“Never see a need without doing something about it.”

Mary MacKillop 1867

PROJECT COMPASSION – For All Future Generations

This year, Project Compassion is built around the  theme of 'For All Future Generations'. This theme asks us to reflect on the great 'Yes' that Mary said when the angel told her that she was to become the mother of Jesus. She freely accepted a unique place in the history of the human family. The great prayer she shared with her cousin Elizabeth says 'all generations will call me blessed'. Her 'Yes' is 'for all future generations'.

Each classroom has a Project Compassion box for their prayer space, where the students are encouraged to make donations. These boxes will be collected each week. Your generosity allows Caritas Australia to improve the livelihoods of vulnerable communities, supporting them to flourish and create opportunities for future generations to live to their full potential and thrive.

Second Week of Lent (Week beginning Monday 6th March)

This week through Project Compassion we learnt about Tereesa, a Gamilaroi woman from Western Sydney who struggled with homelessness while raising her four children. At just 16 years old, she had to leave school after falling pregnant with her first child. A single mother struggling with homelessness, Tereesa’s only concern was finding stability for her children. 

Seeking a better future for her family, Tereesa joined Baabayn Aboriginal Corporation’s Young Mums and Bubs Group, supported by Caritas Australia. Baabayn helped Tereesa access housing and psychological support. Through Baabayn, Tereesa was also able to hear stories from Indigenous Elders and reconnect with her culture. Today, Tereesa is studying a certificate in Community Services so that she can strengthen her skills and give back to her community. Tereesa now works at Baabayn, providing support to young mothers and mentoring the next generation of young people.

Watch a short film about Tereesa’s story here.

Third Week of Lent (Week beginning Monday 13th March)

We are now in the third week of Lent with the Project Compassion story of Priscilla, who lives in the Hwange district in Zimbabwe with her husband, Charles, and two of their grandchildren. Climate change continues to bring unprecedented challenges for people living in the most vulnerable and remote communities in Zimbabwe.
During times of intense drought and food shortages, Priscilla had to commute to the town centre and wait in long queues to collect food. 

With the support of Caritas Hwange, Priscilla learnt conservation farming skills to grow drought-resistant crops and started poultry farming to support her family during the current food crisis. Priscilla was able to produce a bumper harvest in her first year of practising in conservation farming. Priscilla also used the funds from her harvest to start poultry farming, which enabled her to sell eggs to pay for her grandchildren’s school fees, books and stationery. The poultry farming provides a safety net for Priscilla and her family during times of hardship, like the current drought.

While the situation in Zimbabwe and across eastern Africa remains dire, the work of Caritas Hwange means that Priscilla can learn the techniques, tools and resources she needs to build resilience and support her family during this current food crisis. 

Watch a short film about Priscilla’s story here.

Eater Raffle

Please read the note below in regards to our Easter Raffle, with all money raised going to Project Compassion. We welcome donations of Easter Eggs for the raffle. Students can bring them to school and raffle tickets will be sent home at the end of this week.

Dates for your diary

• Year 1 Grade Mass - 3rd March 9:30am
• Reconciliation (Half of Year 5) - 9th March 11:15
• Year 4/Gunyah Grade Mas - 10th March 9:30am
• Reconciliation (Half of Year 5) - 10th March 11:15
• Feast of St Patrick - 17th March
• Year 5,6 and Kindergarten Mass with Andrew Chinn - Saturday 18th March 5pm
• Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord Whole School Mass - Fri 24 March 9:30am

Prayer Intentions

We pray for the peoples of all the world, that the Lord may graciously preserve harmony among them,

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

Renee Maguire
Religious Education Coordinator

Date: THIS Friday 3 March 2023

Thank you to those parents who have nominated their time to be a parent helper. Please meet Mrs Atkins at the pool at 8:20am. Once you arrive on Friday morning we will go through the jobs allocated to all parent helpers. Jobs - Timekeepers, Starter, Lifeguards, Supervising Areas such as, canteen, toilets, novelty relays.

• Canteen will be available

Wet Weather -- please read

Unfortunately the weather forecast for Friday is showers. If this occurs our carnival will change to a selection trial for competitive swimmers who would like to trial for the South Coast Region Swimming Carnival on the following Tuesday 7 March. If your child will be attending these trials please nominate on the google form attached. A decision will be made at 7:00am and an alert will go out on Compass. 

