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Informer - Term 2 Week 10

From Our Principal...

Dear Families

We are at the end of what has been a hectic and very busy term. Tomorrow is the winter solstice. It isn’t the latest sunrise of the year, but it is the shortest hours of daylight of the entire year. In Gladstone, we will have 10 hours and 40 minutes of daylight.

The seasons and the length of day on Earth change because the planet is slightly tilted on its axis as it travels around the Sun. This means different points on Earth receive more or less sunlight at different times of year. If Earth were not tilted, the Sun would always appear to be directly above the Equator, the amount of light a given location receives would be fixed, and there would be no seasons. Sorry, but the teacher in me can't resist passing on these bits of important information.

I spoke to our kids on Assembly this morning because the solstice usually comes in at the end of Term 2. I reminded them that we are approaching the halfway point of the year. We have gotten lot of work done, but we still need to make sure we finish the term hard and prepare for the second half of the year.

As many of you would have experienced, once we get back into term three, time just seems to evaporate. Our babies that have only just commenced in prep will be preparing for year one and our year six students begin the preparations for the transition onto the next stage of their journey. It is a crazy, busy time. It can be very easy to get caught up on the merry go round, and I will tell you that it goes very fast if you let it. You can be consumed by life if you aren’t aware and conscious of what is happening.

As a dad of five kids, I would often wish my time over for some of the mistakes I made with my older boys. It took me a bit longer than most to discover the difference between the urgent and the important. I have come to realise that our kids don’t want our presents, the thing they crave is our presence.

I hope that the break is time for our kids to recharge and spend time with family. If you are travelling, stay safe on the roads.

Have a great week and hug your kids.

Jamie Emerick
Principal

Bicycle and Scooter Survey

Dear Parents/carers and staff

In partnership with Arup and Zwart Transport Planning, the Department of Transport and Main Roads is gathering insights from parents/carers and staff about bicycle and scooter parking at schools across Queensland. The Queensland Department of Education and Catholic Education Diocese of Rockhampton has granted permission for schools to be involved in the research.

If you would like to contribute your experiences and assist in improving bicycle/scooter parking at schools, we invite you to complete the following online survey by Friday, 24 June 2022.

Bicycle and scooter parking at schools survey

Survey on bicycle parking in Queensland schools (for parents/carers and school staff) (office.com)

A Letter From Our Director

APRE News...

As we watch the conflict in Ukraine and the dire situation in Sri Lanka, it is timely to reflect on the circumstances experienced by migrants and refugees across the globe. June 20 is World Day of Migrants and Refugees and Father Ashwin highlighted this in the Parish Newsletter below.

WORLD DAY OF MIGRANTS AND REFUGEES 2022

Pope Francis frequently reminds us that migrants and refugees are not a problem to be solved or a burden to be shared equitably among countries, but sisters and brothers to be welcomed, respected, and loved. Their presence is not an imposition but presents us with the opportunity to contribute with them to building a better world. In his message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees 2022 Pope Francis links human mobility and the building of the Kingdom of God, saying that “the ultimate meaning of our ‘journey’ in this world is the search for our true homeland, the Kingdom of God inaugurated by Jesus Christ, which will find its full realisation when he comes in glory”. He goes on to explain that God’s plan “gives priority to those living on the existential peripheries” including “migrants and refugees, displaced persons, and victims of trafficking” and that “the Kingdom of God is to be built with them, for without them it would not be the Kingdom that God wants”.

Migration is part of humanity’s journey, seeking to live ever more truly as one human family on our way to our true home.

Term 3 Activities

We are so blessed at St John’s to have wonderful playing fields, handball courts, a large under cover area, 2 x Nature Playgrounds, 3 x large age specific playgrounds, the Library, a Prayer Garden and a quiet learning garden (Mr Daglish’s Garden). If a St John’s child says they are bored, they are certainly not trying very hard to find something to do!

In addition to all of this outdoor space, we also offer a multitude of extra activities both inside and outside of school hours for our students. We are blessed with highly committed staff members, who wish to offer students as many opportunities as possible.

