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- Recent Calendar Updates
- School Focus and Positive Behaviour
- Principal's Corner
- Teaching, Learning and Inclusion
- Catholic Life and Reflection
- Happy Families
- Happy Birthday
- Reading Challenge
- School Fete
- Fete Sponsorship
- Thank you to our Fete Sponsors!
- The Uniform Shop
- Entertainment Book - Fundraising
- Community Notices
Please go to our school calendar on the website or COMPASS for more details.
Please note that Term 2 Monday 29 April is a pupil free day. The first day of Term 3 and the last day of Term 4 (22 July, and 17 December) are also pupil free days for professional learning for staff. Students do not attend school on these days. OSHClub will be available.
Term 1 Weeks 3-6
- Footsteps Dance Lessons (week 3-6)
- Ash Wednesday Liturgy (week 3)
- Year 6 Leadership Badge Presentation (week 3)
- Penance Parent Formation (week 3)
- Swimming Carnival (Yrs 2-6) (week 3)
- Rugby Clinics (week 3)
- Year 6 Camp (week 4)
- Three Way Conferences (week 6)
- Year 6 Retreat JWJ (week 6)
The school positive behaviour focus this week was:
Invite Others to Play.
Ngunnawal word of the week:
Yuma (means 'hello')
Dear St John the Apostle families,
Today we travelled to our Parish church to celebrate our Opening Mass with all classes from K-6. We announced our theme 'Filled with the Spirit' to the school community. We sang and prayed together. We met our new Parish Priest Fr Tru, who blessed the leadership badges of our Year 6 students. These badges will be presented to Year 6 next Thursday morning at school. It was a very special day. Thank you to everyone who helped to organise the Mass.
Parent Information Night
We're looking forward to our Parent Information Night this Tuesday evening, 13 February. Teachers have prepared a presentation for parents about the teaching & learning in their year levels this school year. They will run a session at 5.30 in the classrooms, then a repeat session at 6.00 for those who need to visit more than one classroom. Teachers will have packs to hand out. Parents who share care of children will have more than one pack available.
Thank you to our Community Council who are operating a barbecue that evening. Plese feel free to take advantage of it and chat to a few other families. We understand that it is a school night so we will pack up at 7.00pm.
Homework
We've been talking about Homework on staff, looking at the most recent research about how effective homework is in supporting student achievement and discussing the need to have consistency across our school.
This term we are going to start with just reading for homework. Reading has been the backbone of homework for decades and decades. Helping every child become a competent reader is the goal of both our Catholic Education system and our school. We want to first 'get reading right' when it comes to homework. So that is our focus and later in the year we will build from this.
Each year level will introduce ways of:
- supporting students to find and select the right books. For younger students they will have structured readers that support their developing decoding skills and for older, more fluent readers, they will have access to borrow many books from school. Of course, some stuents will have books they read at home or borrow from the local library.
- keeping a reading log. Adult readers often have piles of books they plan to get through or keep lists of books they've read. It's a great sense of achievement and excellent for remembering great books they enjoyed. The Chief Minister's Reading Challenge begins shortly and every child will be encouraged to participate and record their reading.
- responding to books. Students will be asked to reflect briefly on a book they have just read with increasing sophistication through each year level. It will help them build connections with the text and develop comprehension skills. They will look at vocabulary, style, plot and literary devices that authors use in their craft.
- read with a purpose. In older years the students may be asked to read and reflect on a short text that is related to a topic they are learning about in history, science, geography, religious education, etc. It helps them apply what has been taught in previous lessons or prepare for coming lessons.
What does this mean for me as a parent?
Families have busy lives and some nights are busier than others. Parents are simply asked to help find a small space each night where each child spends a little time reading. If it is something that doesn't already happen in your house then set a timer for ten minutes and say "we're all going to read for ten minutes". Younger students can read to you. Older students can read quietly on their own and sometimes read aloud to you so you can find out about what they are reading. You can also read to your children. It doesn't have to be long at all. Habits are not achieved in one night but built over time in small increments. A few short minutes of reading time in the house is achievable every night before moving on to whatever else needs to happen. It's much easier if it is linked to another set routine, e.g. after dinner we sit or after baths or just before bed we all sit for five minutes. Building a quick routine will become very natural to do.
