Informer - Term 3 Week 8

From Our Principal ...

Dear Families

In the 60’s, Joni Mitchell wrote a song called "Big Yellow Taxi". One line of lyrics is “you don’t know what you’ve got till its gone”. If there is one thing in the human condition that seems to be a constant, it is our inability to be grateful for the  treasures that we have with us each day.

We are blessed with health, friends, family. Yet do we really appreciate them? I am very guilty of taking all of these for granted. Last week, I came down with a case of Shingles. It is something I had always known about, but knew nothing of. After a few days of what at best could be described as exceptionally uncomfortable, I have a much greater appreciation of my health and being able to do just simple things without every nerve ending feeling like it was on fire.

It can be an interesting observation, that our kids can be the cause of much of the grief in our life from big issues, down to the daily worries of lost shoes and lunch boxes left everywhere except where they are meant to be. Yet as many people will tell you, and as we are finding for ourselves, when our kids eventually all leave home, it leaves a very big gap in our lives.  

The American poet Robert Frost was interviewed in his eighties and one question was, what had he learnt about life? He summed it up in three words, "It goes on."

If we can only focus on what we have lost or don’t have any more, we are not living in the present and making the most of each day.  To be an influence we have to be relevant and present. If you want your kids to tell you the big things in life, you have to listen to the little things first. It can be a source of great frustration, but I keep telling families this message because it is one of the real truths I have seen in my teaching career. Our children value our presence far more presents.

Have a great week and hug your kids.

Regards
Jamie Emerick
Principal

Student Free Day - Friday, 1 September

This Friday, 1 September, is a Student Free Day at St John's.

This day is used for specialised staff professional development and planning.

Thank you in advance for organising alternate care of your children for this day.

Parent Teacher Interview Bookings Open

Parent Teacher Interview booking times have opened in Parent Lounge.  Bookings will CLOSE on Friday 1 September at 3.00pm.  

Parent Teacher Interviews are imperative to ensure strong home and school relationships, as well as providing a wonderful opportunity to discuss the progress of your child, celebrate successes and set goals for future learning and personal growth.

Interviews will take place as follows:

• Years 1 to 6 - Monday 4 Sept to Friday 8 Sept
• Prep - Monday 4 Sept to Friday 15 Sept

All interviews MUST be booked via Parent Lounge before 3.00pm Friday, 1 September.  No bookings will be made from the office or via your child’s teacher. Instructions regarding how to book, were emailed to all parents last week.

School Fun Run - Friday, 15 Sept

Our annual school fun will take place at the school on Friday, 15 September.  Last week, your child should have brought home the below letter with their Fun Run booklet.

Swimming Carnival - Term 4 - Years 3 - 6

• Swimming carnival is Friday 6 October– Week 1, Term 4.
• The carnival starts at 8.40am sharp and students can arrive at the Gladstone Aquatic Centre from 8.10am.
• Students must go to their class teacher to have name marked off the roll, then go to house tents.
• Transport to and from the swimming carnival is the responsibility of parents.
• Student entry is Free, although the pool does charge parents an entry fee.
• All students need their school hat, sun safe shirt, towel, thongs, water bottle and healthy snacks. Sunscreen will be available at the pool.
• All students must wear a swim shirt for marshalling and novelty events.
• Students to wear a sun safe shirt when they are not swimming.
• All students must stay in their house areas throughout the day (not with parents).
• Parent seating is allocated on the Glenlyon St side of the pool.
• The ‘Splash Zone’ is out of bounds for all students except during supervised activities.
• The pool canteen only sells limited snack food. There will only be limited time to access the canteen and we ask that parents only send a small amount of money for an ice-block or similar.
• Students are to bring their own healthy lunches.Students are to see a teacher before going to the toilet, canteen etc.
• The Swimming Carnival concludes at 2.00pm. Students must see their class teacher before going home with their parents.

Library News...

My Dad Thinks He's Funny by Katrina Germein.
This wonderful story is told from the perspective of a little boy. Each page begins with the statement, “My dad thinks he’s funny.” Examples of the funny dad's humour are: When young son tells dad "my finger hurts". Dad says, "Let's chop it off". When son says "my foot hurts", dad says, "No problem. You've got another." When mum says to the young boy, "come and give me a kiss gorgeous," dad says, "I'll be right there".  A fun book full of sarcasm and eye-rolling sayings at the turn of each page.

FArTHER by Grahame Baker-Smith
A sweet tribute to father-son relationships across generations.
When a father who dreams of flying goes off to war and does not return, his son decides to make the dream come true. Grahame Baker-Smith’s moving story, with stunning illustrations, shows how, with love and a bit of ambition, you can reach seemingly impossible goals.

The Greatest Father’s Day of All By Anna Mangan
Is a story of a simple mistake that leaves Dad thinking that everyone has forgotten it’s his day. After expecting a warm wake up, breakfast and presents; it’s not until Dad is sulking that Mum asks what’s wrong and the whole issues is resolved … Father’s Day is next week!
When next week comes along, Dad has the best day ever, surrounded by his family.

Last week’s rebus puzzle ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTVWXYZ was successfully guessed by Adelaide in 4K.  The answer is ‘Missing You!” Well done, Adelaide!!

With only a few weeks left of this term, please keep an eye out for library books hiding away under mattresses and behind bookshelves at home.

This week is the final week for borrowing for Prep – Year Three.

