Dear Parents and Carers,

From torrential rain to gale-force winds, winter has certainly made itself known! The upside of the wind is that finally our grassed playgrounds can be accessed by the students. From this week all playgrounds are again open for use at recess and lunch and don't they just love being able to play soccer and run about on the Fr Ward playground!

Confirmation

Since the last newsletter, we have celebrated the Sacrament of Confirmation, with Bishop Brian Mascord, who conferred the Sacrament upon the children of our Parish community over two nights.

For Catholics, Confirmation is a sacrament of empowerment. It is the strength to follow Jesus and to become involved in the mission which Jesus left to the Church. In the same way, it was for the Apostles at Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4) that the Holy Spirit came, giving them the strength and courage to practice their faith.

The children, with the support of their families, have prepared for the reception of the Sacrament over many weeks and I congratulate them for their commitment during this most significant time in their faith journey. Thank you to Father Francis for his guidance and support and also Mrs Maguire (REC) for her work in planning and coordinating the Sacrament together with the Parish Catechists as well as the staff of St John's, who have assisted in many and varied ways.

Thank you for your continued support of our school uniform expectations. The winter winds and cold mornings has seen beanies, scarves and gloves being worn to keep out the winter chill. While this is completely understandable and very necessary, I simply ask that you consider royal blue/navy as a colour, so as to compliment the winter uniform. Please remember to name all articles of clothing, as it is almost impossible to return lost property when it is not labelled clearly.

Our uniform policy explicitly outlines the expectations for which children should be presented at school each day. While on the whole, the vast majority of children are consistently in the correct uniform, increasingly haircuts and styles, jewellery, nail polish and hair decorations (headbands, ribbons, scrunchies) are appearing that do not align with the school expectations. The uniform policy is included for your reference and by way of reminder, please note the following;

• No Jewellery, except for studs or sleepers, a watch, signet ring or religious medals
• No nail polish or make-up 
• No brightly coloured hair decorations (headbands, ribbons, scrunchies are to be royal blue)
• Haircuts should be neat and tidy. All long hair MUST be tied back and extreme haircuts, including coloured hair, razor-cut patterns and the like are not permitted.

Yours sincerely
Andrew Heffernan
(Principal)

'So great is the strength we possess in our unity'

St Mary of the Cross MacKillop 

Vinnie’s Winter Appeal Donations

The Mini Vinnie’s team has organised for St John’s to support the Vinnie’s Winter Appeal. We are asking our families to bring in items that are most needed at the present moment, by Thursday of Week 10. These include:

• Beanies
• Gloves
• Scarves
• Toiletries -  toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, deodorant, shampoo

There will be a ‘Winter Woollies Mufti Day’ on Friday 1 July. Students are encouraged to bring a financial donation to support the appeal and to wear their winter woolly clothes (along with enclosed shoes and school and hat). St Vincent de Paul Society and the Mini Vinnie’s team appreciate your support of the Winter Appeal.

Emeritus Bishop Peter Ingham Member of the Order of Australia  

Emeritus Bishop Peter Ingham was named a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for significant service to the Catholic Church in yesterday's Queen’s Birthday Honours list.
As Marilyn Rodrigues writes in the Catholic Weekly:

He said he was “so surprised” to receive the honour and wanted to dedicate it to the people of the Diocese of Wollongong.

“I usually think of myself as a very ordinary horse in this human race, I didn’t see that I did anything spectacular but I’ve basically just tried to be there for people,” he said, adding that a lot of his work as a bishop was “loitering with intent”.

“The loitering is the hanging around after Masses and school functions, Confirmations and whatever. And the intent is the witness to the Gospel; getting to know people and mixing with them and treating them as equals so that when they did have something they wanted to talk to you about they didn’t have an inhibition about approaching you.

“Basically what I’ve tried to do is to put ‘fresh heart’ into people and to encourage them to persevere in their faith in Jesus Christ and the consequent goodness then that flows from that so as to make a positive social contribution to the common good of everybody.

“If we have positive values to live by we strengthen the moral fabric of our nation. Particularly among our Catholic people if they really try to live our faith they’re a great force for good in the community.

“There’s an old French proverb that says 'Gratitude is the memory of the heart’ and in a sense, I’m grateful for the goodness of so many people across the Illawarra, the Shoalhaven, the Macarthur, in the parishes, schools, CatholicCare, our Bishop Brian Mascord and clergy, religious congregations and the wonderful volunteers and co-workers." (Diocese of Wollongong)

The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ - Sunday 19 June

This feast day is a celebration of the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist.  On this day, we recall the institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper. While the Last Supper is also commemorated on Holy Thursday, the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ focuses solely on the gift of the Eucharist.

The Gospel reading for the day is ‘The feeding of the 5000’. “They all ate and were filled.” Luke 9:11-17 

Refugee Week (19-25 June) - Online Prayer Service 

Monday 20 June 2022 at 6:00 pm AEST - The World Day of Refugees

Australian Catholic Migrant and Refugee Office and the Office for Justice, Ecology and Peace are inviting you to participate in an online prayer service to pray for asylum seekers and refugees and mark Refugee Week from Sunday 19 June to Saturday 25 June 2022. The theme for the week is “healing”. 

Register now using the link below.

