Dear Parents and Carers,

The rain has been such a welcome relief to so many communities, with both firefighters and farmers rejoicing as the heavens opened and drenched the land. Our own school playgrounds are looking lush and green once again, although still a little wet underfoot! The rain has had little impact if any, on the building project and we continue to be on schedule for an end of Term 2 completion.

On Friday 7 February, the school community celebrated our first whole school Mass and asked for God’s blessing as we begin the new school year.  At the conclusion of Mass, the 2020 student leaders were commissioned and presented with their leadership badges. Mass was followed by a beautiful morning tea for the student leaders and their families, held in the covered area at the rear of the presbytery.  As always, the children were very prayerful and reverent and the singing was exceptional. 

Sincere thanks to Fr Francis and Mrs Crowe for planning and organising the Mass as well as Mr Downes for his support. Thank you to the many parents, grandparents and family friends who were in attendance. It was a beautiful celebration to commence the new school year.

Congratulations to our 2020 student leaders.

Captains

Evie G
Elijah B

Vice Captains

Sienna W
Rocco B

Student Representative Council (SRC)

Mia T, Jessica K, Lara T, Chelsea W & Chelsea V d K,
Austin R, Ian H, Aiden McE, Declan L & Michael S

MacKillop House (Green)

Charli S C
Jett S

McCabe House (Red)

Brigitte d L
Zac N

Joseph House (Yellow)

Ellie B
Noah D

Ward House (Blue)

Ruby C
Blake C

The P&F Annual General Meeting will be held in the Year 6 Classrooms on Tuesday 25 February at 7 pm. The primary purpose of the P&F is to provide an opportunity for parents to be involved in the school through social events, fundraising and support for school initiatives.

At the meeting, all positions will be declared vacant and an election will take place. If any parent wishes to nominate themselves or someone else for any of the positions, please complete the form (link below) and return it to the school office by Friday 22 February addressed to the Principal. I look forward to seeing you all at the meeting.

RELIGIOUS LITERACY

As a component of each Religious Education lesson, students participate in short Religious literacy activities where they are reviewing our Catholic traditions, stories and beliefs. Each day at the moment, 2G take one question, discuss it and then place it on their tree of Religious knowledge. It is wonderful to hear the discussions that are happening and the tree becoming fuller and fuller.

STAGE 1 WEEKEND MASS (with Andrew Chinn) - Sunday 16 February

Last Sunday we had our Term 1 Kinder and Year 6 Mass. Thank you to the many families that were able to join our celebration of the Eucharist. It was wonderful to see so many of our students participating in the Mass. Our school staff and parish catechists were also commissioned at this Mass. Special thanks once again to Andrew Chinn who volunteers to come and play with us.

SVDP FUNDRAISER - for those affected by the recent bushfires

On Friday 5^th March, we will be having a fundraiser for the St Vincent de Paul’s bushfire appeal, with our theme being HOPE. All students will be encouraged to come to school in their brightest colours, emphasising the hope of our future. We ask that students bring in “loose change” (preferably gold coloured!) on the day. Each class will use their loose change to make a message of hope for either the people who have been affected by the recent bushfires or for the firefighters and emergency personnel who are working tirelessly to protect lives and property. We will then be participating in a hope-filled dance! Please start collecting your loose change.

PARISH SACRAMENTAL PROGRAM

Please note that this coming weekend is the last weekend to enrol for the Sacrament of Penance (Reconciliation). If you would like your child to receive this important sacrament (and your child is baptised and in year 3 or above), please ensure you attend one of the weekend Masses to receive an enrolment form and write down your child’s name. The note sent into the school does NOT enrol your child in the program, that is merely to allow us to plan how many liturgies are needed.

We are still awaiting our Confirmation dates for this year from the Bishop’s Office. As soon, as we receive this information, a note will go home to Year 6 families and then dates of First Holy Communion will also be able to be set.

VINNIES BINS

A reminder that the blue Vinnies bins will only be brought out each Tuesday morning before school. There will be bins on both campuses that will be monitored by our Mini-Vinnies members. We are asking families to send in any containers that are appropriate (no glass) on this morning. Each container we return earns 10c. This term St Vincent de Paul will not be collecting the bins so we will be donating our containers to Father Francis, who is collecting them for the parish.

Items that could be brought in:

• Cans (e.g. soft drinks)
• Cartons (e.g. small flavoured milk cartons)
• Juice boxes or poppers
• Recyclable water bottles

However, they must…

• Be in good condition (not be crushed or broken)
• Be empty
• Have the label and barcode attached

Milk, juice and cordial containers that are 1L or more, can not be put in the Earn and Return bins.

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

PARISH WEEKEND CELEBRATION OF THE EUCHARIST

A reminder of weekend Parish Mass times for St John the Evangelist, Dapto.

Fr Francis loves to see our families there.

• Saturday Vigil 5.00pm
• Sunday 9.30am
• Sunday 7.30am
• Sunday 6.00pm                                                                         

PRAYER INTENTIONS

We pray for all families in our school community who are in need of our prayers.           