Capricornia Sport

Congratulations to Tolu Kaka for his achievements at the recent Capricornia School Athletics trials:

• 200m - 1st place - 29.17s (broke an 8yr record)
• 100m - 1st place - 13.90s
• Longjump - 4th place - 3.80m

2023 A.F.L. Streetsmarts Schools Cup

This year, St John’s entered a boys and girls team in the AFLQ Streetsmarts Schools Cup Gala Day at the end of Term 2, where we played against other schools in Gladstone. Some of the boys and girls had never played AFL before so many new skills were learnt along the way. We got to wear our new St John’s AFL playing strip and certainly looked the part. Unfortunately, the girls were beaten in the final by Tannum Sands. The boys team were winners of the Gladstone Gala Day and went on to play the winners of the Rockhampton and Yeppoon Gala Days for a spot in the Regional Finals in Week 2. The boys were victorious in this game and earnt their spot in the preliminary finals to determine the winner of all the schools in North Queensland.

We ventured to Mackay on 15 August and played against the winners of Mackay, Townsville and Cairns to determine the North Queensland Champion who would then go onto the Streetsmarts AFL Schools State Championships in October. Unfortunately, we lost our first preliminary game against Mackay State School and played off for third place against Ryan Catholic College from Townsville and we lost that game too. We were very competitive in both games, just had one quarter in both games where we were outplayed and outscored. The boys had a great time and it was a great experience for students. We have reached the Regional Finals two years in a row, hopefully next year we can go one further.

Special thanks to Sparkman’s Cabinets and Joinery who very kindly sponsored team shirts for the Boys AFL team to wear at the North Queensland Championships in Mackay.  

QMEA Primary Drones Competition

Last Wednesday, St John’s entered two teams in the QMEA Drones Competition organised by Toolooa State High School and sponsored by APLNG Gladstone. This was the first competition that we have entered and it was designed to test student's navigation, coding, design and piloting skills. It was a learning curve for all students and lead to an increased knowledge of skills required to operate and program drones. The students participated in three challenges:

            Challenge One: Pilot the drone to navigate through a series of obstacles.

            Challenge Two: Using drag and drop coding, program the drone over a course.

            Challenge Three: Design and create a payload that can carry tools across a set distance.

Lots of fun was had by the students and we look forward to next year’s competition.

P & F Meeting - TODAY

Our next P & F Meeting is TODAY at 5:30pm in the staffroom.  

ALL WELCOME!

Social Justice Competition

St John's Way Awardees

Tuckshop Special

Volunteer Tuckshop Roster

Tuckshop Menu

OSHC September Vacation Care Program

OSHC Easter Vacation Program

Swooping Bird Season

Gladstone Regional Council has provided us with information regarding the upcoming swooping bird season. Families and children may encounter swooping birds on their way to and from school and whilst out in the community and on private properties. While being swooped can be unpleasant, there are simple steps that can be taken to reduce safety risks to young children and the community.

Some native bird species including magpies, plovers, butcherbirds and crows are well known to swoop during the spring breeding season. Swooping may occur from July to November, peaking between August to October. When native bird species have eggs or young in their nest, a small percentage can become protective and may swoop people entering their nesting territory. Research suggests aggressive swooping occurs when the birds have had previous negative interactions with humans, for example, had stones or sticks thrown at them, their chicks, or their nests.

Some ways to manage swooping bird interactions during the breeding season are to:

• Avoid swooping hotspots and find an alternative route by consulting the ‘Gladstone Regional Council Swooping bird hotspot web map’ (https://www.gladstone.qld.gov.au/wildlife) Or https://www.magpiealert.com/
• Ensure children wear appropriate headwear (helmets, hats, umbrellas), eyewear (glasses, sunglasses) and clothing to help protect them from unwanted swooping risks.  
• Ensure children avoid threatening or scaring nesting birds, as this will increase the intensity of swooping.
• For more information about swooping birds and tips to avoid being swooped, a ‘Living with Magpies’ fact sheet and an interactive swooping bird hotspot map, jump on Council’s website https://www.gladstone.qld.gov.au/wildlife#swooping.

Additionally, Council manages swooping birds by providing community awareness and information, undertaking swooping bird assessments, and implementing an appropriate response on Council-controlled land. If you encounter a problem with a swooping bird, you may contact a licensed wildlife contractor to assess the bird for relocation. Please note that Council is unable to respond to swooping bird complaints on private or state-controlled land.

If you have any questions or wish to discuss this further, please contact the Environment & Conservation team on 07 4970 0700 or email EnvSus@gladstone.qld.gov.au

Music Tutor Update

Please be advised that we are doing all that we can to secure a Music Tutor for the Friday Private Lessons and our School Band.

We are actively advertising on a variety of platforms and have approached a number of private music teachers currently working in Gladstone. Unfortunately, we haven’t had any luck securing anyone for the position, but will continue actively searching.

Aussie Bread Tags for Wheelchairs

Here at St. John’s, we pride ourselves on being sustainable and recycling what we can to help God’s creation. Aussie Bread Tags for Wheelchairs is an Australian company that is collecting and sorting bread tags nation-wide. They are creating new products with recycled bread tags that include wheelchairs and reusable food bowls. As of May 2023, they have recycled over 10,000kg of Aussie bread tags (that’s over 10 tonnes of plastic waste)!

How can you help? Please collect any plastic bread clips from home and bring them into your classroom to put into your class’ collection container. There is also a collection container at the front office. Once a fortnight, Year 4 will collect the containers and empty them into our main bin. Once this is full, we will take it to the collection depot in town, where they will be sent away for recycling.

Thank you for helping us to be kinder to our world and for looking after God’s creation.

Positions Vacant - Catholic Education

Young Engineers Spring Camp

GRC - Welcome to Gladstone

BITS Cricket Club - Women & Girls Progam