Dates for your diary

• Fri 17/06 - Year 5 Mass 9:30 am
• Fri 17/06 - Year 3 Reconciliation (half the grade)
• Fri 24/06 - Year 6 Mass 9:30 am
• Fri 24/06 - Year 4 Reconciliation (half the grade)
• Thurs  30/06 - Donations due for the SVDP Winter Appeal
• Fri 1/07 - Whole School Mass 9:30 am
• Fri 1/07 - Winter Woollies Mufti Day (Financial donations are encouraged)
  
  

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 Joseph, pray for us.
St John the Evangelist, pray for us.

Renee Maguire
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.

Semester 1 Reports will be available via Compass on Wednesday 29 June for students in Years 1 – 6.  Kindergarten only receive an end-of-year report (Semester 2). 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 after 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. 

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 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 for all students in Year 1 to Year 6 on Wednesday 29 June.
• Kindergarten Learning Conversations will be held from Tuesday 14 June to Friday 24 June (Week 8 and Week 9). 
  
  

Students from Year 6 have recently undertaken an education tour of the national capital. Students were given the opportunity to participate in a variety of educational programs which focused on Australia’s history, culture, heritage and democracy. 

The Australian Government recognises the importance of all young Australians being able to visit the national capital as part of their Civics and Citizenship education. To assist families in meeting the cost of the excursion the Australian Government is contributing funding of $30 per student under the Parliament and Civics Education Rebate program towards those costs. The rebate is paid directly to the school upon completion of the excursion.

What Year 6 Thought...........

We were all so excited for our journey to start! When we got to Canberra we went straight to the New Parliament House and learnt much more about the House of Representatives and the Senate, we even got to role play! Then we headed to Old Parliament House and got to see the speaker's chair that the British gifted to Australia, it was huge! We learnt more about the history of Canberra at the National Capital Exhibition. We even learnt that Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin designed the city as well as coming up with the name of ‘Canberra.’ We all had the best time, we all wished we could do it again!

Emilia L & Angel B

“The Captain Cook Memorial Jet looked really cool with a rainbow in it” Noah S

“The view from Mount Ainsle was amazing, we could even see snow on the mountains” Lachlan L

“It was so cold I thought I was going to get frostbite!” Levi L

“Up at Mount Ainsle we could see Anzac Parade and all the buildings we were going to visit” Ethan M

“The whole excursion was fun and exciting” Levi M

“It was the best excursion that I’ve ever been on” Liam W

“Canberra was intriguing because we got to see all the places that we had learnt about in class” Phoebe N

“It was the best excursion and we saw so many amazing sights. My favourite was the AIS” Blake R

“It was fantastic because there were so many places to see. I liked Parliament House” Quade S

“I have never seen so much history all at once. It was the best experience that the school has provided for us’ Jeeva J
  

The Rocks and Hyde Park Barracks

At Hyde Park Barracks we had a fabulous time exploring, investigating and looking at artifacts from when the convicts were first transported there to live. We tried convict clothes on, looked at what work and tools they used and made a solitary confinement cell out of bricks. 

There were several monuments we visited at the Rocks including William Bligh and The First Impression Sculpture. We enjoyed the walk down Argyle street approaching Cadman’s Cottage on the stunning Sydney Harbour.  The Rocks Discovery Museum was a highlight and we were able to be involved in an interactive display, watch a video of how the Rocks area has evolved over the years and visit the aboriginal art exhibition. t We were amazed by the mummified rat and some of the other findings from the days of the First Fleet's arrival.

We had an awesome time and loved seeing everything we have been learning about in History this semester. The Tour Guides we encountered were surprised at our knowledge about the Convicts and their life and how respectful we were during the excursion. Our teachers were very proud of us throughout the day.

Congratulations

Ashton B (Yr. 6) recently competed in the Mackillop Cross Country trials and placed 5th in the 12/13 years boy's event.

Ashton will now compete at the NSWPSSA Cross Country championships in Eastern Creek on the 22 July.

Good luck Ashton.

MARK TAYLOR SHIELD (Cricket)

On Friday 10 June, the St. John's cricket team played their first game of the season in the Mark Taylor Shield against St Theresa West Wollongong. We waited a long time, due to ongoing postponements because of wet weather and the team was so excited when we could finally play. We got off to a good start by winning the toss and achieving a great score of 113 at the end of our thirty overs. Then it was our turn to come out to bowl to defend our total. Everyone put in a great effort in what was a tough contest, we came out on top, bowling St Therese out for 92. We would like to thank Mr Downes and Mr Madaschi for coaching us, Mr Drury (Joel’s Grandfather) for umpiring us and the parents and spectators who came to support us on the day. We were very excited about the win and the opportunity to represent St. John’s with immense pride. We are looking forward to our Round 2 match later in Term 3. Well done to everyone!

Mitchell W. and Hamish D. (Co-Captains)

Match Statistics

The Mark Taylor Shield is a cricket competition for Catholic Primary Schools from the Parramatta, Broken Bay, Wollongong and Sydney Archdiocese. The competition is played on a knockout basis with the initial rounds being held in Term 1 and the semi-finals and final being held in Term 4. 

Congratulations to our cricket team.

Thank you to all those families who have finalised their fees for Term 2 and 2022.