Our Teacher-Librarian, Emma Alcock, will expose children to many authors and titles. She is passionate about helping find that series of books that hooks a child into reading. Please ask your child about what they borrowed from the library. Show interest, model being a reader by talking about what you are reading or recently read.
Our role is to help each child learn to read and then read to learn. Parents just need to help their child value reading. Reading is a powerful tool for getting along in our world. Let's help them become powerful readers together.
Acknowledging students
Acknowledging students' positive achievements and efforts is one of five important components of our Positive Behaviour for Learning policy and an important way of telling students they are doing well. At the end of last year, and the beginning of this, we reviewed how we acknowledge students and made a few changes. We've sat together as a staff to share experiences, listened to feedback from parents and talked to our students. We've made a few changes that families will notice very soon.
Firstly, we want to continue to acknowledge the achievements of students in Spelling Mastery and Maths Mastery. We spend half of every day on English and Mathematics. It is when we use most of our High Impact Teaching Practices. It is very effective and a lot of work for teachers and students. It's important to value the efforts of students in these areas of school. To help more students to be acknowledged we have changed the way we identify students for these awards in a way that enables more students to be recognised. These awards will be given out every second Thursday morning assembly, beginning in Week 4.
In addition we have changed our Brag Tag system to enable students to be acknowledged for their continuous positive effort and behaviour at school. Brag tags are handed out for many different positive behaviours, particularly those listed on our positive behaviour posters and our focus each week. Rather than submitting their brag tag of twenty stickers to the office and waiting weeks for the end of term brag tag celebration, students will be able to receive an immediate recognition of their achievement.
Every brag tag that is completed with twenty stickers and then submitted to the front office will allow them to receive a coloured wrist band that signifies their achievement and a little token item for them to enjoy. Specific colours of wrist bands are set to 20, 40, 60, 80, etc. It will be about cumulative acknowledgement over time so that every student can see their progress. Our Year 6 students have been particularly involved in the naming of these wrist bands and identifying the tokens that will be given.
Twice each term we will hand out Brag Tag Certificates at our Thursday morning assembly to those students who have recently submitted another 20 brag tag stickers.
It would also be lovely to acknowledge student achievements outside of our school as well. If your child is involved in a pursuit outside of school that they have competed or participated in, and have achieved well, you are welcome to send that through to our Front Office and we are happy to post this in our school Newsletter.
Our systems for acknowledging student achievement will continue to be reviewed over the year. If you have any feedback you are welcome to send that through to me directly and we will include it as part of our review processes.
Thank you for working together to make St John's a great place to learn for your child and for those to come.
God Bless,
Matthew Garton
Principal
NAPLAN
Year 3 and 5 students will participate in NAPLAN during the time window of Wednesday 13th March to Friday 22nd March (Week 7 and Week 8, Term 1). Students will also participate in a practice test over the next couple of weeks. If you would like your child to be withdrawn from or discuss appropriate adjustments for NAPLAN testing, please contact me directly at rebekah.brown@cg.catholic.edu.au
There is a public demonstration site that can be accessed by students and their parents. The demonstration site has tests which can be used by students to familiarise themselves with the types of questions and related functionalities available in the online NAPLAN assessment. You can access the public demonstration site at the following link:
https://www.nap.edu.au/online-assessment/public-demonstration-site
What is NAPLAN?
NAPLAN is a national literacy and numeracy assessment that students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 sit in May each year. It is the only national assessment all Australian students do. As students progress through their school years, it’s important to check how well they are learning the essential skills of reading, writing and numeracy.
NAPLAN assesses the literacy and numeracy skills that students are learning through the school curriculum and allows parents/carers to see how their child is progressing against national standards and over time.
NAPLAN is just one aspect of a school’s assessment and reporting process. It doesn’t replace ongoing assessments made by teachers about student performance, but it can provide teachers with additional information about students’ progress.
NAPLAN also provides schools, education authorities and governments with information about how education programs are working and whether young Australians are achieving important educational outcomes in literacy and numeracy.
Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any further questions about NAPLAN.
