Jubilee Year 2025 – Pilgrims of Hope

Place a pilgrims of Hope photo/logo here please

The Jubilee Prayer

Father in heaven,
may the faith you have given us
in your son, Jesus Christ, our brother,
and the flame of charity enkindled
in our hearts by the Holy Spirit,
reawaken in us the blessed hope
for the coming of your Kingdom.
May your grace transform us
into tireless cultivators of the seeds of the Gospel.
May those seeds transform from within both humanity and the whole cosmos
in the sure expectation
of a new heaven and a new earth,
when, with the powers of Evil vanquished,
your glory will shine eternally.
May the grace of the Jubilee
reawaken in us, Pilgrims of Hope,
a yearning for the treasures of heaven.
May that same grace spread
the joy and peace of our Redeemer
throughout the earth.
To you our God, eternally blessed,
be glory and praise for ever. Amen.

Dear Parents and Carers,

It has been wonderful to see so many of you dropping off and picking up your sons and daughters. We have had a very settled and positive start to the year, welcoming many new students and families into Kinder and across the other grades. The smiles on their faces and the eagerness to begin school has been beautiful. Students also spoke this week of how wonderful it has been to reunite with friends and develop new relationships. Our playground has been filled with many happy students playing a variety of games and enjoying the new play equipment. Our school enrolment is currently sitting just above 370 students, and we are still waiting the arrival of some new families.

Our Information Evenings are a wonderful opportunity for parents to gain insights into school wide procedures, class-specific details and daily routines. It’s also a chance to explore their child’s classroom and connect with our dedicated teaching staff.  We appreciated everyone who joined us this week and thank you to our teaching team for their time and effort in preparing and presenting after a full day in the classroom. It was also a pleasure to have Fr Tru invite us all to the Parish for Mass and Ian Luscombe share with us about his work in Positive Behaviours.

This week you would have seen the IT Consent Agreement come via Compass in Insights, can you please have a discussion with your sons and daughters as you read over this information.

Why should we believe what we read on the Internet?

A question I often ask our students when I get the opportunity to spend time in classrooms is, Why should we believe what we read on the Internet? I think back to my own formative years of schooling and the internet didn’t exist, or at least not in its current form. Whenever we wanted to find something out, irrespective of whether it was for school or just out of personal interest we tended to use one of a very limited number of sources:

1. Mum or Dad. Generally speaking they tended to be experts on most things, either through having studied themselves or through life experience.
2. My Teacher. I think there was a general belief that they were the font of all knowledge and were to be respected for their opinion.
3. Encyclopaedia’s. Whether it was Encyclopaedia Britannica or the World Book. There were 24 volumes full of everything you would ever need to know about anything.
4. The Library. In my case this was the National Library of Australia. I would visit here when all else failed. You were not allowed to speak and for many of the books you had to wear white gloves to protect them.
5. Television or Radio. I still recall when colour television came into existence. Television and radio presented a window to the world. However, I seem to recall that there was a greater focus on good news stories, rather than the constant stream of negativity we get today.

Then along came the internet. A world wide web which enabled us to connect to others around the world and to seek the truth about things which were not covered in books. It was believed that just as machines would lead us towards a better lifestyle and a shorter working week, that the internet would open us up to a great deal more. Today’s students have access to information at a greater speed, volume and variety than ever before. We have search engines which enable us to refine our search so that we can find the truth about just about anything.

However, the greatest challenge for today’s students and in fact for all of us is to be able to sift through the vast amount of information, which is represented as both facts and opinions, presented via the internet and be able to identify what is fact and what is fiction. Whether it be our Year 2 students researching family trees, Year 3 exploring other cultures and belief systems, Year 4 comparing and contrasting the Indigenous or European view of Australian colonisation, Year 5 looking at the role of a significant individual or group, including First Nations Australians and those who migrated to Australia or Year 6 identifying roles of significant people, events and ideas that led to Australian Federation, there is a significant need for researching and verifying information.

We teach students not to believe everything they read, and we expect that they check their information using a variety of credible sources. We present them with websites that we know are correct, however, we also let them explore further and it often amuses them when they find information which is different to the facts. Especially when it is written in an extremely convincing way. When I went to school, if I wanted to find something out about someone or something, I would write them a letter or visit a particular venue. Today, we can click a button and there in front of us is the answer to our questions.

Our students understand that Google is just one tool and that it prioritises many of its searches based upon the number of people who have accessed particular sites and the link to the key words they have typed in. What they do however find surprising is that there are companies who employ people to spend their day typing the title of their business into Google so that it looks like everyone is accessing it and it tops the search list.

