Please go to our school calendar on the website or COMPASS for more details.

Please note that the first day of Term 3 (Monday 24 April) and the first day of Term 3 (17 July) is a pupil free day for professional learning for staff. Students do not attend school on these days. OSHClub will be available.

Term 2

Yr 2-3 & 5-6 Soccer Clinics (weeks 6-9)
Kinder - Constable Kenny visit (week 10)
Athletics Carnival (week 10)

2023 Theme

'Walking Together'

The school positive behaviour focus this week was:

Right place, right time, right task.

The school "Didge ya know?" fact this week was:

Ngaday - means: listen.

Dear St John the Apostle community,

Reconciliation Day

This weekend we celebrate Reconciliation Day.

The sixth annual Reconciliation Day event in Canberra will be held this Monday 29 May 2023 at the National Arboretum. Reconciliation Day is part of National Reconciliation Week and is a time for all Canberrans to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievement, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia.

From language workshops, to art and crafts and storytelling, to live entertainment, stalls and exhibitions, the event will offer a family friendly and engaging program that creates a welcoming environment, encouraging all members of the community to attend and participate.

It is a great family event and I encourage families to take time out to go to the Arboretum and, in the spirit of Reconciliation, just 'take in' a little of the people and culture being celebrated. It's a great way to help our children continuously develop understanding and empathy and learn how to contribute to the ongoing process of reconciliation.

Online Enrolment Form

Enrolment Period

We've had a very positive response during our Enrolment Period for those enrolling in Kindergarten in 2024 and in various other year levels.

The official Enrolment Period for Kindergarten and Year 7 in 2024 closes today.

If you have a younger sibling who is currently attending pre-school and you are yet to enrol in Kindergarten at St John's for 2024 please enrol your child over the coming weekend to ensure a place.

If your child is currently in Year 6 and yet to enrol for Year 7 at St Francis Xavier College for 2024 please submit the enrolment form quickly to guarantee a place for them.

The online enrolment form for all Catholic systemic schools is at:

Online Enrollment Form

Tell Them From Me Parent, Staff and Student Survey

As part of our continuous school improvement, St John the Apostle community members are invited to participate in an online survey for students, teacher and parents – Tell Them From Me^® (TTFM^®). Links were sent through to families earlier today inviting them to participate. We'll continue to send these links out as reminders to provide your input. The survey is open until 9th June 2023.

During the next two weeks, all students in Years 4 - 6 will be given the opportunity and time to participate in this survey during regular school hours. The survey will provide us with valuable feedback on what our students think about school life, how engaged they are with school and the different ways that teachers interact with them. Students will be given a random username and password to access and complete the survey online. Students’ names cannot be linked to their responses which allows it to be completely anonymous. Results will show all student scores combined – it is not possible to single out individual students in the results.

The survey measures include such topics as emotional and social well-being, physical health, and behaviours and attitudes linked to student success. The survey also allows students to give their thoughts and feedback in open-ended question responses.

Participation in the survey is entirely voluntary. Your child in Years 4 - 6 will not take part if either you or your child do not wish to. If, during the survey, your child is uncomfortable answering any question, he/she will be encouraged to leave it blank and move on to the next one.

If you do not want your child to take part in the survey, please contact your child's teacher.

Staffing Update

Congratulations to Mrs Rebecca Neiberding (Inclusion Teacher) who will take up a position as Food Technology Teacher at SFX from next Semester. Mrs Neiberding has been an integral part of the Inclusion Team for several years now, organising and running intervention programs, supporting the development and review of Personal Plans, managing Inclusion Assistants and conducting assessments. We wish her well in her new opportunity. We are currently advertising for a new Inclusion Teacher.

Congratulations also to Mrs Bree Dess who is expecting another baby. She will take leave a few weeks into Term 3 and remain on leave until the end of the year. We are currently arranging an Acting Coordinator and a 4 Maroon teacher for Semester 2. Mrs Stephanie Stewart will return to teach 4 Blue in two weeks time.

There is a lot of sickness going around at the moment. I encourage everyone to look after themselves and their children and use the coming long weekends to rest and nourish themselves wherever possible.

Have a wonderful long weekend.

Matthew Garton

Principal

Kindergarten, Year One and Year Two Parent Reading Session

On Tuesday 6 June, the Kindergarten, Year One and Year Two teachers will be running a Parent Reading Session from 4-5pm.

