A friendly reminder that St Johns is a nut free school. Thank you.

Dear St John's families,

We had a very busy week this week!

Today many of our students participated in Walk Safely to School Day. Thank you to Ms Kennelly and Ms McIver for organising this opportunity opportunity for a fun start to the day and thank you to the many staff members and parents who walked with the students.

There are so many ways students can travel to and from school at St John the Apostle. We are very fortunate to our access to many local paths, bike routes and buses.

Have you seen the map by the back school gate? It was developed as part of the Active Streets program several years ago. It outlines the best pathways for children to travel safely to school, particularly if parents want to drive only a part way and children walk for part of it too.

We also have access to a large number of designated school bus services that support families. The following suburbs have bus services that transport children to and from our school:

• Florey
• Kippax
• Holt
• Higgins
• Macgregor
• Latham
• Charnwood
• Dunlop
• Evatt
• Gungahlin
• Ngunnawal
• Casey
• Nicholls
• Spence
• Melba
• Fraser
• Aranda
• Cook
• Weetangera
• Hawker

If you want to learn more about the different ways students can travel to and from school then please visit the following Schools Program site and select our school from the drop down box. You'll find the map of safe walking and cycle paths as well as all of the relevant bus timetables.

Teaching Child Safety (Part 2)

Last week I mentioned that there are two main themes that are repeatedly talked about throughout the Protective Behaviours program we teach:

I outlined a few key concepts from the first theme:

• Safety is a continuum - safety is not a binary. We often accept some risk when it is fun and we have some control over the situation, e.g. watching a scary movie.
• Early warning signs - our bodies sometimes give us signs that we are feeling at risk or unsafe, e.g. butterflies.
• Unsafe secrets -  are those that my parents don't know, feel 'wrong' or 'unsafe', where somebody might get hurt. Safe secrets, or 'surprises', are okay because no one will get hurt and usually the right people know about it.

We also teach the difference between 'public' and 'private'. In particular we identify that there are public and private parts to our bodies. We name the private parts so that everyone is clear about them. For boys this is the penis, bottom and testicles. For girls it is the breasts, vagina and bottom. For boys and girls the mouth is also a private part.

A good indication of our public and private parts is the clothing we wear. We have public and private clothing (e.g. underwear is private clothing).

No one sees or touches our private body parts without a good reason and our permission (e.g. a doctor has to examine us). 

We extend this to include public and private information in an online environment. This is an important component of being safe online.

The last important concept we teach from our first theme is that of 'personal space'. There are different levels of personal spaces bubbles - that imaginary space we create around ourselves. Everybody can decide for themselves who they let into the different space bubbles.

The different levels of personal space bubbles space include:

Personal Space bubble

• • This is personal and private
  • No one touches you without your permission
  • We don’t keep secrets about touching without permission

Kiss, cuddle and squeeze bubble

• • This is for special people (close family members or carers) who you love, are close to and know well
  • They can only do this with your permission
  • It's okay to say “no thanks” to anyone at any time - even mum, dad or a carer

Hug bubble

• • This might include extended family and friends you know well and like to be around
  • They can only do this with your permission
  • It's okay to say “no thanks” to anyone at any time

High Five bubble

• • These are for people you know, but not as well as in the hug bubble
  • Only do it if you feel safe and comfortable
  • It might include contact such as a high five, side hug or handshake
  • It's okay to say “no thanks’ and move away

Wave bubble

• • This includes people you might know but not as well as the hug bubble, e.g. neighbour, shop assistant, postie
  • You usually say “hello" but generally there's no touching

Stranger/do not touch bubble

• • This is for people you have never met before
  • We do not kiss, cuddle, squeeze, hug these people without your own and their consent
  • Sometimes thought you might need to ask a stranger in uniform to help with something
  • It might also include people you might know but you would never want them to touch you

We always explain that while it is important to be assertive about your own space bubbles, you must always respect other poeople's personal choices regarding their space bubbles. Everybody is different!

Next week I will share about the important concepts we teach for our second theme: Nothing is so awful that you can't talk with someone about it.

If you want to know more of how you can help your child understand how to stay safe  I encourage you to read the ACT Government's Protecting Your Kids: Personal Safety Education for Parents. 

Disability Parking 

At the front of our school are two parking spaces allocated to those who have a disability parking permit. Disability parking permits are provided by the ACT Government to people who need to park close, have extra space, use ramps, etc. in order to access public venues. Should they use regular parks they have an increased risk of injuring themselves, unlike the general population.

