St John the Baptist Catholic Primary School Clinton eNewsletter

From The Principal...

Dear Families

Within what seems like the blink of an eye, we are at the end of the first term. We are almost at the Easter break and it does not seem a whole year since we sent children home for the five pupil free days as teachers tried to get their heads around 'Learning from Home' and what that would actually look like. The next three terms were a year like no other. As we commenced this year, I know that the dream of many teachers and staff was that we could at least be moving back into a space where our families could be active participants within our school.

To have families back at school and able to volunteer is a step back towards the community involvement that we aspire to at St John’s. Every bit of research and evidence would suggest that school communities where families play a visible part in the learning process have students who show significantly better achievement. Yet we can see just how quickly that can all change. The current uncertainty just shows how fragile our sense of complacency is and how easily it can be shattered.

Whilst the Covid guidelines are still in place across the state and we are nervously watching the next few weeks, we seem to have a very positive future especially with the apparent success of the vaccination program. That may not be the case for the rest of the world and we only need to look across the Torres Strait to see how the situation can develop if it is not managed. Australia and New Zealand are currently in an envious global position. Much of our success has been because as communities, we have followed Government health guideline regardless of how difficulty or unpleasant they have been and the impact they have had on our families.

As we head into the Easter break, I hope that it is a time for families to spend whatever time rosters and work allows. Our presence is often the simplest gift we can give our kids but usually the one that they desire the most

Have a great week and may the peace of the Risen Christ be with you and those that you love.

Jamie Emerick
Principal

APRE News...

Holy Week

Yesterday, Sunday, we started Holy Week with Palm Sunday. During this week, Jesus invites us to walk with him in the unfolding events and with the climax of his mission on Easter Sunday. On Thursday, we recall the story of Jesus washing the feet of his apostles, to give example to us all of servitude to others if we are to follow him. At his last meal, he shared bread and wine as asked to ‘do this in memory of me’. This was him giving his body and blood for us and he gives himself to us in this way at each Mass.

On Good Friday, Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice to satisfy the will of his Father and gave himself for us. It wasn’t the end but a new beginning.

Happy Easter to all in our school community. May your Easter celebrations rejoice in the knowledge that Christ is risen and with us on life's journey.

Holy Week Events

A Notice from our Parish Priest, Fr Andrew

Dear Friends,

In light of the developing COVID situation in Queensland, I want to advise you of how it will impact our parish:

SAFEGUARDING TRAINING

The annual safeguarding training scheduled for tomorrow has been postponed until 18 May. More information about the rescheduled training will follow soon.

2^nd RITE of RECONCILIATION

The Reconciliation service this evening will go ahead as planned (6pm Star of the Sea Church). Queensland government rules require that anyone over 12 years of age must wear a mask indoors. If you attend, please be sure to record your contact details at the door, either on the forms provided or by scanning the QR code. Inside the Church please maintain social distancing to the greatest extent possible and wear a mask.

WEEKDAY MASSES (TUESDAY and WEDNESDAY)

At this stage Mass will take place at Star of the Sea tomorrow (5:30pm) and Wednesday (7am) as usual. However please note the government requirement to wear a mask while indoors.

EASTER LITURGIES

At this stage we are planning for the liturgies of the Easter Triduum and Easter Sunday to take place as planned. However as you would expect, this is a rapidly changing situation and these plans may have to be revised in the coming days.

In the meantime, please continue to observe all the COVID-safe practices, and do not attend Church if:

you experience even mild flu-like symptoms
you have been in the greater Brisbane area since 20 March
you have been present at any of the places of concern in Gladstone, listed on the Qld government website: https://www.qld.gov.au/health/conditions/health-alerts/coronavirus-covid-19/current-status/contact-tracing

Please pray that we will be able to avoid a repeat of last year and be able to celebrate Easter together!

God bless,

Fr Andrew Chase PP

CHOCOLATE ALERT!

