Principal's Corner
Your children are in safe hands! During our Professional Development Day at the end of last term the Staff all participated in a First Aid Course. After completing the study and online component, we learnt about the latest best practice in all areas when administering First Aid in the Workplace and School setting.
Our Staff all passed with flying colours!
Catalyst
Over the past few years, St John the Apostle staff have been engaged in a professional learning journey aimed at delivering the highest quality explicit teaching—and therefore the best learning—for our students. This journey has been undertaken in partnership with other Catholic Education schools across our Archdiocese.
By focusing on the following 8 Big Ideas, we’ve refined our curriculum and introduced more effective teaching methods:
- School is where we learn biologically secondary knowledge.
- Learning is a change in long-term memory.
- Reading is essential for students to acquire knowledge.
- Knowledge matters: it's what we think with.
- The most efficient way to teach knowledge is to teach explicitly.
- High quality, whole class instruction will help all students learn.
- Curriculum should be ambitious, coherent, sequential and cumulative.
- Teaching should be a profession informed by evidence.
If you would like more information about our Catalyst program, please feel free to speak with your child’s teacher, myself, or go to https://catalyst.cg.catholic.edu.au/
Gillian Forrester, our Teaching and Learning Officer-Literacy joined us on our Pupil Free Day earlier this term to revisit one of the CECG BOLD Goals, Every Child is a Competent Reader. Gillian supported us with whole class instruction looking specifically at fidelity when delivering the CECG Curriculum and intervention programs. We have invested a large number of resources and money into purchasing new decodable readers, sets of reading materials for the upper grades including class sets of novels and setting up student intervention. We are so proud of our students who are continuing to move from learning to read to reading to learn.
Thumbs up to our Community Council!
A big shout out to our Community Council for suppling lunch on our Pupil Free Day as a way of gratitude. Special thank you to Nicole Williams and her little helper for delivering the special treat for the staff. It was very well received on a very cold day. Just a friendly reminder for our Community Council Meeting, 6pm on Wednesday 5th August. All Welcome!
Dinamo Dean!
Dean our Janitor worked throughout the holidays to make our school glitter and shine. It is just wonderful to see our gardens and lawns looking so neat and tidy!
100 Days of School for our special Kinders!!
On Monday 3rd August, our littlest learners will reach a huge milestone, celebrating 100 days of kindergarten.
The students will spend the day reflecting on all that they’ve learned and accomplished so far and be excited to hear about what’s ahead. They have the opportunity to dress appropriately for the occasion, in olden days clothes. We look forward to their special parade from 8.50am On Monday, after whole school prayer. No doubt it will be a joyful celebrate for all!
Safe/Unsafe Foods
When sending food to school with your child, please consider the health of others. We have a number of students with serious allergies to nuts. We want to keep all our lovely people safe
Blessings to all families.
Jo Reed