This being Week 6 we enter the last half of the school term and we have our feet firmly sitting in the day to day operations of this year with a view to 2020 and what is coming.

Still to come in 2019!

Semester 2 Reports

Teachers have spent many weeks conducting final assessments of students in their classes and writing Semester 2 student reports. They always take great care preparing these and I thank them for the extra time taken to complete them. These will be distributed mid Week 9 with an opportunity to meet with teachers to discuss them later in that week and early Week 10.

Christmas Concert

Rehearsals for our annual Christmas Concert, being held at SFX on Monday 16 December at 6.00pm, are well underway. Mrs MacDonald is working with class teachers to develop a fun night that every child can be a part of. Kindergarten will once again present a version of the Nativity story. Some classes have sent home notes already this week regarding costume requirements. Others will be sending these very soon as the needs are finalised. They will be kept simple and additional special items will be made at school.

Please note that all students will need to be at SFX at 5.30pm on the day.

Year 6 End of Year special events

The Year 6 Graduation Mass is a very special evening celebrating the achievements of our young students embarking on high school. Held at the Parish church at Kippax on Wednesday 11 December, it is an important opportunity to be thankful for the wonderful journey that our students have all travelled and bless them for their future.

The following Wednesday 18 December Year 6 will have a special Big Splash day where they get to enjoy each other's company, along with their teachers, one last time.

On Thursday 19 December we will hold our Candle Ceremony where Year 6 students will say goodbye to the student community and pass on the light of student leadership to our Year 5 students. It is a special moment for everyone.

Year 6 teachers will keep the families informed of these events.

End of Term Awards

With all that is happening, our End of Term Awards ceremony will be held a few days earlier on Thursday 12 December at 2.10pm. Teachers are finalising nominations and will receive notice next week if their child is receiving one of these awards.

A view to 2020!

Playground update

The quotes have been accepted, the design finalised and the dates booked. We are looking forward to new basketball and netball courts as well as a lot of other linemarking for games being completed in January. It will be a new beginning for our playground in 2020. Thank you everyone for the wonderful efforts in fundraising to achieve the first big playground improvement project. We get to see our hard work come to fruition and our students benefit.

Budget and School Fees 2020

Thank you to the Community Council Executive who met last night to discuss the draft budget and school fees for 2020. These will be discussed and ratified at the next Community Council Meeting on Wednesday 4 December and then relevant information will be shared with the school community directly afterwards. Our budget priorities next year will remain focused on the playground improvements and increased access to the ICT and Digital Technologies resources to enhance students' learning opportunities.

New student orientations

We finished our Kindergarten 2020 orientations yesterday with a beautiful buddy time between Year 4 and the new Kindergarten students. These two groups will go on to remain buddy groups for the next two years.

Other students who will be new next year from Year 1 to 6 have been invited to spend a day at school with us at one of the next two Thursdays. We look forward to helping them feel welcome in our community.

Teachers and Classes for 2020

Thank you to all the parents who sent me their considerations for their child's class placement in 2020. These have been drawn together and are being referred to as we work through the process of drafting the class lists.

We use a software program to assist us in putting the lists together after a large amount of data input that includes student nominated friends/preferences, input from class teachers around academic, social and well-being requirements of students and then the parent considerations received. Class teachers get to work with the drafts alongside Executive Team members. I then have one last look over them to finalise the lists. Once the groups are formed we then assign the teacher to match the group. As we have done in the past, teachers for each year level will be announced in the Newsletter in Week 9.

On Tuesday of Week 10 students will be told their teacher for 2020 and have a 'one up day' where they spend an afternoon with their teacher in their class group. It's a great opportunity to begin building a relationship between teacher and students. Where possible we try to have any new teachers to our school attend on 'one-up day'.

Staffing 2020

A few weeks ago I announced a few staffing changes due to maternity leave and transfer opportunities. I would just like to update everyone.

Mrs Melanie Monaghan is going to give high school a go next year with a one year transfer to SFX. While she will miss being among the younger students in 2020 she's looking forward to the professional learning opportunity this will be. We wish her well in 2020 (and yes....we are in talks about the chickens).

Mrs K (Daisy), one of our Classroom Support Assistants who works across the school with many students, will be spending 2020 overseas and we wish her the very best in her endeavours next year.

Some new teachers have been appointed for 2020. These include Ashleigh van Kemenade who will be joining us from St Thomas Aquinas, West Belconnen; Charlie McIver, new to our Catholic Education system; and, Ruth Blackwell, who will be joining us from St Thomas the Apostle in Kambah. We warmly welcome them to our school community and look forward to their contributions to our students' learning and growth.

School is a busy, busy place at this time of year and full of action, excitement and for some, anxiety. The greatest success during such time occurs when we work together, stepping in when needed to support those around us as well as acknowledging the great achievements and successes. Together, we make St John the Apostle Primary School a great place for each other.