Rebekah Brown
Assistant Principal and Inclusion Coordinator
Welcome to 2024
The holidays are over. School is back. And routines are recommencing. For many families this means:
- extra stress (some kids don’t feel excited about heading to kindy/prep/reception or school),
- extra costs (let’s face it, uniforms, shoes, and the rest of it all)
- extra challenges (ADHD, dyslexia, other needs, friendship issues, learning difficulties).
Of course, it’s not all bad news. Some families are delighted. Holidays create stress because of babysitting challenges, costs for entertainment, and more.
And fortunately, there are tens of thousands of our kids that actually enjoy school and are glad to be back.
As it happens – so are we! Parenting Ideas has been providing helpful parenting advice to parents in early learning centres, primary schools, and high schools around Australia, New Zealand, and the world for over two decades! This year it’s no different.
How can we help?
As we dive into 2024, we want to know how we be most useful to you. Headed up by Dr Justin Coulson, co-host and parenting expert of Channel 9s Parental Guidance and host of Australia’s #1 parenting podcast, Dr Justin Coulson’s Happy Families, Justin and a team of experts will be bringing you a range of articles designed to give you the best parenting advice available to help make your family happier.
If there’s a major challenge you’d like help with, email us and let us know. Title your email “Parenting Ideas advice” and email schools@happyfamilies.com.au. We’re here to help.
For the first Insights article of 2024, we’re going to look at how we can get our routines on track at the outset and keep everyone focused on what matters most for making your family function.
Starting the year right
If you’re like most parents, you really wanted to start things off well, but it’s been a little rocky. Getting back into a routine, being on time, sorting out school lunches… it’s a bit tricky. Best laid plans haven’t quite been as smooth as you might have liked. To dial in your morning and evening routines, I’m going to suggest a few principles to help.
1. Get clear on what ‘getting it right’ actually means.
You might know what you want the morning to look like. But is it clear to you? Can you write it down? Can you put it on the fridge? Can you explain it to your kids and help them to buy into why it matters? Clearly explaining what you want and why is going to be a critical first step.
2. Set up a system.
Author, James Clear, says that “you do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.” So what does your system look like for making things happen? Can you create a system that will facilitate a smooth morning for every member of the family?
3. Workshop it.
Setting up a system when you’re a parent is pretty easy. But bringing the family along can be trickier. By having a meeting and developing the system with input from your kids, you get to be clear, establish the system, and create buy-in. Ask your children to make suggestions and design the morning based on their ideas. Fashion it with your expert knowledge. And watch the results improve because your children have been part of it. Involvement is a central success pillar when it comes to developing a system that works in any family.
4. Curate competence.
The real secret to successful routines is helping the kids become self-sufficient. It takes time, but teaching them to toast their bread or crumpets, fry or scramble some egg, or organise their cereal or yogurt, or even blend a smoothie means that there is less friction with your routine. They feel good about doing what needs to be done because they know how to do it. And while it’s slow at first, it becomes wonderfully efficient over time.
5. Support autonomy.
Kids love to have choices. They appreciate being able to make their own decisions. Support them in that while ensuring they know what the guidelines and boundaries are for making things happen well.
Here are the golden rules of a magic morning (from a dad of six who has talked with thousands of parents about getting this right):
- Your morning begins the night before. Get the prep done for tomorrow at bedtime so uniforms are ready, bags are packed, and library books or sports gear is sorted.
- Create margin by waking up a little early, and getting the kids up (gently) a little early too. Room to breathe makes everything work better.
- Create the structure so everyone knows what needs to be done.
- Keep the kids accountable in a supportive way.
In spite of your best efforts, things will go pear-shaped now and then. When this happens, stay calm (remember: emotions are contagious), don’t sweat the small stuff, be flexible for the morning… but get it back on track the next day by having a calm conversation in the evening, reinforcing the system, and working together on making it work.
Whether it’s magic mornings or excellent evenings, the process is the same. Work as a team, and watch the magic happen… at least sometimes.
Happy birthday to Thayoee N, Kiranjot K, Mariam H and Oz H who all celebrated a birthday over the last week.
Reading Challenges at St John’s
"When I say to a parent, "read to a child", I don't want it to sound like medicine. I want it to sound like chocolate. " — Mem Fox.
