World Environment Day — Wednesday 5th June 

Today we celebrate World Environment Day 2024, a day dedicated to fostering global awareness and action for the protection of our environment. This year’s theme, "Land Restoration and Drought Resilience," resonates deeply with our Catholic values of stewardship and care for God's creation. At St John’s today, we are engaging in various activities to highlight the importance of restoring our land. Through these activities, our students will understand the importance of preserving the planet for future generations and demonstrate their commitment to nurturing their environmental awareness.

Let’s come together to make a positive impact and honour the beauty of the world we’ve been entrusted with.

We cannot turn back time, but we can use the time we have wisely.
We can grow trees, especially ones that are indigenous to our area.
We can green our cities and improve the air quality.
We can re-wild our gardens by planting many more plants.
We can change our diets and eat food that is plant-based and sustainably grown.
We can clean up our rivers and coasts by collecting rubbish from the shores.
We can make changes at home by recycling correctly and reducing use of plastic.
We can be the generation that makes peace with nature. 

Sacrament of Confirmation — Thursday 6th June

The Sacrament of Confirmation will take place tomorrow evening, with Bishop Brian presiding over the ceremony for 51 of our young parishioners. This is a significant milestone in their spiritual journey, and we invite everyone to join us in prayer as these young members of our community receive the Holy Spirit. May their hearts be filled with grace, strength, and wisdom as they continue to grow in their faith and commitment to God's love. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers during this special time.

Holy Spirit,
Strengthen our children with your gifts of 
Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety and Fear of the Lord.
Grant that they may grow into the fullness of the stature of Christ. 
Fill them with the joy of your presence. 
Increase in them the fruit of your Spirit. 
Help them to experience and trust your dwelling within 
so that they can count on your guidance today and every day. 
Show them the way to help one another become better disciples of Jesus Christ,
sharing your love with our world and with each person they meet. 

Come, Holy Spirit! Come!

Prayer from St. Theresa of Avila Church, Grovetown, GA

Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus — Friday 7th June

This Friday, we joyfully celebrate the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a day dedicated to honouring Christ’s immense love for all of us. This special feast invites us to reflect on the boundless compassion and mercy that flow from Jesus’ heart. Let us come together in prayer and gratitude, asking the Sacred Heart to fill our lives with love, kindness, and the desire to serve others, embodying the true spirit of our faith.

Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary —  Saturday 8th June

This Saturday, we celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, a day devoted to honouring the pure and loving heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This feast invites us to reflect on Mary's unwavering love and devotion to God, as well as her compassionate care for all people. Let us unite in prayer, seeking the guidance and intercession of Mary to inspire us to live with love, humility, and a deep commitment to our faith.

Altar Serving

A reminder for any student in Years 4-6 that would like to be trained as an altar server by Father Francis that there will be a training session on Wednesday June 12th, from 4-5 pm. It's important to note that a parent must attend the training session with their child.This is a wonderful chance for our children to become more involved in the church community and learn about serving during Mass. The trained altar servers would only be serving at selected Friday school Masses. If your child wishes to participate, and you are able to bring them to the training session, please fill out this Google form at your earliest convenience.

2024 The Year of the Prayer — in preparation for the 2025 Jubilee Year ‘Pilgrims of Hope’

We remember that it is The Year of Prayer. This special year invites us to deepen our spiritual connection, seek guidance, and renew our faith as we prepare for the upcoming jubilee celebration. Let us join together in prayer, asking for God's grace to guide our hearts and minds during this sacred time, as we journey towards hope, renewal, and unity.

The Jubilee Prayer

Father in heaven,
May the faith you have given us in your son, Jesus Christ, our brother,
and the flame of charity enkindled in our hearts by the Holy Spirit,
reawaken in us the blessed hope for the coming of your Kingdom.

May your grace transform us into tireless cultivators of the seeds of the Gospel.

May those seeds transform from within both humanity and the whole cosmos in the sure expectation of a new heaven and a new earth,
when, with the powers of Evil vanquished, your glory will shine eternally.

May the grace of the Jubilee reawaken in us, Pilgrims of Hope,
a yearning for the treasures of heaven.

May that same grace spread the joy and peace of our Redeemer throughout the earth.

To you our God, eternally blessed, be glory and praise for ever. 

Amen

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.

