Term 4, Week 6, 11 November 2021

Principal's Message

We are now in the business end of the Term. Things get very busy, assessments start for students and teachers begin to develop their picture for reports. During this very busy time of year relationships between peers can become strained. This is the longest number of consequtive days  in a while that the students have been socialising together (touch wood no more lockdowns). The students can become short tempered with one another and inflexible in their thinking. There are a couple of things that can help your child successfully navigate through to the end of the year, such as ensuring your child get's a good night sleep, spending one on one time with their parent (a good time to help them navigate through any problems that may arise), reduce time on devices, ensure regular exercise and a good diet.

We have had some changes to our current Covid Restrictions and these include:

- Outside assemblies can now occur with social distancing between cohorts.

-Fully vaccinated parents and carers will be allowed onsite to support curriculum delivery, student
   wellbeing activities and school operations (for example reading support, canteens and uniform
 shops). These parents and carers must check in using the school check-in and show proof of   vaccination on entry to the school site. Unfortunately, unvaccinated parents are unable to be on       site.

- masks required indoors for staff and all adults on site.

-maintain physical distancing 1.5m.

In addition to these changes we reently reassessed our Covid Safe practices to reduce cohort mingling wherever possible. Some situations are unavoidable but we now have specified cohort eating areas and seating arrangements for bus and car pick up.  We have also updated our Covid Outbreak management plan which outlines our response should we be notified of a positive case.

Please remember if your child shows any signs of cold or flu like symptoms please keep them home until symptoms are gone. 

Donations                                                                                                                                                                              I would like to ask families to donate covered treats eg wrapped chocolate or lollies etc. The children have begun painting mini terracotta pots and we would like to fill them with some treats. These will then be donated to the Mullumbimby Neighbourhood Centre to gift alongside their foodbank.

Congratulations                                                                                                                                                                          I would like to congratulate and welcome Mr David Bermingham who has been appointed as Principal beginning 2022. I am sure the families, students and staff will make him feel welcome. I wish him every success in this new appointment and know he will become a valued member of our wonderful school community.

Regards,  

Renay Condon

Assistant Principal Message

How did you learn to read?

Recently, I’ve been conducting lots of detailed reading assessments with our year three students. It’s always fascinating to observe children reading, it’s a deceptively complex activity. Complex largely because learner readers are having to do two difficult tasks at once. Decode or read the words and make sense of the text or comprehend the messages within it at the same time.

The children demonstrated strong reading and comprehension skills. The assessment tells the teacher what kind of errors the students are making and what strategies they have in place to correct an error or read a difficult word. Nearly all of the children assessed demonstrated a weakness in one area. That being the ability to use context clues to decode a difficult word. This is a sophisticated skill in which a reader must scan and read beyond the tricky word and back behind the word to harvest clues that will help them decode or crack the problem word. This skill whilst tricky is essential for children to grow as readers.

Tips for reading at home.  

• Make it routine, we recommend children read every night. As with learning any tricky skills: practice is essential! 
• Recommended reading times; kindy to year two 5-15 mins, year 3 to year 6 15-30mins per night.
• Find reading materials that interest your child. This can be especially important for stage two boys. In some cases graphic novels or magazines can be the kind of texts that spark interest and enjoyment.
• Read to children sometimes and listen to them read other times... keeps it fresh.
• When possible find a quiet, comfortable spot that is the go-to reading spot with your child. If you have other children, this can be tricky, I know!
• Ease Into The Book. Get your child thinking about what the book might be about by asking some questions before you start reading.
• Don’t Tell Them, Guide Them. If you tell your child every word they get stuck on, they won’t learn to use the reading strategies they are learning at school and ...
• Make it Enjoyable! Reading is meant to be a fun enjoyable time with your child. If you are getting frustrated with them, this will rub off on them.
• Comprehension is Important. When they have finished reading the book. Ask a few questions to check for comprehension. Your child’s comprehension is a vital component of them learning to read.
• Even with older children reading aloud is still important and helpful. However whilst they may read a whole chapter independently they can simply choose one or two pages to read to you.