During the school holidays I had the chance to catch up on some of my reading pile, finally reading many of the books my friends have recommended to me, as well as some of the new releases we've just added to the school library collection. As the pile of books on my bedtime table grew, I wondered how I could model my love of reading to the students at St John’s. I saw an Instagram post from another librarian which inspired me to action. My reading challenge this year is to read my height in books! This week the Year 1 students helped me make a ruler to stick to the library door to help me measure my pile, and then measured themselves, wondering how many books they would have to read to do the same challenge. Year 6 students helped me figure out how many more centimetres I have to go, and worked out with me how many centimetres I would need to read each day. Students from all years enjoyed guessing how many books I would have to read, and suggested strategies on how I could achieve my goal.
Over the next few weeks, I am working with students to set their own reading goals. Some of the goals I suggest are: read all the books in a series, read a book from each genre, and read 30 books for the Chief Minister's Reading Challenge. It is my personal goal for this year to help all students complete the Chief Minister's Reading Challenge. Next week I'll be showing the students some fun ways to choose books to read, such as book bingo. This year, I'd like all students at St John’s to view themselves as readers and library borrowers. I will continue to work closely with children to choose great books to read, and would love your support in helping them to remember to bring their library bags (or any small bag) to school regularly so that they can borrow books to read at home.
Now for my stats... my challenge started on the 15th December 2023, and I will finish on the last day of term 4 this year. I am 162cm tall, so will need to read an average of 0.44cm per day. I am currently at 42cm, and have 120cm to go! My rules: I can read any book for the challenge (including children's novels and graphic novels), but will not include picture books.
Happy reading!
Emma Alcock
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.
Donations
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. If Kindergarten students would like to donate an item, they can choose any theme. Please see below images of past hampers.
Year One - Baby hamper (e.g. wraps, clothes, nappies, rattles, baby toys, wipes etc.)
Year Two- Pet Hamper (eg. pet toys, treats, feeders, bowls etc.)
Year Three - Kids Toy hamper (e.g. puzzles, fidget toys, board games, balls etc.)
Year Four- Pamper hamper (eg. bath salts, candles, body products etc.)
Year Five - Parents hamper (eg. wine, beer, chocolates, nuts etc.)
Year Six- 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
Volunteers
I will be sending out an online application to sign up for helping at the Fete in the next week. We would love if every family could donate just 30 minutes of their time at a stall.
Pre-sale/QKR payements
We are currently setting up pre-sale/QKR options for the following items. This will be sent out in the next week:
- Fete Fours
- Ride tickets
- Lucky Lock
- Raffle Tickets
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.
Thank you to the following businesses for sponsoring our school Fete!
Dice 4 Diversity
The Sewing Shoppe
https://www.sewingshoppe.com.au/fabric
The Sewing Shoppe aims to inspire people by offering diverse patchwork and bag making courses to create that something special for yourself or others. We have created a warm and friendly vintage inspired space to relax and create. Please check our huge range of classes from bag making to patchwork. We can supply all of your sewing essentials including haberdashery, thread, patterns, fabric and kits. Come in and see us, we can't wait to meet you!
Entice Travel
Entice Travel is a boutique travel agency that is passionately committed to creating captivating experiences and adventures that allow you to explore your world, your way, in your own time.
Whether you are after a custom-designed indulgent holiday, a package deal or additional curated experiences, every travel detail is considered.
Personalised Service | 24/7 Availability | Bespoke Holidays & Experiences
https://www.enticetravel.com.au/ Ph: 6123 0567
The Uniform Shop Opening Hours
The Uniform Shop will be open in 2024 on the following day and time:
Friday 9 February - 8.30am-9.30am
If you have any questions or concerns please email the uniform shop on stjohnsclothingpool@gmail.com
Support our Fundraiser by purchasing a Membership to The Entertainment App & receive a bonus Membership extension of up to 4 months!
Great Entertainment book promotion
TO ORDER PLEASE CLICK HERE
We have proudly partnered with The Entertainment App to raise funds in 2024.
Please consider buying an Entertainment Membership today as 20% of the proceeds go directly to our Fundraiser.
Your Entertainment Membership not only unlocks exclusive access to unbeatable discounts at the best fine dining and family restaurants plus attractions and more, but also supports our community’s fundraising goals.
And there’s no better time to buy a Membership – for a limited time only, you will score up to 4 Bonus Months on your Membership. So, what are you waiting for?
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