Dear St John the Apostle families,

I was thankful for a quieter week in terms of school events, particularly as we move into the end of the school year.

Next week we will hold our second orientation morning for Kindergarten 2025. This time students will be placed in classes with their intended teacher. Mrs Jo Reed, Principal in 2025, will visit again.

On Thursday we will also hold an orientation day, but for new students in 2025 from Years 1 to 6. It's an opportunity for them to meet new people, to learn about routines in our school and help the feel comfortable.

Matthew Garton

Principal

What Students are Learning About

We are so blessed to have a wonderful grandmother, Pat McAll who’s grandson Oz, is in Year Six. She has very kindly donated handmade rosary beads, for each child in Year 3. Each on is unique and they are in an array of colours.  Year 3 were so excited yesterday that Father Chung was able to bless them when he came for a visit. Thank you Mrs McCall and God bless you.

Catholic Life and Reflection

I am one of those people who have a set of rosary beads in my handbag. When I go to Mass, I like to have them in my hand and run my fingers along the beads. When I was 12 I went to Paris and I have a set the was blessed my the priest from Notre Dame.  They are very glittery blue sparkly beads.

My current set is not so fancy, in fact it is missing one of the beads and has been repaired.  They belonged to my Opa, grandfather, on my dad’s side. They came from Holland one of the few possessions the family were able to leave with after the war.  They are extremely special to me and help me to pray when I am not sure what to say.  I don’t go quite as far as hanging them from my rearview mirror, but I do love them.

Recently, Pope Francis led the Rosary praying for peace at the Basilica of St Mary Major.

 

“Transform the hearts of those who fuel hatred, silence the din of weapons that generate death, extinguish the violence that brews in the heart of humanity, and inspire projects for peace in the actions of those who govern nations.”

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2024-10/pope-francis-rosary-prayer-peace-mary-major.html

St Vincent de Paul Christmas 2024

As always we are asked to donate non-perishable food items to our local chapter of St Vincent de Paul.  Please send the items to your child's classroom. These donations have a signficant impact on those familes that struggle during this time of the year. Thank you in advance for your generosity.

Non-perishable food donation suggestions

• Jar of Jam/peanut butter/honey
• Jar of coffee/packet of teabags
• Large packet of chips
• Packet of shortbread biscuits
• Jar of pasta sauce or similar
• Packet of Pasta or Rice
• Packet of Savoury Biscuits
• Box of Christmas Bon Bons
• Packet of Lollies
• Cans of Spaghetti or baked beans
• Small Christmas pudding
• Carton of custard (long life)
• Nuts (jar or packet)
• Tin of Milo
• Bottle of Cordial or Fruit Juice
• Tomato or BBQ sauce
• Chocolates (bar, bag or jar)
• Can of Fruit
• Box of Breakfast Cereal
• Packet of sweet biscuits

Food_Gift_Cards_2024_dated_28Nov24.pdf

Food_Gift_Cards_2024_dated_28Nov24 _pdf 127.51 KB

God bless,

Stephanie Stewart

Notices from the Parish

Latest Parish Compact 17 November 2024

Year Five Excursion

On Tuesday, Year Five went on an excursion to Lanyon Homestead and participated in the Convicts role play program that provided hands-on experience of convict life. Students were introduced to historical enquiry skills, such as examining and exploring different perspectives and different information sources in relation to the 1830s convict era.  The imagined and empathised with the convict experience, and had opportunities to relate their personal experience to life as a convict at Lanyon Homestead.

They participated in hands-on experiences such as sowing, building fences, carting water and planting vegetables. They were able to see buildings that were made by the convicts and investigate artefacts that were unearthed during the convict era in Lanyon, including irons, cups and other cutlery. Thank you to the Year Five teachers for organising this great experience. 

Year Two Excursion

On Wednesday, Year Two students experienced an exciting excursion to Questacon. The students watched an interactive ‘Colour Show’ that explored the science of light and colour.  Students witnessed stunning visual displays, such as colour mixing and the fascinating effects of light on various materials. The show showcased how colour influences our world.

Students explored various hands-on exhibits, including the "Energy Lab," where they experimented with renewable energy sources, and the "Earthquake Simulator," which showcased seismic activities. Overall, the visit to Questacon was a wonderful success, inspiring a love of science in the young minds. 

Colour Run

We will be having a Colour Run on Friday of Week 9. All information about this event will be sent out early next week. 

