Dear Parents and Carers,

Today is National Sorry Day, a day in which we acknowledge the strength of Stolen Generations Survivors and reflect on how we can all play a part in the healing process for our people and nation. National Sorry Day marks the first day of Reconciliation Week, a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures and achievements. The theme this year is 'More than a Word. Reconciliation Takes Action'.

As a school, we gathered in prayer to acknowledge this day of national importance, with all children and staff wearing a representation of the five-petal Native Cotton, Desert Rose (Native Hibiscus), chosen as the symbol for Sorry Day.

It was a privilege to have Uncle Kevin Butler, Aboriginal Elder, Artist and Stolen Generation Survivor, address the school on reconciliation and the importance of helping people to heal.

It is the time of year when teachers are busy finalising Semester 1 Student Reports. On Friday 11 June a Compass alert will be sent to all parents and carers advising that reports are available for viewing. Only students in Years 1 – 6 will receive a report for semester 1. 

It is important that all parents and carers have accessed the Compass parent portal by logging in and updating their details. An email reminder will be sent to those who have not yet accessed the portal for the first time and include important login information. A step-by-step guide can also be downloaded from the link below. Parents and carers requiring a hard copy can do so by contacting the school office.

Tomorrow, Year 6 will be travelling to Canberra for a two-day, overnight excursion. I will be attending the excursion with the students and offer my thanks to the staff who have organised this wonderful experience for Year 6.

The children will visit Parliament House as well as the War Memorial, National Gallery and the Australian Electoral Commission. Visiting the National Capital is always a valuable educational experience for the children and I am confident that Year 6 will be outstanding ambassadors for our school.

I ask that you please keep Mrs Camkin and her family in your thoughts and prayers following the unexpected passing of her mother, Mrs Valda Hovey, last week. 

Mrs Hovey worked at St John's for 24 years, assisting in the establishment of our school library and supporting student learning. 

Yours sincerely
Andrew Heffernan
Principal

Semester 1 Reports will be available via Compass on Friday 11 June for students in Years 1 – 6.  Kindergarten only receive an end-of-year report (Semester 2). Student Reports (Years 1 – 6) are standards-referenced, which in NSW means reporting based on the Common Grade Scale. Standards-referenced reporting requires teachers to consider the performance of each student according to the standard detailed at each level (A–E) of the Common Grade Scale for each Key Learning Area (KLA). Students are then awarded a grade based on the evidence teachers have of their learning in that particular KLA and the standard it reflects. According to the Common Grade Scale a ‘C’ grade is considered sound. That is, if awarded a C in a particular KLA the student has demonstrated that they have gained the knowledge, skills and understanding expected of them at that point in time.

The Common Grade Scale

The Common Grade Scale describes performance at each of the five grade levels.

OTHER REPORT FEATURES INCLUDE:

Overall grades

Each Key Learning Area (KLA) has an overall grade that is determined by the teacher by considering the evidence of each student’s learning and the standard on the Common Grade Scale it reflects. Overall grades are not determined by averaging performance on strands within a KLA. In many cases more time has been dedicated to learning in one strand over others and this contributes significantly to the balanced judgement a teacher is required to make, in order to award an overall grade. It is not unusual for a student’s overall grade to change from one reporting period to the next as the knowledge, skills and understanding they encounter in each KLA will vary from one reporting period to the next. The Common Grade Scale is included on the front of the report.

Commitment to Learning

Commitment to Learning captures the student’s attitude to the particular KLA and their skills in managing their work, persisting when challenged and working to their potential. A scale explaining the three standards used in Commitment to Learning is included on the front of the report.

Strands

The term ‘strands’ refers to the breakdown of learning within each KLA that is presented in a grid with the options Extensive, Thorough, Sound, Limited, and Basic for teachers to indicate the performance of the student within each strand. Over a reporting period, some strands will have a greater focus than others, which will impact the overall grade for the KLA. In some KLAs not every strand will be covered in each reporting period; those that are not covered will not appear on the report.

IMPORTANT DATES

• Semester 1 Reports will be available on Compass to all students in Year 1 to Year 6 on Friday 11 June.
• Learning Conversations (Parent/Teacher Meetings) will take place between Monday 14 and Thursday 24 June.

Interviews will be made available for all parents from Kindergarten to Year 6. Parents will be notified when interview bookings become available.

The Feast of the Most Holy Trinity - 30 May 2021

Each year on the first Sunday after Pentecost we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, also known as Trinity Sunday. Although it wasn’t until 1334 that Pope John XXII officially established the feast for universal observance in the Western Church, the mystery of the Holy Trinity has been the pulse of the Church’s life since the very beginning. The Trinity is “the central mystery of Christian faith and life… and is the source of all the other mysteries of faith”. The whole of the Church’s life flows from the central belief that the one true God exists as three divine Persons—Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 

Corpus Christi - Body and Blood of Jesus - 6 June 2021 

The feast of Corpus Christi (Body and Blood of Christ) is the commemoration of the institution of the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. It is an act of gratitude to Christ, who by instituting the Holy Eucharist gave to the Church her greatest treasure. Holy Thursday marks the anniversary of the institution and Corpus Christi, therefore, accents the joyous aspect of Holy Thursday.

Laudato Si’ Week

• 16-25 May - Laudato Si’ Week
• 5 June - United Nations’ World Environment Day 

Pope Francis’ Encyclical, Laudato Si’, aims at rekindling the energy to protect the environment. His letter is significant as it insists that care for the environment is not only the business of economics or politics. At its heart, it is a religious duty. It is part of doing God’s will to make our world one in which people can flourish. Care for the environment has to be part of our personal, our family, our working and our political lives and relationships.

Sacramental Program – Confirmation

Please keep in your prayers the children from our Parish who are preparing to make the Sacrament of Confirmation.

