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Dear Parents and Carers,
As this is the last newsletter for the year, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support in what has been an extremely challenging year. In so many ways, the impact COVID-19 has changed our lives but despite this, we have demonstrated consistently that working together we can rise above challenges that we are presented with in positive ways. I remain hopeful that 2022 will see the continued easing of restrictions for schools and a school year that resembles pre COVID times.
My sincere thanks to our very dedicated teachers and staff who have worked tirelessly throughout the year, demonstrating tremendous adaptability and commitment to ensuring learning continuity with the recommencement of remote learning. Thank you to our amazing students, who with the support of their parents and carers, once again engaged in remote learning with enthusiasm and confidence. It's often said that children a far more resilient and adaptable than we give them credit for!
A special thank you to Fr Francis for his unwavering support for our parish school. He is an inspiration to us all through the work of his ministry, constantly positive and deeply committed to our parish community.
STUDENT LEADERS 2022
It is with much pleasure that I announce to the school community our student leaders for 2022. In congratulating the following children, I would also like to acknowledge and commend all the Year 5 students who nominated themselves for positions of school leadership.
| School Captains | Lily Pham & Ashton Byrne |
| Vice Captains | Lilah Bicknell & Mitchell Whalan |
| SRC | Jasmine Woolley, Mikayla Gornall, Hamish Rose, Zoey Van Moolenbroek, Ruhara Dissanayake, Jackson Jongsma, Beau Ledwidge, Emilia Lopreiato, Thomas Bull, Maddison Jaworski |
| Sport Captains |
Ward House Joseph House McCabe House MacKillop House |
END OF YEAR MASS (COLA)
On Tuesday 14 December we will be celebrating the end of the school year with an outdoor Mass of thanksgiving in the COLA at 9:30 am. At the conclusion of Mass, the Term 4 Principal Awards and medallions will be presented along with a number of other community awards.
As the Mass is outdoors, parents and carers are warmly invited to attend. Only those who are vaccinated will be allowed to attend with proof required upon entry as will the preparedness to sign in using the Service NSW QR code. Mask wearing remains optional. While onsite, parents and carers will not be permitted to mingle with the students, they will need to remain in the designated seating area. In the case of wet weather, it may be necessary to relocate the Mass to the church and if this is the case, parents and carers will not be able to attend.
RETURNING TO SCHOOL
When the new school year commences, please ensure that your child/ren are wearing the correct summer uniform, noting that sports shoes MUST be predominately white, not fluorescent in colour. For your reference, the school uniform policy has been included below. I encourage you to take the time to review the policy, while there are no changes, it will provide clarification of your understanding and avoid the purchase of incorrect items, particularly shoes.
Please note that students (Year 1 – 6) return to school on Tuesday 1 February 2021. Kindergarten's first full day at school is Tuesday 8 February 2021.
I wish all families a happy, holy and safe Christmas.
Yours sincerely
Andrew Heffernan
Principal
ST VINCENT DE PAUL CHRISTMAS APPEAL
There are many families in our local area in need at this time of year. Let’s help St Vincent de Paul to make their Christmas a little brighter. Thank you to all our St John’s families who have been able to support this year’s St Vincent de Paul Christmas Appeal so far. Donations need to be in by this Friday, 10th December.
Gunyah
Tinned fruit
Kinder
Christmas Cakes / Christmas Pudding / Mince Pies
Year 1
1B Sweet Biscuits — shortbread, scotch fingers, wafers, ginger biscuits, etc.
1G Savoury Biscuits — Jatz, Ritz, Sakatas, Shapes, Cheese Twists, etc.
1R Cake/muffin/pancake mix / Packets of Jelly
Year 2
Chips / Lollies
Year 3
Chocolates — Christmas stockings, Block chocolate, Box chocolate
Year 4
4B Long Life Custard
4G Spreads — Nutella / Honey / Jam / Maple Syrup / Vegemite
4R Pretzels / Rice Crackers / Nuts
Year 5
Tea Bags / Coffee / Hot Chocolate Mix / Cocoa Mix / Marshmallows
Year 6
Drinks — Cans / Bottles / Cordial / Poppers
Staff
Serviettes / Napkins / Bon Bons
ST VINCENT DE PAUL CHRISTMAS CARD COMPETITION
This year St Vincent de Paul were looking for five beautiful designs to use as the official Vinnies NSW Member Christmas Cards for 2022. The designs for these cards will be used by Vinnies NSW members to gift to one another at Christmas time and in some cases to on-sell as a fundraiser for their Good Works.
