Dear St John the Apostle community, 

Earier this week I joined our Year 5's for their overnight camp at Birrigai.

Firstly, I'd like to thank the Year 5 teachers and Inclusion Assistant, Mrs Ronneberg, for their preparation, supervision and support of our Year 5 students. Every moment of a camp is carefully choreographed, from the meals, to free time activities, the grouping of students in cabins/activities to supporting them in sleeping away from home. Mrs Love, Mrs Ewyk and Mrs Ronneberg were exceptional in ensuring that everything ran smoothly.

I was also impressed with our Year 5 students. They approached camp with excitement and openess to the experience. They embraced each of the learning activities, showed excellent maturity and collaboration and they were respectful of each other and the Birrigai staff who led them. All of the St John's and Birrigai staff commented on this to each other and we were sure to tell the students of their success. They were one of the best groups I have ever taken to a school camp.

I cannot applaud the Birrigai staff enough for their outstanding organisation and their commitment to ensuring that every student was engaged positively. The chosen activities were centred around the gold rush period of Australian history. Students learned through bushwalking, dramatic re-telling, problem-solving and trying activities like panning for gold. The Birrigai Australian history camp is an excellent experience where students learn so much more than they could in the classroom.

I was a very, very proud Principal the day I left the camp.

Bullying No Way!

Today is the National Day of Action against Bullying and Violence. The theme for 2023 is 'growing connections'. This theme supports research findings that strong school community connections and social skills are protective factors in the prevention of bullying and help enable positive, help-seeking behaviours in students.

Parents who seek an enrolment at St John the Apostle regularly ask 'how do you tackle bullying at your school?'. Parents want us to work proactively to prevent bullying and respond to it effectively if it occurs.

In recent years we have had great success in shaping our school culture to be one of positive behaviour. We name, teach and acknowledge what it means to belong to St John the Apostle. We also do this in a way that is inclusive of students whose complex needs mean that they require some support to have successful positive relationships and learning behaviours.

This success has allowed us to focus on teaching more about a very unknown and very hidden form of bullying called relational aggression. Relational aggression can begin as early as pre-school and continue all through life. It is a form of bullying that is generally covert and involves friends and peers manipulating the relationships and reputation of one person. There is usually one or two leaders of relational aggression in a peer group and they have some participating followers, who are usually behaving in this way to prevent being a target themselves. 

It's a learnt form of bullying, from a young age. In a primary school setting we know that we are working with young chldren, who don't always understand that their relationally aggressive behaviour is actually bullying behaviour. That's why our approach is to teach about relational aggression and to work with students and families to proactively develop positive ways of building healthy relationships at school.

Below are the slides from our recent and informative parent forum on relational aggression. If you would like to learn more about relational aggression then please feel free to contact me at any time. 

I hope everyone has a healthy and restful weekend.

MatthewGartonn

Principal

National Science Week 2023

Year Two Maroon and Year Five have had lots of fun this week engaging in Science activities to celebrate National Science Week. 

Two Maroon - For Science week in Two Maroon we have been conducting short experiments to explore changes in state and chemical reactions.

We have conducted the following experiments:

1. Skittle rainbows.
2. Dancing popcorn (Vinegar, water, bicarb soda and corn kernels)
3. Floating artworks. We looked at how we can use textas and different spoons to make our artworks lift off the spoon and float in water.
4. We created rain clouds using water, shaving cream and food colouring. We discussed the process of the water cycle during this experiment.
5. Making rainbows using jars and paper towel to show how colours can mix.

Year Five - The final task of the Year 5 Science Unit `Our Place in Space' has coincidently fallen in National Science week this year. The Year 5's have been investigating the relationship between the Sun, Earth and Moon as well as how the planets of our Solar System compare to the Earth. This week they have worked in Learning Groups to construct a solar system and display the research they have completed.

Book Week 

We are celebrating one of our favourite weeks next week - Book Week! 