Week 5

Dates for Term 2:

25 June: South Coast Netball Gala Day (Years 3-6)
2 July: Athletics Carnival (K-6)

Dates for Term 3: 

13 August: South Coast Athletics Carnival
20 August: Diocesan Athletics Selection Trials
23 August: South Coast Soccer Gala Day (Years 3-6)
19 September: Basketball Junior Girls & Boys (Years 3 & 4)
20 September: Basketball Senior Girls & Boys (Years 5 & 6)

Term 2 Athletics

This term students will be participating in a range of athletics events. Students will practise and demonstrate proficiency in the fundamental movement skills of sprint, jump, leap & throw. Students will apply these skills in a range of challenging physical activity contexts in a range of Athletics events such as long jump, high jump, shot put and discus. 

These events will take place during PE lessons and Friday sport. Kindergarten and Year 1 will participate and develop their athletics fundamental movement skills. Years 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6 students will have an opportunity to participate in the ‘competitive’ or ‘ non competitive’ events during these lessons. All field events for Juniors, 11 Years and Seniors will be completed at school. All 80m, 100m, 200m and 800m races will be held at our Athletics Carnival held at Beaton Park. A Compass permission event will be put out in the coming weeks and we look forward to you joining us on this day.

Our 5, 6, 7, 8 , 9, 10, 11 & 12 Years students will compete in age groups for their sprint races and the top 4 place getters in each age group will receive a 1st, 2nd, 3rd & 4th place ribbon.

For field events, long jump, high jump, shot put and discus, students will compete in Junior (8, 9 10 years), 11 Years and Senior (12, 13 years) categories and the top 4 place getters from each category will receive a 1st, 2nd, 3rd & 4th place ribbon.

Age Champion Medallions will be given for Junior (8, 9 10 years), 11 Years and Senior (12, 13 years) categories as they will be competing in both field and track events.

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. 

During next week, we will be having our Student Wellbeing Afternoons for Term 2. The dates for these afternoons are as follows:
 
• Tuesday 11 June – Years 5 & 6
• Wednesday 12 June – Kindergarten, Years 1 & 2 
• Thursday 13 June – Years 3 & 4
 
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 and a packet of chips for the students.
 
We look forward to fun and enjoyable afternoons, promoting and supporting student wellbeing across the school.

On Tuesday 28 May we acknowledged Reconciliation Week with a whole school Liturgy. It was an opportunity for us to join all Australians in promoting a just, equitable and reconciled Australia.

The theme for this year is Now More Than Ever!

We pray as a school community  

Loving Creator, may all Australians strive to show justice, compassion and peace to our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander sisters and brothers.  

Help us now more than ever to understand their hopes and aspirations so that we may all live with dignity and pride in this great land.  

Help us now more than ever to walk forward to a place of justice. We pray for your  spirit to be upon us as we work towards reconciliation, and we entrust our efforts into your hands.  

We make our prayer in Jesus’ name.

Amen.  

In Mathematics we have been learning to display Data in column graphs.

Digital graphs

Hand drawn graphs

Decimals

We have also been learning that our number system extends infinitely to very large and very small numbers.

Visual Arts — ceramics, line, mosaic crosses

Students have been making artworks that represent a variety of subject matter and have made choices about the forms and techniques used to best represent the qualities of their subject matter including representing the Easter Cross through mosaicing, using line and colour to depict a mountain scenery and investigating ancient ceramics and shapes, colours and patterns to make their design their own.

Today St John’s is celebrating World Environment Day, with students wearing a splash of green to remind us of our shared responsibility for the Earth. Students spent the day learning about how we can act as stewards for God’s Creation and practical steps we can take to look after our environment. With this year’s theme being Beat Plastic Pollution we focused on the school’s core environmental initiatives:

• Using recycling bins for waste where possible to avoid landfill
• Using FOGO for our Munch & Crunch, recess and lunch scraps
• Using Return and Earn bins to collect plastic bottles to support St Vinnies
• Recycling plastic stationery such as pens, markers, textas, twist crayons, and highlighters which are taken to Officeworks.
  
  

Thank you to the St John’s Environment Team — Whyatt, Lucian, Marni and Ruby for their dedication and hard work in helping our school grow a little greener in 2024!

Mr Kane Soligo, Mrs Adele Fraser, Ms Kylie Stephens

Bebras is a computational thinking competition conducted by the Australian Mathematics Trust. Several students in Stage 3 participated in the competition, some with outstanding results.