During this session, we will discuss the main assessment we use to assess your child’s reading development. This assessment is called DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills). We will discuss how DIBELS helps us to identify skills that need to be developed for a child to successfully read. For those parents who come to the session we will provide their child’s results in a parent report. We will discuss the report in detail and give you strategies to easily and quickly support your child in these areas at home. Unfortunately, if you do not attend we will be unable to give you this report as it requires explanation. This session will take place in the hall with all parents/carers that attend from Kindergarten to Year 2.

For the second part of the session, each parent/carer will move to their child’s classroom. During this session, the year level teachers will discuss specific reading strategies for their year level. There will also be an opportunity for you to practice these strategies with your child and gain support from your child’s classroom teacher.

Please bring your child with you. For the first part of the session, we will look after the students in their classrooms. You will then meet them for the second session in their classroom.

We highly recommend that parents/carers attend this session. Your child’s reading success in the lower primary years are instrumental to their ongoing success as they grow older. Classroom teachers will also individually call parents to request they attend this session if they think it will be especially beneficial to your child.

Please RSVP to this event using the link provided. Should other siblings attend, we can provide some babysitting. Please clearly indicate this in the RSVP form.

https://stjohnflorey.schoolzineplus.com/form/69?preview=1

Belconnen Region Cross Country Carnival

A big congratulations to all of the students who represented our school at the Belconnen Region Cross Country Carnival. They all participated with enthusiasm and supported each other beautifully. Below are the students who represented our school:

Year Two

Charlotte M

Charlotte S

Chloe H

Annika N

Tymon A

Lewys C

Martin H

Thomas A

Samuel O

Year Three

Rudhra N

Chloe L

April M

Holly C

Isabella S

Henry J

Jackson M

Matthew H

Asher M

Year Four

Evie M

Isabelle J

Ethan Z

Vincent N

Xavier B

Year Five

Emma D

Felicity B

Abbey R

Abbey W

Sophie J

Adrienne M

Charlotte S

William B

Beau H

Angus G

Joseph G

Jacob H

Kelvin N

Jack R

Year Six

Faith L

Sophie R

Layla P

Matilda M

Eva G

Cruise M

Tyler R

Ngawang C

Emry W

Rebekah Brown

Assistant Principal and Inclusion Coordinator

What Students are Learning About

The Year 6 students have been learning about the key parts of Confirmation, as some of our Year 6 students will participate in the Sacrament of Confirmation next Thursday evening. They have been learning about the significant signs, symbols and actions of Confirmation, and some of these are connected to their Baptism. The students have been exploring the meaning of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, e.g. Wisdom, Wonder and Awe, Understanding, Reverence, and Courage, as well as the Fruits of the Holy Spirit, e.g. Gentleness, Peace, Patience, Love, Joy, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness and Self Control. These gifts are sealed and strengthened by the Holy Spirit at Confirmation. Through the Holy Spirit, these Gifts and Fruits are evident in our lives, in the way we treat others, and in the way we serve our community. We are guided by the gifts and strive to strengthen them within ourselves. The Year 6s have created beautiful artwork depicting a dove, which represents the Holy Spirit, and the Gifts and Fruits that they would like to have.

Miss Sarah Collins

Catholic Life and Reflection

Archbishop Prowse and Fr Chung visited the Year 6 students on Thursday. Archbishop Prowse spoke with the students about their preparation for the Sacrament of Confirmation next week. He spoke about love and in particular the trinity and love. His Grace explained to the students that God’s love is the greatest love, Jesus’ love is the second greatest love and the energy permeating from that love is the Holy Spirit. We receive this energy of love through the Holy Spirit. He spoke about the Laying on of Hands and that when he does this, the Confirmation candidates are receiving that love from the Father and Son through the Holy Spirit. The students told His Grace what Saints they had chosen and the special story about their saints and what attracted them spiritually to these holy people.

Jessie and Uasi (two of our school captains) led the Archbishop on a tour of the school. They were both wonderful representatives for our school, telling the Archbishop all about St John the Apostle Primary School. They spoke confidently, making conversation and answering his questions. His Grace must have been impressed too because he invited Jessie and Uasi to join him for lunch before he left. Well done Jessie and Uasi. We are all very proud of you!

Rebecca Stevenson

Religious Education Coordinator (Acting)

At St John's we teach a number of programs that focus on mastering particular knowledge and skills in literacy and numeracy. Students are taught based on their individual, current level of mastery. Two of the programs we teach are Spelling Mastery and Rocket Maths. We regularly collect data from students in both of these programs so we can track that they are having continous progress. Students work hard to achieve mastery in these programs, so we have decided to celebrate the students who show mastery in these programs by giving them awards.

Students will receive Spelling Mastery Awards once they reach mastery three times at their Spelling Mastery level. For some students this is 10/10 and for others it is 25/25. For Kindergarten students will receive Spelling Mastery Awards when they receive 10/10 for each unit they complete in Sounds~Write.

