ST JOHN S PRIMARY SCHOOL NEWSLETTER

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1 ST JOHN S PRIMARY SCHOOL NEWSLETTER 25 November 2015 Edition From the Principal SCHOOL CLOSURE DAY MONDAY 7TH DECEMBER Just a reminder that Monday, 7th December is a School Closure Day for all students. Staff will be undertaking Professional Development on this day as well as some further planning for Please contact OSHClub if you would like to make use of the facilities for that day. If we have enough bookings, the program will run for that day. SCHOOL SPORTS Last Friday s School Sports was again a wonderful afternoon with the children thoroughly enjoying themselves. It proved to be an outstanding day; the children, teachers and parents all had a great day! I certainly wish to thank all the parents who acted as judges with such enthusiasm, the teachers who supervised the children and the parents who cheered and supported all the children throughout the day. A very special thank-you to Miss Stephanie Doutre, our Physical Education teacher, who spent many, many hours in preparation for the day. Stephanie worked out the heats, practised the children leading up to School Sports Day and set up the circuit on the day. Congratulations Stephanie on coordinating such a great event. Congratulations to all the teams for endeavours throughout the day and for their efforts during the year SCHOOL SPORTS CHAMPIONS: McCUBBIN (Red) OLYMPIC SPIRIT TROPHY: STREETON (Green) MARCHING TROPHY: STREETON (Green) 55 Cape Street, Heidelberg Vic 3084 Ph E. office@sjheidelberg.catholic.edu.au

2 What wonderful news we all received last week on the very successful operation carried out on one of our parents, Tim Boyle (Adele 3P, Amelia 1L). It has been quite a journey for Tim and his family and we are all so thrilled by the latest news. On behalf of our school community I extend our thoughts and prayers to Tim that his recovery continues. The following is an article from the Herald Sun website. Bowel and kidney transplant by The Austin Hospital is an Australian first November 18, :52pm GRANT McARTHUR HEALTH EDITOR Herald Sun The Austin team behind Australia s first combined small bowel and kidney transplant, with wife Robyn and Health Minister Jill Hennessy. Picture: Mark Stewart SURGEONS have performed Australia s first combined small bowel and kidney transplant and allowed a donor to give a Melbourne dad a whole new life with his family. For the past 12 years Tim Boyle, 47, had spent his days just trying to stay alive after a twisted bowel meant almost all of his small intestine had to be removed. But when the condition caused his kidneys to also fail 18 months ago the battle increasingly became one the businessman was losing, until Austin Hospital surgeons spent a marathon 15 hours breaking new ground for Australian transplantation. To say it is life changing is an understatement it is a new life, not life changing, Mr Boyle said as he left hospital yesterday. It s all a bit surreal. I have a lot of adjusting to do over the next weeks, months and years there is a lot to take in. To be there as a dad and a husband, and to be able to support the loved ones around me is a big thing. Over the last few years as my health has continued to deteriorate, and being able to move from a burden to a contributor is great. 2

3 MISS CONNIE COSTA ENGAGED I so happy to inform you all of the wonderful news that one of our teachers, Connie Costa became engaged last weekend. On behalf of the community we extend our congratulations to both Connie and Jordan and wish them a joyous time as they prepare for their wedding next year. PARENT CUPPA AND CHAT As we prepare for 2016 we really do want to embrace the opportunities to enhance partnerships between home and school. This year we have been particularly mindful of engaging parents in your child's schooling and learning because we believe it is an integral part of school improvement. Our focus on Kids Matter has been a vehicle for this. We are continually looking at ways in which St John's can be a more welcoming place for parents, continue to improve our communication and have a genuine partnership between home and school which we know also increases student motivation and participation. Next week we are conducting several meetings to discuss how we can improve in these areas and you are very welcome to attend either of the following 'chats' and provide some input: Tuesday 1st Dec at 2:30pm (LRC) and repeated on Wednesday 2nd December at 9am. (LRC) ST JOHN'S DAY FRIDAY 4TH DECEMBER Unfortunately, the actual Feast day of St John the Evangelist is during the school holidays (December 27th), but the school will celebrate next Friday 4th December. In recent years we have been allocating the first Friday in December as our day of celebration in recognition of St John. The day will consist of children being placed into multi-age groupings and rotate through a number of activities. Father Mario will also be celebrating a whole school Mass at 10.15am. We have decided that the children's disco will be incorporated into the day's festivities instead of a separate evening event. CHILDREN ARE ASKED TO WEAR THEIR SPORTS UNIFORM FOR THE DAY AS WELL AS WEAR SOMETHING PURPLE. 3

