From Tuesday evening to Wednesday afternoon I participated in Siloam, a Principal's Retreat providing a moment in the term to pause, pray and connect with other Principals. It was a nourishing time and I returned to school on Thursday with much news to celebrate!

Amazing Kindergarten

Austin and Tom, two of our Kindergarten students, showed me what they wrote that morning. The class wrote about food they like to eat. Of course, the food they want to eat is not at all the food they are allowed to have but it was a highly motivating topic to practice their budding writing skills.

My first five years as a teacher was teaching Kindergarten/Year 1. I know what to expect from students in their youngest years.

Tom and Austin's writing was amazing! What made it wonderful was how they were using the knowledge and skills they've been learning in class. They used sight words they had memorised and listened to sounds they could hear in words and tried to spell them. They even tried using commas when they were only told about this form of punctuation by their teacher the day before.

Later in the afternoon I spoke with Ms Watson and Miss Collins about how Kindergarten are developing. Their achievements to date are fantastic. Every child, regardless of their starting point or the complex needs they may experience, keeps growing stronger and more confident in their literacy and numeracy every day. Congratulations to the children and teachers in Kindergarten.

Year 6 leaders continue going from success to success

Not only do I keep hearing excellent feedback from visitors about the behaviour of

our Year 6 students, yesterday they also showed great maturity in the way they led the school at a prayer assembly about Mary Help of Christians. They explained the historical significance of this feast day and helped our students engage with the concepts and ideas through song, prayer and reflective dance.

Our Year 6 students continue to be a willing positive example to our younger students.

On Wednesday I had the privilege of being on the judging panel for our Year 6 Rostrum finals. Our finalists were Briony, Apajok, Emma, Samson and Evelina. Their speeches were well structured, imaginative and informative and delivered in a humorous and engaging way. The five finalists were excellent representatives of the high quality of speeches by the whole cohort. Congratulations to Apajok, our first place winner, who will represent our school at the local competition and also to Evelina who is our runner up.

1 to 1 Chromebooks in Year 4

Our Year 4 students are pioneering our 1 to 1 Chromebook program. On Monday they went home for the first time with their Chromebooks, chargers and a new schoolbag.

They have been very excited to participate in this program. The very first homework task was to develop a Parent-Child Agreement about the use of the Chromebook at home. This was submitted on Google Classrooms. Thank you to all of our Year 4 parents for supporting this program, ensuring it will have a positive impact on the learning of all of our students.

If you're curious about developing a family charter or agreement about technology use at home I highly encourage you to visit the Parents page on the e-safety Commissioner website. This website contains plenty of very easy to read information that supports you in ensuring your child engages with technology safely and responsibly. There is an example of a family tech agreement (inclusive of very young children) and an e-safety guide dedicated to explaining for parents the features and risks associated with the many online platforms available for children, including Among Us, Tik Tok, Roblox and many more. I highly encourage a glance at this page to help you make sure your child is using these in a safe and responsible way. You will feel more at ease with this knowledge.

Tell Them From Me (TTFM)

From Friday 28 May to Friday 11 June we are inviting students, teachers and parents to provide feedback on their experience of our school using an online survey. The surveys are an important part of our whole school evaluation and planning process.

We would like to invite you to complete the Tell Them From Me (TTFM) Partners in Learning survey. As we value the role of parents and carers within our school community we would greatly appreciate your feedback. The information you provide will be used to maintain our commitment to working together in partnership to further improve student learning and well-being at St John the Apostle Primary School.

The survey is anonymous and will take approximately 20 minutes to complete. This morning we sent out a link directly to you via SZapp to enable your access to the survey. If you didn't receive this then please contact our Front Office for the URL link.

Reconciliation Week

Monday is the ACT Reconciliation Day Public Holiday as part of Reconciliation Week that began on Thursday and finishes this Wednesday. There are many activities to enjoy this weekend and a large number of them family friendly, including those listed at the following sites:

National Arboretum:https://events.canberra.com.au/reconciliation-day/program 

Many other venues: https://canberraweekly.com.au/your-guide-to-reconciliation-week-2021-in-canberra/ 

We are celebrating Reconciliation Week all next week. One of the books we're reading with all classes is 'Respect' by Aunty Fay Muir and Sue Larson. We talk about 'Respect Others, Respect Self and Respect the Environment' at St John the Apostle. This book will help our students understand this same respect from an indigenous perspective.

Kindergarten 2022 Enrolment Interviews

This week I began conducting enrolment interviews for our 2022 Kindergarten classes, starting with the families new to our school. Those families already members of our school community with Kindergarten enrolments for 2022 will be contacted shortly to organise an enrolment interview at a later date.

I absolutely love meeting all of our new Kindergarten students and parents. It is one of my favourite times of year. Everyone comes to us with a different story and I am always reminded of how much it is a privilege to be trusted with such treasured souls.

Hats Off for June and July

Just a remninder that we have 'Hats Off for June and July' in ACT schools so that students have the appropriate amount of safer sunlight to remain healthy during the winter months. This guidance comes from the Cancer Council ACT.

Students are welcome to wear navy blue beanies, gloves and scarves when they are outside.

Please enjoy a lovely long weekend and take the opportunity to enjoy one of the Reconciliation Day activities if you can.

Enrolments for 2022

We are now in the enrolment period for 2022.

If you have a child currently in pre-school and will be enrolling them for Kindergarten then please be sure to do this before 28 May. Please go to our school website to lead you through how to do this or contact Leanne at the Front Office with any questions.

If you have a child in Year 6 and look to enrol them in St Francis Xavier College for Year 7 then you will need to do this by 28 May. Please go to their website for all of the information you need.