The CBCA Book Week theme for this year is “Read, Grow, Inspire”. Mrs Alcock, Mrs MacDonald, Mrs Tidy and Mrs Levi have some lovely events planned for Book Week. On Monday 21st August at 12.50pm we will have a whole school scavenger hunt and on Wednesday we will have Sami Bayly visiting. Sami Bayly is an extremely talented scientific illustrator and author. 

On Friday 25th, we will have the Book Week Parade at 9.15am (parents/carers welcome), and later on Friday a surprise for the students. We can't wait to see all of the wonderful costumes.

Rebekah Brown

What Students are Learning About

Year Six are working on a unit about the images of Jesus.  They were asked to draw a modern day Jesus. This is artwork of a Year 6 student. It shows a great understanding of the role of Jesus in his time and his continued influence in our lives.

Year One have continued their investigations into the Rosary. They each received a set to take home and use for their own prayer. Each time they see me they are so excited to share their learning. As a whole school we said a decade of the Rosary at morning assembly on Tuesday and I could hear their voices praying with fervour.  What a joy!

Year Two: across the school we have reflected on the Feast of the Assumption this week. Year 2 have sent me a photo of the booklets they completed that talk about the important doctrine of the Assumption of Our Lady. Kindergarten completed beautiful artwork with cotton wool clouds and a serene Mary.

Year 3 and 4 focussed on the Hail Mary and created beautiful stained glass windows.

What Teachers are Learning About

Several of our teachers are planning their class masses. It is a great opportunity for them to learn more about the liturgy and how the parts work together. There have been some great discussions about scripture and which ones to use as well as how to construct prayers of the faithful. Learning about Mass is a great way for staff to deepen their own faith and share it with students.

Catholic Life and Reflection

A few weeks ago, I went to the REC network day. Dr Patrick McArdle, the Vicar General for Education, spoke to us. What has stayed with me the most is his reflection on the parable of  the Last Judgement (Mt 25: 31 - 46). You would know it well, “when I was hungry you fed me, when I was thirsty you gave me drink” He has written an entire doctoral thesis on the topic so I will not do it justice here but one of things that has really stayed with me was this …

“In direct reference to this parable: the hungry need food, not shelter; the sick require healing not clothing…. That is, my response has to be in keeping with their need, not just what I feel comfortable to offer.”

He goes on to say that to truly know someone’s needs we must know them.  We cannot know people without spending time with them.  Who do we choose to spend time with? Those who are most vulnerable and in need, the poor, the unwashed the lonely. Or do we spend time with those who it is easier to help.  I know what my answer is.  I pray for the courage to search out the real needs of our community and support our most vulnerable.

God bless,

Stephanie Stewart

Religious Education Coordinator

Notices from the Parish

Latest Parish Compact - 20 August 2023

Happy birthday to Alexandra L, Elliott B, Jacob O, Lewis B, Atharva P, Lincoln A, Rachael N, Harry P, Xavier G and Bettina M who all celebrated a birthday over the last week.

At St John the Apostle 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 8 Spelling Mastery Awards

During Friday morning assembly in Week 8 (1 December), the following students will receive Spelling Mastery Awards:

Week 8 Maths Mastery Awards

During Friday morning assembly in Week 8 (1 December), the following students will receive Maths Mastery Awards:

Compass Pay

Please do not use Compass pay to pay for any events or fees that happen at school. The cost to the school for families to use Compass pay is quite significant and we would like to avoid this as much as possible.

Other options are: Payment over the phone, come to the front office or send in cash if the amount is not large.

Year 5 Camp

Payment for camp has been invoiced to your fees. Please factor in when paying your fees or adjust your recurring BPAY payments.

Chromebooks are also invoice to your fees and this cost is $57.00 per term. Please also factor this extra cost into your payments.

Finance Transformation

Please refer to the information sheet detailing the changes to the school finance system further in the newsletter.

St John the Apostle Primary School, in partnership with Catholic Education, Archdiocese of Canberra & Goulburn (CECG), will soon migrate to a new finance system to generate efficiencies that work alongside the Compass parent portal and Compass mobile application, giving parents/caregivers visibility of their financial transactions within Compass.

