Informer Term 2 Week 6

Prep 2022

Chanel College Year 7 Enrolments

Final days to complete your application for Year 7 at Chanel College. Please see information below.

Building Works on Athletics Day!

Please be aware that there will be a large concrete pour at the building site on Friday 28 May which is our Athletics Carnival Day. While this should not impact the running of our carnival, and completion is scheduled 9.00am, please be aware that trucks will be moving in and out of the driveway at the front of the school at this time. The entering and exiting of all trucks will be under the supervision of the Site Manager. While there have been numerous large concrete pours over the last few weeks, which have been smooth and well-controlled, we wanted to bring this to your attention as it is Athletics Carnival day and traffic might be heavier than normal.  Thank you as always for your understanding.

APRE News...

Feast Day – Our Lady Help of Christians – 24 May

We call on Mary’s intercession to help us make the right choices in our lives.

As the patron saint of Australia, we pray that God, through Mary’s intercession will give our leaders the wisdom to lead justly and that Australia will live in harmony, justice and peace

Sacrament of Confirmation and First Holy Communion

Dear Parents,

We have done an overall count of the number of attendees and we can increase the number of guests to 6 per candidate.

This number includes the Parents, Sponsor (only one) and siblings.

One candidate is allowed 6 members – candidate plus 6 for a total of 7 guests.

Two candidates are allowed 12 members – candidates plus 12 for a total of 14 guests.

Three candidates are allowed 18 members – candidates plus 15 for a total of 21 guests.

For COVID Contact Tracing requirements please send me the details of the sponsor, and guests attending ASAP.

Name and Surname

Residential Address

Contact Number

Kind Regards,

Maria

Laudato Si’ Week – 16 – 23 May

Laudato Si’ is the name of the encyclical letter by the Holy Father Pope Francis on ‘Care for our Common Home’.  To read more of this encyclical go to http://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20150524_enciclica-laudato-si.html

This week, we are invited to celebrate Laudato Si’ Week, a celebration of the whole Church and its journey to ‘ecological conversion’.
We are called by God to be stewards of creation and the church is committed to ensuring we all do what we can to ensure this gift is handed down in as pristine condition as possible.

Stand up and let our voice be heard to protect our environment.

Do what we can at home …every bit counts – recycle, repair, avoid plastics, buy biodegradable products, purchase products that are environmentally friendly, less is more attitude, support groups who are protecting our virgin vegetation and animals at risk.

You may be interested in watching the video about Laudato Si’ Week.

Laudato Si’ Week (laudatosiweek.org)

The question is, what are we doing or could do more of, to care for our common home and to model to our children our role in ensuring the sustainability of our environment?

Combined Schools Musical

The Combined Schools Musical for 2022 is still to be decided and is scheduled for performances from 7^th March – 20^th March 2022.  A couple of weeks ago, forms were collected from the office by those students who were interested in applying for roles in this production.  Only students in Year 4 and upwards are eligible to submit an expression of interest.  Submissions are in the areas of dancing, singing, acting and speech and drama. 

If your child collected the information forms earlier, please check the details carefully to ensure that your family and participating child can fully commit to the 2022 Combined Schools Musical.

For those wishing to submit their names for auditions, please return all forms to the main office at St John’s by this Thursday, 27 May.

Parenting Tips by Michael Grose

How to Give Kids Feedback for Improvement

by Michael Grose

It can be tempting to allow children to continue to behave badly or to perform chores, homework or sports practice poorly when they argue or resist feedback. Parents need to be part coach, teacher and counsellor so that kids learn how to behave well, develop healthy attitudes to learning and know how to get the best out of themselves. Feedback is one of the most effective tools we have to achieve this. Give it poorly and it will at best be ignored and at worst, rupture relationships and damage self-worth. If you provide feedback effectively, you’ll see improvement in behaviour, attitudes and learning, even among feedback resistant teens.

Here’s how to deliver feedback to make sure it sticks.

Make it specific

It’s absolutely essential to give feedback about one behaviour, skill or attitude at a time, if you want improvement. “Jai, if you make eye contact with your brother when you talk to him, he’s more likely to listen to you.” The feedback needs to be specific rather generalised so that a child or teen knows exactly how to do better. It also needs to be delivered in a non-judgemental way.