4 RE News - Elizabeth Williamson, Education in Faith Leader 4

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6 Sport News - Steph Doutre, Sport and Physical Education Sports Carnival What a wonderful day! Thank you so much to all the parents who came down and helped run the rotations. Your help is greatly appreciated and the day wouldn t run as smoothly without your assistance. Well done to all the children who participated and did their best. Thank you to all the staff for your help in the lead up to Friday and on the day. A special thanks to Mr Marinelli for his assistance in setting up and packing up on the day. Even though it was a drizzly, rainy day it was so much fun! Well done everyone. Our winners for the day were Streeton for Marching and the Olympic Spirit Trophies and Mc Cubbin took home the Champions trophy! Uniform A reminder to please return all borrowed sport uniforms! Golf Well done to Frankie P in Year 6 who finished 2 nd in the Regional Golf Championships! Frankie will go on to compete at the State Golf Championships! Good Luck Frankie! Swimming Congratulations to Olivia N in Year 6 who has won gold in the 100m backstroke at the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in South Australia! Well done Olivia! Thank you, Miss Doutré 6

7 Found... A FitBit was found at the school sports last Friday. If you think this item may belong to you, please contact the school office for further details. FOR SALE: OLMC Winter Uniform -Skirt $55 & Blouse $20 both size 16 (hardly worn, like new) School Backpacks Chiro X Large - $20 each OLMC- Various Text Books prescribed English reading: Handbook of Art (revised edition) Graham Hopwood & Colleen Fry $19 Whose Reality? Insight Context $5 Interpreter of Maladies $10 The Lot Leunig $10 Brian Friel: Plays 1 $19 Using Language to Persuade 3 rd edition $10 Maths Quest 12 Further & Ti-nspire CAS Calculator Companion $45: (& will also include Cambridge Checkpoints 2015 VCE Further Mathematics & Exam 1 & Exam 2 Practice Exam Books) Maths Quest 11 Standard Mathematics & Ti-nspire CAS Calculator Companion $35 Essential Mathematical Methods 3&4 CAS $20 Oxford Psychology $15 VCE Psychology Research Methods $10 Ecco! Due $25 Handbook of Art $19 To Know Worship & Love Year 8 $10 The Catholic Youth Bible (is used from Yr7-12 at OLMC) $15 Please call Angela or angela.dipaola@bigpond.com STUDENT AWARDS Richard P PN, Vienna T PV, Alexandra O PV, Adelle M PV, Madeline W PV, Aimee M 1L, Maira W 1L, Giuliano P 1L, Grace E 2D, Stefania P 2D, Mariah K 2P, Amelie B 2P, Trung N 3P, Niamh C 3P, Matthew V 4C, Anna V 4C, Danica W 4F, Michael D 4F, Alana H 5/6C, Isabella R 5/6C, Alyssa F 5/6S, Cristian C 5/6S BIRTHDAYS FORTHCOMING EVENTS 25 Nov Amelia C 5/6C Monday 30 Nov Fruit for Mental Health 27 Nov Oliver T 3W Day 29 Nov Eadric M 5/6S Monday 7 Dec School 30 Nov Alessia A 2P Closure Day Zahra J PV 7

