Informer - Term 2 Week 5

From Our Principal ...

Dear Parents

As part of our ongoing commitment to continuously improvoing the school, we believe it is critical to seek each family's opinion on a range of issues relating to St John's.

Your feedback is very important to us as we continue to build a successful school.

As such, we have engaged the professional services of MYP Corporation (MYPCorp) to undertake a strictly private and confidential School Results Survey on our behalf.  The survey should take approximately 10 - 15 minutes and will need to be completed online between 22 May and 9 June, 2023.

There are no right or wrong answers and we ask that you respond honsestly to each statement.

Please note that this survey will be confidiental.  No member of staff at St John's will have access to your individual responses.  We will be provided with a summary of collected results only.

MYPCorp will undertake the following process to ensure anonymity:

1. Families will be emailed individual survey logins.
2. Results will be collated externally.
3. A summary of collated results will be provided to the school leadership team.

On the survey start date, survey instructions and a personalised login link will be emailed to all parents.

You will continue to receive friendly reminders during the survey period until you have submitted the survey.

If you do not receive your survey instructions on the survey start date, please check your spam and junk email folders before contacting the school office.

While we strongly encourage you to participate, the survey is not compulsory.  If you decide that you do not want to complete the survey, simply click "Unsubscribe" in the instruction or reminder email.

Thank you for your assistance in helping to shape the future direction of St John's.

Have a good week and hug your kids.

Regards

Jamie Emerick

Acting Assistant to the Principal - Administration

School Attendance

It is very important for children to have good attendance at school for their social, emotional and academic growth.

Research shows very clearly that:

• Absenteeism or continued late arrival or early departure can predict poor attendance throughout the a child’s entire school years.
• Missing 10% of school (approx. 20 days a year), negatively affects a student’s academic performance.
• Absenteeism in the early years of schooling influences whether children can read proficiently by the end of Year Three.
• Being continuously late, leaving early or absent sets students behind socially from their peers as they miss opportunities to build relationships and forge friendships.

At St John’s it is an expectation that children arrive on time to school each day. This is a very important habit to create early on and sets them well in their education and social development.

When children arrive to school, they are to join their class at Nazarene Place each morning (no later than 8.40am) to join in important morning school routines.

Chronic absenteeism or habitual late arrivals/early departures will be followed-up by the Principal or his/her delegate. 

Implications of Low Iron in Children

Low iron in children is quite common and can be caused by numerous factors such as:

• Maternal iron deficiency
• Premature babies or low birth weight babies
• Inadequate intake in food in early childhood
• Excess cow’s milk consumption - this is one of the most common reasons for low iron in infants and toddlers. Excess cow’s milk can affect iron levels by crowding out iron-rich foods in the diet and the casein and calcium in cow’s milk can also inhibit the absorption of iron.
• Fussy eating
• Gut disorders – such as Coeliac disease, infections, parasitic infections, general inflammation and IBS symptoms.

There are several signs and symptoms that may suggest your child’s iron levels are on the lower end including:

• Fatigue
• A pale complexion
• Frequent infections or slow recovery from infections
• Impaired learning, concentration and memory
• Behavioural issues such as irritability, short attention span and disruptive behaviour
• Sleep issues, particularly restless sleep and restless legs
• Feeling weak or dizzy
• Headaches

The good news is that you can boost low iron levels in children via a well balanced diet.

Iron comes in 2 forms – haeme and non-haeme iron.

Haeme iron is found in animal products and can be found in foods such as red meat, chicken, pork, fish, eggs, chicken liver (this is the best source of iron out there – sneak it into your child’s diet!)

Non-haeme iron is found in plant foods and while its absorption is much lower than haeme, there are still plenty of plant-based foods that are rich in iron. These include legumes, lentils, green vegetables, nuts and fortified cereals.

You can both enhance and inhibit the absorption of iron. Obviously, it is imperative to increase the factors that enhance iron and reduce or remove the factors that inhibit iron absorbtion.

By adding Vitamin C, beta-carotene, folate and probiotics to your child’s daily diet iron levels should rise. Decreasing the consumption of cow’s milk with meals that contain iron is also effective, as calcium competes with iron for absorption.

Chicken and Vege Bites

Ingredients
500 g chicken mince
1 egg
1 cup oat flour (I just blitz rolled oats in a bullet to make flour)
1 zucchini – grated
1 carrot - grated
2 shallots sliced
Glug of olive oil (to oil tray)

Get Going......

1. Combine all the ingredients, except olive oil, in bowl and mix until combined.
2. Take a large tbs of the mixture into bite size portions and cook in lightly oiled frypan in batches until each side is lightly golden and cooked through.
3. Enjoy!

Blessing of Buildings Liturgy

All welcome!

St John’s Athletics Events Update

In preparation for the 2023 St John’s Athletics Carnival on Friday 2 June, all Year 3-6 students are being timed/measured according to their age and house groups in HPE to place them in the appropriate heats and finals for all events. Due to safety and time, discus and high jump will be completed in HPE classes. The 800m and 1500m will be held prior to the Athletics Carnival – see details below.

Prep - Year 2 students will race in their year level and all other year levels will race in their year of birth.

