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Term 1
- Community Council Meeting (Week 3)
- Year 6 - My Body My Life Program - (Week 7)
- School Photos - (Week 9)
- Last day of Term 1 - Friday 8 April
Term 2
- Term 2 Commences Wednesday 27 April
Please go to our school calendar on the website or COMPASS for more details.
Please note that the first day of Terms 2 and 3 (26 April and 18 July) are both pupil free days for professional learning for staff. Students do not attend school on these days. OSHClub will be available.
Dear St John the Apostle families,
We've been very fortunate to experience very few COVID positive cases this week where there may be accidental exposure for students and staff. Thank you for letting us know when your child has tested positive on a RAT. It helps us to support the community to stay healthy and well.
It has also been lovely to hear how relief staff and new staff are really enjoying coming to St John the Apostle each day. They have enjoyed working with all of our children and felt welcomed and supported by our staff. The words they use that resonate the most for me is how 'calm' and 'settled' everything is.
Schools are a hive of activity. I often describe them as places where you have to sprint as hard as you can for 10 weeks each term. Then, each holidays, spend a week to rest, taking the second week to prepare for the next sprint. As leaders in the school our excellent Executive Team focuses on organising our school with systems and processes that help keep us all moving at sustainable and achievable pace.
At my first meeting with the Executive Team in my first year at St John the Apostle I shared the following stanzas from a poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox:
I have reminded us of this at the beginning of every year; the importance of being clear about our purpose and goals no matter what comes our way, striving to have integrity in our actions. While a number of situations have buffeted us over the years, I am so pleased that we have weathered these well, without loosing our direction, to continue to grow and learn together to be the best we can for our students and families, the best we can for our staff and to 'be on Earth the Heart of God'.
Community Council AGM
A crucial part of our community is the Community Council, an elected body of staff
and community members who, where possible, represent the voices of our community in conversations about our school direction and growth. The Community Council holds a governance role and a pastoral role in helping to look after the community.
This year the Community Council will focus on three important areas:
- Community - creating the opportunities to be together again and build connection between families and with the school
- Fundraising - in our COVID impacted environment, finding ways to re-engage in fundraising activities alongside community building
- Buildings and Facilities - supporting the school with the playground redevelopment project happening throughout the year
I encourage all community members to join us at our Community Council AGM this Wednesday 16 February at 6.30pm. It will be held online and a link will be sent out next Tuesday via Compass. Please see the Compass News Item that was sent out earlier this week for more information.
Strategic Plan and Annual Improvement Plan 2022
If you would like to see what 'big ideas' we are focusing on in our school this year you can find our Strategic Plan for 2021 to 2023 and our Annual Improvement Plan for 2022 on our school website.
Writing Revolution
I wrote in my newsletter last year about a professional development opportunity and writing program, Writing Revolution, that some teachers across our school would be learning and implementing across our school. Next week some of our teachers from Kindergarten to Year 6 will start the 6-8 week professional learning program.
The Writing Revolution provides a clear method of instruction, known as the Hochman Method. This method has demonstrated over and over again that it can turn weak writers into strong communicators by focusing on specific techniques that match their needs and by providing them with targeted feedback. The method also does more than improve writing skills. It also helps to boost reading comprehension, enhance speaking ability, improve organisational and study skills and develop analytical capabilities. The Writing Revolution breaks the writing process down into manageable chunks and then has students practice the chunks they need, repeatedly, while also learning content.
High Impact Teaching Practices
We will continue to work with COGLearn this year to implement High Impact Teaching Practices across the school. Our Wave One teachers will continue to be developed in teaching Daily Reviews and Explicit Lessons. We have another wave of teachers who will work with COGLearn to refine Daily Reviews in their classrooms.
Daily Review
A daily review is a short session in which students recall previously learned content.
Picture yourself in your high school chemistry class. Chemistry is a complex, highly technical subject in which you learn a lot of new words and concepts that you have never seen before. One day you might learn about balancing chemical formulas and the next you might have to apply that concept to a more complex problem.
Now imagine that you learned each topic in chemistry only once. Your teacher introduced it, taught it, and you practiced and then never saw it again until the test. If that sounds stressful, then you probably already understand the need for a daily review. During a daily review, students and their teacher spend a short amount of time recalling what they have previously learned. This process helps learning move into a student's long term memory.
At St John's our daily reviews are through a short teacher powerpoint presentation. A short teacher presentation includes the most important information that students need to recall.
Rebekah Brown
Assistant Principal and Inclusion Coordinator
What students are learning about
This week some classes have taken the new painting and had a closer look.
They have thought about the symbols in the image and the meaning behind the psalm.
It is early days but I love to see how students begin to explore new concepts and ideas. This is a feflection from Grace H in Year 5 who has created her own version of the image and included some of her understanding.
Catholic Life and Reflection
I just love it. It is calm and clear and there is a certain quality of light that I always love in the mornings. Chip checks his social media (aka sniffs at every tree) and slobbers and I look for birds and notice the bark on trees. I don’t think he behaves as well for me as he does for my husband but I don’t mind.
Chip knows when it is time for a walk. So, my second revelation is that dogs, like small children, like routine! He gets antsy around 4.30pm in the afternoon and this is what you see wherever you go, until you take him for a walk. He also knows he gets fed after that so…..yeah!
As life changes, my eldest just moved out of home, I am glad to know that I can still adapt. I never thought I would be the morning dog walker or that not having all my kids at home would be bearable but here we are and I am ok.
Don’t get me wrong, I will sleep in if I can and I miss my eldest but I am ok.
Philippians 4:13
13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
God bless, may Christ strengthen you with all the challenges you face this week, big and small.Stephanie Stewart
Religious Education Coordinator
Notices from the Parish
Happy birthday to Mariam H, James K, Aston B, Rylan R and Arok G who all celebrated a birthday during the holidays or during the 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.
I am so excited to be working in this lovely school! I have been a teacher since 2004, and my passion for children's literature led me to study a Master of Education (Teacher Librarianship) to become a Teacher Librarian. I think it's the best job in the world! I love sharing my passion for literature with children and find joy in helping children find books to ignite their own passion for reading. This term we are focusing on developing reader profiles and setting reading goals for students from Year 1 to Year 6. Reader profiles will help guide the students to find books and genres they enjoy reading, as well as guiding the purchase of new books for the library. This year we will also work on research skills, which is also a passion of mine! I look forward to meeting you all.
Mrs Emma Alcock
The Uniform Shop will be open on the following dates:
Friday 18th February 9:00am-10:00am
Parents are able to attend in person. Please make sure you check-in using the CBR Check-in QR code, wear a face mask and abide by all social distancing requirements set by ACT Health.
If you have any questions or concerns please email the uniform shop on stjohnsclothingpool@gmail.com.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
St John the Apostle Primary School
BelindaDuke
0402424392
belinda.duke@hotmail.com.au