An observation I make in Canberra is that some members of the general population use these parks because 'their just running in' to the shops or other venues. That includes at our school. You never ever know when a person with a disability permit is going to pull up and need that park. There's never a 'right time' to park in a disability allocated parking space when one doesn't have a permit.

We have members of our community who have disability parking permits for a variety of personal reasons and they need those parks to access our school. 

If you are a person without a disability parking permit, please support our community by using the regular parks only whenever you come to school. It will likely make a huge difference to somebody and you won't even know it.

Enrolment Period - Fabulous Year 6!

The 2025 Enrolment Period has begun. If you have a child ready for Kindergarten next year now is the time to submit an enrolment form. If your child is heading to Year 7 next year then please submit your enrolment form for SFX within the enrolment window to ensure your child will have a place there.

I would like to offer a big shout out to our Year 6 students who have led tours of families during the past week. They have been amazing. The feedback about their thoroughness, enthusiasm and honesty has been very, very positive! Thank you to those parents who encouraged and enabled their child to participate in this opportunity to show leadership and also serve their school.

Congratulations to our Year students who will receive the Sacrament of Confirmation this evening. We look forward to celebrating this special moment together with them.

Matthew Garton

Principal

National Consistent Colletion of Data on School Students with a Disability (NCCD)

All schools in Australia are required to participate annually in the National Consistent Collection of Data for Students with Disability (NCCD). This allows our Catholic sector to continue to provide and prioritise innovative and high-quality teaching and learning to support all students on their learning journey. Above all though, our Catholic tradition demands that educators see every child as equal, inherently sacred and worthy of dignity and respect. Our Catholic schools support children and young people with disability as an act of love, not merely as a legislative requirement. 

What is the National Consistent Collection of Data?  

The Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on Student School Students with Disability (NCCD) is a process that all schools must complete on an annual basis. It is designed to count the number of students who receive additional adjustments or “help” at school because of a disability. This national data collection helps federal and state governments plan for the needs of students with disability. It is also the way that schools seek and receive funding to support the learning needs of their students. 

Who is included in the data collection?  

To include a student in the NCCD collection, schools must consider some key questions:  

1. Is the student receiving adjustments to assist them with their ability to participate in schooling on the same basis as their peers? 
2. Does the student meet the NCCD's broad definition of disability? 
3. Has this school discussed the adjustments(help) with the student and/or parent/carer/ guardian? 
4. Does the school have documentation (assessments, medical reports or other paperwork) about the student’s functional needs, the adjustments (help) that they provided and how the student progressed overtime? 

Where the school decides that the four steps above are in place (i.e. the student meets the NCCD criteria), the school then decides the best disability category and how much help (adjustment level) that the student is provided with. 

What is the broad definition of disability? 

The NCCD definition of disability is based on the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and there are four categories: sensory (e.g., vision / hearing impairment), cognitive, social-emotional and physical. 

The definition of disability is very broad and many students that need help at school can be counted in the NCCD. Students with learning disorders e.g., specific learning disability or reading impairment (sometimes referred to as dyslexia), ADHD or auditory processing disorder, chronic health conditions (e.g., epilepsy or diabetes), physical disability (e.g., cerebral palsy), vision/hearing impairment and social emotional disorders (e.g., selective mutism, anxiety disorders, Autism Spectrum Disorder) may be included in the data count. 

A formal diagnosis by specialist may be very helpful for the school but is not needed in the NCCD. A student’s inclusion in the NCCD collection is based on professional teacher judgement. Schools can consider school based and external documents to decide if a student can be counted.  

What are examples of adjustments?  

Students need different types of help at school. Some students need a little help sometimes (minor adjustments) but other students need a lot of help nearly all the time (extensive adjustments). The type of help and support that a school provides is also very different depending on the needs of the student.  The adjustments can include physical changes to the school buildings or grounds (e.g., ramps or special equipment), extra teacher support in classes, special learning programmes, changes to the way the curriculum is presented and delivered or extra adult assistance.  

What information is needed about my child?  

Schools work together with parents /guardians/carers to understand the needs of each child. Your knowledge of your child's development and learning is important and valuable in this process. It will be very helpful to provide your child's teacher with a copy of any relevant past reports (e.g., from a psychologist, speech pathologist, doctor, Paediatrician, OT etc). These reports will be used with information from your child's teacher, such as information about your child's reading progress or a Personalised Learning Plan, to build a picture of your child's needs and the help that the school is providing.  

How is information collected?  

The data collection process involves input from teachers, principals and other school staff working together to consider the data for students with disability in their school, the category of disability and the level of adjustment that best reflects each student’s needs.  

