Dear Parents and Carers,

I hope that this newsletter finds you well.

Finally, the time has come. After two years of construction work, our building project is complete. Today, the site fencing was removed before school, restoring access to the playgrounds. Contractors remain onsite and are attending to some final cleaning before the building is officially handed over to the school.

I'm sure that you have heard about the visits to the new learning spaces this week. There have been some very excited children! Kindergarten, Year 1, Year 2 and Year 3 have spent time with their teachers in the new classrooms, as well as walking through the refurbished building, exploring the beautiful new facilities. This transition time is intended to support all students to become familiar and comfortable within and around the new building.

Following a whole school assembly today at which our school-wide expectations and playground locations were explained to the children, classes will begin occupying the building from tomorrow, Thursday 5 November. To support a calm and settled relocation of classes, the following schedule has been developed:

I'm certain that there are many questions and to this end, a parent/carer letter will be sent home on Thursday 5 November, outlining changes to both morning and afternoon routines. Below is a brief summary to assist you in your planning and organisation.

What about morning drop-off and afternoon pick-up?

If you use carlines, in the short term nothing will change, they will continue as they presently are on both the Evangelist Campus (Jerematta St) and MacKillop Campus (Werowi St), until our new traffic management plan has been ratified by authorities.

If you walk your children to the school gate or pick them up from the school grounds you will continue the same practice for the remainder of the week. However, from Monday 9 November, all morning drop-off at the school gate and afternoon pick-up from the school grounds will take place on the MacKillop Campus only. 

As always, there will be plenty of staff out and about to assist you as we transition to the new procedures. I seek your patience and support as we establish a new normal.

CONFIRMATION

Congratulations to our Year 6 children who this week, receive the Sacrament of Confirmation. Confirmation builds on what was begun in Baptism and is nourished in the Holy Eucharist. It completes the process of initiation into the Catholic community and empowers those confirmed to live a faith-filled life, inspired by the gifts of the Holy Spirit. 

The children, along with their families, have spent considerable time preparing for the reception of the Sacrament. Thank you to Fr Francis, Mrs Crowe (REC) and staff for supporting all candidates at this most significant time in their faith journey.

I ask you to please keep children and their families in your prayers.

Yours sincerely

Andrew Heffernan
Principal

ALL SAINTS DAY – SUNDAY 1ST NOVEMBER, ALL SOULS DAY – MONDAY 2ND NOVEMBER

The feasts of All Saints (Nov 1) and All Souls (Nov 2) can be seen as something of a twin feast that celebrates all those who have died. With the feast of All Saints we celebrate all those who have died and have entered into direct and immediate communion with God in heaven. With the feast of All Souls we celebrate and pray for those who have died but have not yet entered into that direct communion with God. These two different states revolve around the Church teaching on purgatory – a state or process of purification before entering into heaven.

Eternal Rest grant unto them, O Lord,
And let perpetual light shine upon them. 
May they rest in peace.
Amen

REMEMBRANCE DAY – WEDNESDAY 11TH NOVEMBER

On 11 November 1918, the guns of the Western Front fell silent after four years of continuous warfare. With their armies retreating and close to collapse, German leaders signed an Armistice, bringing to an end the First World War. In the four years of the war more than 330,000 Australians had served overseas, and more than 60,000 of them had died. Each year on this day Australians observe one minute’s silence at 11am, in memory of those who died or suffered in all wars and armed conflicts. By observing one minute's silence we pay tribute to the men and women who have served and are still serving in our defence forces and remember those who have died or suffered in conflicts, wars and peacekeeping operations. 

Lord, You sent Your Son to lead us into the peace of Your Kingdom.
Look with kindness on all who have served the cause of peace in our armed forces.
Send Your comfort and healing to their families, and to all who suffer due to war and conflict.
May Your Son’s Gospel message of peace burn ever more brightly in our hearts, our words and our actions,
and lead all to fullness of life in You.
We make this prayer to you through this same Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Amen.

Lest we forget.

SACRAMENTS – CONFIRMATION

This week, 49 people from our parish are receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation, an important step in their faith journey. Confirmation is a sacrament of initiation. That tells us that Confirmation has something to do with our being introduced into the life of God and of the Church. The first initiation was Baptism, when we were adopted by God and welcomed into the family of the Church. Baptism set us on the path to eternal life and got things started. Confirmation intensifies that beginning and blesses us with the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, we might call it “stage two” of our becoming God’s children.

Please remember the Confirmation candidates in your prayers this week.

Lord, You send out Your Spirit to touch the hearts of all people,
so that they may believe in You and in Jesus whom You sent.
Look kindly on all candidates for Confirmation as they listen to Your voice.
Open their hearts to Your Spirit and bring to fulfilment the good work that You have begun in them.
As they prepare for Confirmation, let it be a reminder for all of us to be an instrument of Your love.
Teach us to appreciate what is holy in others, and to be patient with what we do not understand.
Deepen our faith in the Gospel and help us to pass it on by our example.
We pray that You will continue to guide us and sustain us.
Through Christ our Lord,
Amen.

CATHOLIC MISSION – WORLD MISSION MONTH

October is World Mission Month. This year, students across Australia are encouraged to not only learn about Cambodia and the much needed work of the Church there, but to do something extraordinary for Mission through fundraising, advocacy and prayers.