Below are the approximate time breakdowns for our 2023 Athletics events:

All students must wear their school sports shorts, hat and a sun-safe house coloured shirt or school polo. 

The tuckshop will be operating as per normal menu and via the online ordering system. The tuckshop will not be open for over the counter sales until 10.00am.

House Tents are for student seating only. Parents are more than welcome to bring their own shade arrangements and set up around the oval (outside of student seating, finishing line areas and marshalling areas).

All students are expected to be seated in their house tents unless they are competing or marshalling for an event.

Library News ...

In our library this week we celebrate all things family….

   Daisy and Bear
   Daisy and Bear live in a small house.
   They do the same ordinary things every day. Or do they?
   Follow the adventures of this delightful brother and sister duo as they
   find the sparkle and fun in the daily routine of family life.

   Family Tree
   It started with a seed, and that seed was me. And, over time, laughter filled my garden ...
   A heartfelt celebration of family, community and the seasons of life, to cherish and to share.

   A Year On The Farm
   Every month of the year there are jobs to do on a small Australian farm. Fruit ripens, lambs are
   born, hay is harvested. 'A Year on our Farm' shows the passing of the seasons through the eyes of
   the children for whom the farm and all its animals is home.

School Disco

Combined Schools Musical (2024) Auditions

Community musicals have a strong and proud tradition in the Gladstone region. 2024 promises to be another big production and we are looking for talent!

St John’s students from Year 4 – Year 6 (Year 11 in high schools) are invited to audition on Monday 22 May and 29 May at school. This will be in the spare Year 5 room at 10:45am. You are expected to prepare a 2 minute monologue and sing a short song, or part of a song, from a musical. Dancers, are also invited but they too must sing a short song and complete a monologue.

Successful applicants will be advised of a further audition in early June. Going to this next phase is NOT an indication of being in the final cast.

The musical director will hold auditions at the Gladstone Entertainment Convention Centre (GECC) on 15-16 July, 2023. Performance dates will be March 9 – 17, 2024.

Applicants and their families must be aware, this is a huge commitment with long hours of rehearsals over many months but it is a valuable experience for those involved.

Interested students are to speak with Mrs. O’Brien directly this week.

Term 2 School Fee Accounts

Mother’s Day Stall Thanks

Many thanks to Tracey Robertson and her team of volunteers who prepared for and facilitated the running of our P&F’s very successful Mother’s Day Stall.

990 gifts were wrapped and sold to our very excited St John’s students.  In addition, 17 bags of goodies were delivered to Gladstone Womens’ Health for mothers and children in DV situations that might not have been able to celebrate the weekend like they had wished to.

We hope that all our Mum’s and Mother figures enjoyed their special day.

Port Curtis Selection

Congratulations to Alex Slean for his selection in the Port Curtis 11-12 Years Rugby Union team.

Auskick

Auskick is on every Tuesday from 3:15pm to 4:15pm on the school oval for those that have registered.

Please phone Scott on 0404 986 543 with any enquiries.

The last session will be 13 June.

St John's Way Awards

Wednesday Fitness

Each Wednesday morning at 7.45am, Mrs. Graham will be running a 30 minute fitness session for any students who are keen. These sessions will help build on the fitness gains already made in HPE and help prepare students to do their best at the Athletics Carnival (Friday, 2 June) as well as improve their own personal health benefits.

All keen and committed students are most welcome!  Please meet Mrs. Graham on the oval.

Homework Club - Year 3, 4, 5

Nut Allergies

There are students at our school who are highly allergic (anaphylactic) to all forms of nuts. For this reason, peanut paste, Nutella, muesli bars (with nuts), satay and all forms of nuts are strongly discouraged in all foodstuffs brought to our school.

Volunteer Tuckshop Roster

Tuckshop Special

Tuckshop Menu

Student Travel Rebates Close 31 May

Uniform Shop Update

Our Uniform Shop is not run by our school, but through Weareco.  As mentioned in our newsletter last week, Weareco are moving the Gladstone Catholic School Uniform Shops to one location at 1/190 Goondoon Street.  Their moving timeline is as follows:

Week Beginning Monday 15 May:
- NO SALES this week.  Unifom shop is moving.

Week Beginning Monday 22 May:
- Planned opening of Gladstone Catholic Schools Uniform Shop at 1/190 Goodoon Street, Gladstone.

At this stage we have been informed that the planned shop hours from Monday 22 May will be as follows:

     Monday - 8.00 am - 11.00 am
     Tuesday - 8.00 am - 11.00 am 
     Wednesday - 2.00 pm - 5.00 pm
     Thursday - 2.00 pm - 5.00 pm 
     Friday - Closed 

Further information will be communicated in the coming weeks via our newsletter, App and Facebook page. 

Stop, Drop & Go

A reminder that all St John’s families using Stop, Drop and Go MUST abide by the following:

•     Laner Streeet Stop, Drop & Go:
      Students in Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 (and their younger siblings in Prep, Year 1 and 2) only.
  
  
•     J Hickey Avenue Stop, Drop & Go:
      Prep, Year 1 and 2 only.

Thank you for ensuring the smooth and safe drop-off and collection of our wonderful students!

Parish News

In And Around OSHC ...

OSHC Easter Vacation Program