St John the Baptist Catholic Primary School Clinton eNewsletter

From Our Principal ...

Dear Families

The end of another school year is upon us. Each year just seems to get quicker and quicker.

I reflect on life as a child fifty years ago, and the Christmas break seemed to last for ages and the end of school till Christmas seemed an eternity. Now it seems that we just start to slow down, it’s Christmas and then we are back at work.

I worry at times that this is a natural consequence of the pace we try to maintain both for ourselves and our children. There is a constant societal message of ‘be busy and keep spending’.

If we don’t take the opportunity to sit and reflect, we miss the immensity of the Christmas message and only see the trappings of commercialism.

The Christian writer, Alan Shlemon said very clearly, “I’m always in awe of the nativity season because it represents a historically unprecedented event. Throughout the ages, there have been many men who sought to be God. But there’s only been one God who sought to be man. (Phil. 2:5–8)”

Whatever your plans for the break, I hope you have the opportunity to catch up with family and friends and spend time together. In the midst of family, friends and parties, I hope you have time to reflect on the ‘reason for the season’.

The Christmas story is a simple story that tells us that God, by nature, is humble and restrained, that God sets aside all majesty, all glory, and enters the human experience in the birth of a child.

May the peace and joy of the Christ child be with you and those that you love.

Stay safe on the roads if you are travelling and we will see you all in 2025.

Regards
Jamie Emerick
Principal

2025 Transition Into 2025 Videos

Exciting news! Follow the QR code to our St John's Classes YouTube channel, where you can find a special transition video for each year level. These videos will give students a sneak peek of what's in store for 2025.

Year 3-6 Swimming Carnival - That’s a Wrap!

Much fun was had by our Year 3-6 students and staff at last Thursday’s Swimming Carnival. The weather was on our side, with potential rain holding off for the whole day. The racing was fast with 7 records broken, most of which were records held for over a decade.

Congratulations to the Harry Roberts, Alisa Albaciete and Bailey Pimm who broke the following records.

100m Freestyle	9 yr	Harry Roberts	1.22.80
50m Freestyle	9 yr	Harry Roberts	35.93
50m Butterfly	9 yr	Harry Roberts	47.30
50m Butterfly	12 yr	Alissa A	36.65
50m Breaststroke	9 yr	Harry Roberts	54.93
50m Breaststroke	12 yr	Bailey Pimm	42.25
50m Breaststroke	12 yr	Alissa A	46.12

Our students cheered and raced their hearts out all day, displaying wonderful sportspersonship and a competitive spirit throughout the day.

This year Philps House led the charge with their War Cry enthusiasm and were rewarded for their efforts by being awarded the 2024 Spirit Trophy.

Wallace House edged out some strong competition for points to be awarded victors at this year’s Swimming Carnival.

1^st – Wallace (447)
2^nd – Philps (420)
3^rd – Jordan (411)
4^th – Cummins (405)

Congratulations to the following students who were awarded Age Champion for 2023:

2012
Alissa A
Bailey Pimm

2013
Savannah Samuels
Diaz Polo

2014
Georgia Nietfield
Oliver Que

2015
Savannah Blake
Harry Roberts

As always, a huge thank you to all St John’s staff for all the hard work put in the Swimming Carnival, both leading up to and during the day and to our St John’s families who can and supported the carnival.

Thank you to staff, students and families for your enormous support at Spirit Night for 2024.

We need to recognise the following people for enabling this evening to proceed. A huge thank you to:

Gladstone Ports Corporation for use of the Marina stage and surrounding area
Wayne Dunnett for audio and lighting
JJ Richards Waste Removal
Gladstone Men’s Shed for their delicious BBQ
Karen Perret and her Flute Loops and Flutie Tooties
Steve Withoos and SES for managing carparking
Tahli Thomas for music arrangement
Teachers and students for their dedication to rehearsals

We certainly filled the space this year, both on and off the stage, and it was delightful to see so many families supporting our school. Thank you for your patience and eager smiles on the evening.

As you prepare for Christmas with loved ones, we pray you stay safe and have time to remember the reason for the season is Jesus.

John 3:16: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

Year Six Celebrations

Term Four is always busy but especially so for our Year Six students and teachers.

In the past fortnight, they have returned from their weeklong camp at Currimundi on the Sunshine Coast plus prepared for additional responsibilities at school. They celebrated their final liturgy as a combined cohort, prepared for their Spirit Night Nativity play and song, plus presented their final combined assembly item.

This week they will visit local high schools, have their graduating dinner and support each other during the end of year mass and awards ceremony.

May God bless them along this transitional journey from primary to secondary school. They have blessed each of us during their seven years at St John’s and we wish them every happiness and success in their future endeavours.

