to develop them soon! If you have any further ideas or access to materials we would love to hear from you!

From the Gardening Team at St John’s

Diverse Learning – What is the NCCD?

The Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD) takes place every year. The NCCD is a collection that counts:

 the number of school students receiving an adjustment or ‘help’ due to disability
 the level of adjustment they are receiving to access education on the same basis as
other students.

Students are counted in the NCCD if they receive ongoing adjustments at school due to
disability. This ‘help’ allows them to access education on the same basis as a child without disability. The NCCD uses the definition of disability in the Disability Discrimination Act 1992.

Schools provide this information to education authorities.

For more information on the NCDD please refer to the NCCD Fact Sheet;

https://www.nccd.edu.au/sites/default/files/fact%20sheet%20for%20parents%20guardians%20and%20carers.pdf

Just a reminder that due to Covid restrictions 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, These are now available to purchase through Flexischools or you can order and pay at the front office.

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 .

Do not enter into compass if they are going to be late or leave early, that needs to be done from the school end.

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, your child will besent home and 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.