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

Kylie Crowe
Religious Education Coordinator

Ash Wednesday is Wednesday 26 February 2020.

Staff and Students in Years 3 to 6 will attend Ash Wednesday Mass at 9:30 am in the Church, Kinder to Year 2 — 11:30am Liturgy.  Parents and carers are most welcome to join us for this Eucharistic celebration.

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 that are:

Primary Swimming Carnival

St John’s Primary Swimming Carnival will be held on Friday, 21 February. Attendance is compulsory for all Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 students. Novelty events will be run on the day. Each primary grade attending one session. Primary non-swimmers are included in these activities.

Entry is also open to Year 2 students who will be turning 8 this year to compete in 50 metre events. Year 2 students must be very competent 50 metre swimmers. Students compete in their age group for freestyle and for all other strokes compete in junior (8, 9 & 10 years), 11 years and senior (12 & 13 years) categories. We look forward to a great day of participation, fun and sportsmanship.

Congratulations Riley

On the weekend of the 7-9 February, Riley made his way up to Coffs Harbour for State Oztag Championships. Riley and his team played six games and won five of them to be on the top of the ladder, which meant they would play in the finals. Because of the weather all final games where abandoned, which resulted in Riley's team being named Under 12 State Champions. Congratulations.

Our current school awards have a specific value and as with our previous system, awards accrue to receive a Principal’s Award, followed by new school medallions. Students will now be awarded the following awards:

To assist in understanding how Merit and Core Value awards combine to achieve a Principal’s Award, the following examples have been provided.

Examples of current system awards

• 6 Merit Awards (6 points) = Principal’s Award
• 4 Merit Awards (6 points) + 1 Core Value Award (2 points) = Principal’s Award
• 2 Core Value Awards (4 points) and 2 Merit Awards (2 points) = Principal’s Award

Awards from PREVIOUS awards system

• Blue and ACE Awards that have not been used to receive a Principal’s Award may still be used with current awards system (until the end of 2020). Blue and ACE Awards equal the value of a Merit Award (i.e. 1 Point).
• If a student brings in 5 Blue or ACE awards (as per previous system) this equates to a Principal’s Award in current system (until the end of 2020).
• Previously awarded Principal’s Awards also accrue to attain medallions.

Examples of previous system awards combined with current system awards

• 5 Blue or ACE Awards = Principal’s Award (they are all from previous system and so will be honoured, until the end of 2020)
• 4 Blue or ACE Awards + 2 Merit Awards = Principal’s Award
• 4 Blue or ACE Awards + 1 Core Value Award = Principal’s Award
• 2 Blue/ACE Awards + 1 Core Value Award + 2 Merit Awards = Principal’s Award

Awards that contribute to receiving a Principal’s Award

• Blue Awards (previous system, until the end of 2020)
• ACE Awards (previous system, until the end of 2020)
• Merit Awards
• Core Value Awards

All other awards including Welcome Certificates, School Spirit Awards, Attendance Awards, Sport Awards etc do not contribute to receiving a Principal’s Award.

100% Attendance

As of this year there will be no 100% Attendance Award.

Our building project continues to be on track and during the holiday break, the MacKillop Building gained a new roof which withstood the recent downpour of rain. Work has also begun on the Administration Building, the building has now been vacated and gutted. The Administration Office has been relocated to the Library, please use the left-hand doors.

Catholic Schools Week is about strengthening relationships between all those who are involved in our schools, students, staff, families, priests, parishioners and members of the wider community, by showing casing our wonderful school and the learning that takes place in our classrooms every day.

In celebrating with Catholic Schools across NSW and the ACT, I would like to extend a warm invitation to all families to help us celebrate on Friday 6 March.

• 9.30 am K – 6 Whole School Mass (Catholic Schools Week Award)
• 10.30 am BYO Picnic Morning Tea (School grounds)
• 11.00 am – 12.00pm Open Classrooms
• 12:00 pm – Loose coin donation for SVDP Bushfire Fundraiser

The St John’s Catholic Schools Week Award will be presented during Mass. One student in each class will be acknowledged and presented with a certificate by Fr Francis. The award recipients are those students who consistently display our catholic values and respect for self and others.

We all look forward to celebrating Catholic Schools Week with you.

School fees have been invoiced to families and they are available to view in the Compass Parent Portal.  We anticipate that school fee statements will be issued by email within the next 10 days.  We apologise for the delay in distribution of statements, which was unanticipated and due to system issues.  For your information payment requirements are as follows:

• For families who pay annually, payment in full is due on 28 February 2020.
• For families that have submitted a Request to Pay by Instalment or who previously had a School Fee Agreement in place, a schedule of the required payments and the due date will be issued with school fee statements.  The first instalment payment will be due on 28 February, 2020.  Parents may commence payments earlier if they wish, however, it is important that any existing regular payment is equal to the instalment amount provided on the schedule and that payment is made on or before the due dates on the schedule.  Reference should be made to the Request to Pay by Instalments on the school’s website for conditions relating to payment in this manner. 
• For families who have a Fee Concession in place, you will be contacted prior to your review date to complete annual documentation and arrange an interview with the Principal.  If you have a current payment plan in place, and you are unable to increase your payments to meet your 2020 school fees, you may continue to make these payments until your next review date.
• Parents should be aware that our new accounting system will send automatic reminders for overdue payments.