Returning to a point previously made, we try to teach them to not believe everything they are told, see or read. It may be true; however, it is important that they dedicate time to speak to people who are informed, visit places linked to their search or verify the information by using a variety of tools to access the information they require. The internet is an amazing tool which connects the world in so many different ways. However, our greatest challenge as teachers and parents is to give our children the skills to be able to filter, verify and differentiate between fact and fiction.

School Community Council AGM Wednesday 19^th February at 6.00pm

We invite all parents to come along to our first School Council (SCA SC) meeting for the year. The Community Council provides an important leadership role in our school by undertaking an advisory role in policy and finance matters, and a hands-on role in community building and school promotion.

We are seeking a new member for the executive (Chair) and non-executives (parent representative) capacity. If you would like to be involved in your child’s school, and you can meet twice a term (at 6pm on Wednesdays in Weeks 3 and 8 of each Term) please consider nominating yourself and joining us in the staffroom on Wednesday 19^th February.

Terms of office are usually set at 2 years, so no one should feel they are committing themselves for life! Please see the nomination form further in the newsletter.

Facebook

We are on Facebook. Search St John the Apostle Primary School, Florey on Facebook.

Safety Plans

Our school’s safety plans rely on us having correct and up to date contact and medical details for every child. Please ensure you inform the school of any updated personal information as a matter of priority.

School Fees and Remissions

School fee invoices will be sent home shortly. Parents facing real difficulties paying are encouraged to apply for fee remissions. Any applications for fee relief must be made annually. Forms are available from the front office.

Student Safety

The start of the school year is a particularly busy time in our school carparks and surrounding streets. To help keep students safe when making their way to and from school, please ensure you drive and park safely and legally, at and around, school grounds. We all have an important role to play in supporting road safety. Access Canberra has notified us that mobile speed and parking vans will be in operation to support our students’ safety. These enforcement teams play a critical role in supporting our students getting to and from school safely and we thank them for their ongoing support. In addition to sticking to the speed limit, please remember to park safely – including not parking across pedestrian crossings, in no stopping zones, on corners, verges and double parking. Unsafe and illegal parking can reduce visibility of our students and motorists to see each other, creating a significant hazard when students cross the road. Let’s work together to keep our kids safe.

I hope your week ahead is filled with joy and I look forward to presenting the Leadership Badges to the students in Year 6 today at 12pm.

Kind regards

Jo Reed

Principal

NAPLAN

NAPLAN testing will occur in our school between 12 and 24 March 2025 for students in years 3 and 5.

Online NAPLAN tests provide more precise results and are engaging for students. The tests are tailored (or adaptive), which means that each test presents questions that may be more or less difficult depending on a student’s responses. This helps students remain engaged with the assessment.

Tailored testing allows a wider range of student abilities to be assessed and measures student achievement more precisely. A student’s overall NAPLAN result is based on both the number and complexity of questions they answer correctly. Your child should not be concerned if they find questions challenging; they may be taking a more complex test pathway.

All Year 3 students will complete the writing assessment on paper.

NAPLAN provides valuable information to schools and parents about literacy and numeracy achievement. It supports school improvement processes by enabling teachers to monitor student progress over time and to identify areas of strength and development.

All eligible students are encouraged and supported to participate in NAPLAN testing. Visit www.nap.edu.au to see interactive versions of the test and for more information.

Beth Fear or myself will be in touch with parents about accommodations. If you have any concerns about your child completing NAPLAN, please don't hesitate to contact me. 

SchoolSpeak 101: Free online webinar for parents and carers

The Council of Catholic School Parents is holding webinars for parents and carers to help them understand school-related language so they can better support their children’s learning. Please see below a flyer for the webinars.

A reminder to all families that students are not to be at school before 8:20am in the morning. There is no supervision before this time. If you need to drop your child off before this time please register them with before school care.

School times for:

Drop off in the morning 8:20am

Pick up in the afternoon 3:00pm

Thank you for your assistance with this matter.

What Students are Learning About

All teachers from Kinder to Year 6 will be following the Brisbane Curriculum.   The students will benefit from the use of learning intentions and the use of High Impact Teaching Practises (HITP) in Religious Education lessons.

Year 5 are learning about prayer. They reflected on the following questions.

Where can people pray?

In what different ways can people pray?

Do people always have to use words to pray?

Can people use their imagination to pray?

How can people get their bodies and minds ready for prayer?

Ruksha, Edith and Riley were excited to show their work to me.

They are beginning to explore this section of the achievement standard for Year 5

Students describe the significance of personal and communal prayer and worship including the Eucharist, the Psalms, Sabbath rituals and prayers for the lives of believers. They participate respectfully in a variety of personal and communal prayer experiences including Marian prayers especially the Hail Mary, Litany of Mary of Nazareth and the Rosary; and meditative prayer especially mantras. They participate respectfully in meditative prayer practices including praying with Rosary beads.