Congratulations to Noah P (5R), Wil B (6R) and Cooper D (6R) who recently competed at the Oz Tag State Cup in Coffs Harbour.

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.

Once again, the students of St John’s have been registered in the NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge (PRC). The challenge aims to encourage a love of reading for leisure and to enable students to experience quality literature. It is not a competition but a challenge to each student to read, to read more and to read more widely. 

This week, classroom teachers will provide families new to St John’s with their own PRC account, which can be used to add books to your child’s online reading log. For students in Years 1 – 6, their PRC details remain the same as last year. If you have difficulty locating your child’s login details, please get in touch with Mrs Thomas (thomask04@dow.catholic.edu.au). If you want more information on the approved PRC books and the challenge rules, go to the 2023 Challenge Rules Page. You have until 18 August to complete the online Student Reading Record. Each child must 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. Students will be rewarded with new avatars and challenging titles as they enter their books! Students and parents can visit the support article to view a video that demonstrates the use of the student site.

Student Wellbeing Afternoons will take place this week as follows:

• Wednesday 1 March – Year 3 & Year 4
• Thursday 2 March – Year 5 & Year 6
• Friday 3 March – Kindergarten, Year 1 & Year 2 

As with previous Student Wellbeing Afternoons, students will be able to choose and participate in fun and engaging activities that promote their wellbeing. As part of these Wellbeing Afternoons, the school will provide students with a sausage sizzle for lunch. All sausages will be gluten free and gluten free bread will be provided for students with a gluten intolerance. If your child does not eat sausage sizzles or requires more food for lunch than this, please ensure that you pack extra food in their lunchbox. To help make these afternoons even more enjoyable, students are once again encouraged to wear mufti clothes to school on the day their grade has their wellbeing afternoon.

Clean Up Australia Day was born in 1990. Almost 300,000 volunteers turned out on the first Clean Up Australia Day in 1990 and that involvement has steadily increased ever since. At St John’s, students in K - 2 will be participating in Clean Up Australia Day for Schools Campaign on Friday 3 March. This day will involve our students learning about the impact of rubbish on their local environment while playing an active role in our community. 

Special collection bins will be provided therefore students will only need to bring in a pair of gardening gloves and / or tongs to pick up rubbish.

Once again St John’s will enter a team in the Mark Taylor Shield. The Mark Taylor Shield is a cricket competition for Catholic Primary Schools. 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. The Mark Taylor Shield is open to girls and boys in Catholic schools from the Parramatta, Broken Bay, Wollongong and Sydney Archdioceses. This week selection trials will be run for students in Year 4, 5 and 6 who are interested in playing in the school cricket team. Students in Year 4 can trial but only if they currently play for a local cricket club. If you have further questions please contact Mr Downes or Mr Madaschi.

Throughout the year, schools are allocated Staff Development Days (pupil-free days). These days are used to assist in the implementation of school improvement priorities, develop staff spiritual formation and for additional professional learning. The following pupil-free days have been set for 2023: 

• Thursday 6 April
• Monday 24 April
• Monday 17 July
• Monday 18 December
• Tuesday 19 December

The P&F Executive are excited about 2023! We have a lot of exciting activities to support StJohns School community!

We kicked off our first P&F meeting of the year by endorsing a donation of $4,000.00 to the school library for future books and resources (from fundraising events in 2022).

Here’s a snapshot of activities planned for 2023 include:

• School Disco 5th April, this year all funds raised will support Student Wellbeing Afternoons! Look out for our parent helper form in the coming weeks!
• Save the Date! We are planing a Rides Night on 10th November (more information to follow including an invite to join our sub committee to assist with planning)
• Mothers Day stall 12th May, the P&F are already securing some amazing Mother’s Day gifts.

In 2022 we launched a new St Johns school bag! Poppets Fairymeadow still have St John school bags in stock (contact: 4226 1611)

Our next P&F meeting is 7pm 2nd May. Join us to talk further about the P&F 2023 goals of fundraising, promoting student wellbeing and supporting our school community!

If you have any questions for the P&F please email: pandf@sjddow.catholic.edu.au

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