Congratulations to the following students for their participation and work in the lead up to participating in the competition

Maria A, Riya A, Gabriella B, Nixon B, Matthew C (Distinction), Sebastian deM, Reece F (Distinction), Thomas G, Rohan G, Henry I, Tao K, Levi M, Shreya N, Jasmine P, Audrey S, Hannah S (Distinction), Millicent W and Emily Z.

All are looking forward to Round 2 in October.

Mrs De Leo & Mrs Baker

Parents and carers of our Kinder students are warmly invited to an information session about learning to read. This will be held on Wednesday 26 June at 2pm in the Joseph Room. Please sign in at the office first.

NSW Reformed English Syllabus Implementation — Professional Learning

This week, teachers from Years 3 to 6 were guided through professional learning focused on the area of Creating Texts, supporting the implementation of the reformed English syllabus.

The Professional Learning opportunity was designed to support our teachers by building their knowledge of the connections of oral language, reading and writing through the teaching and learning cycle and demonstrating how to use it effectively to foster student growth in writing.

We were fortunate to have Alexandra Hingston, CEDoW Education Officer, working with members of the school leadership team to develop and present this engaging and impactful professional learning experience.

Teachers engaged in professional readings and collaborative discussions to build their knowledge of shifts in practice when designing learning experiences based on new syllabus outcomes.

Student “Design a Logo” Competition – 2024

The Spotlight on Technology Committee are pleased to offer all CEDoW students the opportunity to participate in the 2024 Spotlight on Technology ‘Design a Logo’ competition.

Students are asked to design a logo which will address and reflect the theme of the conference "Spotlight on Artificial Intelligence in Education”. The aim of the conference is to inform participants how to ‘Enhance Learning with Generative AI’ so students can include AI in the design and delivery of their logo entries.

There are prizes for both primary and secondary entries and both students (AirPods) and their schools (iPads) can share in the spoils of victory! The major prize winning entry will be used as the logo for the branding of the Spotlight 2024 event, including website, shirts, event banner, backdrops, etc…

We encourage staff where practical to promote student participation in this competition as the students require staff (verbal) approval to submit an entry. Entries can be submitted using a Google Form where students will be asked to provide the following details:

Student Name
School (from popup list)
Year Group (from popup list)
Teacher’s Name (approver)
Background on the tools that were used to create the submitted Logo
A description of the design process which led to the final Logo entry
Upload of the logo file (ensure your logo is designed to fit within a square)

Spotlight on Technology website: spotlight24.dow.catholic.edu.au.

Submissions close on Friday 5 July 2024 at 3:00 pm.

School Office Procedures — Communication Reminders

In order for us to support your family as efficiently as possible we would be most grateful for your support with the following processes. 

Change of details — if any of your contact details change eg email, phone numbers or postal address, please update this in Compass or email the school office.

Emergency contacts — If your child needs to be picked up during school hours, the person collecting your child must be on the emergency contact list on Compass.  If they are not on the list we will need your written permission for your child to go home with that person. 

Change to pick up arrangements — If your child needs to travel home a different way from what was communicated in the morning, please email or phone the school office before 2pm.

Absence — If your child is sick, please respond to the Compass message that is sent out on the day of the absence.  You do not need to call the office, unless your child is going to be absent for more than 3 days or you are going on a holiday. 
If your child is going to be absent for more than 10 school days, please contact the office for an Application for Extended Leave form.

Late arrivals/Early leavers — if your child is being picked up early or arriving late to school, please do not enter this partial absence onto Compass.  We will do this when you come into the office.  

Early leavers on a Friday afternoon — please note that assembly commences at 1.50pm.  If you are collecting your child early on a Friday please endeavour to let us know prior to 1.45pm so we can arrange for them to come and wait at the office.  We have no way to get hold of staff during assembly to send children up to the office. Similarly if you are collecting your child during the school day, please be mindful of recess and lunch times as it can be a challenge to locate children on the playground.  Recess is 10am – 10.40am and lunch is 1.10pm – 140pm.  

Medical — if there have been any changes to your child's medical condition please email the school office as soon as possible. If you have received an email or call about medication that has expired, please provide the new medication as soon as possible or email the office to advise if it is no longer required.  