What Teachers are Learning About

Teachers across our school have been engaged in ensuring that 150 mins of Religion is taught each week.  Our mission as a Catholic school is to evangelise.  This means to spread the word of God. 

“Catholic schools are also a major part of Australia’s educational ecosystem. They have provided high quality education to generations of young Australians, now numbering in their millions. They stand as a beacon in our society, for their contribution to the common good and to the nation’s social capital. They have helped nurture a more just, tolerant and cohesive society. Catholic education is determined in its commitment to excellence and equity.”

– 200 Years Young, p2

At St John the Apostle, we continue the proud tradition of Australian Catholic education.  You can read more about the history of Australian Catholic Schools here.

https://ncec.catholic.edu.au/about-catholic-education/our-story/

Catholic Life and Reflection

Mrs Reed and I attended the formation morning for the Parish Pastoral Council on Saturday.   It was a time of prayer and reflection between both the community of St John the Apostle and St Thomas Aquinas.  We reflected on the letters of Paul to the Corinthians and his direction on living a communal life. How we have spiritual gifts, and these gifts combined create a full and diverse community.

Mrs Serae Love has been appointed the EALD (English as Another Language or Dialect) coordinator for 2025.  She has collected data from our community that has found we have over 70 different languages spoken in our school.  That is extraordinary.

It provides both a challenge and opportunity.  How do we support all who have chosen to be part of our school?  How do we tap into the rich cultural experiences that families have to offer?  How do we educate equitably? How do we support the most vulnerable?

These were the same questions that were raised in the Parish meeting.  Whether we are talking about the Parish or the school we are have the same strengths and challenges.

The solution is far from simple but to 'invite' has to the be the starting point. To constantly invite people. To welcome, to listen, to support and to share the love of God. 

We are a Catholic community.  We are on earth the heart of God. Well, we try very hard to be.

1 Corinthians 12

New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

Spiritual Gifts

12 Now concerning spiritual gifts,^[a] brothers and sisters,^[b] I do not want you to be uninformed. ² You know that when you were pagans, you were enticed and led astray to idols that could not speak. ³ Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says “Let Jesus be cursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit.

⁴ Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; ⁵ and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; ⁶ and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. ⁷ To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. ⁸ To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, ⁹ to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, ¹⁰ to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. ¹¹ All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.

God bless,

Stephanie Stewart

Religious Education Coordinator

“Hello, St John the Apostle Primary community! 

I’m Ming, your school’s Finance Officer, and I’m passionate about creating a supportive environment where students can thrive and families feel connected. My role includes managing fee remissions, budgeting, processing invoices, maintaining financial records, and working closely with families to ensure a smooth financial experience at our school.  

I love being part of this wonderful community and working alongside our incredible staff, students, and families. Outside of work, I’m a proud mum to my 2-year-old daughter Elora, and our playful rough collie dog Lessie. I also enjoying on-going learning on numbers and taxation laws specifically as a Certificated Practising Accountant (CPA), and in the process of obtain my Registered Tax Agent Certification. 

I look forward to supporting you and your family. If you ever need assistance, don’t hesitate to reach out!”

FETE PRE ORDERS 2025

You can pre-order the below items on the Qkr! App. We are also taking cash (not eftpos) payments in the Front Office this week. Pre-orders will close on Thursday 13^th March at 3pm.

Volunteers

We are looking for volunteers. We rely on volunteers to ensure the success of our school Fete. Unfortunately, last year we did not have enough volunteers to successfully run all of our stalls. If every family offered half an hour of their time, we would be very grateful. Please also make sure you look at all of the tabs across the top of the Sign Up Website.

Please sign up to volunteer at the below link:

www.signupgenius.com/tabs/13572DC02A2C2ECC4A18-fete2

Sponsorship

If you have a business, please consider sponsoring our Fete. Contact Rebekah Brown for further details.

Donations

We rely on our community to donate a couple of items per child to help with the success of our school Fete. Please see below 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 so much in advance for your donations and support. 

Tombola

For the 2025 Fete, we are going to be 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 convener 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 tombola 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. Please see below images of past hampers. Kindergarten students are more than welcome to contribute to any of the below hampers. All items can be dropped off to the Front Office.

