Dear St John the Apostle families,

Congratulations on reaching the end of the school year and thank you for your support for your child's learning throughout 2023.

On Monday evening we celebrated the graduation of our Year 6 students, who have been an exceptional group of student leaders this year. The following day we held a ceremony where these students passed on their student leadership roles to the Year 5 students. It was lovely to have so many parents attend both events and celebrate with their child and the school.

This week we also farewelled a number of staff members in our school, including Inclusion Assistants Tracey Watson-Gardner, Max Monaghan and Alice Wade who have been invaluable members of our Inclusion Team and built such strong and positive relationships with the students they supported. We farewelled 3 Maroon teacher Rachel Pearson who is returning to Queensland to teach. Students have loved having her teach them this term. She has been hard-working, approachable and generous to all of her students and their families. Thank you to all of these staff members for their contributions to our school community.

On Wednesday we held a farewell afternoon tea for Debbie Milne, our Finance Manager. Debbie has been a member of this community for a long time. It began when her children started in 1991. Then in 1999 she began working in the Canteen where she prepared and served recess and lunch to a school population of 500 students. In 2006 Debbie took up the position of Front Office Manager and was the welcoming face of the school for parents, students and staff. Five years ago she began as Finance Manager where she continued to be a rock that many families and staff could rely on. Debbie has been the epitome of organisation, reliability, thoughtfulness and generosity. Past staff members came to honour her at Wednesday's farewell, evidence of the enormous impact Debbie has had on our school. Thank you Debbie. You will be very much missed.

Student Leaders 2024

After learning about leaders and good leadership qualities, identifying the leadership qualities in each other, presenting leadership speeches and voting the Year 6 student leaders for 2024 were finalised.

Congratulations to Olive and Liliana who were selected as School Captains. Both were identified by their peers as fellow students that display many of the leadership qualities they were learning about.

Congratulations to Ky, Blake, Ziva, Jack, Naveli, Will, Ben, Emma, Charlotte S, Sophie, Olivia and Jacob who were selected as Peer Leaders. Six of these students will focus on service within our community and six will focus on service outside our community.

These students will be re-presented at the beginning of next year. I look forward to working with them.

I hope everyone has a safe, joyful and peaceful Christmas and school holidays. We're very much looking forward to seeing everyone at the end of January, rested and ready for the next chapter.

God Bless,

Matthew Garton

Principal

Code Camp in 2024

At the end of this Newsletter you will see a flyer for Code Camp. We have partnered with Code Camp to provide an after school activity each week for those students interested in this part of digital technologies. The flyer outlines the details for how to register. We're excited to be able to offer this opportunity.

Happy birthday to Aarzah S, Anabelle T, Abbey W and Charlotte H who all celebrated a birthday over the last week.

Congratulations to the following students who received the End of Term Awards. 

The Uniform Shop Opening Hours

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

The Swimming Carnival for St John the Apostle Primary is held in Week 3, Term 1, 2024.

It is for students who will be in Years 2 - 6 next year. All students attend and participate to their level of competency. There will be novelty events for those who are not confident swimmers.

To be prepared for this event, and avoid a rush of alerts and notes for families at the beginning of next year, we ask families to fill out the attached form to indicate the swimming capacity of their child. We also need to know which events students will be swimming in so we can organise the races for the day.

Access the information sent via Compass and complete the 'Additional Questions' section. Please return via Compass by Friday, 1^st December 2023.

NOTE: All donations can start to be dropped off in the Front Office from now until the Fete.

Our school Fete will be on Friday 15 March 2024 from 4-8pm (Term 1, Week 7). We are already well on our way with preparations. Please see information below about requesting volunteers in the lead up to the Fete and requests for donations. We really rely on our school community working together to ensure the success of our school Fete. 

Store Conveners 

Thank you to all of the parents who have contacted me to help out as store conveners. Please contact Rebekah Brown rebekah.brown@cg.catholic.edu.au if you would like to take on one of these roles or if you have any questions. 

At times, we may need to ask the store convenor to purchase some of the items required for the store. However, this money will be reimbursed as quickly as possible. 

Donations 

The Fete Committee has decided to send out all of the requests for donations for the 2024 Fete at one time so that families don't feel like there are requests every week or two. We rely on our community to donate a couple of items per child. Please see below a list of the items we are requesting. All of these items can be sent to school with your child or delivered to the front office. Thank you in advance for your donations and support. 

Tombola

For the 2024 Fete, we are doing Tombola a little differently. We are asking that a full jar is donated. In the past, we have asked for empty jars and the Store Convenor has filled the jars. The items also don’t need to be in a jar. They could be in a zip lock bag, a plastic container or anything that is enclosed and we can stick a raffle ticket on. 