Students will receive Maths Mastery Awards each time they beat their Rocket Math Two Minute Goal.

Week 4 Spelling Mastery Awards

During Friday morning assembly in Week 4 (11 August), the following students will receive Spelling Mastery Awards:

Kindergarten

Year One

Aarzah S 1B

Beau C 1M

Rihaan S 1B

Grace G 1M

Year Two

Henry G 2B

Oliver W 2B

Sonem 2B

Year Three

Samuel O 3B

Ashley C 3B

Henry P 3M

Jenson C 3B

Saba K 3M

Harvey I 3M

Viliami 3B

Eduardo 3B

Hugo G 3M

Liam R 3B

Matthew H 3M

Year Four

Ethan Z 4B

Henry T 4B

Year Five

Angus G 5M

Kelvin N 5B

Ziva Z 5B

Olive G 5M

Year Six

Maria 6B

Grace H 6B

Aisling S 6B

Ella-Maree G 6M

Kennie H 6B

Week 4 Maths Mastery Awards

During Friday morning assembly in Week 4 (11 June), the following students will receive Maths Mastery Awards:

Kindergarten

Ajak KM

Henry B KM

Jiva KM

Tia KM

Roscoe KM

Daniel KM

Raunak KM

Harry KM

Ava KM

Rita KM

Year One

Year Two

Archie 2B

Spencer 2B

Jeremiah 2B

Andrew 2B

Oliver 2B

Pis 2B

Ebuka 2B

Jack 2B

Anna 2B

Year Three

Lewis 3M

Hugo 3M

Matthew 3M

Henry 3M

Agamjot 3M

Jayden 3B

Jensoin 3B

Eduardo 3B

Marian 3B

Sam O 3B

Steven 3B

Year Four

Aradhana 4M

Xaver G 4M

Sophie 4M

Jonah 4M

Gauri 4B

Paul 4B

Arjun 4B

Ileana 4B

James T 4B

Year Five

William B 5M

Liam D 5M

Leo 5M

Lily VA 5M

Sophia 5M

Year Six

Cruise 6M

Happy birthday to Gauri D, Sophie R and Luca V who celebrated a birthday over the last week.

The Parent Portal in Compass allows both parents and school to account for students' whereabouts at all times. A reminder that if your child is absent from shool you are required to submit an attendance record through Compass.

For information about the Compass Parent Portal - Mobile App and Parent Portal Desktop functions, please click on the links below. Should you have any questions please contact the school for further assistance.

Parent Portal Visual Guide

Parent Portal - Mobile App

The Uniform Shop will open on:

Friday 2 June - 8.30-9.30

If you have any questions or concerns please email the uniform shop on stjohnsclothingpool@gmail.com

We would love donations of plastic bags. If you have any plastic bags at home please bring them in.

Mindfulness

As a psychiatrist working with young parents, it became clear that one of the most important jobs I had was to find ways to help people connect with each other when emotions were running high. So often in my own conversations with them, I would see how well a parent could bring wisdom and clarity to challenging situations that were going on in relationships with their partner or children. But I also saw that there were times when, away from our sessions and in the heat of the moment, they would be unable to think clearly or would be triggered into lashing out in anger.

What was also clear was that the more often these painful experiences of disconnection occurred, the more likely it was that they would recur. This is no accident. It relates to a process called neuroplasticity, a term which refers to the way the brain is always reshaping and rewiring itself according to how we think and behave.

We now know that in the first two years of life, before language skills are present, memories of difficult experiences are laid down in what is called implicit memory. These memories are not attached to a logical story line – that can only happen when children have language skills and can make meaning of their experience.

For young babies, tiredness, hunger and physical discomfort are often the reasons they become distressed. But what is less well recognised, is that babies are hardwired to detect emotional disconnection and are powerfully caught up in the emotional reactions of those around them. Decades ago, Ed Tronick, a professor of child psychology, demonstrated this in what is now called the “still face experiment” which you can see here in a short video.

As humans we retain a lifelong sensitivity to the emotions of those around us.

When we are triggered into strong reactions of anger, fear, or shame, emotions are amplified by their connections to parts of the brain that store implicit memories. This is why, even in relationships with people we know well and trust, from time to time, confusing and distressing disconnections are inevitable.

So, what can be done about this very human vulnerability?

Well, we can take advantage of the process of neuroplasticity and use mindfulness practices to build stronger connections between our more primitive centres of emotion and the more highly developed higher centres of our brain which are capable of clear seeing and flexibility.

