Informer - Term 3 Week 3

From Our Principal...

Dear Families

One day, a professor entered his classroom and asked his students to prepare for a surprise test. They all waited anxiously at their desks for the exam to begin.

The professor handed out the exams with the text facing down, as usual. Once he handed them all out, he asked the students to turn over the papers.

To everyone’s surprise, there were no questions–just a black dot in the center of the paper. The professor, seeing the expression on everyone’s faces, told them the following:

“I want you to write about what you see there.”

The students, confused, got started on the inexplicable task.

At the end of the class, the professor took all the exams and started reading each one of them out loud in front of all the students. All of them, with no exception, defined the black dot, trying to explain its position in the centre of the sheet.

After all had been read, the classroom silent, the professor started to explain:

“I’m not going to grade you on this, I just wanted to give you something to think about. No one wrote about the white part of the paper. Everyone focused on the black dot – and the same thing happens in our lives.

However, we insist on focusing only on the black dot – the health issues that bother us, the lack of money, the complicated relationship with a family member, the disappointment with a friend.

The dark spots are very small when compared to everything we have in our lives, but they are the ones that pollute our minds. Take your eyes away from the black dots in your lives. Enjoy each one of your blessings, each moment that life gives you. Be happy and live a life filled with love!”

Author Unknown ( Consciouspanda.com)

This story is incredibly important in reminding us that the problems and issues we face are only a small part of what makes up our lives. However, humans do have a problem in that we often only focus on the negative aspects of our life.

This is why it’s essential to practice techniques such as positive thinking and mindfulness in order to focus on the positive aspects of our lives. When you really stop and think about it, there is so much more to be thankful for than the issues we may be facing.

We call this gratitude. An excellent way to start your day is to remind yourself of a few things you’re deeply grateful for. This could be people in your life, hobbies you may have, or the simple fact of being alive in the first place. When we start our days with gratitude it reduces the significance of the negative and makes us focus on the many gifts in our lives.

Have a great week and hug your kids.

Jamie Emerick
Principal

APRE News...

Catholic Week 25 – 31 July 2021

This week is Catholic Week.  The theme is ‘A Spirited Tomorrow’. All 309 Catholic schools in Queensland will be celebrating this week and promoting with their own special charism and ethos.  All our schools seek to encourage our students to be witnesses to the love of Jesus and to move on in life to be productive, justice-driven and Christ-like citizens of society.  There is much to be proud of and to celebrate in all our schools this week.

We should all be proud to be part of this ‘family’ and in particular our St John’s family.  We give witness to the message of Jesus and see the growth in our students as they become compassionate and giving little ones, who seek to make life better for all, in whatever way they can.  Our students strive to recognize the God moments all around them 24/7 and to give thanks for that. 

Happy Catholic Education Week to all in our school community.

To celebrate, we have a short Prayer Liturgy immediately after assembly on Friday 30 July at 8.55am approximately. 

We are also holding Lunch on the Lawn on Thursday at 10.45am.  Parents, Grandparents and family members are invited to bring lunch (homemade or bought) to share with their children in picnic style on the oval lawn.  Bring a picnic rug or foldup chairs. We ask that families sit as their own family group i.e. no families joining together – a COVID directive from Rockhampton CEO.

Parents are asked to collect all their children from the classroom of the youngest family member and the older siblings will meet the family there.

I have contacted the local takeaway venues, (Clinton Bakery, Subway Clinton, Golden Chicken Clinton, Clinton Takeaway and the new Juice Bar, next door to Clinton Takeway, which is just new and sells salads as well as juices) so they will have extra supplies on hand to cater for demand. Please allow extra time for your order as their will be extra demands.

We will also be encouraging everyone to do Random Acts of Kindness throughout the week. This could be something you can take on at home as well.  Put up a chart with some suggestions and household members can choose what they want to do each day.

First Holy Communicants

Last week, a large number of our students received the Sacrament of Eucharist for the first time.  We congratulate all these students.  The Eucharist is a very special gift from Jesus himself and hope and pray that these children will receive this gift many more times, to bring them every closer to the Lord. 

We congratulate and thank the parents / carers of these children as well, as you helped prepare these little ones for this sacrament.  This was a journey shared and one that hopefully has brought you closer to your child and to Jesus as well.

Did You Know?

The Dead Sea:  The surface of the Dead Sea is Earth’s lowest elevation on land (423m (1,388 ft) below sea level).  In the Bible, the Dead Sea is called the Salt Sea, the Sea of the Arabah, and the Eastern Sea (but never the Dead Sea).  It’s actually a lake, and it’s 8.6 times saltier than the ocean, which is why everything floats in its waters.

Lunch On The Lawn

St John's families are invited to bring a picnic lunch to join with their child for lunch on the lawn. In keeping with COVID restrictions, each family must adhere to social distancing requirements.

OSHC Lost Property

Please see attached photo of belongings that have been left at Outside School Hours Care before and during the holidays.  If you see something that belongs to your child please collect from the school office.

We also have many school jackets, hats and waterbottles in our general lost property with no names on them.  Please check these items if your child is missing anything.

Port Curtis Athletics

A big CONGRATULATIONS to the following students who have been selected in the PC 10-12yrs athletics team and will be attending the Cap trials in Mackay on Monday 23rd and Tuesday 24th August.

Challenge Cup - Netball

What a fabulous three days we spent at Challenge Cup, Yeppoon. The girls always tried their best and never gave up. I was extremely proud of them, especially the way they played their finals on the Friday. It was then they played their best netball.

Overall, we won 4 games, lost 4 and drew 1. Our Most Improved Player went to Imogen Stoneley. Coaches Award - Sophie Maitland and Best and Fairest - Laylah Rogers.

I would like to thank all the parents for their support throughout the three days and a very special thank you to Mrs Lynette Rogers for umpiring, Mrs Sandra Turner for scoring and Mrs Karen Whitaker for braiding the girl’s hair each day. We certainly would have walked away with ‘Best Dressed’ if there had been such an award 😊. 

Challenge Cup is a wonderful experience for our students, and we wouldn’t be able to attend if it wasn’t for parent support.

Thank you to all involved.

Save The Sea Turtles

Auskick

Volunteer Tuckshop Roster

Tuckshop Menu

Tuckshop Specials

Our Tuckshop is now offering gluten free bread and wrap options.
Prices available on QuickCliq

Prep 2022

No Scaredy Cats...

No Scaredy Cats ™ is a workshop that aims to provide a parent-led program, as parents can be the best psychologists, counsellors and educators for their own children.

Playfit For Kids

Qld Ballet

Gladstone Athletics Club

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