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- Brag Tag Celebration (Week 5)
- SFX PE lessons for Year 6 (Week 6)
- Hats off for winter (Week 7)
- SFX PE lessons for Year 4 (week 7)
- End of Term Awards Assembly (Week 10)
Please go to our school calendar on the website or SZapp for more details.
Yesterday we were treated to a Kindergarten Celebration of Learning Assembly. What a joy!
We watched them participate in their daily review of sounds and sight words, they sang a song about Days of the Week, some shared their artwork about the communities they belong to inspired by traditional aboriginal designs, they also sang a song by local aboriginal man Johnny Huckle. One of my favourite moments was the bucket drumming!
I turned to watch the rest of the school during this assembly and there were so many smiles and even older students joining in.
Thank you to Miss Sarah Collins and Mrs Melinda Watson for preparing the students for their assembly and spreading the joy of Kindergarten with the rest of the school. Thank you to our wonderful Kindergarten students.
Brag Tag Celebration
Today we had a Brag Tag Celebration for all those who have received twenty Brag Tag stickers in the last five weeks.
We enjoyed games, fun and a movie for the morning session.
We'll have another celebration in Week 10.
Reporting - Semester 1 2021
Your child's Semester 1 Report will be distributed in Week 9 of this term. The Catholic Education Office has amended the proforma which will be used to write your child’s Semester 1 2021 report.
Below are the features of this Report which will be forwarded home with your child at the time. Students on a Personal Plan will also receive an additional report against their goals.
For Kindergarten students:
- Achievement in each subject will be reported using a four-point scale (Well Above Expectations, Above Expectations, Meeting Expectations and Working Towards Expectations).
For Year 1 to Year 6 students:
- Academic grades for each subject using a five-point scale from A-E will be reported using the Australian Curriculum Achievement Standards.
For all students:
- Strand Achievement will be reported in English, Mathematics, Humanities and Social Sciences, Health and Physical Education, and The Arts using a five-point scale (Excellent, High, Sound, Basic, Elementary).
- Engagement with Learning statements, which are taken directly from the Australian Curriculum, will provide specific information about your child’s Critical and Creative Thinking, and Personal and Social Responsibility, using a three-point scale (Beginning, Developing, Consistently).
- Individual student comments will not be used in the Semester 1 Reports.
Dialogue is an important feature of reporting. The Semester Report in this format encourages parent engagement and conversation about student learning. As a consequence we will hold Parent Teacher interviews in the last week of term. It is our intention at this meeting to engage in a genuine conversation about your child’s strengths, challenges, effort and areas for growth.
The new approach to Academic Reporting is a developing process. Further work will be undertaken by Catholic Education in the coming months to determine how progress and achievement is best reported based on what we know to be important information about a student’s learning and progress.
Next Pupil Free Day
Catholic Education has nominated that Monday 12 July (first day of Term Three) to be a Pupil Free day to allow staff to continue their professional development in the Catalyst Program. Students do not attend school on that day and OSHClub will provide care for registered participants who book.
Enjoy a restful weekend.
Matthew Garton
Principal
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.
Dice 4 Diversity
On Wednesday, Rebecca Neiberding and I went to a Classrooom Support Teacher Network day at Catholic Education. We had a number of interesting presentations. One organisation that I thought was important to share is Dice 4 Diversity. Dice 4 Diversity is run by two parents. Their children attend school in our Archdiocese. They created Dice 4 Diversity as they saw a need around communication for children and adults with disbilities, that they believe is not adequately supported through therapies.
Their goal is to create social inclusion through role-play. They utilise role-playing games as a way to learn social skills in a safe environment. Sessions are designed for school children from year 3 and up, teens and adults with diverse skills and abilities who are looking to expand their communication and social skills.
Why role playing?
"Navigating social interactions can be difficult. Some people are good at it, but many struggle in these situations. But those that are good at it did not become so proficient without practice. Frequent social interactions in different situations are a great way to learn how to communicate effectively, while also learning social norms.
Our aim is to assist people with disabilities to enhance their social skills, enabling better interactions with the wider community. Participants will have the opportunity to meet people outside their current communities which will expand their social boundaries within age-appropriate cohorts" (Dice 4 Diversity, 2021).
NDIS (EACH) - Early Childhood Early Intervention (ECEI)
Some other important information from the Classroom Support Teacher Network day was about the Early Childhood Early Intervention NDIS (EACH) program. EACH is the NDIS Partner in the Community providing Early Childhood Early Intervention for children aged 0-6 with a developmental delay.
If your child is under the age of 7 and you have some concerns about their development, they could be elidgible for NDIS support without a diagnosis.
For further information: https://www.each.com.au/service/early-childhood-early-intervention/
If you would like to discuss this further, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Donations
This Term we will purchase some sand play stations for our Junior Primary students. Sand play for our younger students has many benefits, as it enhances motor skills, improves language and speech, enhances social and emotional awareness, introduces concepts of mathematics and science and sparks creativity.
To ensure we have a variety of toys/equipment for sand play we would appreciate any of the below to be donated (new/used ):
- Mini shovels/rakes
- Small buckets
- Play cooking utensils
- Measuring cups
- Plastic sieves
- Trucks/cars
- Plastic toy dinosaurs/animals
- Plastic fossil sets
- Mould sets
If you are cleaning up any old toys from home that your children are not using anymore and are still in good condition, please consider sending them to school for children here to use.
We are also always looking for donations of lego/duplo. If you have any lego sitting at home that your children don’t play with anymore, please consider donating it to St John’s.