The way this is done however, is not intuitive. Left to its own devices, when we are feeling out of our comfort zone, our brains usually direct us into either distraction or unhelpful behaviours like over eating.

Mindfulness practices have been shown to powerfully harness the brain’s capacity to rewire itself. However, when most people think of mindfulness, they imagine sitting quietly and following a guided meditation, or trying to bring a more focussed awareness to simple activities such as eating a meal. While this can be helpful, it doesn’t really tackle the challenge of what happens when the brain gets hijacked by strong emotion.

To bring about this sort of radical change, we need to find ways to expose ourselves to the very situations that trigger us, but in ways that we can actively recruit the parts of our brain which enable us to remain steady and wise.

Imagination is a powerful way to start this process. The way our brains work, is that even imagining a particular situation, activates areas of the brain that are brought into action when the activity is actually happening.

When doing this exercise, it is important to not take on anything too distressing and set yourself a fixed period of time – only a few minutes. Getting overwhelmed with emotion is not the aim.

Let’s say that you want to develop the capacity to not react with anger when your children are arguing. Choose a time when you will not be interrupted. Sitting or lying down, bring yourself into the moment by connecting as best you can to sounds around you or to sensations in your body. When you are feeling a sense of calm, bring to mind a recent memory of when the children were fighting and you became angry. You don’t need to dwell on the image, just connect with it for as long as it takes for you to feel a bit caught up. Can you feel the reaction in your body? Where is it located? Use this spot as an anchor to gently redirect your attention to, away from the image and any intrusive thoughts.

Gently but firmly, again and again, redirect the focus of your attention in this way. This is a bit like working out in the gym. If you use this way of getting into the driver’s seat of your brain and setting small challenges of reconnecting to challenging situations, it won’t take long before you begin to feel a greater sense of being grounded when difficult situations arise.

Next time difficult situation arises, with greater awareness of what is happening, slow down the speed at which you talk. Soften your voice tone and talk more quietly. All of these shifts will influence not only your bodily systems, but also those of the people around you.

Dr Diana Korevaar

Dr Diana Korevaar is a perinatal psychiatrist, whose priority has been to help parents raise resilient and happy children. In her book Mindfulness for Mums and Dads, she adapted the science of neuroplasticity and mindfulness into practical skills which translate the challenging experiences of parenting and relationships into opportunities for growth.

Ashley is a student in Year 3 at St Johns. Her family wanted to share her story with the school community.

An opportunity has come up for Ashley to participate in a US based global study to better understand her disability, and help her and a wider range of patients worldwide.

Ashley was four years old before newly developed genetic testing discovered she has a rarely seen genetic mutation. Not much is known about this condition. It is not passed on through genetic genes, but manifested by itself. It has recently been named Beck-Fahrner Syndrome. Ashley’s participation in this study will not only help her family long term but others who are diagnosed in the future. Some of the testing can only be done at the James Hopkins University in Baltimore in the US.

It will cost an a lot for Ashley's family to participate in this greatly important research and her participation can assist many more children and families in the future. If anyone in our community could assist, even in the smallest of ways, with funding this opportunity Ashley's family would be very appreciative.

Below is the link to Ashley’s Go Fund Me page.

Ashley's help to global research, organised by Belinda Clifford

Corey_Tutt_Literacy_Event_with_100_free_books pdf 1.05 MB

18 Nov	Term 4, Week 6 18 Nov 2024 - 23 Nov 2024

21 Nov	2025 - New Students Transition Day (Yrs 1-6) 8:00 AM - 3:00 PM

25 Nov	Term 4, Week 7 25 Nov 2024 - 30 Nov 2024

2 Dec	Term 4, Week 8 02 Dec 2024 - 07 Dec 2024

2 Dec	Kinder Nativity 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM

4 Dec	Yr 6 - SFX Orientation Day 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM

5 Dec	End of Term Awards 9:00 AM - 9:30 AM

5 Dec	Christmas Picnic 5:30 PM - 7:00 PM

6 Dec	End of Year Thanksgiving Mass - Whole School 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

9 Dec	Term 4, Week 9 09 Dec 2024 - 14 Dec 2024

11 Dec	Sue Ferguson Award 9:00 AM - 9:30 AM

11 Dec	One Up Afternoon 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM

11 Dec	Graduation Mass 5:00 PM - 6:30 PM

13 Dec	Cornerstone Ceremony (Yr 5-6) 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM

13 Dec	Teachers v Students Netball 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM

13 Dec	Colour Run 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM

16 Dec	Term 4, Week 10 16 Dec 2024 - 17 Dec 2024

17 Dec	Pupil Free Day All day