As a first step, teachers consult with the student and their parent/guardian/carer, to discuss the student’s strengths in the areas where the student needs extra support. This support could be support for their learning, behaviour support, support for medical needs, participation, or other areas where the student needs extra help. Information collected about the type of adjustments the school is making so that they can participate and learn on the same basis as other students. Documentation, such as diagnostic reports, school reports, parent teacher interviews, Collaborative Planning Meetings and Personalised Learning Plans, will help to provide evidence of the type of support that the school is providing.  

What happens to the data? Is it confidential? 

All schools must complete the NCCD. Each school principal is required to verify and submit data about students with disabilities in their school during August of each year. The privacy and confidentiality of all students and their families is respected and handled as per the school's Privacy Policy and Collection Notice. Please refer to your schools’ policies for further information.  

Do schools require active consent from parents to include students in NCCD?  

Amendments were made to the Australian Education Act 2013 and subsequent regulations. As such, schools do not require parents/carers/guardians to provide active consent for students to be included in the NCCD nor is there an option for parents/carers/guardians to request their child not be included (e.g., an opt-out option.) 

Where can I access more information? 

Please contact your child's school if you have further questions about the NCCD. Additionally, the following link to the national NCCD Portal may be helpful www.nccd.edu.au. 

Awards

Congratulations to all of our Spelling Mastery and Maths Mastery Award Recipients who recieved awards today. 

Rebekah Brown

What Students are Learning About

This Sunday we celebrate the Feast of Pentecost, the birth of our church. Students across the school have been reflecting on the scripture from Acts 2:1 – 13. Year One have created a beautiful display showing their understanding of the scripture. Year 6, as part of Confirmation preparation, are working on this Scripture. By looking closely at the scripture, using the Read with a Pencil strategy, they identify key words, questions they may have and important parts of the structure. They also use a map to help them understand where all of the people in the story had travelled from.

What Teachers are Learning About

3 Maroon teacher, Louise Osborne-Goldsbrough, and myself will be attending the Currents of Grace conference next week. It is an opportunity to pray and connect with other education systems across the country. We have chosen two pathways, leadership and mission. We are excited to learn more about our role in this area and where our church is headed.

Catholic Life and Reflection

We live a blessed life.  I am grateful and to quote Meryl Streep “That is all.”

 

May God bless you,

And keep you.

Cause his face to shine on you,

And have mercy on you.

Turn his countenance to you,

And give you peace.

(Parish Blessing Song)

 

Philippians 4:19-21 (NRSV)

And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

God bless,

Stephanie Stewart

Religious Education Coordinator

Notices from the Parish

Sacraments of Confirmation and The Eucharist

The Sacrament of First Eucharist will be celebrated on 1 & 2 June 2024
respectively. Most of those celebrating these sacraments are from our school.

Please hold all of the children preparing for these sacraments in your prayers.

Happy Birthday to Klara Nilsson, Jackson Loricchiella, Sonam Drolma, Alexis Greenhalgh, Japji Chohan, Evelina Nilsson, Te-Aroha Baxter, Hugo Mullins and Jonah Terron who all celebrated a birthday over the last week.

This year we will be presenting a number of awards to students. Please see below the scedule for this term. Most awards will be handed out on a Friday morning.

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 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.

This year we will also be presenting Brag Tag Awards. These will be handed out each time a student receives 20 brag tags. 

Brag Tag Awards - presented on Friday 24th May, 8.50am (Week 4)

Spelling Mastery Awards Awards - presented on Friday 24th May, 8.50am (Week 4)

Year 1

Tia McNamara

Year 3

Kate Riley

Year 5

Amelia Nguyen

Maths Mastery Awards Awards - presented on Friday 24th May, 8.50am (Week 4)

Year 3

ANDERSON, Thomas

AZZAM, Solomon

CANDY, Lewys

DROLMA, Sonam

FRANKCOM, Lachlan

GREENHAGH, Alexis

HAMEED, Mariam

HOWES, Martin

LEIVA LAINEZ, Erick

PANDEY, Reedhee

TILIJA, Anna

WANGMO, Jigme

AMRADO, Tymon

ASENCE, Kyler

FRENCH, Jeremiah

HAN, Chloe

Year 5

DULGEROV, Roman

GAYTSHO, Jamyang

MATTHEWS, Evie

NGUYEN, Amelia

NILSSON, Evelina

NOTT, Vincent

TON-THAT, Henry

WISE, Charlie

Second Hand Uniform Donations

The Uniform Shop would love to receive second hand uniform donations. If you have school uniforms at home that you no longer need please send them into school. Thank you.

Opening Hours