• Year One 2025 – Baby hamper (e.g. wraps, clothes, nappies, rattles, baby toys, wipes etc.)
• Year Two 2025 - Pet Hamper (eg. pet toys, treats, feeders, bowls etc.)
• Year Three 2025 – Kids Toy hamper (e.g. puzzles, fidget toys, board games, balls etc.)
• Year Four 2025 – Pamper hamper (eg. bath salts, candles, body products etc.)
• Year Five 2025 – Parents hamper (eg. wine, beer, chocolates, nuts etc.)
• Year Six 2025 - Home hamper (eg. tools, cleaning products, Bunnings gift card

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 2025 Fete. An esky is filled with alcohol 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:

• Alcohol - Wine, beer etc. ( Please drop these at the front office)
• 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. 

Raffle Tickets

Each family received one Raffle Ticket Booklet. Raffle Tickets are $2 each or $30 a book. All Raffle Ticket books (sold or not sold) need to be returned to the Front Office by this Thursday 13th March.

Prizes:

• First Prize: $1000
• Second Prize: $500
• Third Prize: $250

The past two weeks I have been delighted at the number of great conversations I have had with students, staff and caregivers about books. Many students were very keen to get back into the library and find books to read, old favourite or new ones that they have been waiting for! 

Last year, my personal reading challenge was to read my height in books. I am proud to say that I doubled my challenge and read twice my height! The St John's community celebrated with me each step of the way, and many people told me that they have been inspired to create their own reading goals, from 10 minutes a day, to one book a month, to reading their own height. Last week I introduced the St John's Reading Challenge. Students from each class will work together to borrow and read books from our library. Every book that is finished will be measured and added to the class chart. The class that reads the longest will have a special celebration. Each term we will start fresh to give classes an opportunity to celebrate their reading achievements. This will also help them achieve the Chief Minister's Reading Challenge.

Please remember to send library bags with students so they are able to borrow books.

This week, so many students were excited about the challenge, sitting with their peers and reading quietly during library lessons. 

Emma Alcock

Teacher Librarian (Monday - Wednesday)

6B teacher (Thursday)

George Desmond May

Born 5/2/25 at 2:21am 

Weighing 2870g - 6 lbs 3 oz

50cm long

Happy Birthday to  Avlyn, Chukwubuikem, Thayoee, Kiranjot, Charles, Mariam, Amara Noelle, Rylan, George, Euphel, Leo, Eli, Jacob, Rihaan, Gursirat, Carter, Jack, Addison, Desmond, Grace, Timothy, Zachary, Samuel and Julia who all celebrate a Birthday in February.

Opening Hours

A reminder that the Merchant's Feast who provide our school canteen services will no longer operate on Wednesdays. Canteen lunches will be provided on Thursdays and Fridays only. 

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

St John the Apostle Primary School Community Council

Nomination Form

Please return form to the Front Office or email to jo.reed@cg.catholic.edu.au  

I wish to nominate myself as a member of the SJA Community Council.

Name: ………………………................………….       

Email: ………….........................………..

Child/ren and Class: ……………………………………………………………………..

All nominations are for parent representative. However, I would also consider serving in an executive role as Chairperson. (Please circle if you would be willing to serve in one, or more, of these roles.)

Signed: ……………………………………………                        Date: ………………………………..

The Competitions for the 2025 Royal Canberra Show are now open for entries! This year, we are particularly excited to bring back our Art and Photography competition, and we’d love to see your school community represented.

Please spread the word amongst your talented teachers and students. Whether it’s art, photography, horticulture, produce, cooking, cake decorating, or crafts, there’s something for everyone to showcase their creativity and skills.

Here are the links with all the information you need to get started:

· Horticulture and Produce Competition (including Cooking and Cake Decorating): https://www.rncas.org.au/horticulture-produce.html

· Art and Photography Competition: https://www.rncas.org.au/art-and-photography.html

· Craft Expo: https://www.rncas.org.au/craft.html

We encourage you to explore these opportunities and inspire your students to participate. The Royal Canberra Show is a fantastic platform for young creatives to share their talents with a broader audience and celebrate their achievements.

If you have any questions or need additional information, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We can’t wait to see the incredible entries from your school!

• Starting time is 8:50am sharp. Students arriving late will need to be signed in at the Front Office.

• Supervision commences at 8:20am and no student should be at school before 8.20am (unless at OSHC). Students arriving before 8.20am are unsupervised. Please use before school care if necessary.

• A student’s hair should be cut off their face and, if longer than shoulder length, it must be tied back in an appropriate school coloured band.

• No jewellery should be worn to school and only plain studs, small sleepers and watches are acceptable. No bracelets, bangles, sparkly ear rings, nail polish, make up, etc are allowed.

• Black ‘jogger’ or canvas type school shoes are not part of the school uniform. The only school shoes allowed at St John the Apostle are the traditional or formal black leather school shoes.