Informer - Term 4 Week 9

From Our Acting Principal...

It is with a heavy heart each year that we farewell staff. Our staff form an integral part of the St John’s family, and we are always saddened by their departure.

This year we have 5 staff members leaving us:

Mrs Donna Mason, our current Assistant Principal – Religious Education will be retiring at the end of this week. Donna has had a rich history with St John’s which started in 1979. Donna has been a classroom teacher, LOTE teacher, Learning Support teacher and Assistant Principal – Curriculum over this time. We will all miss Donna very much but are delighted that she will join us in 2022 as a relief teacher a few days a week.

Mrs Jessica Conroy, our current Art Teacher started in 2005 as Miss Bryce as a classroom teacher. As most people know, Jess has completed her Masters in Phycology and is moving into this exciting sphere both with Catholic Education and in the private setting.

Mrs Leonie McGuire started at St John’s in 2004 in Outside Hours School Care and has been a dedicated Teacher Aide for over a decade. Leonie is retiring to enjoy some time to herself, and might join us as a relief teacher aide in 2022 (although I haven’t asked her yet!!!)

Miss Amy Brown started at St John’s this year in Year 3 and is heading out west to teach at St Joseph’s, Biloela. Although Amy has only been with us for a short time, she has definitely been a well-respected staff member and loved by the Year 3L. We wish Amy all the best in Biloela in 2022.

Miss Kasey Wheatley came to St John’s from St Francis this year and is heading to Western Australia to pursue new adventures. Kasey was a former St John’s student (I actually taught Kasey!), and it was wonderful to have her with us, even though it was just for 1 year. The Year 4K students will miss Miss Wheatley and we wish her all the best for 2022 in WA.

While we farewell staff, we also welcome new staff for 2022 which is exciting.

Mrs Sarah Stephan and Mrs Amanda Rowe join us in a job-share position in 2022.

Miss Emma Carr is a graduate who will join us next year and Mrs Dawni Rossiter returns to St John’s after a stint at Star of the Sea.

While Mrs Lisa O’Brien is not new, she does move into a new position, taking over from Mrs Donna Mason as our Assistant Principal – Religious Education and Miss Deanne Moller moves into the Inclusive Curriculum Team for 2022.

Additionally, Mrs Mitchell and Mrs Bruton who job-shared in 2021, will both be full-time teachers in 2022.

Please be reminded that the "Meet Your 2022 Teacher" session for students is on Thursday 2 December at 8.45am.

Jakki Graham
Assistant Principal - Administration

P & F News

Monday evening (22 November), saw the final St John’s P & F Committee meeting for 2021.

From this final meeting the St John’s P & F Committee has donated funds in the amount of $50,000.  This has been allocated towards the following items for the 2021 school year:

• Backlit St John’s signage on Laner Street Facia;
• Redevelopment of the junior Nature Playground;
• Landscaping of Year 5-6 and Administration

A Message from our P & F Committee

The St John’s P & F Committee would like to thank families for their continued support during the 2021 School Year.  This year has continued to be more restricted than usual with Covid 19, however, we are hoping that we can recommence  events in 2022 starting with our Welcome BBQ. Please “Save the Date”  for Friday 11^th February 2022 when we look to welcoming back our existing families and welcoming into our communities those new families joining us. We hope to be able to recommence those activities we have hosted in the past such as school discos, the Party under the Stars, and the like.

We thank existing families for their contribution to the P & F and are pleased to confirm that the PnF has committed to the purchase of a backlit sign for the Laner Street facia, reinstatement of the Junior Nature Playground and landscaping works around the school facilities. Unfortunately, this was unable to be completed this year due to the delay in finalisation of the Year 5-6 and Administration Precinct but our commitment to the new works is to be affected early next year upon completion of the building works.

Our first meeting for 2022 will be Monday 14 February 2022 at 5.30pm in the Library. We look forward to seeing you there. In the meantime, we wish all of our St John’s Families a very  Merry Christmas and happy holidays.

Kind Regards,

Monica Erridge

(P & F President)

Class Lists

The 2022 Class List letter will come home with your child on Wednesday 1 December.

We thank you in advance for understanding that the organisation of classes is a very thorough process, with a number of factors being considered and countless hours of professional, pastoral, and academic conversation between teachers, Inclusive Curriculum Teams and the Leadership Team.

The following factors contribute to decisions made for the best

-             Teachers’ professional judgement

-             Gender balance

-             Sibling placement

-             Separation of students who do not work well together

-             Parental concerns (in writing from the Special Consideration Forms)

-             Academic balance

Please know that we do not change classes once they have been established. Class placements are final, and parents are asked to respect the decision that has been made as we believe these will be the best arrangement for your child and the whole school at this time.

On Thursday 2 December, there is a short Meet Your 2022 Teacher for students. This is a wonderful way for students to meet their 2022 teacher and classmates.  

