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Dear St John the Apostle Primary School Community,
Hasn't the rain been beautiful! There is something very peaceful about the soft patter of rain outside and watching everything become greener and greener. I'm also very, very thankful for the gentle transformation that will occur as creeks, rivers, dams and water tanks fill up for those who need it most.
Welcome Mr Suitor
I would like to formally welcome Mr Scott Suitor to St John the Apostle as one of the Year 6 teachers and as a member of the Executive Team (Coordinator). Mr Suitor wasn't able to join us immediately and has been welcomed by students, parents and staff. Scott has taught in Catholic and Independent schools in Canberra and in London. He has a wealth of experience and particularly enjoys teaching Mathematics. Scott will be Coordinating the Year 5/6 Band of teachers and will also be develop other opportunities in our school, including opportunities for our students to participate in School Sport ACT activities.
Year 3 Assembly
Congratulations to our Year 3 classes for their beautiful assembly on Monday afternoon. Our school focus this year is 'I am...' and each year level has a different focus statement from John's Gospel. Year 3 shared with us their understanding of what Jesus means when he says "I am the bread of life...". They explained how knowing Jesus well nourishes us and allows us to live our fullest life. I was particularly impressed with them all because they were the Kindergarten class when I first began at St John the Apostle and as I watched them present I felt very proud of how much they have grown.
Year 6 Leadership
At the Monday assembly we commissioned our Year 6 students as school leaders. They all received badges that recognise the special role they play in our school community. This Year 6 group have taken this responsibility very seriously.
We also presented to the community the Year 6 students who have specific leadership roles. These students were recognised by their peers as students who could undertake these roles effectively. Congratulations to the following students:
School Captains
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| Eseta T | Darcy M |
Events Leadership Team
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| Nicholas A | Leonardo B | Sana A | Mikayla S |
Sustainability Leadership Team
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| Jack G | Emily R | Jaxon R | Abhinav B |
Prayer/Liturgy Leadership Team
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| Olivia G | Sabeen A |
Communications Leadership Team
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| Thomas F | Georgia S |
Youth Ministry Leadership Team
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| Sophia H | Dakoda L |
Catholic Education Learning Agenda
Yesterday I spent the day with Principals and other Senior Leaders from across our Archdiocese. It was to talk about the future of teaching & learning in all of our Catholic schools. We discussed how we are working together to continue developing great teachers who have a significant and positive impact on our students' well being, growth and achievement. It was an opportunity to hear about how our schools work hard to create excellent educational outcomes for our students.
Three Way Conferences
Remember to book your Three Way Conferences for next Tuesday and Wednesday, 10 & 11 March. Every student has prepared a reflection and goal to be shared with you and the teacher. It is an important opportunity for you to see how the year has started for your child and have a positive conversation about the year ahead. If you haven't booked please go to the following link to arrange a time.
Have a lovely long weekend.
Matthew Garton (Principal)
To deepen our understanding of the seven "I am" statements from John’s gospel, Year 6 have created a display that has identified their personal characteristics. This was done as part of their leadership speech preparations.
Mrs Love and the students reflected on what makes them who they are. They chose three attributes to complete the statement “I am….”
Our focus on these scriptures has been quite powerful across the school. You will notice each grade has the scripture displayed in their break out space. Each grade also has their own image as well as Miss Mac’s painting in their classroom.
Being connected to scripture is so important. Sometimes we think it is irrelevant, written so long ago that it cannot possibly have meaning for us now. Our work is to find the meaning, read, reflect, question and be curious about scripture. This is what I want for our children, to be curious about their faith. To know that it is a journey defined by scripture that we will all be on for the rest of our lives.
Romans 10:17 New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)
17 So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ.[a]
Stephanie Stewart
Religious Education Coordinator
Notices from the Parish
Happy birthday to Tobias P, Theodore P, Emily R, Amon D, Ayual D, Abbey R, Roy A, Alek S and Isabella T who all celebrated a birthday over the last week.
Congratulations to the following students who received an award for the fortnightly Positive Behaviour Focus. The awards will be presented at the School Assembly on Tuesday 9 March at 2:15pm.
| Class | ||
| KB | Madison S | Henry J |
| KM | Lily L | Jackson M |
| 1B | Ivy S | Henry T |
| 1M | Xavier B | Olivia C |
| 2B | Lorenzo S | Emily T |
| 2M | Finn S | Sophie J |
| 3B | Harry P | Bianca L |
| 3M | Zoe S | Nuer A |
| 4B | Max S | Jessica C |
| 4M | Arok G | Zachary G |
| 5B | Matilda P | Star H |
| 5M | Alek A | Emma T |
| 6B | Fergus S | Adeng G |
| 6M | Mark G | Paige J |
| Performing Arts | Dakoda L (6M) | Campbell G (1M) |
Spending time with kids: How much is enough?
The need to spend time with their parents differs for different kids. For some, there’s no end to the time they’d spend with you. However, other kids feel differently. There’s no right answer.
I’m fortunate to have the flexibility that allows me to spend a great deal of time with my children. However, my nine year old daughter wants to spend more time with me. My eleven year old son, on the other hand, is content either way.
Australia ranks first
According to a recent study Australian parents rank number one among OECD countries (including most of Europe, North America, the UK and Finland) when it comes to spending time with their kids. The lion’s share of this time is still invested by mums, but Australian dads are ahead of those from many other countries, averaging around 70 minutes a day with their children.
The source of misplaced parental guilt
According to research published in the Journal of Marriage and Family, not spending enough time with children is the biggest source of parental guilt in Australia.
The researchers also found that it’s quality, not quantity of time children spend with parents that’s important for their emotional wellbeing, achievement and behaviour for kids aged 3-11 years. The researchers concluded that volume of time doesn’t matter. It’s much more important how time is spent with your children when you are together. This in no way advocates for absentee parenting. It’s about making the most of the family time you have and reducing feelings of stress for you if you can’t be around as much as you’d like to be.
Here are some ideas to help make sure you optimise the time you spend with your kids:
- Create a tradition of one-on-one time with each of your kids around an activity that you both enjoy, such as a cafe catch up over a milkshake, shooting hoops or playing a favourite board game
- Read regularly to each other, as these are special times of connection, especially in bed at night
- Eat meals together as a family so you can all catch up and connect – this is worth its weight in gold when it comes to quality time
- Pay attention to your children, watching for cues that they’re in need of extra time with you
- Adolescents benefit from spending extra time with their parents. Through interactions with their parents teenagers can learn to make better decisions about their health, improve their academic achievement and experience better wellbeing
- Take an interest in their interests. Connect with your children through the activities that they value such as music, sport or games, even if they aren’t hobbies you don’t normally enjoy. Your kids will appreciate you making the effort and will respond accordingly
- Be present when you’re with your kids. Research shows our minds can wander up to 47% of the time when we are with our loved ones. If you’re present with our kids, you won’t miss out on nearly half of that precious time.
Be mindful of the importance of unstructured time for kids. That is, time they spend playing alone or with siblings and friends. Play is essential for our kids’ wellbeing and development. Play changes as our kids grow up but as long as whatever they’re doing is child-led, it’s play. This is the time to leave them to it.
Dr Jodi Richardson
A reminder that school banking is every Tuesday through the school. There are great prizes to collect while they are available. Please see below for more details on how to get started.
A parent who kindly lent their Breville rice cooker at the fete has discovered after taking it home that the bowl insert and the lid are incorrect for that particular rice cooker and are consequently unable to use it at as the insert and lid are too small for the cooker. If you have collected your rice cooker from school, would you please check to see if you have the correct insert and lid. We are hoping that they can be swapped back. Thank you.
