Dear Parents and Carers,

Last Friday, I communicated to all families the updated COVID-safe measures for Term 3. In essence, the measures remain unchanged and therefore to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19 the following will continue;

• enhanced daily cleaning, with a particular focus on high-touch surfaces
• reinforcing the practice of good personal hygiene, particularly in relation to shielding coughs and sneezes and hand washing. 
• prioritising ventilation (fresh air) in classrooms
• supporting the wearing of masks by staff and students
• hosting school events and activities outdoors and limiting numbers indoors 

Another delivery of Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) kits is expected in the coming weeks, which will again be provided to families. We strongly encourage you to test your child if they have even very mild flu-like symptoms and keep them home if they are feeling unwell.

The athletics carnival was a very successful event with perfect weather on the day. Management at Beaton Park did impose restrictions on schools accessing the grounds and therefore we were not able to hold the discus and shot put events. Instead, they continued at school and have now been finalised, despite the ongoing challenge of the wet weather.

The presentation of ribbons, age champions and overall house point score took place today. The carnival results can be viewed in the 'Sports News' of the newsletter. Thank you for your patience, despite our best efforts, sometimes we can only control what we can control!

Grandparents Day

Regrettably, we had no choice other than to postpone Grandparents Day last Friday. Grandparents Day will now be celebrated on Friday 19 August at 9:30 am. We look forward to seeing you!

Feast of Mary MacKillop

The Feast of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop is celebrated on 8 August. A special Mass of thanksgiving will take place on Friday 6 August with students from K-6 attending. 

At this special time each year, we give thanks for the life of Mary MacKillop, her influence on our world and her legacy as a woman of inspiration and deep faith. She was canonised a saint of the universal church on 17 October 2010, becoming Australia's first saint. 

Mary MacKillop founded the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart and together they responded to the educational needs of poor and isolated children, establishing the first Josephite school in Penola SA in 1866. Their mission continued with schools opening across Australia, including our own school, with the arrival of the Sisters in 1880. The Sisters remained at St John's until 1996 before the first lay principal, Mrs Marie Debusch was appointed in 1997. 

As we continue the work of Catholic education, may we never forget their dedication and commitment, and may we be strengthened by our rich history, as we walk in the footsteps of Mary MacKillop and her Sisters.

A prolific writer, Mary MacKillop famously said, “Never see a need without doing something about it.” This message is as relevant today as it was a century ago. What our world needs now, is hope, kindness, and compassion. Let’s follow Mary’s example by living out this message in our relationships and communities.

Thank you for your continued support.

Yours sincerely
Andrew Heffernan
Principal

'God’s presence is before me almost in everything, and I love to come to God in prayer as to my dearest and only Friend'. Mary MacKillop - 1873

Feast of St. Joachim and St. Anne - 26th July

Joachim and Anne were the parents of Jesus’ mother, Mary. They are never mentioned in the New Testament and we don’t know many details of their lives. What we know about them comes from the stories people told about them. They were respected members of the Jewish community and wanted to become parents so much that Joachim went into the desert to fast and pray that God would hear their prayer. An angel told them that they would soon have a daughter who would become famous throughout the world.

They became parents to Mary, our Blessed Mother. When Mary was three years old, Anne and Joachim took her to the temple in Jerusalem to consecrate her for special service to the Lord. This is known as the “Presentation of the Virgin Mary.” It means that Mary was to play an important part in God’s loving plan for the world.

We honor Mary’s parents, Joachim and Anne, as saints and celebrate their joint feast day on July 26th. Their love for one another and for Mary is an example to us of how God calls us to live. This feast day is a reminder to honour our own grandparents and to thank them for the blessings they have passed down to us in love.

Anne is the patron of grandmothers, among many other things, and Joachim of grandfathers and grandparents. We invite our Grandparents to celebrate the special role they play in our lives, with an outdoor liturgy being held on August 19 at 9:30 am.

Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord

The feast of the Transfiguration of Our Lord Jesus Christ is celebrated on August 6. The feast commemorates one of the pinnacles of Jesus' earthly life when he revealed his divinity to three of his closest disciples by means of a miraculous and supernatural light.

Before his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, Christ climbed to a high point on Mount Tabor with his disciples Peter, James, and John. While Jesus prayed upon the mountain, his appearance was changed by a brilliant white light that shone from him and from his clothing. During this event, the Old Testament figures of Moses and the prophet Elijah also appeared and spoke of how Christ would suffer and die after entering Jerusalem, before his resurrection. On this Feast Day, we are invited to consider whether the truth it reveals is being embraced and experienced in our own daily lives.