Additionally, changes will affect the way you pay student tuition fees, levies, and other payments.

School Fee Statement Changes

School fee statements will have a new look. A new Customer Reference Number (CRN) has been created and payment methods have been updated. A statement will be sent out shortly that will contain an updated BPAY Biller Code and CRN that will need to be utilised going forward.

Statements will be emailed to financially responsible account holders each month, so it is necessary to ensure that your information is updated in the Compass parent portal, including your address and current email address.

Payment Methods

To support the changes in the school finance system, BPAY is now the preferred payment method.  You will receive your new statement shortly, which will contain the new BPAY Biller code and your new CRN.

Utilising these new unique codes will ensure that any payments made will be accurately assigned to your account. 

BPAY payment scheduling is supported by most financial institutions. Please contact your bank for further details if required.

If you already have scheduled BPAY payment in place, it is important that you ensure these details are updated to use the new BPAY Biller Code and CRN. 

Payments can be made through Compass, but this does cost the school transactional fees, reducing the funds available to support the school. Where possible, please pay school fees via BPAY or directly at the school office via cash or EFTPOS.

How to use BPAY 

Your new fee statement will display a distinct BPAY logo which includes your BPAY biller code and Customer Reference Number with an example is pictured below.

Please Note: The current School Bank Account is Closing   

The current school bank account is closing.  Please cease any automated or manual payments to the previous school bank account. As Direct Debit will no longer be accepted, all existing direct debit arrangements have been cancelled.  Accordingly, if you make regular payment of school fees via Direct Debit, please ensure that you work with the school to ensure that another payment method is in place. 

Changes to the Compass Portal

The Compass Portal will have an additional feature under the My Payments area. In addition to being able to view any Compass event payments, families will also be able to view their fee statement history, including any payments made.

Under the Tools wheel, go to My Payments.

Please Note: The current School Bank Account is Closing   

The current school bank account is closing.  Please cease any automated or manual payments to the previous school bank account. As Direct Debit will no longer be accepted, all existing direct debit arrangements have been cancelled. 

Accordingly, if you make regular payment of school fees via Direct Debit, please ensure that you work with the school to ensure that another payment method is in place. 

Changes to the Compass Portal

The Compass Portal will have an additional feature under the My Payments area. In addition to being able to view any Compass event payments, families will also be able to view their fee statement history, including any payments made.

Under the Tools wheel, go to My Payments

Under the History tab, fee payers can view their account balance and transaction history. Please allow up to 24 hours for BPAY payments to appear on your account.

Thank you for supporting the school with these system changes and should you have any concerns please feel free to contact Debbie Milne Finance Officer, St John the Apostle primary school.

The Community Coucil have organised a Father's Day gift for children to give to their Father, Grandfather, Carer or Father firgure in their life for Father's Day on Sunday, 3 September 2023. The Father's Day gift must be pre-ordered via the Qkr! App. It can be found under the 'Community Council Events' 'Fundraiser' tabs. The Father's Day gift is $5 per gift (all gifts are the same) and will be sent home with the children on Friday 1 September 2023. 

Orders must be made on the Qkr! App no later than 4pm Wednesday, 30 August 2023. 

Congratulations to Daniel Koroma (2 Maroon) and his family on the arrival of a baby sister Xaviera born recently.

The Uniform Shop Opening Hours

Friday 25 August - 8.30-9.30

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

Great Entertainment book promotion

ORDER HERE

https://subscribe.entertainment.com.au/fundraiser/2323z3

12-month Multi City Membership purchases:
When you purchase a 12-month Multi City Membership between 6.00 pm, Monday 31st July and 11.59 am, Wednesday 23rd August 2023, you will receive $20 AUD off the original price of your selected Membership. 

24-month Multi City Membership purchases: 
When you purchase a 24-month Multi City Membership between 6.00 pm, Monday 31st July and 11.59 am, Wednesday 23rd August 2023, you will receive $50 AUD off the original price of your selected Membership.