Informer Term 4 - Week 2

From Our Principal

Dear Families,

Mark Twain once said that good decisions come from experience, experience, he said, comes from bad decisions.  It is a piece of wisdom that has stuck with me and been a constant reminder in the decision-making process.

As I get older, I have come to realise that everyone goes through the situation of making a poor choice or decision but so often we are repeat offenders of making the same mistakes over and over. Experience on its own doesn’t improve us, more and more I see the importance of reflective behaviour. We don’t have to critically analyse everything we do, but we do have to reflect.

The Society of Jesus, commonly known as the Jesuits, is a Catholic order of priests that was founded by Ignatius Loyola. He was a Spanish soldier who while recovering from a serious leg wound had a spiritual conversion and wanted to create a group that would be ‘soldiers for God’.  As he lay recuperating, he developed his 'spiritual exercises' which would be the guidebook for the members of the Society.

One aspect of this was the Daily Examen. It is a technique of prayerful reflection on the events of the day in order to detect God’s presence and discern his direction for us. The Examen in a daily routine that the Jesuits, and many others, continue to practice today.

This is a version of the five-step Daily Examen that St. Ignatius practiced:

1. Become aware of God’s presence.
2. Review the day with gratitude.
3. Pay attention to your emotions.
4. Choose one feature of the day and pray from it.
5. Look toward tomorrow.

Failure and mistakes are a part of life. How we respond to the situation is what defines us as people.

I have a picture frame on my desk that was given to me by a deputy principal many years ago.  There is a photo in it with words "Courage does not always roar. Sometimes it is a quiet voice at the end of the day saying, “I will try again tomorrow”".

Have a great week and hug your kids.

Regards,
Jamie Emerick
Principal.

Supporting Kids With ADHD Webinar: 14 Oct

Year 3-6 Swimming Carnival Nominations

While our Year 3-6 Swimming Carnival is not on until Thursday 21 November this year, we will be asking students to nominate for their events in the coming weeks.

Our Swimming Carnival has both competitive races (students need to nominate) and novelty events (across pool, kickboard, Splash Zone, inflatables) which students do not need to nominate for.

Our carnival has many heats, catering for varying ability levels and children do not need to be competitive swimmers to enter any of the 25m events.

Students will self-nominate at school, supervised by their class teacher, via a google form on their iPads. Students can nominate in the following events.

100m freestyle
50m freestyle or 25m freestyle
50m breastroke or 25m breastroke
50m butterfly or 25m butterfly
50m breastroke or 25m breastroke

After the students have self-nominated for their races, the draft program will be displayed for checking and adjusting where required. If you have any concerns or questions, please see your class teacher, Mrs Graham or Mr Langdon.

P & F Meeting - TODAY

Our P & F Meeting is on TODAY at 5.30pm in the staffroom.

ALL WELCOME!

Enhancing Communication at Our School: Introducing "Chat With Me Boards"

Communication is the one thing that everyone does as it allows us to interact with our peers and adults at school. We are thrilled to announce the launch of six new "Chat With Me Boards" placed strategically throughout the school to promote and enrich communication opportunities.

We hope that everyone engages with them and we would love to hear any feedback from our school community.  The "Chat With Me Boards" have been personalised, designed and developed with the guidance of our school based Speech Pathologist, Kerith Roby.

What ?:  "Chat With Me Boards" are communication boards with names and pictures of objects, places and feelings. We can use them to create conversations with friends, to talk to the teacher on duty, to help you when you are finding it hard to use words.

Where ?:  "Chat With Me Boards" are located in the Prep Eating Zone, the Prep Play Zone (2 boards), the Oval (back of Library wall), Nazarene Place (Shed) and one will be erected on the far side of the school oval in coming days.

Who ?:  Everyone.

Why ?:  To help everyone with their communication in these spaces.

We extend our heartfelt thanks to our wonderful P&F body for their invaluable support in making the "Chat With Me Boards" a reality.

Catholic Mission Month

Socktober is celebrated at St John’s every year. October is historically Catholic Mission month and the focus in 2024 is on Mongolia. The plight of Mongolia’s homeless will be highlighted this year with Catholic Mission working to help people with food, shelter and safety.

Fast Facts from Mongolia:
-  3.3 million people live in Mongolia
-  74% of children from vulnerable backgrounds do not complete secondary education
-  1 in 4 Mongolian people experience food insecurity
-  Mongolia experiences one of the coldest winters in the world with temperatures plummeting to -40 degrees celsius.

Crazy Sock Day - Fri 25 October

The whole school will have a Crazy Sock Day on Friday 25 October. Wear those CRAZY socks please bring a gold coin donation. All monies will be donated to Catholic Mission for their Mongolia Appeal.  

St John's Way Awardees ...

Learn to Pray...

Signing Club

Chess Club....

St John the Baptist Chess Club practice has changed to every Wednesday first break with Father Peter and Mrs Milic in the Music room. Chess club is open for students year 2 to year 6. Come for training games or just to have game for fun. Please email Mrs Milic, Irene_Milic@rok.catholic.edu.au for further information.

Volleyball SpikeZone Competition

Congratulations to our keen Volleyball players who participated in the Volleyball SpikeZone Competition at the end of last term.  Results were as follows:

Year 6 Girls - Queens (Pool B) - 1st
Year 6 Boys - Power - 3rd
Year 5 Girls - Setters (Pool A) - 3rd
Year 5 Boys - Spikers- 6th
Year 4 Mixed - Diggers - 4th
Year 4 Mixed - Stars - 5th

Volunteer Tuckshop Roster

Tuckshop Ordering Information

The following information will ensure the efficient ordering of tuckshop for your child/ren:

• Tuckshop must be ordered online via QuickCliq www.quickcliq.com.au  Orders will not be accepted at the Tuckshop or Office.
• Orders must be placed by 8:10am. Tuckshop can be ordered weeks in advance. Simply click on the day/s that tuckshop is required.
• QuickCliq operates very slowly at very busy times i.e. close to 8:10am.  During these times the system may boot you off and require you to log back in. Late orders put a lot of pressure on our tuckshop staff and volunteer helpers.
• If you miss the ordering cut off time, your order will be transferred to the following day.  You will be notified of this on the screen.
• Parents MUST check confirmation email to ensure the order has been processed for the correct food on the correct day.

If you have any problems with the online ordering system please contact QuickCliq via 1300 11 66 37, or email: support@quickcliq.com.au

Our tuckshop operates every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday (first and second breaks).

Tuckshop Menu

Catholic School Parents Australia (CSPA) 2024 National Parent Survey

Parish News

Star of the Sea Church Centenary Art Competition

Uniform Shop Hours

GRC Disaster Preparedness Video

In preparation for natural disaster season, the Gladstone Regional Council (GRC) has released a short music video to help you get prepared.  Please access link below:

https://youtu.be/FioY-u-rtsc?feature=shared

All Girls Cricket

Basketball Summer Season