Season of Lent

We continue to remember that we are in the Season of Lent - a time of reflection and renewal as we prepare for Easter.
"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me." - Psalm 51:10

This week, as part of our awareness of the work Caritas Australia does, I share with you the story of our third resilient woman. She also is united by one dream: to create a better tomorrow for all future generations.​

Memory is 26 years old and lives in rural Malawi. As the eldest child in a low-income farming family, Memory had to take on many household chores and farming activities to support her parents. They struggled to pay for Memory’s school fees and school supplies, and Memory often had to walk to school barefooted. With the support of Caritas Australia and its partner the Catholic Development Commission in Malawi (CADECOM), Memory was able to enrol at a technical college where she learnt technical skills in carpentry. She undertook a three-year carpentry course, with CADECOM supporting part of her tuition and boarding fees.Memory became the first female carpenter from her village. Today, she works as a carpenter at one of Malawi’s largest hydroelectric power stations. With the income from her job, she can provide financial support to her family and inspire other young women in her community so that they may have the opportunity to succeed in a male-dominated industry.

This Lenten season, we at St John’s will be supporting the work of Caritas Australia through donations into class mission boxes as well as our annual Easter raffle. Thank you to the donations of chocolates that have already started coming in. All families should have received their raffle tickets last week. If you would like any more tickets, please see the office.

Together, we can help vulnerable communities face their challenges today and build a better tomorrow for all future generations.

 
Sacraments — 2024

A Compass alert went out to all families with children in Years 3-6 last week containing all Sacramental dates for this year.

Please note that enrolments for Reconciliation have now closed and a parent/carer information night is to be held tomorrow evening (7th March) at 6pm in the Church. One parent or carer must attend the Information Night. If you missed the enrolment weekends, please contact Jenny Gibson in the Parish Office as soon as possible on 4261 1315 if you wish your child to make their First Reconciliation.

Feast of St Joseph and the founding of the Sisters of St Joseph at Penola, SA 1866 – Tuesday 19th March

On Tuesday, March 19th, we commemorate the Feast of St. Joseph, a day of significance for the Sisters of St. Joseph and the wider Catholic community. This day holds a special place in the hearts of many as it marks the founding of the Sisters of St. Joseph at Penola, South Australia, in 1866. It was here that Saint Mary MacKillop and Father Julian Tenison Woods established this religious congregation dedicated to serving the poor and marginalised. Inspired by the compassionate spirit of St. Joseph, the Sisters of St. Joseph have since dedicated themselves to education, healthcare, and social welfare, embodying the values of humility, service, and love. As we celebrate the Feast of St. Joseph and the founding of the Sisters of St. Joseph, we are reminded of the enduring legacy of selflessness and devotion that continues to inspire us today.

Holy Week Events

Holy Week is in Week 9 of this term. Events that are planned include:

WEDNESDAY 27th March — Easter hat parade (mufti clothes may be worn) and Easter Raffle prizes drawn (all proceeds going to Caritas Australia) — more details to follow

THURSDAY 28th March — Holy Week Liturgy in the Church at 12:00 – families are very welcome to attend

Stage Masses

This term, we especially welcome our Kinder and Year 6 students and their families (but of course all students and their families) to our Parish Mass on Saturday 9th March at 5pm, followed by a BBQ. Andrew Chinn, a well known composer and performer, will be with us and he will invite the children to come in front of the altar to sing with him. Children in Year 3 who have enrolled to make their First Reconciliation are also encouraged to attend this Mass as part of their Commitment to their preparations. We would love to have as many of our families as possible joining us. If you are able to join us at this Mass, please complete this form to assist with catering purposes.

Other dates for this year’s Stage Masses are:

Term 2 - Stage 2 (Years 3 and 4) - May 4th
Term 3 - Stage 1 (Years 1 and 2) - August 3rd
Term 4 - Stage 3 (Years 5 and 6 - although Kinder are very welcome to attend again with their buddies) - September 21st

Friday Grade Masses

Each week a Compass alert will go out to the families of the grade that is attending Friday Mass with the Parish inviting you to attend Mass with your child and the Parish. Families attending Mass are then invited to come to the Joseph room after Mass for a cuppa.

Dates for your diary

Prayer Intentions

We pray for all families in our school community who are in need of our prayers.
We pray for the needs of our country and our world. 

St Mary of the Cross MacKillop, pray for us.
St John the Evangelist, pray for us.