Congratulations to all the children who entered the competition.
You might like to have a look at some of the entries:
ST JOHN’S END OF YEAR MASS
On Tuesday 14th December at 9:30am, our school will gather together for an outdoors Mass to thank God for the many blessings of this year. This will be held under the COLA. Families are welcome to join us.
As the Mass is outdoors, parents and carers are warmly invited to attend. Only those who are vaccinated will be allowed to attend with proof required upon entry as will the preparedness to sign in using the Service NSW QR code. Mask wearing remains optional. While onsite, parents and carers will not be permitted to mingle with the students, they will need to remain in the designated seating area. In the case of wet weather, it may be necessary to relocate the Mass to the church and if this is the case, parents and carers will not be able to attend.
We thank Father Francis for being able to celebrate with us.
ADVENT
SUNDAY 5TH DECEMBER – 3RD SUNDAY OF ADVENT (YEAR C)
John answered them all, saying, ”I am baptizing you with water, but one mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” Luke 3:16–17
Lord, I do long to have my soul purified by You. I do desire holiness of life. Help me to begin this process here and now so that I can begin to experience the joy and freedom You have in store for me. Jesus, I trust in You.
SUNDAY 12TH DECEMBER – 4TH SUNDAY OF ADVENT (YEAR C)
“Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.” Luke 1:45
Dearest Mother Mary and Saint Joseph, pray for me that I may have the faith you both lived. When questions arise in my heart, help me to respond generously to God as you did. May I trust in all that God has spoken in imitation of each one of you. Jesus, I trust in You.
PRAYER INTENTIONS
We pray for all families in our school community who need 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
YEAR 6 GRADUATION
This evening we farewell Year 6 2021 with a special graduation liturgy and presentation in the school hall. Unfortunately, COVID restrictions will not permit parents/carers to attend a link will therefore be provided via compass, for Year 6 parents and carers to access a recording of the liturgy.
Graduation is a wonderful time of thanksgiving and celebration, and a time to acknowledge the children and their families for all that they have contributed to our school. A significant part of the graduation ceremony is the annual presentation of the Mary MacKillop Awards as well as the Hon Stephen Jones MP (Active Citizenship Award) and the Hon Anna Watson MP (Community Spirit).
Congratulations to our graduating class of 2021. I wish you every blessing and success in the future.
An overview of the staffing arrangements for 2022 is included below. In providing you with this information, I would like to acknowledge the following staff who will not be returning next year after accepting new professional opportunities.
- Ms Idstien - Education Officer (Early Years Learning) at the Catholic Education Office
- Miss Farrugia - Diverse Learning Support Teacher (DLST) - Corpus Christi High School
- Mrs McEntee - Temporary Teacher Exchange for 2022
- Miss Annie Collis (Counsellor)
On behalf of the school, I offer my sincere thanks and gratitude for the professional way that they have undertaken their work and supported our school values of Faith, Learning, Love, Respect and Community. They will certainly be missed and I'm sure you join me in wishing them all the best for the year ahead.
At the same time we farewell the above staff members, we welcome the following new staff members to St John's.
- Mrs Tiana Cardamone (K Blue Teacher - Temporary Exchange for 2022)
- Mrs Renee Maguire (Religious Education Coordinator) and Yr. 4 Green teacher
- Miss Bree Lord (Counsellor)
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.
PB4L Raffle Ticket Winners
Week 9
| Gunyah | K | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
|
Joseph V |
Darcy S |
Sophie J |
Menara D |
Bella L |
Lorenzo G |
Lilah B |
Tahlia T |
The Federal Minister for Education and Youth has released a statement, recognising the continuing extraordinary circumstances created by the pandemic. The statement allows for a flexible approach to reporting and schools impacted by the pandemic are not required to report against each KLA using the A-E scale in Semester 2, 2021.
Teachers will therefore report on participation in the areas in Religious Education, Mathematics and English and include a general comment. Attendance will not be included and the Semester 2 Report.