Art Competition Winner: Layla Elkins

A church survives on you sharing a little of your talent, time and treasures…

Proverbs 22:9
The generous will themselves be blessed, for they share their food with the poor.

An art competition was held as part of the Centenary Celebrations for Our Lady Star of the Sea Church in November. Layla’s entry “Saturday Night” was selected as the winner in the 8–12-year-old category.

The winning entries went to a silent auction at the Centenary Dinner and Layla’s piece was purchased by Lisa O’Brien with some active ‘not-so-silent’ bidding. This beautiful artwork will be donated to St John’s and displayed for all to enjoy.

Layla received half of the auction price. She has decided to purchase handballs with her winnings which she will take to an orphanage in Sri Lanka in February and donate to the children there. We look forward to hearing stories about their time in Sri Lanka and the relationships they build with the children there.

Thank you, Layla for sharing your talent and compassion with us.

Library Thank You!

Thank You St John’s students!

A sincere ‘Thank you’ to each child who has generously given their time to volunteer in our library either as Library Monitors during first break, calling through on their way past in the morning to see if I need help, or assisting in the printing, cutting, and applying HUNDREDS of tuckshop orders to brown paper bags. I very much appreciated your assistance and company over the past year.

‘Thank you’ to Book Covering volunteers through 2024

Mrs Jean Spencer, Mrs Thornett, Ms Villagran-Fuenzalida, Ms Zuluaga, Mrs Edward, Mrs Attard, Mrs Long, Mrs Sharpe, Mrs Coleman, Mrs Cowper and Mrs Butcher.

We have had hundreds of new titles added to our collection and your generosity of time and talent made it all possible!!

With my sincere thanks
Mrs Ann Skelhorn

Iron+Clay Performance

Recently Iron+Clay performed at St John’s. They are a faith-mission musical group who promote the big three theological virtues of, Faith, Hope and Love. The greatest, of course, being Love!

The central part of their show and indeed performance is human dignity and understanding. Christ being the centre of all we do, they aim to uplift Him where possible.

The Iron+Clay team is quite diverse and multicultural, which helps connect with the kids from a variety of backgrounds. Music has a tendency to bring everyone together in unity, inclusivity and fun!

Their mix of music and songs is very broad between Christian material from various sources, artists and genres. They use these to enhance upbeat, jump and dance moments throughout the show.

Iron+Clay also use 'covers' that have 'Christian' content, but are performed by mainstream artists. These are hand-picked for their positive and uplifting lyrics. This works very well to reach out and connect with students that struggle with spirituality. It helps break down barriers and resistance. The aim is to open up hearts and minds to hopefully receive God's message.

It was loud and busy but the students enjoyed the two concerts and chats throughout the day.

St John's Way Awardees

Students who have embodied faith, dignity and integrity within our school.

We view our school as one body, with many parts, each in its own way contributing to our common mission

(1 Corinthians 12: 12-26)

Thanks St John's: $1,100 raised for Quoin Island Turtle Rehabilitation Centre

Thanks to our dedicated team of teachers and students who have organised the recycling of poppers throughout the year. St John's has raised $1,100 for the Quoin Island Turtle Rehabilitation Centre. Top effort!

Autism Centre of Excellence (ACE) Survey & Workshop

The Autism Centre of Excellence (ACE) in conjunction with Catholic Education Diocese of Rockhampton will be offering workshops in Bundaberg in 2025.

To ensure these workshops meet the needs to the local community, ACE are inviting parents to complete a survey. This survey will gage interest and help develop the content and the workshop days. Please access the survey at:

https://forms.office.com/r/uKQtjWSXX8

Survey closes: Friday, 6 December 2024

Workshops
Where: Shalom College, 9 Fitzgerald St, Bundaberg Central QLD 4670
When: Sunday 20 to Wednesday 23 July 2025
Workshops will be FREE for Parents

2025 Booklists

The 2025 P-6 Student Booklists can now be found on Parent Lounge.

As always, we try to ensure the smoothest and most cost-effective way for purchasing booklist requirements.

Families can choose to use the pre-costed booklist provided by Office National, Gladstone, or take the blank Booklist to a supplier of their choice.

Both versions of the Booklist and a cover letter with all information can be found on Parent Lounge.

Please do not return any paperwork to the school office.

As always, there will be a 2025 Book Drop-Off opportunity prior to the school year commencing, which will be from 8.40am – 9.10am on Friday 24 January, 2025.

If you have any questions about the 2025 booklists, please contact Mrs Jakki Graham.

2025_Term_Dates_and_Book_Drop_Off.pdf