Informer - Term 3 Week 9

From Our Prinicpal ...

Dear Families

In many pre-literate societies, the name day was often of more significance than one's actual birthday. In the Christian tradition it was often common to name a child after the saint on whose feast day the child was born. I have read all sorts of reasons, from ease of keeping track of the actual day to maintaining a special link with that particular saint. Whatever the reason, the feast days of the saints were of particular importance and were celebrated with much rejoicing. In the Catholic tradition, next Tuesday is the Feast of the Holy Name of Mary.

For our school, it is a day of celebration and being aware of our history. Our parish in Gladstone is very different to the rest of the Rockhampton diocese. The parish of Star of the Sea was founded and administered by the Marist Fathers rather than by diocesan priests. The Marist order of priests was founded in France and has had a huge missionary focus throughout its history especially amongst the Pacific. Their official name is the Society of Mary. The idea of the Society of Mary came to a young man, Jean Claude Courveille, before the statue of the Blessed Virgin in the cathedral shrine of Le Puy, France, in 1812. He had been cured of blindness at this place. Returning each year on the Assumption feast he heard 'with the ears of my soul' Our Lady speaking to him, requesting a religious family to be formed bearing her name. They would be known as 'Marists'.

Mary, in her role as intercessor and advocate plays a huge part in the life of the both the Catholic Church and our own school and parish. Our feast day is a time to celebrate our history and the wonderful things that happen at our school. Details of the feast day celebrations have been in our newsletter for the past few weeks and are again in this week’s.

Thank you to the P&F and committee members for all the time and effort that goes into preparing the Father’s Day stall. I saw some very excited children who were very keen to show me  the wonderful gifts that they were purchasing.  I hope families had the chance to make their own Dads' day very special.

Have a great week and hug your kids.

Jamie Emerick
Principal

Star of the Sea Parish Feast Day

P & F Meeting - TODAY

Our next P & F Meeting is TODAY at 5:30pm in the staffroom.  

ALL WELCOME!

Social Justice Competition

Volunteers Needed - Scholastic Book Club

Can you spare a few hours each month?  Are you able to help distribute Book Club catalogues and orders within the school?  Please call or email our Assistant Principal Curriculum - Mrs Kym McAndrew (kym_mcandrew@rok.catholic.edu.au

We take this opportunity to thank our previous Book Club helpers Kylie and Jess for their generous gift of time.

Wear A Splash Of Purple - Friday 8 Sept

Our school community is encouraged to wear something purple with their school uniform this Friday, 8 Septemberii.e. socks, hair tie etc.  A gold coin donation will be collected on the day and donated to the Cancer Council.

Swimming Lessons Term 4 - Prep to Year 2

Our Swimming Carnival for our Year 3 – 6 students is on Friday 6 October (Week 1 of Term 4). Please see further information, specifically under the Swimming Carnival for further details.

The Prep – Year 2 Swimming Lesson Block will be in Week 8 of Term 4 – Monday 20 November to Thursday 23 November. Further information will be available throughout Term 4.

This year we will not be participating in Year 3 – 6 Swimming Lessons in Term 4, but instead our Year 3 - 6 students will be engaging in a block of Enrichment Lessons in multi-age groups.

The Year 3-6 students voiced that this is their preference and gave a list of activities they would like to learn more about or be further engaged in.

We took our “Student Voice” to the teachers and we have put together a focus block of Friday weekly lessons. Students will nominate their preferred focus activity late this term and we will get underway in Week 2 of Term 4.

The list of Enrichment Lessons for our Year 3-6 students include: cooking, fitness/bootcamp, maths genius hour (through Smart Games), mosaicking, netball, diamond art, quilling, cross stitch, “paint the cow”, football, drama, dance, STEM activities, yoga, pottery, robotics, basketball, singing, drones, french knitting, chess, graphic art and design, jigsaw puzzles/board games, craft, Minecraft and computer coding.

I think you would agree that this is a fabulously extensive list to suit all interests!

Class teachers, auxiliary staff, the Leadership team and the Inclusive Curriculum team will all be involved in delivering the lessons to and with our students.

Swimming Carnival - Term 4 - Years 3 - 6

• Swimming carnival is Friday 6 October– Week 1, Term 4.
• The carnival starts at 8.40am sharp and students can arrive at the Gladstone Aquatic Centre from 8.10am.
• Students must go to their class teacher to have name marked off the roll, then go to house tents.
• Transport to and from the swimming carnival is the responsibility of parents.
• Student entry is Free, although the pool does charge parents an entry fee.
• All students need their school hat, sun safe shirt, towel, thongs, water bottle and healthy snacks. Sunscreen will be available at the pool.
• All students must wear a swim shirt for marshalling and novelty events.
• Students to wear a sun safe shirt when they are not swimming.
• All students must stay in their house areas throughout the day (not with parents).
• Parent seating is allocated on the Glenlyon St side of the pool.
• The ‘Splash Zone’ is out of bounds for all students except during supervised activities.
• The pool canteen only sells limited snack food. There will only be limited time to access the canteen and we ask that parents only send a small amount of money for an ice-block or similar.
• Students are to bring their own healthy lunches.Students are to see a teacher before going to the toilet, canteen etc.
• The Swimming Carnival concludes at 2.00pm. Students must see their class teacher before going home with their parents.