Reminders for all Confirmation candidates:

• Practise afternoons:
  • Wednesday 26th May, 4:30 – 5:30 pm in the Church
  • Wednesday 2nd June, 4:00 – 5:00 pm in the Church
• Workbooks need to be handed in at school each Monday with one session completed each week. Please hand in to your class teacher. They will be returned to you each Monday afternoon.
• Confirmation dates:
  • Tuesday 8th June, 7pm
  • Wednesday 9th June, 7pm

A Prayer for our Confirmation Candidates

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 we prepare these children for Confirmation, make each of us 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.

CELEBRATION OF THE EUCHARIST

Masses have resumed at normal times in our Parish. Parishioners still need to sign in on arrival, sanitise and maintain social distancing. Presently, face masks are also required and singing is not permitted. Don't forget that you can also participate in one or more of the many online Masses livestreamed throughout our diocese. Check out our diocesan website for all the links

• This Friday, 28th May, Year 1 will be attending the Parish Mass at 9:30am.
• On Friday 4th June, Kinder will be attending the Parish Mass at 9:30am.

All are welcome to join us.

ADULT SPIRITUALITY

“Ripples: Inspired Voices, Treasured Stillness” – Adult Spiritual Formation

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. 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:

National Sorry Day is today, Wednesday 26th May, a day when we pause to remember the Stolen Generations of Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.  

It leads into National Reconciliation Week which is held each year between 27th May and 3rd June. 

The theme for National Reconciliation Week 2021 is More Than a Word. Reconciliation Takes Action.  

Today we ackowledged both of these significant occasions with a whole school gathering for Sorry Day the Bishop McCabe Hall and Thursday 3rd June the whole school Liturgy for Reconciliation Week.

The Gunyah boys have grown some amazing sweet potatoes! All feedback from the students, parents and staff — they were the best sweet potatoes ever eaten.

Imagine astronauts reading stories from space to school children in an exciting new program that combines literature with science!  ALIA along with Scholastic, the Australian Space Agency and the Office of the Chief Scientist joined us for an intergalactic experience with the NSS 2021 book read by the astronaut Dr Shannon Walker from the International Space Station.

We would also like to thank Story Time From Space for this wonderful initiative and for making NSS 2021 out of this world!

You must not stop or park your vehicle:

• alongside another parked vehicle (double park)
• across a driveway, unless you’re picking up or dropping off passengers
• on a median strip, unless a sign says you can
• on a traffic island
• within an intersection
• on a children’s crossing or pedestrian crossing
• on a railway level crossing
• on footpaths and nature strips, unless a sign says you can
• in a slip lane, unless a sign says you can.

Your parked vehicle must not block the flow of traffic or become a danger to other road users or pedestrians. This is for all areas, not only around the school, but also when picking up your children from the bus stop.

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

Book Club - Issue 4 is now available to order from. All book club orders MUST be placed online at scholastic.com.au/LOOP or by using the LOOP app, which can be downloaded from the App Store or Google Play.

Free school delivery is back!  To take advantage of this, all orders must be submitted online by Friday 4 June  2021. All orders will be delivered to school and sent home with your child. 

Remember, Tuesday's is School Banking day and students can bring in their weekly deposit.

Saving regularly is an important habit to get into, whether you're saving a little or a lot. Remember, there is no minimum deposit with School Banking, you can send as little as 5c per week in, saving regularly is what is important.

For every deposit made at school, students will receive a Dollarmites token. Once students have individually collected 10 tokens they can redeem them for a School Banking reward item.

The rewards available during 2021 are:

• Terry Denton’s Activity Book
• Scented Stackable Highlighters
• Mini Soccer Ball (size 2)
• Icicle Slapband Ruler
• Treetop Stationery Set
• Snowy Origami Set
• Treetop Handball
• Water Skimming Bounce Ball
• Tomato Seed Kit
• Polar Pencils & Pencil Toppers
• Emoji Wallet
• Scratch Art Cards
• Snakes & Ladders Game

School Banking is also a great fundraiser for our school. Our school receives a Regular Savers Contribution of $5 for every 10 deposits processed per student as well as an Annual Contribution which is based on the number of students who made at least one School Banking deposit in the prior year. For more information about contribution payments, visit www.commbank.com.au/sbinfo.

If your child has lost their book, please contact your School Banking Co-ordinator for a replacement or visit any Commonwealth Bank branch.

Thank you for supporting the School Banking program at St John's. We would also like to thank the wonderful parents who volunteer as our School Banking Co-ordinators and process our banking every week.

Getting involved in School Banking is easy!

All you need to get involved in the School Banking program is a Commonwealth Bank Youthsaver account. You can open an account for your child in one of two ways: 

1. Online — www.commbank.com.au/schoolbanking and click on the link to open a Youthsaver account.

2. In branch — Visit a Commonwealth Bank branch with identification for yourself and your child, like a driver’s licence and birth certificate.

If your child has an existing Commonwealth Bank Youthsaver account they can start banking straight away. They just need to bring their deposit in every week on School Banking day using their Dollarmites deposit wallet.

School Banking day is Tuesday each week you need to all books to dropped in yellow tub at the school library on Tuesday morning. Thank you.

On Sunday 30 May, 10am to 4pm Wollongong Botanic Garden will be celebrating the ‘power of plants’ at Botanic Gardens Day.

Costa Georgiadis and Clarence Slockee from ABC Gardening Australia will also be here on the day as part of our 50th anniversary celebrations!

Activities (all free) include:

• Guided tours
• Self-guided trails
• Exhibitions
• Garden Demonstrations
• The Tree Musketeers Show
• Kids Scavenger Hunt
   

Visit our web page for more information wollongongbotanicgarden.com.au/bgday

We hope to see you at the Garden soon!