Informer Term 3 Week 10

From Our Principal

Dear Families

In what seems like the blink of an eye, we are in the last week of term. Once the holidays are over, we are into the last term of the year. Each year I find that things seem to speed up, but this year just seems to have flown. Life and school have been exceptionally busy. Our kids look forward to the break and we almost feel the excitement growing around the school as we head towards the holidays.

Holidays were always a high point of my year as a child. It was a chance to get away from school and just relax. If there were two things I would want for all of our children to take from holidays, it is the following two points that were in an American Teacher’s Journal.

Memories

Holidays often evoke happy memories. Harnessing memories can be used as an effective relaxation aid to alter wave patterns in the brain - similar to meditation or prayer. This is the stage when the brain moves into alpha waves - the stage just before sleep when your body is calm and relaxed.

Clinical psychologist Ron Bracey believes conjuring up holiday memories can be used as an instant rescue remedy.  'Thinking  back to your holiday relaxes the mind, because mental imagery releases endorphins -natural feel-good hormones released by the brain. This image can be useful to call up before a nerve-racking experience - for example public speaking or visiting the dentist.'  Whether it is a trip somewhere special, a sleepover in the backyard or just time spent together, the important thing is how we make our kids feel.

Laughter

If you're enjoying yourself on holiday, you're more likely to laugh. And laughter really is the best medicine, according to recent research. A good belly laugh can strengthen the immune system by releasing endorphins, the body's natural 'feel-good' chemicals. This can help reduce the risk of disease - from heart conditions to allergic reactions and arthritis. Psychologist Dr Jason Goodson of Utah University found that watching comedy had a significant effect on depression. Another study, from the University of Maryland found that cardiac patients who watched funny videos during recovery were less likely to suffer a second heart attack than those who did not.

Regardless of how your family spends the break, I hope it is a time to connect with family and strengthen the bonds of family and friendship. Thank you for a busy term and we will see everyone in Term Four.  

Have a great break and stay safe on the roads.

Have a great week and hug your kids.

Jamie Emerick
Principal

Term 3 Ends/Term 4 Begins

Term 3 concludes at 3.00pm this Friday afternoon.

Term 4 commences on Tuesday 3 October.

Sacramental Program

Children in Year 3 or above, who are baptised Catholic, are invited to join the Sacramental Program of Star of the Sea Parish. Preparation to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation begins in October. Please collect an information letter and enrolment form from either of the following:

• the Parish Office (38 Herbert Street Gladstone),
• through your school’s APRE
• or contact Hayley at adfaithsos@rok.catholic.net.au.

Enrolments are due by 15 September 2023.

Social Justice Competition

School Fun Run - Friday 15 Sept - 2pm

Everyone welcome!

Fun Run Prize Ordering
Prizes MUST be ordered between the Saturday 16 September and Friday 6 October. Simply visit schoolfunrun.com.au to create / log into your Profile Page between these dates.  Then click on the ‘CLAIM YOUR PRIZE’ button and follow the prompts. If you have any questions, please contact the School Fun Run team on 1800 FUN RUN and they will gladly assist!

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.

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.

Science Week Award Winners

Congratulations to our Science Week award winners:

Jayce Harrison
Lachlan Heit
Haine Attard

Library News ...

Last week’s Rebus puzzle HOUSE (green house) was successfully guessed by Cooper S in 4R.
Congratulations Cooper!!

This terms Book in a Bottle was Gansta Granny by David Walliams.
Congratulations Alanna in 5K!

Enjoy your holidays!

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.

St John's Way Awardees

Volunteers & Bakers Needed: Family Fun Afternoon

P & F Meeting - TODAY

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

ALL WELCOME!

Clean Up Club Thanks

Volunteer Tuckshop Roster

Tuckshop Menu

OSHC Vacation Program

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.

Catholic Care - Child Behaviour Sessions

Learn to manage difficult behaviour in children aged 2-12 years.  Catholic Care are offering a free, three session program for parents and carers:

Wednesday 4th, 11th and 18 October
10am-12pm
6.30pm-8.30pm (Special Needs Children)

See flyers below for more details.

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