Rebekah Brown

Assistant Principal and Inclusion Coordinator

Happy Birthday to Ava Suthern, Zara Thorpe, Sophie Jopling, Roger Patrzalek, Cooper Dixon, Joseph McCabe and Penelope Posantzis who all celebrated a birthday over the last week.

This year we will be presenting a number of awards to students. Please see below the scedule for this term. Most awards will be handed out on a Friday morning.

At St John the Apostle we teach a number of programs that focus on mastering particular knowledge and skills in literacy and numeracy. Students are taught based on their individual, current level of mastery. Two of the programs we teach are Spelling Mastery and Rocket Maths. We regularly collect data from students in both of these programs so we can track that they are having continous progress. Students work hard to achieve mastery in these programs, so we celebrate the students who show mastery in these programs by giving them awards.

Students will receive Spelling Mastery Awards once they reach mastery three times at their Spelling Mastery level. For some students this is 10/10 and for others it is 25/25. For Kindergarten students will receive Spelling Mastery Awards when they receive 10/10 for each unit they complete in Sounds~Write.

Students will receive Maths Mastery Awards each time they beat their Rocket Math Two Minute Goal.

This year we will also be presenting Brag Tag Awards. These will be handed out each time a student receives 20 brag tags. 

Brag Tag Awards - presented on Friday 22nd November, 8.50am (Week 6)

Spelling Mastery Awards - presented on Friday 22nd November, 8.50am (Week 6)

What a lovely year of reading we have had at St Johns! I've been so happy to have many conversations with students, staff and parents about great books. While borrowing physical books (or tree books!) has finished for the year so Mrs Levi and I can do a stocktake, we still have access to the audiobooks and eBooks on Sora. I can highly recommend the "Percy Jackson" audiobook series and any of Tristan Bancks' audiobooks - both with great narrators and highly engaging. My son and I have loved listening to them in the evenings.

ACEN (Australian Catholic Education Network) Sora eBook and audiobook service is available, at no charge, for access by students, staff and parents 24/7 from school, home or any location.  The CE pays the annual subscription to Sora for all schools. 

Sora includes a large collection of eBooks and audio-books for students of all year levels, as well as adults.  The collection includes fiction, as well as non-fiction titles related to Australian curriculum topics. The current collection includes over 10,000 eBooks and audiobooks, including ‘Read-a-long’ books.

Sora may be accessed from any tablet, laptop, mobile phone, desktop computer, or loaded onto eReaders for offline reading.   

Sora APP for iPads  - ACEN library Login Procedures

1. Search and install the Sora APP from the Apple Store or Google Play.
2. You are directed to a screen that will read “Find my School.”
3. Choose “ACEN Member Collection.”
4. Sign into the ACEN Member Collection using the student Network Login details and Password (the Diocese from the dropdown menu will be “Canberra-Goulburn”).
5. The Sora home screen appears with the borrower logged in.  A borrower's Account button is at the top of the screen to see current loans and open books that have been borrowed.

Sora ACEN Website

The ACEN Sora website is located at
https://soraapp.com/welcome/login/202541. You will login using the above steps. 

Site Features

• Favorite titles will be displayed.  Click on a title to borrow it, or use the Search window to find a particular title or author’s books.
• Borrower’s title checkout limits and holds are displayed in your account. Titles are borrowed for 14 days and may be renewed.  Titles disappear following the borrowing period.
• Holds may be put on titles that are currently on loan to other borrowers.
• Titles may be read in the browser, or returned by clicking the Return button.
• After the title is opened on the screen, click at the bottom of the screen near the
• Other Advanced features are available for searching titles/groups of titles.  

Title Access Year Levels

Titles in the Sora collection have been given access year level ratings, so students will only be able to borrow titles rated for their level or below.  Students will see all available titles in Overdrive, but titles not able to be borrowed will be greyed out. Eg.  Year 3 students will not be able to borrow Adult level titles. Title are Juvenile (K-4), Young Adult (years 5-8) and Adult (Year 9 – Adult).

Parental Access to Sora

Parents may access Sora using their child’s computer network login details.  The child’s borrowing limit of 3 titles still applies.

Unfortunately, parents will not be able to borrow titles that are above their child’s access level.  e.g. if the child is a Year 6 student, parents will not be able to borrow Adult level books, only Young Adult or Juvenile level books.

Emma Alcock

Teacher-Librarian

Thank you to all who attended our Grandparents Day last Friday.

Opening Hours

A friendly reminder that St Johns is a nut free school. Thank you.