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Dear Parents and Carers,
This term holds particular significance for our Year 6 students and their families, as they prepare to farewell primary school and embark on the next stage of their educational journey. For many of you it will just across the road to SFX. We encourage you to savour each special moment in the coming weeks, whether it's morning prayer, Graduation Ceremony, Fun Day or a shared laugh with classmates. These are the moments that create lasting memories.
We’re excited for all that Term 4 has in store and look forward to sharing it with our wonderful school community. Let’s make it a memorable conclusion to an incredible year at St Johns!
Community Council Thankyou
This week we Farewell Maxwell Rise as Chair if the Community Council. Max has been instrumental in leading this important parent body, forming working groups, listening to the community and also supporting me. Thank you Max, for your contributions. We know he will still be working tirelessly in the background to support and be a part of all parent engagement opportunities.
We invite all parents to come along to our School Council (SJA SC) meeting for this Term. The Community Council provides an important leadership role in our school by undertaking an advisory role in policy and finance matters, and a hands-on role in community building and school promotion.
We are seeking a new member for the executive (Chair) and non-executives (parent representative) capacity. If you would like to be involved in your child’s school, and you can meet twice a term (at 6pm on Wednesdays in Weeks 3 and 8 of each Term) please consider nominating yourself and joining us in the staffroom on Wednesday 29th October.
Terms of office are usually set at 2 years, so no one should feel they are committing themselves for life!
Boorowa Netball and Touch Football Carnival
Thank you to all of the Teachers, Coaches, Students and Parents for supporting such a great event such as Boorowa. The students displayed outstanding sportsperson ship and represented the school with pride. Thank you to Ryan Spencer for his organising this wonderful opportunity for our school. We hope to offer this to students from Years 2-6 in 2026. A full run down of the day with action shots will be in the coming newsletters.
Building Works
We are currently building new toilets for the Junior School. This will include a fully accessible toilet with shower and other facilities. It will also include will include external ramp. There has been some noise, however, I have been now assured that this will cease during school hours. The site is secure preventing any peeking until the scope of the works is complete. I have it on good authority that they will be airy and light inviting tones.
Car Incident
Thank you to our Leaders, Karen Leighton and Deb Reed and Serae Love for your quick actions, kindness and support to the families involved. We know there were some time delays picking up your sons and daughters on Thursday afternoon, again we thank you for your patience. We are working with SFX and seeking ways in which we may be able to canvas the Government to provide other roads to exit this high traffic area.
Christmas Tunes
If you hear your children singing Christmas Carols, don’t be too shocked. We are preparing for the annual Kinder Concert, Christmas BBQ and Carols that will take place later this term.
Staffing News for 2026
I am pleased to announce and welcome the following Staff to SJA in 2026.
Mrs Natasha Pank will be joining us from St Thomas the Apostle, Kambah as our new Coordinator. You may know Ms Pank and her family as she supports Children Liturgy at St Thomas Aquinas on a weekend.
Mrs Jacinta Putt will be joining our Junior School from at St Joseph’s in O’Connor.
Ms Lilly Eastman will continue to be on Staff in a permanent capacity and a big congratulation on her Graduation.
Ms Ellouise Rabberts will join us as an Early Career Teacher. Ellouise has been working in Year 2 this year.
Ms Emily Carter will join us from the Directorate Schools. Mrs Carter comes with many years’ experiences in Early Childhood Education.
Mr Robert Read will join us as a Classroom Support Teacher. Mr Read is coming from Rosary Primary School, Watson and is currently Head of Learning Support. Mr Read enjoys playing the guitar with the students.
Neha John will also join us as a Classroom Support Teacher from Mother Theresa School, Harrison. Ms John has held the positions of Assistant Principal, Coordinator and also Head of Learning Support. Ms John is a trained African Drummer and looks forward to offering a lunch club.
Good luck to Serae Love and Tabitha May for 2026 as they are on one-year transfers to another Catholic School within our Archdiocese. We look forward to your return in 2027.
We farewell and send our abundant blessing to:
Bethany Fear who will be moving to St Thomas Aquinas, Charnwood.
We thank Beth for her tireless service in Learning Support and Inclusion. Rest assured that this area is in excellent hands with the incoming experienced staff, they will have many opportunities to meet with Beth ensuring a smooth transistion.
Blessing for a lovely week ahead.
Jo Reed
Principal
Day for Daniel
This year is the 20 year anniversary of the Danile Morcombe Foundation. The foundation is committed to Keeping Kids Safe with two main aims: to educate children on how to stay safe in a physical or online environment and to support victims of crime. Here at St John’s, we embed the Daniel Morcombe resources in our teaching programs to focus on child safety, protection and harm prevention.