As you review your child’s report, remember that your reactions to their report can affect the way your child will see themselves as a learner. Are your expectations in line with your child’s ability? It is important that you don’t make comparisons with siblings, peers, or yourself at the same age. All children learn at different rates, so look for individual progress. The following may be helpful when you read your child’s report.
- Sit down with your children and review their Semester 2 Report together.
- Check with them first. What do you think your report will say about your learning so far, this year?
- Look for strengths, taking into account their effort and engagement in learning.
- Discuss with your child what they need to do to improve. It is their report and they need to take ownership of their progress.
- Praise them for what they can control, that is the amount of effort they put into their learning.
Parent/Teacher meetings are optional in Semester 2 and teachers will be available from Thursday 9 through until Wednesday 15 December. Meetings will be by phone only, face-to-face meetings will not be available. To organise a mutually convenient time, please contact the school office.
Please ensure you download your child's available school reports from the Compass Parent Portal by the end of Term 4 as these will no longer be accessible if your child does not attend a systemic secondary Catholic school in the Diocese of Wollongong, as your access to your child’s Compass profile will cease upon completion of primary school.
The Power of the Imaginative Mind
During this year, a group of students from Stage 3 began the SPLICED program “The Power of the Imaginative Mind: Exploring Possibilities through Multidimensional Thinking”. The unit was a critical, creative and reflective thinking process that included engagement in a broad selection of Key Learning Areas such as Mathematics, History, Religious Education, English, Science and The Arts.
Due to the impact that COVID-19 had on the student’s engagement in the program, only a small number of students worked to complete their project independently during remote learning. We would like to congratulate Lily, Liam & Xara-Jade on their dedication, interest and commitment to learning during this time. The three students developed outstanding projects in the form of a short story, a literature based research task and a discovery of the history of comics. Lily & Xara-Jade continued to pursue their project during the final weeks of remote learning and their work was chosen to be published as part of the Diocescan SPLICED Booklet.
A huge congratulations to all the students involved in this learning opportunity, particularly Lily, Liam & Xara-Jade on their brilliant work!
SPLICED was a wonderful experience for me. Literature was a topic that I was really passionate about so I decided to create my research around this. While creating my artwork there were some struggles and challenges but the outcome was brilliant. My research helped me to understand the importance of literature and how it can shape and help the world. I loved doing SPLICED, it was a great opportunity - Lily
I have really enjoyed doing my SPLICED research on Comic Books because it has been something that I have a connection to and personal interest in. I chose to look at comics because I have always enjoyed writing and drawing comics. This was something that I started doing with a friend in Year 3. I liked learning about the history of comics and some of the differences between comics and graphic novels - Liam
My journey throughout the year with SPLICED has been a rocky one, having been in lockdown for 16 weeks. Remote Learning allowed me the time to process the challenges and work through them to create my final story and digital artworks. I have enjoyed the whole experience with SPLICED, Ms Boyd-Skinner has been so supportive and helpful throughout this year giving me guidance on how to successfully present my learning and make it the best work I could possibly do - Xara-Jade
The Video Launch of the Website and Book, and the acknowledgement of student achievement will become live on Wednesday 8 December at 7:00pm. The video can be viewed on the SPLICED Website Home Page: https://spliced2021.dow.catholic.edu.au/.
Over the holiday break all students, Kindergarten to Year 5, are invited to take part in the Holiday Reading Challenge. Reading is a very important and necessary skill that we use every day. It is a skill that we use when reading books and magazines, watching TV, shopping and playing games. When children stop reading for extended periods of time they often take a few steps backwards. This school initiative is intended to help maintain student reading abilities and continue to foster their love of reading over the Christmas holidays.
By participating in the Reading Challenge your child will be practising the skill of reading on a regular basis, reinforcing good reading habits. Parents and carers are encouraged to help their children find fun and interesting books, fiction and non-fiction. It is important for your child to read aloud to someone and just as important for them to listen and enjoy stories being read to them.
Students in Kindergarten to Year 5, have been provided with a Holiday Reading Log. Children are encouraged to record the time they spend reading during the holidays into the Holiday Reading Log. Early in 2022, Diamond, Gold, Silver and Bronze Awards will be presented based on the number of hours spent reading.