Ensure it’s descriptive

“That’s not the way to behave inside” doesn’t help much. “Use your quiet voice when you play inside the house” cues a child into how to behave. Use phrases and terms that have real meaning for kids rather than vague, non-descriptive language such as ‘be a good girl’, so kids not only know what’s expected but they understand how to meet your expectations.

It’s got to be timely

Providing feedback to a toddler half an hour after they’ve thrown a tantrum in public will ensure there’s no impact. On the other hand, providing behavioural feedback when a teenager is angry will ensure one thing – you’ll have an argument on your hands. Feedback needs to be fairly immediate for young children and if possible, provided before an event or activity. “When you set the table put the fork on this side and the knife on the other.” Choose the time and place to provide feedback to older children, remembering that angry tweens and teens generally don’t listen.

Give from a place of calm

Angry parents generally deliver feedback poorly to kids. Regardless of how well you choose your words and how accurate your feedback may be, feedback delivered angrily will prompt the flight/fight response from a child or young person. They will ignore you or start an argument, but they won’t take your message on board when you’re mad at them.

Give sparingly

When children require approval for every scribble, homework problem and picture they draw, it’s probably because they have always been offered feedback on every scribble, homework problem and picture they draw. It’s vital that children develop their own internal sense of validation and honest self-assessment, because as they grow up and face hardship, they need to be able to look to themselves for strength and approval. If they can’t, they will be much more vulnerable to superficial external approval that comes their way in the form of peer pressure, bullying and the usual social jostling. As you wean them off of your feedback, turn their “Mummy, is this picture good?” or “Dad, did I do a good job?” back on them, and ask them how they feel about their work.

Feedback is a wonderful parenting tool that requires attention to detail, sensitivity and a willingness to respect the dignity of the child or young person who is receiving it. It’s also most effective when given sparingly, rather than like a nervous tic, which keeps kids anchored to you for approval.

Michael Grose

Michael Grose, founder of Parenting Ideas, is one of Australia’s leading parenting educators. He’s an award-winning speaker and the author of 12 books for parents including Spoonfed Generation, and the bestselling Why First Borns Rule the World and Last Borns Want to Change It. Michael is a former teacher with 15 years experience, and has 30 years experience in parenting education. He also holds a Master of Educational Studies from Monash University specialising in parenting education.

Parish News...

Interschool Chess Competition

Interschool Chess Tournament – Chanel College

On Wednesday, some students from Year 4-6 competed in the Interschool Chess Tournament at Chanel College.  We entered 5 teams into the competition and 19 students were also playing individually. 

Overall Individual winners for the Primary Competition were:

1^st Place – Marley Wynne

2^nd Place – Oliver Gibson

3rd Place – Alex Slean

Overall Team winners for the Primary Competition were:

1^st Place – St John’s Red (Alex Slean, Akshaj Rayi, Bailey Peachey and Marley Wynne).

3^rd Place – St John’s Blue (Cody Peachey, Liam Panis, Lorenzo Fuentes, Oliver Gibson).

Other participants in the competition were:

Lachlan Edward, Sophie Edward, Harry Rippingale, Curtis Larkin, Hayley Asplet, Jai Seckington, Connor Williams, Connor Mackay, Swati Kannan, Max English and Achal Thakkar.

Well done to all chess players.  Chess club for Year 3-6 is on every Wednesday from 3:00pm-3:50pm in the Haven.

Mrs Guinea

National Similtaneous Storytime

Last Thursday in our Resource Centre I was joined by a cosmic band of stars for our National Simultaneous Storytime!!  We enjoyed our intergalactic experience with the NSS 2021 book being read by the astronaut Dr Shannon Walker from the International Space Station.  Great delight was had watching Dr Shannon wrangle with the book as it tended to float away from her as she was reading the story (as did her hair!!) and our space cadets did observe that an unusually large amount of tape was being used in the space station….

About the author...

Philip Bunting is an English born Australian author and illustrator, with a soft spot for creating picture boos for sleep-deprived, time-poor raisin-encrusted parents (and their children).  He lives with his young family in the hills behind Noosa, Queensland

He believes that the more fun the child has during their early reading experience, the more likely they will be to return to books, improve their emergent literacy skills, and later find joy in reading and learning.