Kylie Stephens
Religious Education Coordinator

PB4L is an evidence-based framework that emphasises school-wide systems of support for all students and staff. These include proactive strategies for defining, teaching and supporting appropriate student behaviours. Positive behaviour supports are implemented for all students, across all school settings, by all staff, at all times. This continuum of support ensures students’ academic and social outcomes.

All student behaviour expectations are founded on our three school rules – Be Respectful, Be Responsible, Be Safe.

Diocesan South Coast Regional Swimming Carnival

Congratulations to all the participants in the Diocesan South Coast Regional Swimming Carnival. A special acknowledgment to Caitlin W for achieving the 3rd position in the Senior Girls Age Champion category. Great job!

Congratulations

Congratulations Ella W (Year 6) on her selection in the MacKillop basketball team. She will now compete at the NSWPSSA championships next term. St John’s wishes Ella good luck at this event. 

Congratulations Preston T on his selection in the Wollongong Diocesan soccer team. He will now compete at the MacKillop trials next term. St John’s wishes Preston good luck at this event. 

The 2024 student semester reports have been updated to reflect the outcomes of the new K-10 English and Mathematics Syllabuses.

All Kindergarten students will receive a written report twice a year, in Semester 1 and Semester 2, with a three-point grade scale to report student achievement using the following performance descriptors:

• Thorough
• Sound 
• Basic

Students in Year 1 - Year 6 will continue to receive semester reports, twice a year, using  the five-point grade scale to report student achievement with the following performance descriptors: 

• Extensive
• Thorough
• Sound
• Basic
• Elementary 

K-6 Semester 1 reports will not contain a general comment.

Reports will be available to schools via Compass towards the end of Term 1.

Student Wellbeing

The wellbeing of our students is a priority at St John’s. Wellbeing includes good physical health, feelings of happiness, satisfaction and successful social functioning. Feelings of wellbeing are fundamental to the overall health of children, enabling them to successfully overcome difficulties. Wellbeing influences how they interact in their environments and a strong sense of wellbeing provides children with confidence and optimism which maximises their learning potential. The Pivot Wellbeing for Learning Survey and our Student Wellbeing Afternoons are initiatives at St John’s that support student wellbeing.

Pivot Wellbeing for Learning Survey

St John’s will be implementing the use of the Pivot Wellbeing for Learning survey in grades 3-6. This survey aims to help schools better support student wellbeing and to give students more voice and agency in their learning communities. It has been developed by Pivot Professional Learning under the direction of Pivot’s research team. The Pivot Wellbeing for Learning framework measures student wellbeing in the domains of safety, belonging and resilience and provides data to staff to be able to support and cater for the wellbeing needs of students.

Parents of students in Years 3 – 6 would have received an email and Compass notification regarding this last week. If you haven’t already done so, please access this information via an Insight alert on your home page on Compass. The information is accessible by scrolling on the letterhead banner and you are required to select the check box at the bottom of the message. Thank you to all the parents and carers who have already completed this.

Student Wellbeing Afternoons – Week 7

During next week, we will be having our Student Wellbeing Afternoons for Term 1. The dates for these afternoons are as follows:
 
• Monday 11 March – Kindergarten, Year 1 & Year 2
• Tuesday 12 March – Year 3 & Year 4 
• Thursday 14 March – Year 5 & Year 6
 
As with previous Student Wellbeing Afternoons, students will be able to choose and participate in fun and engaging activities that promote their wellbeing. As part of these Wellbeing Afternoons, the students will be provided with a sausage sizzle for lunch. All sausages will be gluten free and gluten free bread will be provided for students with a gluten intolerance. If your child does not eat sausage sizzles or requires more food for lunch than this, please ensure that you pack extra food in their lunchbox.
 
To help make these afternoons even more enjoyable, students are once again encouraged to wear mufti clothes to school on the day their grade has their wellbeing afternoon.

On behalf of the school community, we would like to thank the Parents and Friends Association for their support of this initiative by again funding the cost of the sausage sizzle for the students.
 
We look forward to fun and enjoyable afternoons, promoting and supporting student wellbeing across the school.

Personalised Planning Meetings

Personalised Planning meetings will take place during Week 10, in conjunction with Learning Conversations. Further details regarding PP Meetings will be shared with parents and carers in the coming weeks.