Overview of Lunch Time and After School Activities in Term Three

Monday 11am                   Mindfulness with Mrs Rouse
Monday 3pm Robotics with Mrs Barron and Mrs Anderson
Tuesday 11am                  Lego Club with Mrs Spencer
Wednesday 7.45am Fitness with Mrs Graham
Wednesday 11am Art Club with Mrs Miller
Wednesday 3pm Chess Club with Mrs Guinea
Thursday 11am Signing with Mrs O’Brien
Thursday 11am                Year 2-3 Choir with Mrs Milic
Thursday 11am Pom Poms with Mrs Whiteley

Additionally, there are also many morning and afternoon sports training sessions for our seasonal interschool competitions, with a variety of staff coaches and smaller groups activities for quieter games and homework assistance.

Child Safety Curriculum

Last term we started working through the Child Safety Curriculum with all students in Prep to Year Six during Health lessons. These lessons will continue into early Term Three. The curriculum is based on principles of best practice in child safety education and centres around three key messages: Recognise, React and Report. Through a series of lessons, students will learn to recognise, react and report when they are unsafe or find themselves in situations that can have a significant detrimental effect on their physical, psychological or emotional wellbeing.

Information about the Child Safety Curriculum can be found at www.education.qld.gov.au/child-safety-curriculum. I urge families to log on and read through this, in particular the terms that will be used in these lessons.

Recognise

The first key safety message of the curriculum is recognise. Recognise is about being aware of your environment.

Children, young people and adults can all learn to take notice of what is happening around them to help keep themselves safe. Everyone can use clues, such as the things we see, hear, smell or feel to help protect us from harm and keep ourselves safe. Clues can be simple things that warn us about a danger, e.g. hearing a fire alarm or seeing smoke, that prompt us to react. We can also use clues to prepare for potentially unsafe situations, e.g. if we are walking alone at night, then we try to use a well-lit route and avoid secluded lanes or parks.

When we recognise that there might be a safety problem we can take steps to move away or reduce the risk or develop strategies that can help keep us safe. For instance, if you are in a busy environment such as the Ekka or a local event where there are big crowds, you might consider what you and your child could do if you became separated. Strategies could include: going to a highly visible pre-determined meeting spot; writing your phone number on a card and placing it in your child’s pocket; identifying who your child could approach if they become lost, e.g. police, staff at a booth.

React

The second safety message is react.

When children recognise that they are in an unsafe situation, we encourage them to think about what they could do to be safe again. They will have opportunities to think about ways to react using real-life scenarios. Our students will also learn that breaking the rules (e.g. saying no to an adult who is behaving inappropriately) is sometimes necessary so that they can become safe again.

Please take the time to talk with your children about what they have been learning about safety and, in particular, the ways they could react if they are unsafe to make themselves safe again. Talking with your child about ways to stay safe will help them to develop life-long safety skills.

Report

The third safety message is report.

This means that when children or young people have been in a situation that is unsafe that they are taught to report what has happened to an adult. Even if a child has been able to make themselves safe, it is vital that they still report what has happened. Adults need to know about unsafe situations so that some action can be taken to help the child be safe again or ensure it doesn’t happen again.

Students involved in the Child Safety Curriculum will be encouraged to make a list of adult safety helpers. These are adults the children and young people nominate whom they can talk to when they are feeling unsafe or have experienced an unsafe situation or feel they are at risk of something that may cause them harm. This list will include a selection of adults who live in and outside the home.

Report also includes telling an adult about unsafe or inappropriate incidents which may occur when children or young people are online. This might occur when surfing the net or using social media sites like Facebook and twitter, and can include cyberbullying, viewing or receiving inappropriate images or messages or communicating with unknown contacts.

It is important that the key safety messages of the Child Safety Curriculum: Recognise, React and Report are reinforced, both at school and home. I encourage you, wherever possible, to talk with your child about safety to help them stay safe now and in the future.

Library News...

In our Library this week we acknowledge World Refugee Day on June 20^th, with story reading and activities to help us try and understand the plight of others seeking a safe home and better life for their family.