As you may be aware, the NSW Educational Standards Authority (NESA) have undertaken a comprehensive review of the NSW Curriculum, leading to curriculum reform and subsequent implementation of a reformed curriculum which commenced in 2023. In response to the curriculum changes, Catholic Education Diocese of Wollongong has made significant modifications to student semester reports for Primary schools to better reflect your child's academic progress at key points throughout the year and provide parents and carers with a clear picture of their child’s strengths and areas for improvement in specific subject areas.

The following changes will be evident in your child’s semester report from Semester 1 2024: 

• A ‘new look’ report format released via Compass reflecting the outcomes of the new K-10 English and Mathematics syllabuses providing a descriptor for each of the focus areas found in the respective syllabuses
• All Kindergarten students will now receive a written report in Semester 1 and Semester 2 with a three-point grade scale used 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 with a five-point grade scale used to report student achievement using the following performance descriptors: 
• Extensive
• Thorough
• Sound
• Basic
• Elementary 

Report formats are also available for students who are working towards outcomes by which a graded report will not accurately represent their learning progress. As an alternative to a graded report, a comment is provided for each Key Learning Area in line with the student’s goals identified in their Personalised Plan. These reports are only used following consultation between school and parents/carers. 

Please see below a video created by the Catholic Education Office Diocese of Wollongong outlining information about the new reporting format.

We look forward to this positive shift in our reporting system and appreciate your continued support in your child's educational journey.

Semester 1 Reports will be available via Compass on Friday 28 June for students in Years K-6. 

IMPORTANT DATES

• Semester 1 Reports will be available on Compass for all students in Year 1 to Year 6 on Friday 28 June.

Recently, St John’s has received three new sets of metal soccer goals to replace the aging PVC ones around the school. Two new sets of large goals are on the Father Ward playground while a smaller set for the infants is located on the Convent playground. These will be used throughout playtime and during school sport lessons. The students have been excited about finally being able to play a proper game of soccer or penalty shoot outs with the new goals!

St John’s would like to express their gratitude to the P&F for the generosity in purchasing the new goals for our school playgrounds. This contribution will definitely go far to improving students play and sport times.

The P&F are excited to announce they are hosting a parent information session with Dr Justin Coulson on Wednesday, 28th August 2024 at 7:00pm.

Dr Justin Coulson is the co-host and parenting expert on Channel Nine’s “Parental Guidance” and the founder of happyfamilies.com.au and is considered one of Australia’s most trusted parenting experts.

The parent session will focus on the topic of Resilience, in this session, parents will learn the psychological secrets that build their child’s sense of identity, strengths, and growth mindset in order to perform better, be happier, and build resilience.

Students in Years 4-6 will also be attending a session with Dr Coulson during school hours focusing on the topic of well-being, which will be an interactive and age appropriate discussion for these students. This is a free session.

The P&F are excited to have Dr Coulson come to St Johns Dapto and bring his experience and knowledge to the parent community and to students in year 4-6.

Tickets will be on sale for $30 online with more information in the coming weeks will be published in the newsletter.

Dr Justin Coulson is a dad to 6 daughters. He is the parenting expert and co-host of Channel Nine’s Parental Guidance, and he and his wife host Australia’s #1 podcast for parents and family: The Happy Families Podcast. He has written 9 books about families and parenting. In the article below Dr Justin Coulson outlines the importance of involvement in the life of your child.

Market Stall Holders — Expressions of Interest

FRIDAY 8 NOVEMBER — 4PM – 8PM

Are you or someone you know running a small side business? St John's Dapto invites you to join us!

We kindly request that all market stall holders make a $80 donation to the P&F (Parents and Friends Association). The funds raised from the event will be used to provide valuable resources for the children of St John's Catholic Primary School.

To participate, all market stall holders must have their own public liability insurance.

If you, a family member, or a friend are interested in taking part, please complete the form below. We will gladly address any additional questions you may have about the event.

Please be aware that to diversify the stalls, we are limiting the number of similar stalls. Therefore, the first payments received will secure the market stall spot. A member of the P&F will contact market stallholders. We will go off the form below and prioritise in that order.

Expressions of Interest close 9th August, 4 pm.

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

Extended Leave from School

Any parent/carer requesting leave for their child/ren for 10 or more consecutive days is required to complete an Application for Extended Leave Form. The form is available from the school website and from the school office. To ensure approval before Leave takes place, we required the completed form to be lodged at the school office a minimum of 2 weeks before the leave commences.