We are now in the Season of Lent - a time of reflection and renewal as we prepare for Easter.

"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me." - Psalm 51:10

This year, Project Compassion brings us the stories of three resilient women from three different corners of the world. They are facing vastly different challenges, but are all united by one dream: to create a better tomorrow for all future generations.​

Ronita from the Philippines. Ronita lives with her husband and two children in a barangay (local district) in Quezon City, which is situated in Metro Manila in the Philippines. She went back to school to finish her education so that she could earn income to support her children.

Leaia from Samoa. Not having access to a reliable source of clean water was very difficult for Leaia and her family. But, with the support of Caritas Australia, a water tank was installed at their home, improving their health and living conditions.

This Lenten season, we at St John’s will be supporting the work of Caritas Australia through donations into class mission boxes as well as our annual Easter raffle. Together, we can help vulnerable communities face their challenges today and build a better tomorrow for all future generations. We encourage students to give generously to their classroom Project Commission boxes.

During Lent, our Mini Vinnies team will be running an Easter raffle with proceeds going to Project Compassion. We encourage families to donate Easter Eggs for the raffle. The students can bring them to school and they will be collected by the Mini Vinnies team. Tickets will be 50c each and Mini Vinnies members will be selling these at recess and lunch in weeks 8 and 9. Two sheets of 10 tickets each will also be sent home to each family this week. The winners will be drawn on 27 March. We ask you to bring back your sold raffle tickets as soon as possible,

Thank you in advance for supporting such a worthy cause.

Kylie Stephens
Religious Education Coordinator

More than 21 million Aussies have participated in Clean Up Australia activities and events over the past three decades.

Over that time Clean Up Australia has evolved to provide practical solutions to help all Australians live more sustainably every day of the year, and emerged as one of the country’s most recognised, credible and trusted environmental charities.

On Friday 1st March, St John's students and staff focussed on preventing rubbish entering our school environment and also removing what has already accumulated.

Our gratitude is extended to the parents and cares who are generously dedicating their time to support reading activities in the Year 1 classroom. The parents/carers participated in an informative session held on Wednesday, 28th February.

Throughout the year teachers have access to a variety of quality professional development opportunities. Casual teachers are employed to cover classes with the teacher ensuring the teaching program and routines are followed. 

“Those who dare to teach, never cease to learn”
John Cotton-Dana

Teacher Professional Learning

In 2018, the NSW Government announced a comprehensive review of the NSW school curriculum from Kindergarten to Year 12 to ensure that the NSW Education system is properly preparing students for the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century.

The goal of the curriculum is to support students to:

• Build strong foundations in every stage of schooling
• Learn with understanding
• Develop skills in applying knowledge
• Make excellent ongoing progress

The 2024 school year is a year of implementation and learning for the 3-6 English and Mathematics Syllabus'. Teachers will engage in professional learning throughout the year to continue to build their professional knowledge around the Reformed English and Mathematics Syllabus. They will engage in collaborative learning tasks and reflect on new and current practices to develop relevant and engaging learning experiences for all students. 

The NCCD is an annual data collection that requires information on the extent of adjustments made for students with disability. The data collection supports a broader model of engagement and support for these students that draws on teachers' professional judgement and practices throughout the year to support students with disability to access and participate in education on the same basis as other students.

Please find below important information about the 2024 Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD). All schools are required to complete this process annually to assist governments in planning for the needs of students with disability.

Please contact the school if you have further questions about the NCCD.

The students in Years 3 and 5 will sit the 2024 NAPLAN papers in Writing, Reading, Language Conventions and Numeracy from Wednesday 13 March to Thursday 21 March. 

Except for the Year 3 Writing assessment (pencil and paper), all other assessments will be completed online at school using iPads. In preparation for NAPLAN, students will complete practise assessments so that they can get used to working within a locked down browser and using technology to complete the assessments. 

At this stage, the timetable for the assessments at St John's, Dapto are:

Wednesday 13 March - Year 5 Writing
Thursday 14 March - Year 3 Writing
Monday 18 March - Years 3 and 5 Reading
Tuesday 19 March - Years 3 and 5 Language Conventions
Wednesday 20 March - Year 5 Numeracy
Thursday 21 March - Year 3 Numeracy

If students are absent for any of the assessments, there will be an opportunity for catch up days up until Monday 25 March. The teachers of Years 3 and 5 will take time to explain what NAPLAN involves, particularly to our Year 3 students who will be sitting the assessments for the first time. 

