Dear St John's families,

Welcome back to Term 4. Welcome to our new students Oz, Ava and Sofia and their families. We look forward to helping you learn and grow.

Congratulations SJAPS Choir

Yesterday our school choir performed at Floriade. They represented the school beautifully. I managed to listen to their rehearsals and they were melodic, united and energising. Thank you to Mrs Macdonald who has spent many hours practising with them, building their confidence. Thank you also to the staff who assisted in making the choir T Shirts they wore.

Next Tuesday our choir will perform at the Chief Minister's Reading Challenge Awards Ceremony. The were required to provide and audition tape and were selected. They will also perform for our visitors on Grandparents Days.

Uniform

Thank you to all our families for helping children to wear the correct uniform to school this term. We always notice how much they have grown when they come back in their summer uniform. A few important points of note:

• The navy sports shorts are designed differently to the navy shorts of the every day uniform. They are not interchangeable. Perhaps label the tags with 'sport' and 'every day' for those young children independently dressing themselves now.
• Hair ties, ribbons and scrunchies are to be school colours of maroon and blue or in the fabric of the uniform.
• HATS, HATS HATS! Some of our students are coming to school without their hat and telling us they have lost it at home. Please help your child in finding their hat if that is the case. New hats are available for sale at the front office.

Cybersafety evening

If you are keen to learn how to keep your child safe in the digital environment a Cybersafety evening is being hosted by St Monica's Primary School, Evatt on Monday 23rd October at 6.00pm. Parents from all Belconnen Catholic Schools are welcome to attend. Hosted by Think U Know, it will be an informative evening.

If you would like to attend please email me directly (matthew.garton@cg.catholic.edu.au) by Wednesday 18 October so I can provide the expected numbers for attendance from our school.

Referendum Voting Tomorrow

Tomorrow is a great opportunity to model to your children the importance of participating actively in democratic processes. I know that many of you will have had some interesting conversations at home about tomorrow's referendum. If you haven't yet understood what the referendum vote is about the question is:

A Proposed Law: to alter the Constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice. Do you approve this proposed alteration?

You can find your place to vote and other information that will help you vote with confidence at the Australian Electoral Commission website. Your answer matters. Make it count.

Matthew Garton

Principal