Kind regards, Greg 

TEACHING AND LEARNING

Keeping in Time 

At St John’s the creative aspects of learning have always been highly valued. Music, art, drama and dance are integrated into many Key Learning Areas. However, each week we ensure students engage with the creative arts during a designated time with Mrs Lisa Russell. Each term has a different focus from the Creative Arts syllabus. Mrs Russelll has definitely had to think outside the box this year to deliver this curriculum whilst following the COVID guidelines. 

In Term Four, the focus has been on Music but of course we are not allowed to sing! Music lessons have therefore focused on rhythm, and moving to music. Students are also studying classical music and enjoying stories such as "Peter and the Wolf." 

Each class of students has created and performed their own body percussion sequences. The students have also enjoyed reading and writing rhythmic patterns using french time names.

All classes have experimented with percussion instruments, following instructions and keeping in time to the music. It is wonderful to hear the sound of bells, chimes and tambourines coming from the hall each week and witness the concentration on the student’s faces as they keep in time. 

RE NEWS

First Holy Communion                                                                              The word 'communion’ means to be united with; Catholics believe that in Holy Communion we are united in a special way with Jesus Christ. 

At his last supper, Jesus said of the bread that he shared among his followers, "Take and eat, this is my body." When we receive Holy Communion, Catholics believe that in a mysterious way we are sharing in the body and blood of Christ.

First Holy Communion is a special occasion - a further step in becoming one with Christ and united with the People of God. 

I would like to congratulate Tomas Jackson, Luke Beaton, Hazel Beaton, Banjo Bailey and Harper Bailey on receiving their First Holy Communion on Sunday. 

First Holy Communion

Making Jesus Real 

Having a Positive Attitude

You are in charge of your attitude to life.  Positive people are easy to be around and tend to be cheerful, friendly, helpful and forgiving.  It can be as simple as smiling, saying hello and thank you.  Surround yourself with positive people; people who think positively and speak positively.  Did you know that attitudes are contagious?  In fact a positive attitude can take you places and easily spread to members of your family, your class or even the whole school community.  

Attitudes are contagious…. Is yours worth catching?

AROUND THE STAGES

Stage 1 

THE DAY THE CHAIRS QUIT!                                                                                         

Due to stinky bottoms, being left out from under the table, treated unfairly and being drawn on, the chairs in the Stage One classroom went on strike! While also apologising to the chairs, students had the important job of writing a persuasive letter to convince the chairs to return. The children did a fantastic job with not only writing these letters, but also taking on teacher and peer feedback to edit their work. All students are to be congratulated on the way they shared and listened to feedback to bump up their writing. See below the letter the chairs left for the students before going on strike and the very convincing apology letters. 

CHAIRS ON STRIKE

Stage 1 Apology letters

MUSIC through the stages

SCHOOL NEWS

SCHOOL FEES

School Fee statements for November have been sent out. Please arrange to finalise your account before the end of Term. This can be done via Bpay or Compass pay.    Please use your compass app to access balances.   If you have any concerns or queries please contact the school direct. 

CANTEEN

The canteen will be open on a Monday 22nd November for a vegetarian or bolognese  nacho's lunch.  Please pre order by 3pm Thursday 18th November either via the office or the Compass app.    There will also be other items for sale at recess, i.e. baked goods, chips etc.  

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU"

Our birthday people

Billy, Annika & Malik

SAFE ON SOCIAL Tips

 A few tips about what we need to teach early primary students about online safety.

• Open up discussions about content on the internet early - explaining to them that they are always able to speak up if they see something that makes them feel weird in the tummy, scary, or adult.
• Use devices only when they have asked for permission and an adult is nearby
• Don’t share personal information online such as their full name, where they live, and never share any images of themselves in school uniform. Ever.
• Only click on tabs a parent or teacher has set up for them.
• Respect the game age classifications and age recommendations, they are there to keep them safe.

Our aim here is to open the door to safe conversation early. This may be far earlier than any of us expected, but it may just help to safeguard our students for their later school years.
Kirra                                                                                                                                                                                              Safe on Social Toolkit Team