Save the Date — 27 March

Once again, the students of St John’s have been registered in the NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge (PRC). The challenge aims to encourage a love of reading for leisure and to enable students to experience quality literature. It is not a competition but a challenge to each student to read, to read more and to read more widely. 

This week, classroom teachers will provide families new to St John’s with their own PRC account, which can be used to add books to your child’s online reading log. For students in Years 1 – 6, their PRC details remain the same as last year. If you have difficulty locating your child’s login details, please get in touch with Mrs Thomas (koczkab01@dow.catholic.edu.au). If you want more information on the approved PRC books and the challenge rules, go to the 2024 Challenge Rules Page. You have until 23 August to complete the online Student Reading Record. Each child must read a certain number of books to successfully complete the challenge. The PRC student site is a user-friendly and engaging way for students to enter their reading records. Students will be rewarded with new avatars and challenging titles as they enter their books! Students and parents can visit the support article to view a video that demonstrates the use of the student site.

At the beginning of every school year you are required to provide your consent for the following;

• walking permission — occasionally your child may leave the school with a staff member to walk to a local activity or excursion, for example the swimming carnival or Dapto library. 
• permission for the use of your child's image or work.
• acceptable use of technology agreement.

This year, rather than using paper forms, we have sent these requests out as a 'Compass Insight' for your action. Please see the attached document, which provides simple instructions for accessing these insights and provide your consent (or not).  I would be most grateful if I could ask you to give this your earliest attention.

Should you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact the school office.

Dear Parents/Carers

You may be aware of recent media reports regarding health concerns related to asbestos contaminated mulch found at a number of playgrounds and schools across Greater Sydney.

To ensure that mulched areas of our grounds are safe, we have undertaken an audit of our landscape suppliers. This audit found NO record of any mulch being supplied to our school by companies connected to the contaminated mulch. 

The Catholic Education Office has also arranged for proactive testing of mulched areas across all Catholic Education Diocese of Wollongong schools and parishes, to provide families with greater assurance. This testing is precautionary only.  Testing will occur at St John's Dapto on 11 March 12:30pm – 3:30pm.

It is important to state again that after completing our audit, there is no reason to expect that any of the mulched areas on our grounds will be contaminated. Regardless, the safety of students, families and staff is always our highest priority, and given the serious nature of this situation we are choosing to take a cautious approach.

We will provide you with an update when the results of the testing are available.

Michelle Rodwell
Principal

To the following students who will celebrate their birthday in February — we wish you a very happy birthday and hope you have a great day.

Birthday Buckets now available! Birthday buckets can be ordered for your child and your child's class.

Birthday buckets are priced per ice block at $1.00ea. Birthday buckets will be delivered to the classroom just before the lunch break.

3 days' notice is required. These can be ordered on the Flexischools app or in person at the canteen.

The connection between the parish and the school fosters a supportive community where students, families, teachers, and parishioners come together to share common values, support one another, and build meaningful relationships. This sense of community enhances the overall educational experience and contributes to students' emotional well-being.

All families are welcome to join Fr. Francis, the St John the Evangelist Catholic Parish and the staff of St John's Parish Catholic Primary school at the 5PM Mass on Saturday evening for the Kindergarten and Year 6 Mass with musician Andrew Chinn. After Mass please join together as a community for a sausage sizzle.

Parent Talk newsletter aims to provide parents and carers with relevant and timely information about parenting, education, wellbeing, upcoming Council of Catholic School Parents (CCSP) events and webinars for parents, and significant Catholic news and events.

The Council of Catholic School Parents NSW/ACT represents all parents and carers of students in our Catholic schools. We value and promote the critical role that parents play in the education of their children, and provide leadership, advocacy and support for parents and carers of children in almost 600 Catholic schools. Parents and carers are invited to subscribe to CCSP’s Parent Talknewsletter to receive future editions keep up to date with how our Council supports Catholic school parents to support their children’s wellbeing, faith journey and academic outcomes. Click here to subscribe.

The Council of Catholic School Parents NSW/ACT is conducting a survey to gauge parental involvement in their child's school including their learning. They are looking to receive feedback on areas that are really important to parents. Participants have the option to receive a 2024 Faith Diary as a token of appreciation by providing their name, address, and mobile phone number at the end of the survey.

The survey link is provided: CCSP Survey.

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