Items that can be put in the tombolar jars/containers:

• Lollies and chocolates 
• Jar of trinkets - small toys, erasers, stickers, hair accessories, craft supplies, stationary etc.

Hampers

We are asking that each child in each year group, donates one or more items for the below hampers. Each year level has been allocated a theme. Year 6 has not been allocated a theme, as they will no longer be at St John’s in 2024. If Year 6 students would like to donate an item, they can choose any theme. Please see below images of past hampers. 

Kindergarten - Baby hamper (e.g. wraps, clothes, nappies, rattles, baby toys, wipes etc.)

Year 1 - Pet Hamper (eg. pet toys, treats, feeders, bowls etc.)

Year 2 - Kids Toy hamper (e.g. puzzles, fidget toys, board games, balls etc.)

Year 3 - Pamper hamper (eg. bath salts, candles, body products etc.)

Year 4 - Parents hamper (eg. wine, beer, chocolates, nuts etc.)

Year 5 - Home hamper (eg. tools, cleaning products, Bunnings gift card etc.)

Books

We will be having a book stall. We would love donations of books to sell at the Fete. These can be picture books, children and adult novels, recipe books etc.

Lucky Lock

We will be having a Lucky Lock competition again for the 2024 Fete. An esky is filled with wine and beer and locked with a padlock. We sell keys and one key opens the lock. This lucky person wins the esky and its contents. To run this competition, we would love donations of the following:

• Wine, beer etc.
• Old keys that are no longer useful 

Pre-loved Soft Toys

We are asking for clean and in good condition pre-loved soft toys to be donated. 

Thank you so much for all of your support in making out 2024 Fete a success.

Kind regards,

Fete Committee

Please see below a letter we are sending out to local businesses to support our upcoming 2024 Fete. If you have a business that would like to sponsor the Fete or you know of someone who would be interested in sponsoring our Fete, please see the below information. If you would like this letter to supply businesses with our letterhead, please email Rebekah Brown (rebekah.brown@cg.catholic.edu.au).

Supporting our school – Supporting our students

We hope this letter finds you well. We are writing to you to seek your support for our schools upcoming Fete.

We are hosting our highly anticipated Annual Fete on Friday, 15 March 2024 and we are extremely excited about creating a memorable experience for our students, families and the wider community. For over 40 years St John the Apostle Primary School has served a community that includes families from over 30 different locations in the ACT and NSW.

This event is not only a great opportunity to celebrate our school’s achievements, but also a chance to raise funds for various academic and extracurricular activities, including the continued upgrading our playground and kitchen garden space.

In order to make this event a resounding success, we are reaching out to businesses like yours, which have demonstrated a commitment to community and education. We would be grateful for any donation you can provide, whether it is in the form of monetary support or an in-kind contribution. Your contribution will go towards purchasing items for our stalls, including our BBQ, drinks, gelato, popcorn and fairy floss, chocolate toss, and many more!

As a sponsor, your business will receive significant exposure and recognition at our Fete. We plan to acknowledge our generous sponsors in our signage, social media platforms, school website and our school newsletter with a heartfelt thank you for your support.

We understand that businesses receive numerous sponsorship requests, and we truly appreciate your consideration of our request. Your support will have a direct impact on the educational opportunities we can provide to our students.

Please find enclosed a sponsorship form that outlines the various donation levels. We kindly request that you review the form and select a sponsorship level that aligns with your business’s objectives and budget. If you are able to support us, or have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Rebekah Brown our Assistant Principal on (02 6258 3592).

On behalf of the entire St John the Apostle Primary School community, we thank you for your time and consideration.

Yours sincerely,

Matthew Garton             Katie Matthews

Principal                        Community Council Chair

St John the Apostle Primary School Fete Sponsorship Form

Thank you for considering sponsoring our Annual School Fete, we truly value your support. Please review the sponsorship levels below and select the one that aligns with your business' goals and budget.

Gold Sponsorship - $1,000 or more:

• Prominent recognition as a Gold Sponsor on event signage
• Company logo featured on our school website and social media platforms with a link to your website
• Acknowledgment and thank you at the event
• Opportunity to place promotional materials at our event booths or information stands

Silver Sponsorship - $500:

• Recognition as a Silver Sponsor on event signage
• Company logo featured on our school website and social media platforms
• Acknowledgment and thank you at the event
• Opportunity to place promotional materials at our event booths or information stands

Bronze Sponsorship - $250:

• Recognition as a Bronze Sponsor on event banners, flyers, and signage
• Company name showcased on our school website and social media platforms
• Acknowledgment and thank you at the event

Please contact us using the details provided below to arrange payment of your sponsorship contribution. We will then reach out to discuss further promotion and recognition opportunities. We sincerely appreciate your generosity and support.