We would really appreciate any of the above donations!
Rebekah Brown
Assistant Principal and Inclusion Coordinator
Year One has started learning about sacred spaces. They all went up to the chapel to explore what makes a Catholic space sacred. Henry and Theo from 1B were very taken with the idea and created their own sacred space at home. Well done Henry and Theo!
Maybe you might like to encourage your child to create a sacred space at home or you may already have one. I would love to see some photos!
Catholic Life and Reflection
I chose to work in a community. My work also builds communities of the present and the future. I believe in community. I believe that communities offer support and love when you need it the most. Sometimes when you don’t even realise that you need it.
God bless you all,
Stephanie Stewart
Religious Education Coordinator
Notices from the Parish
Happy birthday to Jonah T who celebrated his birthday this week.
Please note that we ask students to not bring home made cupcakes to share with the class for their birthdays. This is a precautionary measure for health and hygiene. The Canteen offers a number of options to share with the class. Purchases can be made through the QKR app.
| KB |
Archie A |
Mackenzie K |
KM |
Tymon A |
Rubi S |
| 1B |
Edith B |
Tyler H |
1M |
Aluel A |
Jack H |
| 2B |
Aashna A |
Noah M |
2M |
Josie A | |
| 3B |
Liliana G |
Sophia N | 3M |
William B |
Charlotte K |
| 4B |
Bior A |
Indianna E |
4M |
Raphael I |
Diosa M |
| 5B | 5M | ||||
| 6B |
Alek A |
Evie J |
6M |
Athuai A |
Huon H |
Find out what is happening in our School Library Community - May 2021
We have had a lot of fun in the library at St John’s this week, getting ready for the National Simultaneous Storytime for 2021. The book chosen for this year’s read-along was “Give Me Some Space” by Philip Bunting.
The students listened to the story being read by Shannon Walker (PH.D) NASA Astronaut, explored the International Space Station and were engaged in discussions about space and all things astronomical! They have also loved our space display in the Library. Some of our other favourite Philip Bunting books that we have in the library include:
Family Borrowing - Wednesday 2:50 -3:30
The Library will be open next Wednesday for Family Borrowing time. We hope to see you there! We have some lovely new books in the Library and a range of parenting and helpful books that parents and carers can now borrow.
Overdue Library Books
Please be advised that there are a number of students with outstanding library books. Notices will be sent home during Library lessons next week and into week 7. Please help your children find any books that may be misplaced and if they are well and truly lost we ask that you please pay $8 per book via the Qkr app and then email us the receipt. This enables us to buy a replacement for the missing book. Please contact us if you have any questions about overdue books or how to pay.
Happy Reading
Lauren Hudson (Teacher/Librarian) lauren.hudson@cg.catholic.edu.au
Kirsty Vera (Library Assistant) kirsty.vera@cg.catholic.edu.au
School Fees were due today unless paying by direct debit.
If you have not increased your direct debit this year you are probably not paying enough to cover your fees for the year.
Fees increase each year and the amount being paid by direct debit needs to be increased accordingly.
Please refer to attached fee schedule that has the fortnightly breakdown. This schedule is based on 26 fortnights. If you are just starting up with a direct debit the fortnightly amount will need to be altered.
If you need to discuss your fees please contact Debbie Milne (finance officer) via email finance.sjaps@cg.catholic.edu.au or phone.
Working days are Monday – Thursday 8am – 3:30pm.
Debbie Milne
Finance Officer
St John the Apostle Primary School
Florey ACT 2615
finance.sjaps@cg.catholic.edu.au
On time, every day
During the current COVID-19 pandemic parents are rightfully urged to take a cautious approach and keep children and young people at home if they show symptoms of the virus.
It’s a balancing act if you’re a parent as one the most important things you can do to ensure your child has a bright future is to make sure he or she goes to school every day—and gets there on time. It sounds simple, but it’s true. The correlation between school attendance and children’s achievement levels is well established. The more time kids spend at school, the more likely they are to experience school success.Of course, most people know this intuitively, yet school absenteeism is a huge problem in Australian schools.
According to a report by the Australian Curriculum and Assessment authority nearly 13 per cent of Australian students are missing at least one year of schooling by the time they reach year 10. In today’s highly competitive world, this rate of absenteeism is alarming, putting our kids at a distinct disadvantage.
Current research shows that mornings for most children are the most productive time of the day, with 10.00am the peak period for productivity. When children arrive late and take time to settle as they inevitably do, valuable learning time is lost.
It’s reassuring to know that you can maximise their chances of future success just by making sure they turn up to school every day. And, of course, regular school attendance also helps kids prepare for the workforce, where it will be expected that they turn up each day work-ready. The real world is unforgiving of those who stay away with no excuse.
As a parent:
- Commit to sending kids to school every day
- Make sure kids arrive at school and class on time
- Inform the school when they are away, sending medical certificates and other evidence of genuine absence
- Follow current COVID-19 health guidelines and recommendations
- Consider catching-up on missed work
- Make kids who are away stay in their bedroom, which is where unwell kids should be
Michael Grose
Michael Grose, founder of Parenting Ideas, is one of Australia’s leading parenting educators. He’s an award-winning speaker and the author of 12 books for parents including Spoonfed Generation, and the bestselling Why First Borns Rule the World and Last Borns Want to Change It. Michael is a former teacher with 15 years experience, and has 30 years experience in parenting education. He also holds a Master of Educational Studies from Monash University specialising in parenting education.