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

Important

Car lines in both Jerematta and Werowi Street offer a convenient and safe drop-off and pick-up for families. For the efficient operation of this arrangement, there is a need for all parents/carers to adhere to road rules and our school practices, which have been developed with safety at the forefront of our planning. It is important that families accessing the convenience of car lines do so responsibly and in a safe manner.

Therefore, parents and carers are requested to;

• Drivers are to remain in their cars while children exit/enter from the curbside.
• Display your family nameplate upon approach for afternoon pickup.
• Follow the directions of staff at all times.
• Always move to the furthestmost point in the designated drop-off and pick-up zone.
• Not queue, blocking traffic flow in surrounding streets and roundabouts.
  

If you prefer to accompany your child to the school gate, please park in the designated car parking areas and not the drop-off zone.

Regular police patrols ensure the safety of all in and around school zones. If you operate contrary to the signage, you risk a substantial fine.

To request a family nameplate, parents and carers are invited to complete the online form, by accessing the following link https://goo.gl/forms/L1KuKhqKB9Kj49wq1

Dear Parents and Carers

Final reminder

We kindly ask everyone to check to ensure they haven't mistakenly taken uniform items, hats, lunch bags/drink bottles belonging to someone else. To help us return lost items more efficiently, please make sure to clearly label all personal belongings with your child's name including pre-loved items. This small step can make a big difference in reuniting lost items with their owners. Thank you for your cooperation!

Please check the photos below to see if you recognise any clothing, umbrellas, hats, drinkbottles that may belong to your child. If so, please ask your child to collect it from the lost property baskets under the cola near the stairs. These items will be held until 6 June before they are donated to a charity bin.

Thank you to the students that have already collected their items from the pictures below.

Parish News

Fr Francis and Bishop Brian warmly invite all families to join the St John's Parish and St John's School Community to celebrate with our Year 6 students and their families the Sacrament of Confirmation.

The Sacrament of Confirmation will be celebrated at 7pm on Thursday 6th June. We join together to offer communal support as our Year 6 students receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. These gifts help guide our students in living a Christian life.

Fr. Francis and the St John the Evangelist Parish Pastoral Council warmly invites all families to join in the celebration of the Eucharist. See below the times for Mass.

Saturday Vigil — 5pm

Sunday — 7:30am, 9:30am and 6pm.

Please see the Parish Bulletin below

Semester One — last week 4 June (showcases/concerts).

The Semester One Drama Programme is drawing to a close, with our two showcases/concerts to be held next Tuesday in our class time.

Semester Two — places available

Semester Two Drama resumes on Tuesday July 23rd...and there are some places available.

“Downtown Hoedown” on Saturday June 15 at Dapto Ribbonwood Centre, 6.30-10pm. Invitation is for everyone-young, old, friends, families, school groups, footy teams, debating groups, etc

CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

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School Holiday Groups

Family Services Australia is currently recruiting for our upcoming school holiday groups which will be run over the July school holidays.

We will be running the following group programs:

• Tabletop games group suitable for young people aged 13-18 who have an interest in table top gaming, however no prior experience is required.
• Kids social group, suitable for young people aged 8-12 who would like to build social connections with other young people.
• Girls social group, suitable for girls/female identifying young people aged 12-15 who would like to build social connections.

There will be 2 sessions available for each group, so clients can choose if they would like to attend one or both of the group dates and NDIS funding can be utilised to pay for the groups.

If you have clients that would like to register interest or find out more information about this group they can do so via our website (https://www.fsahealthwellbeing.org.au/groups) or by contacting our service directly (1800 372 000 [option 2]).

Holiday Tabletop Games Group

Holiday Tabletop Games Group 1.48 MB

Kids Social Group

Kids Social Group 1.12 MB

Holiday Girls Group

Holiday Girls Group 179.51 KB

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Get your flu vaccine before winter arrives 

Influenza (flu) is serious. But a flu vaccine offers you and your family the best protection from becoming really sick. 

Getting a flu vaccine is quick and easy to arrange with your local pharmacy, GP or Aboriginal Medical Service using the healthdirect online search tool.

Everyone 6 months and older should get a flu vaccine each year, especially in the lead up to winter when the virus is more common.

The flu vaccine is free for anyone with a higher risk of severe illness from the virus.

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