8 Student Wellbeing - Carolyn Walsh, Student Wellbeing Coordinator Summer Reading Club At Assembly last week Jane Petryszyn from Rosanna Library spoke to the children to promote the Summer Reading Club which is being held there over the school holidays. Many of the children expressed great interest in joining up, especially as there is a chance of winning an ipad! Here is the information Jane supplied: Fizz, Boom, Read 1 December 2015 to 1 February 2016 There s more to science than test tubes and text books. Think noisy and messy, potions and lotions, explosions and bangs, and robots and codes. Spend your summer unlocking the mysteries of the world around us. Read as many books as you can about anything you want as part of our Summer Reading Club. All children aged 3 12 can join up and read books to be in the running for an ipad and other great prizes. Sign up at any branch or online, grab a reading kit and discover all the activities on offer. See for more details. Special Performance by "Scientwists" Friday 4 th December (Rosanna Library) pm Watch this show, which will include small explosions and spectacular experiments, while the library is closed. Make sure you join up to the Summer Reading Club! 2016 Partnership: We encourage you, if possible, to visit the library (any Yarra Plenty branch) over the school holidays to sign your child up as a member. Next year we will be partnering with the Rosanna Library for a number of activities and it may be advantageous for your child to have their own card for borrowing. A REQUEST FROM THE ROYAL CHILDREN S HOSPITAL Attention Students and Parents!! Do you have stacks and stacks of coloured pencils lying around at home, or school? As Christmas is approaching we talk a lot about the presents we will receive, but the gift of giving becomes equally as important. This is your chance to give to those in need in this festive time! The Royal Children's Hospital is calling on your generosity to donate any used pens, pencils, stickers, and old craft items that you don't need. A box will be left at the school office for your generous donations. The items will be used in the Emergency Department to entertain both the sick kids, and their siblings during the long waits over Christmas and holiday period at the hospital! Your donations will be greatly appreciated. 8

9 Cybersmart Outreach - Internet Safety Awareness presentation Young people today are immersed in digital technologies. They use the internet and mobile phones to socialise, study, exchange ideas and play. While online activity has many benefits, there are also risks. To help your children stay safe online, St John s is hosting a Cybersmart Outreach Internet Safety Awareness presentation. Designed for parents, teachers and students, this presentation is provided by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (the ACMA) as part of a national program of cybersmart initiatives. The Cybersmart Outreach Internet Safety Awareness presentation is thorough and non-technical. It covers a range of issues including: the ways children use the internet and emerging technologies potential risks for children online, such as cyberbullying, identity theft, inappropriate contact and exposure to inappropriate content tips to help children stay safe online The presentation is conducted by an ACMA Cybersmart trainer and is free of charge. St John s is committed to helping students develop appropriate behaviours when using digital technologies, both at school and at home. Our program of internet safety initiatives includes: Participation in the Alannah and Madeline Foundation esmart Schools initiative Acceptable usage agreements and policies Cybersafety focus during ICT lessons using programs such as: Cyber (smart), Hector s World, CyberQuoll, Budd:e The Cybersmart Outreach Internet Safety Awareness presentation will be held on: Thursday 10 th December Session 1: Student presentation (Years 2.15pm Session 2: Staff 3.30pm Session 3: Parent 7.00pm To register your attendance at the parent session please fill in the form below and return to school as soon as possible. REPLY SLIP Cybersmart Internet Safety Awareness presentation I/We will be attending the Parent Cybersmart Internet Safety Awareness presentation on Thursday 10th December at 7pm. Name: Number of adults attending: Name of child/ren: Child s Year level: 9

10 'OLMC Twilight Community Market' Friday 27 November 3.30pm 8.30pm Yarra Street, Heidelberg Lots of great shopping and a free jumping castle for the kids This is a fundraising event and all monies raised will support the SantePheap Community in Cambodia and the Olympic Village Exodus Community Family Camp program in West Heidelberg. The Parents Association will run the BBQ and Spit and there will be many stalls selling all sorts of goods so it will be a great chance to do some Christmas shopping. Enjoy a BBQ dinner while the kids play on the free jumping castle. We will be serenaded by the roving carollers to add to the Christmas Spirit. If you would like to book a stall at the market please contact: Marie Jenkins T: E: mjenkins@olmcheidelberg.catholic.edu.au 10

