Informer - Term 4 Week 3

From Our Principal...

Dear families

A man found a cocoon of a butterfly.

One day a small opening appeared. He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole.

Until it suddenly stopped making any progress and looked like it was stuck.

So the man decided to help the butterfly. He took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily, although it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings.

The man didn’t think anything of it and sat there waiting for the wings to enlarge to support the butterfly. But that didn’t happen. The butterfly spent the rest of its life unable to fly, crawling around with tiny wings and a swollen body.

Despite the kind heart of the man, he didn’t understand that the restricting cocoon and the struggle needed by the butterfly to get itself through the small opening; were God’s way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings. To prepare itself for flying once it was out of the cocoon.

Moral of the story:

Our struggles in life develop our strengths. Without struggles, we never grow and never get stronger, so it’s important for us to tackle challenges on our own, and not be relying on help from others. (Wealthy Gorilla)

Have a great week and hug your kids.

Jamie Emerick
Principal

The 10c Challenge

Socktober  https://www.socktober.org.au

Thank you for your fabulous support of our Crazy Sock Day with donations going to the Bangkok kindergarten run by the Good Shepherd Sisters.

For the rest of this month, we have the 10c Challenge.  I asked children to start bringing in 10c coins over the next couple of weeks and on a day early in November, we will come down to Nazarene Place and line the 10c coins along the outer red line.  The challenge is to see if we can get the coins all the way around the red line.  Three quarters of the students thought we could reach this goal.

At home, after having a family discussion about our need to care for every human and their right to basic needs, what little incentive could you decide to do as a family that would result in raising funds for this cause.  You may decide not to have family treats for the remaining two weeks and instead put that money aside for the children in Bangkok.  Children will learn to care for others from the example we, as adults, model.

Did You Know

Catholic Social Teaching teaches about the dignity of the human person and care for our common home (the environment).  That’s why we have agencies like Caritas and Catholic Mission, whose sole focus is providing support in numerable ways for those in need, both here in Australia and in communities overseas.  That’s why the Pope writes encyclicals about the care of our environment and our call to be stewards of this gift from God and our responsibilities in this role.

Volunteers Morning Tea

We have many people in our school who volunteer their time and talents to help our teachers and students throughout the year.  We couldn’t do all the work we do without this help.  We would like to say a huge thank you to all these people by holding a Volunteers Morning Tea on Monday 25 October from 9.00am in the Nazarene Place (our shed).  If you are able to come, we would appreciate you letting us know but if you forget to do this, please come along anyway. 

Reconciliation

The Sacrament of Reconciliation will be offered to those students who are currently preparing for this sacrament on Thursday 28 October at 5.00pm at Star of the Sea Church.

Reachout Group

The St John’s Reachout Group would very much like to invite and welcome any new or interested parents to our warm, supportive community. The Reachout Group is a small anonymous group of members who assist and support those within the school community in times of hardship, loss, grief, celebration of welcoming a new child, or may require a bit of a helping hand. Some of the offers of support include baking lunchbox treats and cooking family dinners, post out cards, send flowers or sometimes assist around the home i.e. gardening etc… If you feel this is something you would like to be apart of, we would really appreciate the help or if you would like further information regarding the Reachout Group please contact myself or Mrs Donna Mason.

During Term 3 the reachout group was really busy. We had assisted with 5 dinners, 8 cards were sent out for sympathy/hardships & welcomed new children into families. We also had 1 farewell lunch thrown for a beloved reachout long serving group member whom is dearly missed.

I also wanted to give a huge shout out to our existing, current members - your continued support is very much appreciated. This group would not be what it is without you all. Thank you so much once again.

Karmahle Forbes – Reachout Group Coordinator

oscar_n_lilly@hotmail.com

0475 676 418

October is the Month of the Rosary

I am praying the rosary with students in class and at times, in the lunch hour in our prayer garden during the Month of the Rosary.  This is a beautiful prayer that you may like to pray together with your children at bedtime…just one decade - The Our Father; Three Hail Marys’The Glory Be.

If you don’t have rosary beads at home, ask the children to draw a decade – one bead, a gap, 10 beads, a gap, one bead or thread buttons onto a piece of string.  They could mark the beads off as they say them.