Religious Literacy Assessment

Year 4 students across the Dioceses will be participating in the Religious Literacy Assessment on August 1 2022. The assessment data provides a sustained and systemic approach to the reporting of students’ learning in the key learning area of Religious Education (RE) across the diocese and in particular, aspects of religious literacy. It is a means of celebrating and sharing the good news about students' learning in Religious Education and enables the story to be told on a continuing basis.

Dates for your Diary

• Fri 29 July - Year 2 Mass 9:30 am
• Fri 29 July - Year 5 Reconciliation
• Sat/Sun 30 & 31 July – Communion Enrolment at Mass
• Mon 1 August – Year 4 Religious Literacy Assessment  
• Thurs 4 August - Communion Parent Night 6:00 pm
• Fri 5 Aug - K-6 Mass for the Feast of St Mary of the Cross Mackillop 
• Sat 6 Aug – The Feast of the Transfiguration
• Sat/Sun 6/7 August – Communion Commitment Weekend
• Mon 8 Aug – Feast of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop 
• Thurs 11 Aug - Year 6 Mass with the Bishop - Shellharbour City

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, Prayer 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.

Congratulations to the following students.

Athletics Carnival

Last term St John’s held its athletics carnival at the Kerryn McCann Athletics Track, Beaton Park. It was a glorious day, filled with fun and a positive school spirit. Thank you to the parent helpers who assisted on the day. Our sporting carnivals need our parents’ generous support and it is much appreciated.

Congratulations to our Age Division Champions and our winning house. 

2022 Age Division Champions

2022 House Point score

1st Place – McCabe 
2nd Place – Mackillop
3rd Place – Joseph
4th Place – Ward

Dates for Term 3

South Coast Athletics 9 August
Wollongong Diocesan Athletics Selection Trials 16 August
Basketball Gala Day Juniors (Year 3 & 4) 15 September
Basketball Gala Day Seniors (Year 5 & 6) 16 September

Michelle Atkins
(Sports Coordinator)

It is critically important that all students arrive at school, ready to learn on time each and every day. The school day begins at 8:30 am and increasingly there are a significant number of students arriving after this time. Consistently arriving late to school impacts student learning and just 10 mins a day over the course of year potentially equates to 6 school days.

It is the same for early pick-up. Increasingly, the office is inundated with parents and carers from 2:00 pm requesting early departure from school. Our school day concludes at 2:40 pm and as such, without a legitimate reason for leaving early, all children should remain at school until the end of the school day.

While it is understood that there is often little choice in times available for important appointments on either side of the school day, this reminder is for the habitual late arrivals and early leavers. It is not okay to frequently request early departure from school for convenience reasons.

The Education Act (1990), states that school attendance is compulsory for all students over the age of 6 years. Current research confirms that student absenteeism has a significant impact on learning achievements and success, not to mention confidence. It is more often than not the case, that students who are challenged by their learning are those who are consistently arriving late, leaving early, or have high levels of absenteeism.

The PRC is well underway, with many students choosing to participate in the challenge. Please note the challenge closing date for student entries is Friday 19 August. 

If you would like more information on the approved PRC books and the challenge rules go to the 2022 Challenge Rules Page. You have until Friday 19 August to complete the online Student Reading Record. Each child is required to read a certain number of books to successfully complete the challenge. The PRC student site is a user friendly and engaging way for students to enter their reading records. As they enter their books, students will be rewarded with new avatars and challenging titles! Students and parents can visit the support article to view a video that demonstrates the use of the student site. 

If you are having difficulty locating your child’s login details, please email Mr Downes (downesm01@dow.catholic.edu.au). 

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

Food allergies continue to grow in prevalence, a condition that affects many of our students and for most, it is lifelong. As an allergy aware school, we are focused on reducing the risk of exposure to students, as exposure in some cases may result in life-threatening anaphylactic reactions.

Students with a food allergy may react to tactile (touch) exposure or inhalation exposure. Not every ingestion exposure will result in anaphylaxis, but the potential always exists. Whilst peanut allergy is the most likely cause, eight foods (peanut, tree nut, milk, egg, soy, wheat, fish and shellfish) account for the vast majority of food allergies.

Therefore, peanuts, peanut paste, peanut butter (including “dippers”), nuts, “Nutella” spread or nutty muesli bars should NOT be bought to school. 

We understand that it can be challenging to avoid nuts as many products commercially available use nuts as ingredients, but in doing so, you are helping others to stay safe and healthy. 

Catholic School Parents Australia (CSPA) has launched its Children’s Wellbeing and Learning Survey, which was developed in partnership with the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth. The purpose of this survey is to gather the opinions of parents/carers on issues of concern relating to their children’s health, wellbeing and learning, and assist CSPA in reporting to the Federal government and Catholic education.

The survey is available on CSPA’s new ENGAGE website.

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