Friday 31 October, we invite our school community to wear red in support of the Dainel Morcombe foundation.
Healthy Harold
Healthy Harold will be visiting St Johns on Tuesday 4th, Wednesday 5th, Thursday 6th and Monday 10th November. Students will all participate in a program selected in conjunction with the classroom teacher and run by a LIFE ED educator.
Healthy Harold merchandise is able to be purchased through the online Healthy Harold store. Simply select 'Parent/carer ordering for child', choose the desired items, add them to the cart, and complete the checkout process. Online orders will close on Monday 3rd November. All items will be delivered by the Life Ed educator during Healthy Harold 's visit to St Johns.
https://lifeed.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/UPDATED-Online-store-parent-flyer.pdf
To reinforce key learning at home and support ongoing conversations about health and wellbeing the following information can be viewed by all parents and carers. https://lifeed.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Life-Ed-NSWACT-Parent-Flyers-2025.pdf
If you have any questions about the program please contact your childs classroom teacher.
World Teachers Day
This day falls on the same Friday as our Grandparents Day and Daniel Marcombe day. As it is unlikely that the teachers will have the space to appreciate this day we will celebrate and recognise this the following week. At St John’s we are extremely fortunate to have wonderfully hard working and committed staff, who love supporting your children with their learning.
Families Leaving St John the Apostle
As we begin preparations for 2026, it is important for the school to have accurate enrolment projections. If you haven't already, we ask you to contact the front office if your family will be moving interstate, or has made the decision to choose another school for your child in 2026. This will assist in giving another family an opportunity to join our wonderful community
Karen Leighton
Asistant Principal
Children's Week
This week, we have been celebrating Children’s Week. Our students have taken part in prayers, meaningful discussions, and thought-provoking activities exploring the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. The celebrations culminated in our much-loved Teddy Bears’ Picnic, where children spent a delightful day with their snuggly friends. We were also privileged to welcome Milly and Travis from the Vinnies Youth Team, who shared how Vinnies supports the rights of children and reminded us that each of us can make a difference through simple acts of kindness. The success of the week was made possible by the enthusiasm and dedication of our wonderful staff, whose creativity and care brought these experiences to life.
Sacramental Program 2026
All parents and carers of children who will be participating in the Sacraments in 2026 are required to attend the Sacramental Information Session on Tuesday, 18 November, from 6:30pm to 7:30pm.
This session will provide important information about dates, requirements, and administrative details for all sacraments. Resources for each program will also be distributed on the evening.
All information, including the link to register, can be found in the flyer attached. If you are unable to attend, please email me at penelope.vanzwol@cg.catholic.edu.au to arrange a time to follow up on the information distributed.
We look forward to sharing this time with you and your family as we prepare together for this important step in your child’s faith journey.
Penny Vanzwol
Religious Education Coordinator (Acting)
Happy Birthday to Muhammad Hani, Edith Brdbury, Rohanika Khattri, Tia McNamara, Kiri Foster, Rylee Terron, Lachlan Frankcom, Annika Nilsson, April Malcolm, Lilijana Tundulin, Maxwell Wheatley, Corbin O'Mahony, Diyana Weerarathna, Natasha Speehley, Sky Ho, Henry Ton-That, Grace Whitfield, Chloe Han, Madelyn Borscz, Henry Pieterse, Nutjari Bowler, Nathan Adimonye, Amara Melpa, Martin Howes, Sean Ojo, Austin Matthews, Jigme Wangmo, Penelope Ayton and Prit Brahmbhatt who all celebrate a birthday in October.
Please go to our school calendar on the website or COMPASS for more details.
Please note that the following is a pupil free day for professional learning for staff. Students do not attend school on this day. Term 4 - Friday 19 DecemberOSHClub will be available.
Term 4 Weeks 3 - 6
- Whole School Rugby Clinics, 29 & 30 October (week 3)
- Grandparents Day, 31 October (week 3)
- Kinder Orientation & Information Morning, 4 November (week 4)
- Healthy Harold Visit, 4-6 November, (week 4)
- Year 2 Assembly, 7 November (week 4)
- Healthy Harold Visit, 10 November (week 4)
The Mango Fundraiser
Do you or family members love mangoes? Here’s your chance to indulge in fresh juicy Kensington Pride mangoes direct from the North Queensland farm to you!
For term 4, we will be running The Mango Fundraiser.
Mangoes are $30 per tray (7kg, approximately 12-23 mangoes) with money raised to be used toward school shading.