The following documents are available on the school’s website for the information of families:

• Diocesan School Fee Management Policy
• Diocesan Frequently Asked Questions
• Diocesan Request to Pay by Instalments
• Information regarding school Fees at our school

Whilst we appreciate parents contacting the office via phone to advise of a student absence, a written note/e-mail must still be produced within 7 days of the occurrence of the absence.  Failure to do so will result in the student absence being recorded as “unexplained or unjustified” in accordance with NSW Attendance Register requirements.

Parents do not need to apply for an EXEMPTION FROM ATTENDANCE for absences of less than 10 school days.  A letter explaining the absence is required by the Principal and the child’s class teacher prior to leave being taken.

Planned absences for more than 10 school days require the completion of an EXEMPTION FROM ATTENDANCE form which is available from the school office or can be downloaded from the school webpage:  www.sjddow.catholic.edu.au.  Please note, requests for absences of more than 10 school days during school terms will only be approved for exceptional or extenuating circumstances (this does not include extended absences due to illness).  Absences granted by exemption will be included in the total student absences for the year. These protocols are in accordance with Department of Education and Catholic Education Office Policies.

 Year 1, Year 2 and Year 3 

• Afternoon dismissal from the Evangelist Campus COLA, gates will open at 2:30pm for parent/carer access to school grounds.
• Evangelist Campus students using drop-off and pick-up will use the Werowi Street designated zone.

Kindergarten, Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6 

• Afternoon dismissal from the MacKillop Campus, gates will be opened at 2:30 pm daily for parent/carer access to school grounds.
• Students travelling by bus will walk to the bus lines, located on the MacKillop Campus.
• MacKillop Campus students using drop-off and pick-up will use the Werowi Street designated zone.

Importantly, for families with students on both campuses’, the pick-up zone will be Jerematta Street. Students in Years 4, 5 & 6 will meet their younger siblings in this area NOT the Werowi St pick-up zone.

In an attempt to improve the efficiency of the school pick-up zones, we are requesting that family nameplates be displayed in cars as they approach the afternoon pick-up zone. Teachers on car lines will more efficiently be able to identify the vehicle directing the children safely to the correct vehicle. The nameplate can be attached to the sun visor of your car or placed on the dash and held up so as to be seen by the teachers who will, in turn, announce the family name. This system is used in other schools and has improved both safety and traffic flow.

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

As a security measure, during school hours; all visitors to the school, sign in at the school office and must obtain and wear a Visitor Lanyard whilst on school property.  This includes parent helpers, canteen volunteers, visiting tradespeople, other school staff and visiting speakers. Prior to leaving school, visitors must return to the Office and sign out.

This school procedure ensures that all visitors are authorised to be on the school premises, are easily identified by school personnel and students and ensures the safety of all.

New School Banking rewards now available!

Exciting new Term 1 Treetop Savers rewards are now available, while stocks last!

Terry Denton’s Activity Book	Mini Soccer Ball (size 2)

When your child makes 10 deposits with School Banking, they can redeem one of our Treetop Savers rewards.

There are two new items released each term so be sure to keep an eye out for them!

If you previously participated in school banking or has existing commonwealth account they can start straight away. If your child has lost their deposit wallet please send a note into the banking co-ordinator for replacement.

Thank you for supporting the School Banking program and remember School Banking day is every Tuesday, please drop all books at the school office

Transport for NSW and Premier Illawarra have notified us that the moratorium period for students without an opal card, expired on Friday 28 February 2020.

Students that do not have a working opal card are required to pay a fare to travel to and from school on our buses. Students can apply for a Child/Youth opal card if their school opal card does not work or they have misplaced it. They can also use this card to pay their fare, or they can pay using cash.

Students that are not eligible for the free travel can apply for a student term card (current cost is $55) or use a Child/Youth opal card or pay cash.

Students without a working school opal card, term card, Child/Youth card or cash money will not be given travel and will be told to go to the school office for the school to organise parent contact.

PLEASE BE ADVISED that the School Opal card is only for travel to and from school on school days and doesn’t cover travel to After School Care, school excursions, sport and other activities away from school.

If students or parents have any questions regarding Opal cards and travel to/from school, they can contact Opal on 13OPAL (136725) or at www.opal.com.au

Thank you for your assistance.

Applications for enrolment for Kindergarten 2021 are now available from the school office. Alternatively, they can be downloaded from the Catholic Education Diocese of Wollongong website.  Children are eligible for enrolment if they turn 5 before 30 June 2021.

GROUP 3:  17th – 21st February

GROUP 4: 24th – 28th March

GROUP 1:  2nd – 6th March

GROUP 2:  9th – 13th March