11 Hours of Operation: Before Care 6:45am-8:45am After Care 3:20pm-6:00pm Staff: Trent Harkom & Jill El-Khoury Program Update Hi everyone, We hope everyone's had a great week as the year winds down and we move towards the summer break! This week at OSHClub we've been up to some fun activities including making our own fantastic magnetic fishing rod game where a lot of the children contributed designs of various underwater creatures and objects! The children really enjoyed this and enjoy playing the game even more. Parents please keep in mind that as it is Term 4 children require a hat to play outdoors. We provide Coles SPF 50+ sunscreen for the children to wear - if your child has allergies to this sunscreen please let me know! Please be aware that as our numbers are increasing significantly it is becoming more important for parents to book their children in online or to give more notice for an on the day booking. This gives us enough time to ensure we are adequately staffed and able to provide a quality program for you and your children. If your child/ren are absent from school or other arrangements are made for them, could you please let us know that they won t be attending afterschool care. On the day cancellations/bookings must be made with a phone call or text to the program number on You will not be able to make online bookings or cancellations on the day. Online bookings or cancellations can be made up until midnight the night before. We hope to see you at OSHClub! Enjoy the rest of your week. NEXT WEEK S ACTIVITIES Wednesday Thursday Friday Monday Tuesday Before Care Activities Chatterboxes Pancakes Fruit Smoothies 11 Playdough Making Woven Mandalas After Care Activities Chalk Painting Oat Slice Origami 3D Fish Paper Flowers Parent Information OSHC program phone: Coordinator: Trent Harkom Assistants: Jill El-Khoury OSHClub Head Office: All families must be enrolled to attend the program, remember this is Free!! Please create an account online at all bookings and cancellations can also be managed via your online account. For on the day bookings please contact the Coordinator direct at the program.

12 FRUIT FOR MENTAL HEALTH We are Alison and Lucy and for our personal inquiry we are raising awareness for mental health. As part of that we will be conducting a mental health awareness week running activities to promote mental health and wellbeing from Monday 30th November to * Friday 4th December. On the Monday we will be providing fruit cups for $1 which you will have to pre-order and return this form by Friday 27th November with money enclosed. Name: Class: Yes my child would like a fruit salad cup for $1 12

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15 Father Mario s Sermon 22 November 2015 (Christ The King; 34 th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B) Daniel 7:13-14; Psalm 92:1-2,5; Apocalypse 1:5-8; John 18: Are you the king of the Jews? The gospel from John presents us with a very interesting scene from the passion of Jesus. Jesus is brought in front of Pilate to be condemned to death. The leaders of the Jewish people know that their reason for wanting to destroy Jesus does not stand a chance in front of Pilate, so they use a political argument: Jesus is claiming to be king, treason punishable by execution. Pilate holds court and interrogates Jesus: are you the king of the Jews? Instead of answering this question Jesus himself asks Pilate a question; the interrogator becomes the interrogated! Even in his passion Jesus is still in full control! Our politicians and world leaders get their authority from below. They need to formulate their political programmes in a way that is palatable to the people that will vote for them. As we have seen often enough, politicians who do not satisfy the wish of the electorate are quickly swept aside; they are accountable to the people who vote for them. Jesus tells Pilate that while his kingdom takes place and is lived here on earth the kingdom of God has overtaken you but it does not depend on any approval from its constituents, because it is not of this world! Its authority is not from below, but from above. Over the past year we have once again undertaken the pilgrimage of discipleship. With Mark as our gospel guide, we have listened to and reflected upon Jesus message. Jesus has continued to invite us to follow him. We are often aware that this call to follow Jesus puts us at odds with the world we live in. Jesus invites us to take on an attitude of poverty so that we could centre our life on him and on his values. On the other hand the world too entices us to follow its values. St Paul expresses this in one of his letters: I know what is right, I am drawn to what is right, but I always feel myself and find myself doing what is wrong, what I would rather not do! We look into ourselves and we recognise in ourselves the wheat of God s gifts, but we also know that there are many weeds within us. Weeds and wheat are so intertwined and so difficult to distinguish one from the other that at times we are not sure what to choose. Perhaps like Paul we want to do good but find ourselves doing what is wrong; we continuously need God s guidance. At the end of another year s journey Jesus invites us once again to trust in him. He is invites us to believe in him and to accept him as the one true Lord and king. We still need to live in this world with its values that at times distance us from God, but with our eyes towards heaven, waiting for the coming of the Son of Man. As much as we would like to eradicate the weeds from our life, this is not always possible; we need to trust that God will do that in due time. Our job is rather to make our choice to follow Christ, not because he is the most popular among worldly leaders, but because we know, we believe that he is from God, from above. Pope Francis wants us to reflect on the fact that God is a merciful God whose love is infinite. God loves us so much that he sent his Son into the world to save us. Jesus asks Pilate do you know who I am or are you repeating 15

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