Orders are open via the Qkr! App under 'Community Council Events' and close Thursday 30 October.
Mangoes will be picked at the optimal time with delivery to the school (and pick up) anticipated late November/early December. Pick up details will be advised closer to this time.
Grill'd Belconnen Local Matters
Following the opportunity in July where we received $100 for our school, we have been chosen again to have a jar at Grill'd Belconnen for the month of October!
Grill'd gives back to its local communities, right around Australia, through its Local Matters program.
How it works:
When customers purchase a burger at the Belconnen Grill'd restaurant, they will receive a token to place in 1 of 3 jars. Online orders also receive virtual tokens.
At the end of the month, the community group with the most tokens receives $300 and the remaining two groups receive $100 each.
So make Grill'd Belconnen your dinner or takeaway choice this October!
Community Council Chairperson Role
The Community Council Chair Role will be up for election at the term 4, week 3 Community Council meeting. To be elected you will need to be present and be prepared to say a few words to the council.
The Chair provides leadership and direction for the Council by working cooperatively and collaboratively with the Principal to assist the Council to fulfill its role and:
- Work with the Principal and the Council Executive to develop and approve the annual School Community Council Plan and coordinates the Council to deliver the events and activities contained therein.
- Work with the Principal and Secretary to develop the agenda for each Council meeting.
- Preside at meetings of the Council Executive and Council as Chairperson, and if absent, nominates another Council Executive Member to preside.
- Ensure the efficient running of meetings.
- Ensure that minutes of the previous meeting are endorsed as being an accurate record of what took place, and
- Ensure that the Council Executive provides regular reports to Council meetings and otherwise keeps the school community up to date on the activities of Council.
If you are interested in this role or have questions about it, please contact the current chair Max Rixe at max@rixegroup.com.au. Thanks!
The Uniform Shop
Opening Hours
Fridays 8:30- 9:30
If you have any questions please email the uniform shop at stjohnsclothingpool@gmail.com
Upcoming events
|
When |
What |
Description |
|
26 September to 30 October |
Mango Tray fundraiser |
7kg mango trays (ranging between 12-23 mangoes) for purchase as a fundraiser for the school. Each tray is $30 with money raised being used towards school shading. Orders open today via the Qkr app and close Thursday 30 October. |
|
Month of October |
Grill’d Belconnen Local Matters |
When purchasing a burger at the Belconnen Grill'd restaurant in October, you will receive a token to place in 1 of 3 jars in store or a virtual token when ordering online. The community group with the most tokens at the end of the month receives $300 with the remaining groups still receiving $100. |
|
Wed 29 Oct |
Community Council meeting |
Community Council Chairman will be stepping down. A new chairperson will be voted in at this meeting. |
|
Sat 15 & Sun16 Nov |
Professional family portrait |
A Community Council fundraising initiative. Only a few spaces remaining! |
That’s all from us for this week, happy school holidays!
Kelly Wooden (parent from 1B/3M)
SJAPS Community Council member
Just sending across a reminder that registration for the South Year 3/4 Gala Day on the 6th of November closes on Thursday next week (30th of October). If you are planning on registering any teams into this gala day, please make sure you complete this ASAP.
South Year 3/4 - 6th of November @South Canberra Netball Association
Registration closes on Thursday the 30th of October
To register: https://www.playhq.com/netball-australia/register/30d55c
Other upcoming gala day:
South Year 5/6 - 13th of November @South Canberra Netball Association
- Addition of the boy's division to this gala day!
Registration closes on Thursday the 6th of October
North Year 3/4 - 18th of November @Solarhub Netball ACT
Registration closes on Tuesday the 11th of November
North Year 5/6 - 11th of November @Solarhub Netball ACT
Registration closes on Tuesday the 4th of November
Boy Division:
I also wanted to share that thanks to enough expressions of interest we are able to confirm that the boy's division will be running at the Year 5/6 South Gala Day on the 13th of November. This is in addition to the standard mixed division. Teams from Northside are also welcome to enter this competition given that there is not currently a boy's division on offer at the remaining Northside Gala Days.
To complete your teams registration please follow the link to PlayHQ: https://www.playhq.com/netball-australia/register/30d55c
I look forward to see your teams there!
Have a great remainder of your week,
Keira O'Connor | Participation Coordinator and Competitions Administrator| Netball ACT
Southwell Park, Northbourne Avenue, Lyneham ACT 2602 | PO Box 423, Dickson ACT 2602
Phone: 02 6241 4088 | Mobile: 0488 947 850
Web: act. netball.com.au