Capricornia School Sport

Congratulations to Bailey and Cody Peachey on their recent success at the Queensland State Softball Championships.  The Capricornia team played 10 games across 4 days, culminating in them winning the championship for the third year in a row.  Well done!

Congratulations to the following students who have been selected to represent Capricornia in Track & Field 10-12 yrs.

• Elyse Johnston
• Elle-Jay Attard
• Tolu Kaka
• Harley Stokes

Year 3-6 Enrichment Activity Block

As you know we often speak about the importance of Student Voice here at St John’s. Our students always have very valuable insights about what they want from their education, their experiences at school and how their school looks. Ultimately this is their school. 

Over the last few months there have been varied conversations with students around extra-curricular activities they would like at school. With the establishment of the Student Council, these conversations have developed further, and we have focused more on this specific area.

This term all Year 3-6 students have had the opportunity to voice their opinion on preferred extra-curricular activities which they would like to learn more about or be further engaged in.

We took their “Student Voice” to staff and have put together a focus block of Friday weekly lessons to trial as of Week 2, Term 4.

The final agreed list (between students and staff) of extra-curriuclar (or Enrichment Lessons) for our Year 3-6 students include: cooking, fitness/bootcamp, maths genius hour (through Smart Games), mosaicking, netball, diamond art, quilling, cross stitch, “paint the cow”, football, drama, dance, STEM activities, yoga, pottery, robotics, basketball, singing, drones, french knitting, chess, graphic art and design, jigsaw puzzles/board games, craft, Minecraft and computer coding.

I think you would agree that this is a fabulously extensive list to suit all interests!

Class teachers, auxiliary staff, the Leadership team and the Inclusive Curriculum team will all be involved in delivering these lessons in Term 4 to, and with, our students.

Library News ...

Prep - Year 3

Lost a Library book?

Try to remember what the book looked like: How big was it? What colour? What do you remember about the cover? Is it hardcover or paperback?

Next, tell your parents and your teacher. With their help you will probably find it. Also keep in mind that all library books have spine labels, barcode labels, and library labels so that they stand out!

Our winner of last week’s Rebus Puzzle is Dallas K. in 6D.

Egsg gges segg gseg  SCRAMBLED EGGS!!!!!!!!

Congratulations Dallas!

Thank you to the Kanofski family for their generous donation of lovely picture books for our collection.

School Fun Run - Friday 15 September

Our annual school fun will take place at the school on Friday, 15 September. 

School Fun Run - Random Draws

Congratulations to Alexis Steen who is the winner the bike in our first School Fun Run random draw.

Next week, students who have registered online and have funds in their online fundraising account, will have the chance to win another prize.

St John's Way Awardees

Lost Property - Please Collect

Are you missing any of these items - OR MORE, including several jackets? Please collect from our Lost Property basket in the admin building prior to the beginning of the school holidays.  All remaining items at the end of this term will be given to St Vinnies.

Volunteer Tuckshop Roster

Tuckshop Menu

In And Around OSHC

OSHC Easter Vacation Program

Aussie Bread Tags for Wheelchairs

Here at St. John’s, we pride ourselves on being sustainable and recycling what we can to help God’s creation. Aussie Bread Tags for Wheelchairs is an Australian company that is collecting and sorting bread tags nation-wide. They are creating new products with recycled bread tags that include wheelchairs and reusable food bowls. As of May 2023, they have recycled over 10,000kg of Aussie bread tags (that’s over 10 tonnes of plastic waste)!

How can you help? Please collect any plastic bread clips from home and bring them into your classroom to put into your class’ collection container. There is also a collection container at the front office. Once a fortnight, Year 4 will collect the containers and empty them into our main bin. Once this is full, we will take it to the collection depot in town, where they will be sent away for recycling.

Thank you for helping us to be kinder to our world and for looking after God’s creation.

Music Tutor Update

Please be advised that we are doing all that we can to secure a Music Tutor for the Friday Private Lessons and our School Band.

We are actively advertising on a variety of platforms and have approached a number of private music teachers currently working in Gladstone. Unfortunately, we haven’t had any luck securing anyone for the position, but will continue actively searching.

Positions Vacant - Catholic Education

Young Engineers Spring Camp

GRC - Welcome to Gladstone

Yaralla Cricket Club Sign On

BITS Cricket Club - Women & Girls Progam