So many children in developing countries love to play the game of soccer. It brings them such joy and like many of the children here at St John’s, they enjoy playing soccer and watching their friends having fun. Soccer is the world’s most popular sport and is played in almost every country in the world. It helps children to build a strong sense of community. Soccer has the rare power to cross all boundaries, including nationalities and different religions. It helps to develop respect for other people, like your team and your opponents, an appreciation for hard work and humility in both victory and defeat. Children in developing countries sometimes don’t have access to the kinds of soccer balls we have here in Australia. They are talented and keen soccer players, just like many of our students, and have a real desire to use what they can to develop their skills. Often, they are playing with what we call a “sockball” – a ball made of recycled materials. Each class at St John’s is going to make their own sockball as part of our Mission awareness. Then on Friday, 13th November 2020, we are going to have a Soccer Shootout Day. Children can come to school in crazy socks and each child will have the chance to score 5 soccer goals (one of those goals they shoot will be using their class sockball!). We ask that students get sponsored for the goals they (hopefully) shoot. All money raised will go to Catholic Mission, helping them continue the great work they do in maintaining projects in developing countries. 

CELEBRATION OF THE EUCHARIST

Masses have resumed at normal times in our Parish but are still limited to 100 parishioners at each mass. It is essential to register for weekend masses as we need to ensure that the maximum capacity is not exceeded. To register for mass please call or email the parish office.  Alternatively, you can register your interest to go to mass at the following link:  https://www.dow.org.au/registration

Once your interest to register for mass is received by the parish office, you will need to wait for confirmation that you can attend the mass.

Don't forget that you can also participate in one or more of the many online Masses live-streamed throughout our diocese. Check out our diocesan website for all the links.   

ADULT SPIRITUALITY

“Ripples: Inspired Voices, Treasured Stillness”

In response to the current Covid-19 situation, a significant initiative has been developed by the Catholic Education Office CLEM (Catholic Life, Education and Mission) team for staff and parents to support our ongoing personal spiritual formation. It is a new podcast series entitled ‘Ripples: Inspired Voices, Treasured Stillness’. Ripples seeks to offer a space where people can draw on the wisdom of a series of guest speakers and can experience some treasured stillness through meditation. New Episodes and Meditations are being added regularly. Practices like these create a ripple effect. They have the potential to impact the way we respond to family, friends, colleagues, to others in our world, to creation and to our loving God.

https://ripples.dow.catholic.edu.au/p/introduction-1588201803/

PRAYER INTENTIONS

We pray for all families in our school community who are in need of our prayers, as well as our country and world.

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

Kylie Crowe
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 that are: Be Respectful, Be Responsible, Be Safe.

St John’s implements PB4L (Positive Behaviours for Learning), 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 contributes to improve students’ academic and social outcomes.

St John’s implements the PB4L framework, to ensure: 

• a consistent approach to behaviour management practices is maintained
• the use of a common language
• there are clearly defined expectations for all stakeholders, in all settings 
• expectations are known and understood by all staff and students.

The PB4L Committee is responsible for implementing the PB4L framework at St John’s. This committee is made up of key stakeholders, including school leadership, teachers, support staff, a parent representative and a PB4L Coach from the Catholic Education Office. The committee meets every three weeks to review data, identify key priorities and act on these priorities. If you have any suggestions for the PB4L Committee, Jodie Maloney as the parent representative can bring them to the meetings. Jodie can be contacted via the PB4L Parent Representative email on SJDParentRep@dow.catholic.edu.au. 

Mark Mongta, Uncle Kevin Butler and our students painting animals that will be used during NAIDOC week.

Alphons L – 6R
Sienna W – 6R
Dhyllen S – 5B
Jacob F – 5G
Oliver G – 5G
Lilly D – 4R
Michael W – 3B 
Gabriella B – 2R
Giorgia L – 2R
Charlize S – 2R

If you know that your child will not be returning to St John’s in 2021, would you please notify the school, in writing, as we require this information to assist with our planning for the new school year. 

Applications for student travel in 2021 opened on Monday 12 October 2020.

Students who require a School Opal card or travel pass for 2021 can now apply online. A new application should be submitted if a student is applying for a school travel pass for the first time or requesting an additional pass as a result of a new shared parental responsibility situation (e.g. joint custody).

Students who have changed schools, changed address, repeated a year or received an expiry notification from Transport for NSW for their school travel entitlement should re-apply or update their details.
 
Where there is a change of distance eligibility based on a student’s grade, the system will automatically update a student’s entitlement if they meet the new criteria. If they do not meet the new eligibility criteria, they will receive an expiry notification via email.
 
Students who have an entitlement approved under a medical condition which is due to expire will receive a notification advising them to re-apply.
 
Term Bus Pass holders will receive a notification to re-apply.
 
Applications need to be submitted before 31 December 2020 to ensure that current student entitlements are updated and their current entitlement/card remains valid. If their application is submitted after 31 December 2020, the system will automatically cancel an entitlement/card and a new one will need to be issued.
 
Students in the Opal network applying for a SSTS or Term Bus Pass entitlement for the first time will receive their card at their nominated postal address. Cards will be mailed out from January 2021.

Have you considered volunteering your time at the School Canteen? The Canteen is run by parents, carers, friends and volunteers, with all profits going back into the school.

The Canteen requires volunteer helpers for:

• Thursday 05 November
• Thursday 19 November
• Thursday 26 November

If you are able to volunteer your time, please email Dana Norris norrisd02@dow.catholic.edu.au