Class Consideration Forms

Teachers and School Administration are currently in the process of formulating class make up for the 2022 school year.  If you have a social-emotional, physical or learning concern relating to your child you are strongly encouraged to complete the special consideration paper work.  Due to the confidential nature of this form it is only available at the office.  Even if you have had conversations with school leadership or your classroom teacher, please complete this paper work.

FORMS AVAILABLE FROM THE SCHOOL OFFICE FROM TODAY - MONDAY 25TH OCTOBER. THEY MUST BE RETURNED BY FRIDAY 29TH OCTOBER.

Year 4 - 6 Swimming Program

Year 4 - 6 Swimming

Our Year 4-6 Swimming Block runs over a 2-week timeframe and includes 4 lessons:

• Week 4 – Thursday 28 and Friday 29 October
• Week 5 - Thursday 4 and Friday 5 November
• Week 6 - Year 6 make-up lesson due to Camp (Thursday 11 November).

The Year 4-6 Swimming Block includes 45-minute lessons aimed at fitness and water confidence.

Swimming sessions are at the Western Suburbs Swimming Pool and are facilitated by trained instructors, with assistance and supervision provided by class teachers.

Buses will be provided for students to travel to and from the pool.

Students are required to bring a bag to school for swimming to carry their towel, goggles and swimwear.

All students need to wear a swimming sun shirt (no sun shirt = no swim).  Please ensure that all items are clearly labelled.  Although sunscreen will be provided for each class group, it is a good idea to apply your child’s sunscreen each morning before school.

Due to their lesson being in the first session, Year 4R and 4P students are to wear their swimming attire to school. They should wear shorts and sun shirts over to maintain appropriate coverage. All other students will change into their swimmers at school prior to leaving for the pool.

Students must wear foot wear to the pool (this can include thongs), however, once back at school, students are required to wear their correct school shoes after changing into their school uniform.

Students are responsible for ensuring that they are prepared for their swimming days, by bringing all required items. Students calling home for forgotten items will be discouraged.

Please contact your class teacher if you have any questions about the Year 4-6 Swimming Block.

The Swimming Timetable is as follows:

Lesson 1 and 2 Thursday 28 and Friday 29 October

Lesson 3 and 4 Thursday 4 and Friday 5 November

Adjusted Timetable – Year 6 Make-Up Lesson - Thursday 11 November



Day For Daniel

On Friday 29 October, students are invited to bring a gold coin donation and wear a splash of red with their school uniform in support of Australia's largest child safety education and awareness day, Day for Daniel. Students wear a splash of red on Day for Daniel in remembrance of Daniel Morcombe, who was wearing a red t-shirt on 7 December 2003 when he found himself in an unsafe situation. Wearing red links Daniel’s very real story to the importance of safety education. It provides a message of strength and hope that together we can make the world safer for all children as a legacy to Daniel and his family. Parents and carers are encouraged to start a conversation with your child about personal safety. The key child safety message on Day for Daniel encourages children to Recognise, React, and Report if they ever feel unsafe. Child safety education does not need to be scary or risk-focused, but should highlight topics such as recognising body clues, understanding body ownership, naming private body parts and identifying adults who can help if a child feels unsafe. It’s important to ensure the information you are sharing is age and developmentally appropriate. Check out the Daniel Morcombe Foundation’s Keeping Kids Safe Resources, a range of educational videos, activities, and other resources to help you ‘keep talking’. Using everyday opportunities (such as a situation a character on a TV show may find themselves in) to reinforce personal safety messages is a great strategy to ensure you keep communication open and demonstrate you are willing to talk about being safe. For more information, visit danielmorcombe.com.au #StJohnTheBaptistCatholicPrimarySchool #dayfordaniel #childsafety

National Bandanna Day

Every year, St John’s fundraises for Canteen by hosting our own St John’s Bandanna Day. National Bandanna Day is the flagship fundraising and awareness campaign for Canteen and has raised over $33 million to support young people impacted by cancer. Every dollar we raise at St John’s adds to this very worthy cause. Our Year 6 Leaders will be selling bandannas each day from Monday 18 October through to Friday 29 October at our Nazarene Place. Bandannas cost $5 each and students can wear their bandanna on Friday 29 October to show their support for Canteen. We recommend students get in early to purchase their bandanna as supplies are limited and we tend to sell out fast! #StJohnTheBaptistCatholicPrimarySchool #mjr #bandannaday

Travel Assistance Scheme

St John's Way Awards

Tuckshop Special

Volunteer Tuckshop Roster

Tuckshop Menu

Community Events...

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