We all know that reading is one of the most important fundamental skills children must master to succeed, almost everything we do involves reading of some form. Hopefully, this challenge will help motivate your child to continue reading on a regular basis during the holiday break.
Matthew Downes
Assistant Principal
It is imperative that parents/carers download the Compass App and keep it up to date. Your child's Semester 2 Report will again only be available via Compass.
Compass app is used for:
- Communication, news, excursions, alerts
- Academic reports
- Attendance pages where notes/approvals can be entered
- Full record history of the student’s attendance
- School calendar
- Learning conversation bookings
- School fee payment
Get the Compass mobile app
Access student information on the go with Compass mobile app for iPhone & Android phones.
Automatically Update apps
It is important that your mobile device has the most current version of the app. Make sure that the apps are set to automatically update.
iPhone
Go into Settings and scroll until you see iTunes and App Store. Tap on iTunes & App Store. Then scroll down the bottom until you see AUTOMATIC DOWNLOADS. To turn on automatic app updates, tap in the white oval next to App Updates.
Android
Open the Google Play Store app. Tap Menu Settings. Tap Auto-update apps. Select an option: Over any network to update apps using either Wi-Fi or mobile data. Over Wi-Fi only to update apps only when connected to Wi-Fi.
Get Notifications
An app notification is a message or alert sent by Compass to the user. Notifications sent this way do not require the Compass app to be open and messages are displayed on the screen of the mobile even when the device is locked.
iPhone
Go to Settings > Notifications, select the app, and make sure that Allow Notifications is on. If you have notifications turned on for an app but you're not receiving alerts, you might not have Banners selected. Go to Settings > Notifications, select the app, then select Banners.
Android
Open your phone's Settings app. Tap Apps & notifications Notifications. Under "Lock screen," tap Notifications on lock screen or On lock screen. Choose Show alerting and silent notifications. On some phones, choose Show all notification content.
The school fees for 2022 have been approved by Bishop Brian Mascord and all fees will be billed at the end of January 2022:
Tuition Fees
The Primary tuition fee for 2022 is:
$1,746 per family (per annum)
The SEDSO Levy for 2022 is:
$1,130 per family (per annum)
The School Resource Fee is:
The Resource Fee for 2022 will be $170 for Kindergarten and $160 for Years 1 to 6 per student.
The following are additional costs (per student) for 2022:
- Sport Levy - $20
- Life Education - $7
- Gunyah Excursion - $69
- Kindergarten Excursion - $38
- Year 1 Excursion - $34
- Year 2 Excursion - $47
- Year 3 Excursion - $30
- Year 4 Excursion - $38
- Year 5 Camp - $306
- Year 6 Canberra - $239
- Year 6 TShirt Fee - $49.50
- Year 6 Leadership Program - $6.50
- Year 6 Excursion - $54
If you have already completed a form and have instalments listed on your fee statement then you do not need to complete another form.
IMPORTANT: Please note that if you currently have a child or children at another school in the Diocese and you are paying by instalments at this location, you will not need to complete another Request to Pay by Instalment. The instalment request carries over from school to school with the same frequency of payment eg Weekly, fortnightly, etc.
Parents and Carers
As Christmas is approaching, and online shopping more prevalent during this time, Police are urging people to exercise caution when purchasing items online, particularly tickets, mobile phones, and animals (especially dog and birds).
Always use Paypal or comply with the site's policies and guidelines. DO NOT deposit directly into an account or into Western Union. If Seller states Paypal is unavailable, please think twice about your purchase.
If it is too good to be true, it usually is!
Report all Frauds to Lake Illawarra Police District.
Lake Illawarra Police District
PH: 4232 5329 PH: 4232 5599
PlaySpace Drama is held after school each Tuesday afternoon in the School Library.
It is a fun-filled programme available to Yrs 1-6. Many games, activities and scripts see Drama students develop voice skills; stagecraft skills; expressive skills; co-operative skills; confidence; and empathy.
Now is the time to enrol for 2022, with classes commencing Tues 1st Feb
Yr 1-3 Drama
2.50 – 3.50pm
Yr 4-6 Drama
3.50 – 4.50pm
Places fill very quickly, and all existing students have priority placement, subject to confirmation. There is often a waiting list, so get your child’s name down now to secure a spot!