Philip's books have been translated into multiple language and published in over 25 countries around the world.  Since his first book was published in 2017, Philip has received multiple accolades, including Honours from the Children's Book Council of Australia, and making the list for the Kate Greenaway Medal in 2018.

Child Safety Curriculum

Starting in Week 7, of this term, will again be working through the Child Safety Curriculum with all students in Prep to Year Six during Health lessons. These lessons will continue into early Term Three. The curriculum is based on principles of best practice in child safety education and centres around three key messages: Recognise, React and Report. Through a series of lessons, students will learn to recognise, react and report when they are unsafe or find themselves in situations that can have a significant detrimental effect on their physical, psychological or emotional wellbeing.

Information about the Child Safety Curriculum can be found at www.education.qld.gov.au/child-safety-curriculum.  I urge families to log on and read through this, in particular the terms that will be used in these lessons.

Recognise

The first key safety message of the curriculum is recognise. Recognise is about being aware of your environment.

Children, young people and adults can all learn to take notice of what is happening around them to help keep themselves safe. Everyone can use clues, such as the things we see, hear, smell or feel to help protect us from harm and keep ourselves safe. Clues can be simple things that warn us about a danger, e.g. hearing a fire alarm or seeing smoke, that prompt us to react. We can also use clues to prepare for potentially unsafe situations, e.g. if we are walking alone at night, then we try to use a well-lit route and avoid secluded lanes or parks.

When we recognise that there might be a safety problem we can take steps to move away or reduce the risk or develop strategies that can help keep us safe. For instance, if you are in a busy environment such as the Ekka or a local event where there are big crowds, you might consider what you and your child could do if you became separated. Strategies could include: going to a highly visible pre-determined meeting spot; writing your phone number on a card and placing it in your child’s pocket; identifying who your child could approach if they become lost, e.g. police, staff at a booth.

React

The second safety message is react.

When children recognise that they are in an unsafe situation, we encourage them to think about what they could do to be safe again. They will have opportunities to think about ways to react using real-life scenarios. Our students will also learn that breaking the rules (e.g. saying no to an adult who is behaving inappropriately) is sometimes necessary so that they can become safe again.

Please take the time to talk with your children about what they have been learning about safety and, in particular, the ways they could react if they are unsafe to make themselves safe again. Talking with your child about ways to stay safe will help them to develop life-long safety skills.

Report

The third safety message is report.

This means that when children or young people have been in a situation that is unsafe that they are taught to report what has happened to an adult. Even if a child has been able to make themselves safe, it is vital that they still report what has happened. Adults need to know about unsafe situations so that some action can be taken to help the child be safe again or ensure it doesn’t happen again.

Students involved in the Child Safety Curriculum will be encouraged to make a list of adult safety helpers. These are adults the children and young people nominate whom they can talk to when they are feeling unsafe or have experienced an unsafe situation or feel they are at risk of something that may cause them harm. This list will include a selection of adults who live in and outside the home.

Report also includes telling an adult about unsafe or inappropriate incidents which may occur when children or young people are online. This might occur when surfing the net or using social media sites like Facebook and twitter, and can include cyberbullying, viewing or receiving inappropriate images or messages or communicating with unknown contacts.

It is important that the key safety messages of the Child Safety Curriculum: Recognise, React and Report are reinforced, both at school and home. I encourage you, wherever possible, to talk with your child about safety to help them stay safe now and in the future.

eSafety Tips for Parents

Correct School Uniform

Some of our parents have had some questions recently around our school uniform requirement, so below is the correct information (and photos) for all St John’s families to be familiar with. Thank you to our models for your help!

Boys – Formal Uniform

• Short sleeved red and navy blue polo shirt with school emblem worn tucked in
• Navy blue shorts (purchased from the uniform shop or of similar style and material)
• St John’s broad-brimmed school hat

Girls – Formal Uniform

• Short sleeved red and navy blue polo shirt with school emblem worn tucked in
• Navy blue skorts (purchased from the uniform shop or of similar style – must be pleated front and back)
• St John’s broad-brimmed school hat

Girls and Boys – Sports Uniform

• Navy blue sports shorts with school emblem to be worn on HPE days, Friday Sport and school sporting carnivals
• Short sleeved red and navy blue polo shirt with school emblem
• St John’s broad-brimmed school hat

Girls and Boys – Shoes and Socks

• Plain white socks worn ABOVE the ankle
• Plain black leather or leather-like shoes (volleys, casual skate style shoes, high tops and the like are not considered as plain black school shoes)

St John's Uniform

Athletics

At our Athletics Carnival on Friday 28 May we will have a coffee van onsite from 9.00am – 11.00am. The van will be set up on the J Hickey side of the oval near pick-up area.