With Fondest Memories

It’s a bitter-sweet week for me this week.  My last in my teaching career spanning 42 ½ years as I retire at the end of this week.  I have been associated with St John’s for 42 years and look on it as my ‘other family’.  I can honestly say that I have never wanted to be anywhere else but here.  I have had experiences at other schools to know just how special this school is.  It has been a happy journey to share with so many staff members over the years, all of whom have influenced me in so many ways.  We have had so much fun together and that is something that makes this school special; that sense of togetherness.  We are a big school with a small school feel, because we treat each other with respect and welcome all.

This school was founded on the charism of the Marist Sisters and it is that, which has held us in good steed over the years and made us who we are today.  For this I am grateful and know that all the children who have left us over the years, including my own,  have carried the Way of Mary with them.

I give thanks for everyone whom I have worked with.  You have enriched my life in ways you will never know and brought me so much joy and knowledge.  I give thanks for the students I have had the pleasure of teaching or knowing.  They also have nurtured my growth over the years and I have learnt so much from them as well.

As a school, we have experienced so much over the years, so many positives and quite a few sad experiences, but we have always held each other together and come out stronger at the other end.  For all the positives and challenges, I am also grateful, as I have learnt more about myself as a result and grown from these.

I will surely miss being here at this school on a daily basis, but I look forward to doing relief work in the coming years and staying involved in that way with staff and students hopefully see some parents as well.  I am looking forward to the next big adventure that retirement brings and know that that journey will also bring much joy and fulfilment as well, just like my last adventure.

I will carry St John’s in my heart forever and will never forget how lucky I was to be a part of this very special family.  May you continue to make Jesus real for others through your words and actions and may you continue to live in the way of Mary, with simplicity and humility.

May the Lord bless you all.

With fond memories

Donna Mason

APRE NEWS...

End of Year Mass

Date: Thursday 2^nd December 2021

Where:  Nazarene Place (Shed at St John’s School)

Time: 11.40am.

We invite you all to join us in giving thanks for what we have achieved throughout the year and also for the challenges that have helped us to grow.

Following the Mass, we will have the announcement of the Year Six Awards, as well as the announcement of our 2022 School and House Captains.  All are welcome to attend this great celebration of the past year and be there to congratulate our Award winners and new leaders for 2022. 

Opening School Mass for 2022 – Friday 28 January 2022, Week 1 at 11.40am.  Keep this date marked on your calendar.  We start with our Opening school mass where bibles and rosary beads are presented to our Year 3 students.  After the mass, we have the presentation of leadership badges to our 2022 School leaders.  A great celebration, and we invite you to join us.

Socktober 

Our children certainly put their head, heart and hands in use with their efforts for Socktober this year. They heard the stories of the Kindergarten in Bangkok and the work of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd; they took this into their hearts and empathized with these little ones and then acted upon this to raise money to make a difference for these kids.  That’s what looking after your neighbour is all about and our kids opened their hearts generously to make a huge difference.

Our Crazy Sock day raised $515.60

Our 10c coin challenge raised $ 686.95

What an amazing effort!  Thank you to all who supported both of these fundraisers.

Advent

Our church passes through seasons just as our calendar year does.  As of last Sunday, we have just moved to the Season of Advent.  The term advent was first used in the 1800s in Germany when the first Advent calendars were used to count down the days until Christmas. The images used on this calendar were taken from the Hebrew Bible. 

The church has adopted this idea and the season refers to the period of time leading up to Christmas.  The word Advent means ‘coming’ and in this period we prepare for the celebration of the birth of Jesus. It’s not about preparing foods or buying gifts, but rather preparing ourselves.  It’s almost like make New Year pledges.  In Advent, we look at how we can improve ourselves to be a better person, and we strive to action this to make it come to fruition. 

So, this Advent, choose something you wish to improve in yourself and ask for the Lord’s help to help you reach this goal.  Every little improvement we make in ourselves is enabling us to be Jesus to others more.

Happy Advent!

Cancellation of Wet Day Tomorrow

Tomorrow predicts a 60% chance of rain and the inflatables company can’t operate various slides and the obstacle courses as rain creates a safety risk, therefore the P-2 Wet Day has been cancelled.

While we wish the Wet Day could proceed, we will always ensure that the safety of our students is our number one priority.

Thank you for your understanding.

Year 6 Farewell Evening

Please be reminded that our Year 6 Farewell Evening is on Thursday 2 December from 5.00pm – 7.00pm for our Year 6 students and their parents on our school oval. While the weather looks like it will be kind to us, we do have a wet weather contingency plan (on school grounds).

Booklists

You know the school year is concluding when the 2022 Booklists are prepared!

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

We allow families two options for filling your child’s 2022 booklist requirements:

1. Using Office National Gladstone as a pre-priced online (and in-store) option.
2. Take your child’s 2022 booklist to a newsagency of your choice.

The 2022 Booklists have been uploaded onto Parent Lounge.

Tuckshop Special

Volunteer Tuckshop Roster

OSHC Vacation Care Program

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