What you should know when purchasing chocolates this Easter!

In 2015 Pope Francis said that “every person ought to have the awareness that purchasing is always a moral – and not simply an economic – act.”

Join the Easter Campaign Against Child Slavery

Australian Catholic Religious Against Trafficking in Humans (ACRATH) is urging people to eat only slavery-free chocolate, especially this Easter. Did you know that much of the chocolate available in Australia is made using cocoa beans picked by children, many of whom have been enslaved, or forced to work in exploitative conditions?

The International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF) estimates that there are 1.5 million children working in the cocoa sector in West Africa. To buy slavery-free Easter chocolate, look for any of these certification labels on the wrappers: FAIRTRADE, Rainforest Alliance and UTZ.

Sacrament of Confirmation and First Holy Communion

Parent Information meetings were held last week for those registered to receive these sacraments later this year. Packs were handed out to those present. If you were unable to attend this meeting, please contact the Parish Office on 4972 1025.

We pray for these children preparing for the sacrament and for their families as they embark on this next stage of their faith journey. May it bring them closer as a family and foster a closer relationship with Jesus.

Did You Know

The term ‘Holy Week’ was first used in the 4^th Century and included only Good Friday and Holy Saturday. Eggs are a sign of new life and rebirth, and therefore are a fitting symbol for Easter. Christ rose from the dead and the hopes of the People of God have been realized. We are born a new human with Christ in us each day. This is our new reality! We ‘put on Christ’ and live each day like him, in the hope of entering into the promised Land of heaven for eternity when we die.

Thought For The Week

“It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.”

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

How_to_install_SZapp.pdf

Postponed/Adjusted Events

As the current COVID situation in Gladstone continues to evolve, we are continuing to receive regular updates and information from Queensland Health and the Catholic Education Diocese of Rockhampton.

As we head towards the end of Term One, our priority is to make sure we keep the safety of our students, staff, and families at the forefront of all decisions.

With a number of staff and students absent our ability to hold safe events that our entire community can participate in is diminishing.

With this in mind, the following decisions have been made:

Cross Country will be postponed to Friday 23 April (Friday of Week 1, Term 2).
Whole School Beep Off is postponed to a date yet to be confirmed.
A modified version of our whole school Stations of the Cross will still occur on Thursday afternoon, but the event will not see us gather as a whole school and will not be open to visitors.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Prep 2022

We strongly urge all our existing families who have younger siblings at home who are born between 1 July 2016 and 30 June 2017 to please visit our school website and click on the enrolment link and complete our online enrolment form.

It is imperative that our school receives all sibling enrolments as early in the year as possible. Should you have any technical issues completing the enrolment form online, please do not hesitate to contact our office.

Tuckshop Volunteers Needed

Our tuckshop urgently needs volunteers to help on Wednesdays, Thursdays and especially Fridays. If you can help out could you please let us know so that we can arrange an induction with Mrs Graham.

As per guidelines, all volunteers need to sign in at the office, follow COVID hygiene and distancing practices and have completed the 2022 Volunteer Induction.

Please also note that our tuckshop ordering is ALL via the online system at https://www.quickcliq.com.au

In Brief ...

Our Tuckshop is Now Open Three Days a Week!!!

Wednesday and Thursday First Break

Friday Both Breaks

Please remember our online ordering closes at 8:15am - Wednesday, Thursdays and Fridays

This Week's Tuckshop Volunteer Roster

Wednesday 31 March - Yr 2 Treefrogs

Thursday 1 April - Yr 6 Geckoes

Friday 2 April - CLOSED (Good Friday)

Please refer to our letter attached for a list of items that can be donated. All items donated will be greatly appreciated.

Thank You!

Volunteers Needed!

As per guidelines, all volunteers need to sign in at the office, follow COVID hygiene and distancing practices and have completed the 2021 Volunteer Induction.

Please also note that our tuckshop ordering is ALL via the online system at https://www.quickcliq.com.au