Please note under WHS, all hot drink purchases must have a lid on them at all times and only adults will be served or are to consume hot drinks from the van.

Athletics Carnival Tuckshop Menu

Athletics Carnival - General Information

• Friday 28 May (Week 6) starting at 8.40am sharp.

• Prep – Year 1 to meet teachers in their classroom from 8.20am.

• Year 2- 6 students to meet at their House Tents on oval from 8.20am.

• No Assembly.

• The tuckshop menu will be limited on the Athletics Carnival Day. Ordering can be made via online or over the counter (cash or Eftpos).

• Students to wear a sun safe shirt in their house colour, sports shorts, runners (no spikes), sunscreen, school hat and a large water bottle.

• Students are to be seated in their House Tents except if marshalling or competing. Parents are not to be seated in House Tents but are welcome to ‘set-up’ near the track, but away from marshalling and finish line.

• Spectators are to adhere at all times to COVID social distancing requirements.

• Students born 2013 – 2009 race in their date of birth and Prep-Yr 2 students race in their year level.

• Students born 2013 – 2009 have been pre-timed/measured to ensure they are placed in the correct heats.

• Students finishing 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd in races and field events receive ribbons. Students finishing 4th-8th receive points for their house. Student’s who finish 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd in Championship events earn points for their house and individually (1^st = 6 points, 2^nd = 4 points and 3^rd = 2 points).

• Students born in 2012 – 2009 are eligible for Age Champion.

• Students born in 2011 – 2009 who place 1^st and 2^nd in Championship race/events are eligible for Athletics Team selection.

• Presentation of Age Champions & House Champion to be presented on Monday at full school Assembly, not at the end of the carnival.

• Any students leaving prior to 3.00pm, MUST see their class teacher first and then go to the office to have their name marked off the electronic roll with their parent.

High Jump Results

St John's Way Awards

Volunteer Tuckshop Roster

Tuckshop Menu

Our St John’s App Is Live!

We are very excited to announce that the St John’s is live and ready for parents to download to their devices.

Please follow the instructions step-by-step for downloading the St John’s App. The one-off St John’s set-up passcode is 8892.

Additionally, to download the St John’s App to your iPad, laptop or PC, please follow the following link - https://stjohnclinton.schoolzineplus.com/subscribe

Once you have downloaded the App you will see we now have a one-stop-shop for all information you need to stay informed at St John’s.

In the top banner you will see Home, Feed and Manage.

Home will take you to the tiles and Feed will take you to alerts/messages (as Dojo did).

The latest ‘feed’ will be displayed on the home screen above the tiles.

The ‘’tiles’’ we have used are as follows:

• Parent Lounge – takes you straight to the Parent Lounge sign-in page
• Latest Newsletter – each week the newsletter will be uploaded to this tile
• Website – takes you straight to our website
• Forms and Documents – in this tile the following documents have been uploaded – simply tap on the link:
  

Parent Handbook
School Uniform
Behaviour Management
Fees and Levies Schedule
ICT Code of Practice
Tuckshop Menu

• School Calendar – all key dates for the upcoming term (continually updated)
• Tuckshop – takes you straight to the online tuckshop log-in page
• OSHC – links to required forms
• School Contact – takes you straight to our phone contact
• Facebook - takes you straight to our Facebook page
• Seesaw – Our new ‘Dojo’’ – please note that this is still a work in progress
• Newsletter Archive – each weekly newsletter will be archived to this tile for referral where required
• Subscribe to Newsletter – please note that all existing families will be automatically uploaded to this new platform. This tile is for new families in the future

While we feel we have covered all bases, things can be overlooked so we look forward to your feedback or suggestions on information that would be a benefit to be included. As always your feedback is valued; please email Jakki Graham at Jakki_graham@rok.catholic.edu.au