Dear St John the Apostle Primary School Community,

We've had a beautiful start to the term. It has been full of fun and positive energy.

Our new chromebooks in Year 4 have been set up and are ready to be used from next week.

With NAIDOC Week in the school holidays our students have celebrated NAIDOC this week with a liturgy on Tuesday and a day of activities yesterday. The activities included Yulunga games, dreaming storytelling, visual design and cooking using bush foods. I would like to thank Ms Ellen Fletcher for her outstanding coordination and organisation of the day. 

Positive Behaviour For Learning Policy

After 18 months of research, reflection and development with staff and students I am pleased to inform you that our new Positive Behaviour For Learning Policy has been launched.

The Policy articulates our:

• beliefs about how children learn positive behaviour
• our shared expectations for how students are to behave at school as members of our community
• practices for teaching, encouraging and acknowledging positive behaviour, and
• practices for discouraging negative behaviour.

You can find a copy of the policy on our school website as well as on our SZapp in the Forms and Documents section.

Thank you to the Community Council who have reviewed the policy and provided valuable feedback. Please feel free to contact me should you have any questions or concerns regarding the policy.

We look forward to continuing to grow a positive school culture here at St John the Apostle, where every student can learn, be happy and feel safe.

Term 3 Learning Overviews

You'll find a Term 3 Learning Overview for each class on our school website in the 'Teaching & Learning' Section and on the SZ app. I encourage you to have a look and see what your child will be learning about this term.

Learning Journeys

Parents were able to meet with their child's teacher after their Semester 1 Report was distributed last term.

In Week 3 parents will have the opportunity to undertake a Learning Journey with their child. A Learning Journey is a short visit with your child to the classroom so they can proudly show and tell you about some work they've selected.

There is no need to book in. Your child's classroom will be open for a visit on Wednesday 7 August from 3.00pm to 5.00pm and Thursday 8 August from 8.20am to 8.50am. The teacher will be in the room should you have any questions, however, this will be time just with your child.

Annual Parent Survey

An annual satisfaction survey of parents, students and staff will be conducted on behalf of all Catholic schools in the Archdiocese this term. The surveys are designed to gather feedback from parents, staff and students about our school and will be used to inform school improvement. Responses are confidential and individuals can not be identified. 

Past feedback from surveys of parents, staff and students has led to prioritising the implementation of a number of school improvements, including:

• increased student access to ICTs for learning,
• development of the outdoor learning masterplan,
• development of professional learning teams for staff,
• exploration and implementation of more streamlined communication systems, and the
• development of a rich and consistent curriculum map from Kindergarten to Year 6.

The surveys will be launched via email on 29 July and close on 9 August 2019 using the email addresses supplied to the school. If you do not receive an email with a link to the survey, you can access and complete the survey at the following link. https://www.research.net/r/stjohntheapostleparent2019

Thank you everyone for this positive start to the term.

Kind regards,

Matthew Garton (Principal)