Informer - Term 2 Week 6

From Our Principal...

Dear Families

Teaching tends to work in cycles. We cover something in class and then at a later stage come back and revisit it.  Cycles give learners a chance to digest and process information as well as grow developmentally. In our world kids can change so much in just four weeks.

As I was writing my newsletter article on Sunday afternoon, I though it well worth coming back to this story.

One day a professor entered the classroom and asked his students to prepare for a surprise test. They waited anxiously at their desks for the test to begin. The professor walked around the class and handed the question papers with the text facing downwards.

Once he handed them all out, he asked his students to turn the page and begin. To everyone’s surprise, there were no questions, but just a black dot in the center of the page. The professor thoroughly read through everyone’s bewildered expressions and said-  “I want you to write what you see there.”

The perplexed students began to do what they had been asked to do.

At the end of the class, the professor took all the answer papers and started reading each one of them aloud in front of all the students. All of them with no exceptions described the black dot, trying to explain its position in the middle of the sheet, etc.  After all had been read, the classroom silent, the professor began to explain:

“I am not going to grade you on this test; 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 happens in our lives. This is exactly what we tend to do with our lives. We have a white paper to hold onto and enjoy, but we are so busy contemplating about the dark spots that’s in there. Life is a special gift and we will always have reasons to celebrate. It is changing and renewing everyday- our friends, jobs, livelihood, love, family, the miracles we see every day.”  And yet we insist on focusing only on the dark spots – the health issues that are bothering us, the money that we need to have, the luxuries we don’t have, complications in any relationship, problems with a family member, the disappointment with a friend and so on.

You need to realize that the dark spots are very small and only few. And yet we allow these to pollute our minds. Take your eyes away from the black spots in your life. Enjoy each one of your blessings, each moment that life gives you.

If you can remember the Eighties, the band Wham was particularly popular. Not my cup of tea, but I clearly remember the “Choose Life” shirts that the band made popular. It is a great reminder for us about choice. I am a great believer it is the only thing we have total control over in our lives. The ability to decide how do I respond to the things that affect me is crucial. Do I take them in my stride and deal with them or do I let them sink my boat? A skill we need to really model well for our children.

Have a great week and hug your kids.

Jamie Emerick
Principal

APRE News...

National Sorry Day Thursday May 26 

With Justice, Compassion and Peace 

National Sorry Day is a day to acknowledge the strength of Stolen Generations Survivors and reflect on how Australians can all play a part in the healing process for the people and nation. While this date carries great significance for the Stolen Generations and other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, it is also commemorated by Australians right around the country. 

We are called by our Baptism and by our choice to follow Jesus, to ask for forgiveness from those we have hurt. On National Sorry Day we especially seek forgiveness from our indigenous people whom we have treated unfairly and unjustly.  

As a sign of this commitment, everyone is invited to take a moment to reflect on this prayer for justice and peace, respect and equality. As the gospel of Luke 6:37-38 outlines, Jesus taught us to treat all with dignity. Throughout his ministry he would spend time with those shunned, afflicted and ignored to show us that all are equal and made in the image and likeness of God.  

Heavenly Lord,  

We commit ourselves to treating each other justly and fairly.  

We commit ourselves to treating all people with respect.  

We commit ourselves to maintaining the dignity of each person.  

We commit ourselves to valuing and respecting the beliefs of all people.  

We commit ourselves to embracing the gifts of each person.  

We commit ourselves to showing kindness and understanding to all people.  

We commit ourselves to building strong relationships based on love and peace.  

Amen. 

You may want to click on this link to listen to a song full of feeling sung by Archie Roach.  

Took the Children Away  

 https://socialjustice.catholic.org.au/event/national-sorry-day/  

This Week In Our Library

We are participating in the ALIA Simultaneous Story Day!

At 11.00am on Wednesday 25^th we will be watching the story ‘Family Tree’ by Josh Pyke on the big screen in our Library.  Come on in and join us!

National Sorry Day

We are also respectfully acknowledging our National Sorry Day on Thursday May 26^th, which then leads into National Reconciliation Week, Friday May 27^th – Friday June 3^rd with a collaborative art piece that some Year Three students are currently working on here, in our library.  Come on in and take a look, or please feel free to sit, read and enjoy one of our many, many wonderful books written and illustrated                                                              by our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.

No Waste Wednesday Champion

Congratulations to “No Waste Wednesday” champion, Lachlan Heit on his yummy, no- plastic lunchbox! 

Birthday Iceblocks

Dear Parents

When bringing Zooper Dooper iceblocks to school for your child's birthday could you please ensure that they are frozen when you drop them off, as they do not have enough time to freeze by 1st or 2nd break and we do not have the freezer room. It's also quite messy for the teachers when handing out semi frozen zooper doopers to children with the tops cut off.

Thank you for your consideration.

Communication Is Key

Just a reminder to ensure you are up to date with all events both within your child's classroom and for  whole school events, to have notifications switched on with Seesaw and School App.

We Want Your Favourite Recipes

St John's Year 5 enrichment program project team, Ignite-5 are on a quest to share their passion for healthy eating with the St John's community - and they need your help! They are asking our St John's families to submit your favourite kid-friendly healthy recipe to be considered for inclusion in a recipe book that helps kids to live the team motto, to be "Energised - one bite at a time!" Recipes can be emailed to waneka_jannusch@rok.catholic.edu.au, or placed in the submission box in the library or classroom office bags. All going well, Ignite-5 hope to make the recipe book available for purchase, with all proceeds to be donated to a local food shelter charity. Submissions close Monday 30 May.

Lego Donations

St John's is seeking donations of LEGO to support inclusive education options for students in Prep through to Year 6. Playing with LEGO not only assists with fine motor skills, which are fundamental to key skills such as pencil grip and handwriting, but research increasingly shows that LEGO play is a highly effective tool for developing social emotional skills. LEGO play can serve as a creative compass for navigating everyday skills that some children find challenging, such as communication, emotion regulation and problem solving. We would be so grateful for any donations of excess or unwanted LEGO that we can put to great use to build the capacity and skills of students here at St John's! All donations warmly welcomed to the school office or library

Athletics

Exciting News!  Our P-2 students to add Athletics Rotations to their Athletics Carnival Program for next week’s carnival. In the last 2 years, construction as meant we were space poor, but with a bit more space this year, the P-2 Athletics Rotations will make a return on Oval 1 and at Nazarene Place after the P-2 last morning track event.

Progressive Athletics Carnival Results

Last week saw the finals of the High Jump, 800m race and the finishing off the Discus.

Both the High Jump finals and the 800m events proved to be very exciting indeed, with records broken, big hearted races and photo finishes!!

Six records were broken last week - four in the 800m, one in Discus and one tied record in High Jump.

800m

2011 Shana Paterson - New Record – 2.51.14 mins

2012 Maverick Nassar - New Record – 2.48.92 mins

2013 Penny Hale - New Record – 3.05.50 mins

2013 Hudson Brown - New Record – 2.51.44 mins

High Jump

2013 Penny Hale - Equaled Record – 1.06m

St John's Way Awards

St Vinnies Winter Appeal

Please consider donating unwanted blankets, quilts or doonas as the weather begins to cool.

Also any canned food to be distributed to families would be wonderful such as stews and soups.

Please drop off to the front office when you can 😊

Sports Carnival Tuckshop Menu

Tuckshop Special

Volunteer Tuckshop Roster

Tuckshop Menu