Term 4, Week 6, 17 November 2022

Principal Message

Our students are such amazing learners! We have just pushed through the halfway mark of the term and the enthusiasm that our students have towards their learning is nothing short of amazing. Teachers are working hard to make judgements for report cards and finishing off any assessments that are required. The report cards will be released to parents on Compass on Tuesday 13th December. 

Over the last couple fo weeks we have had the opportunity to review our School Improvement Goals for 2022 (see in plan below). We have had some great successes this year with all of our Actions completed and positive outcomes for the students. We move onto the next phase of planning for our strategic direction in 2023. Thank you to those parents who filled out the quick survey, it is great to get that feedback to use when descerning some actions for 2023. 

I hope to have some of our strategic goals released to parents in the next newsletter. 

Key Dates for Term 4

Please find below key dates for Term 4 at this stage. Any additional dates will be communicated as they arise during the term.

• Saturday 19th November - Day on the Green Event
• Wednesday 23rd November - Swimming lessons for K-2 begin (Repeat each Wed, Thurs, Fri for 3 weeks)
• Wednesday 7th December - End of Year Concert
• Tuesday 13th December - Report Cards released to parents 
• Thursday 15th December - Last Day of Term 4

Ongoing items to be conscious of during term 4:

• School Assembly is taking place every Monday at 2:20pm. Parents Welcome
• The School newsletter will go out on Thursday in Weeks 2, 4, 6, 8, 10.
• Family Connect Worker Lisa Wood is in every Monday.
• School Tuckshop will be open every Friday.

Staffing 2023 Update

There are a few changes for next year. We will have a few announcements today and some more in the coming weeks. 

Firsty, Congratulations to Ellie Bailey, Amanda Bottle and Louie McEvoy who have been appointed to 12 month contracts for next year. Each of these teachers brings so much value to our school so we congratulate ech of them on their re-appointment.

For the last couple of years Courtney Wells has been looking for new opportunities and challenges. Recently Courtney was offered and accepted a 12 month contract at St Ambrose Primary, Pottsville for 2023. Courtney has been at St John's for about 8 years and in that time has continued to build her teaching and leadership skills and we know she will add so much value wherever she goes, in whatever position she is in. Courtney’s permanent position will remain here at St John's, so there is currently an advertisement online for her replacement on a 12 month contract for 2023. As soon as this teacher is appointed, it will be announced to the community. We congratulate Courtney on her new appointment and wish her all the best for 2023.

Greg Flint has decided that he would like to change his career direction slightly and further challenge himself. So he has applied for and been successful in gaining a part-time position as a consultant for Parent Shop, which is Australia's leading childhood anxiety, child, teen and adult behaviour-change specialist. However, we can’t let Greg go that easily. Although he will not be able to perform AP duties because of this new role, we have appointed Greg into a Permanent Part-time position as Leader of Pastoral Care and will remain on the Leadership team. There is currently an internal Expression of Interest for the Acting AP role here for 2023. The permanent AP position will be advertised during the year next year for a start in 2024. As soon as the Acting AP for 2023 is appointed, it will be announced to the community. We congratulate Greg on his new roles!

With these changes, it means that we have vacancies in the Leader of Evangelisation (Courtney) role and Leader of Catechesis (Greg) roles. We have received permission to offer this role as a joint Leadership position, which is Leader of Mission. This role will be a 12 month contract for 2023 and will be internally advertised to staff later in the year. As soon as this Leader of Mission for 2023 is appointed, it will be announced to the community.

Finally, I have managed to negotiate an extra Coordinator Point and this point will be directed into the area of Sport. At the end of last year Louie McEvoy agreed to take on this role for a few years, so it is my pleasure to congratulate Louie who will officially be Coordinator of Sport for 2023. 

In the next newsletter, I will provide a full staff listing for 2023. 

Mullum Show Bee Exhibition

What an amazing effort by our little school! 2nd place in the Mullum show schools Bee exhibitions! Our students presented amazing work and our teacher delivered fantastic lessons. A big shout out to our very talented resident artist Karla Chartres Art for helping the students paint the mural! Thank you to Mrs Bailey for organising the display, you are unbeeeelievable!

Bee Exhibition

Kind Regards, 

Dave Bermingham

Assistant Principal Message

 News from the Heart

In May 2017, over 250 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander delegates from all points of the Southern Sky gathered issued the Uluru Statement from the Heart to the Australian people, which invited the nation to create a better future for all of Australia.

This course explores the first of these proposed reforms: enshrining an Indigenous Voice to Parliament in the Australian Constitution.

In the course, you'll discover what is meant by Indigenous Constitutional Recognition through a Voice – and what a Voice to Parliament is, and is not. You will also learn why a Referendum is required to make it happen. 

This experience will take about 15 – 20 minutes of your time to explore the content.

Click Start Course to begin your Learning Journey. 

How to Help Our Kids to Stress Less…

Recently I’ve been reading a book on childhood anxiety and how to help children manage and overcome anxiety.

The author talks about parents establishing a home environment that supports children who are stress ready and can manage their own stress and  tackle challenges confidently over time. He identifies four key factors that create this stress ready environment. They are;

• Mind maintenance. 

• Skills them to tame their fears.

• Listen to them more.

• Help them to think more accurately.

Today we are going to have a closer look at number one. Mind maintenance. Mind maintenance involves looking after sleep, that is both quality and quantity of sleep. The guidelines on sleep quantity are pretty clear these days.

How much sleep do we need?

• Babies under 1. 14-18 hours throughout day & night

• Toddlers. 12-14 hours during 24 hours

• Primary school. 10-12 hours per day

• High school. 9-11 hours per day

• Adults. 7-9 hours per day.

If children are lacking sleep they find it harder to self-regulate when faced with stressful situations. Psychologists report that children with an anxiety  ‘presentation’ often have issues with a lack of timely uninterrupted sleep.

Internet.

Hawton the books author, talks strongly about the internet being an ‘invited guest’ not an assumed resident in your house. It is crucial that parents get the balance right and set the ground rules for internet use. Jocelyn Brower at www.digitalnutrition .com.au an Australian psychologist has some good guidelines to assist parents in establishing a family tech agreement.

Establish eye contact & gaze at your children when communicating.

We all sense that when we have eye contact we are connected to our kids. This eye contact or gazing research tells us is integral for a childs development of attachment and their ability to self regulate as they grow and develop. In busy world, with all the distractions of technolgy this is not quite as simple as it may first sound. I’d love to hear your thoughts about this.

Radical downtime.

Hawton mentions the importance of exercise and how exercise can improve our capacity to think clearly. He also mentions a study by Stixrud & Johnson who in their book The Thriving Child when discussing the components of a healthy child they discuss something known as the Buddha Brain. The Buddha Brain is a name for the settled mind…the resting brain. This is that uninterrupted downtime when one can daydream, reflect on the past and plan for the future. You may recall climbing trees as a kid and sometimes just sitting and looking out at the world. All humans need these uncluttered moments free from technology and too many distractions.

Michael Hawton’s book The Anxiety Coach will be published in February 2023.

Please contact me if you want to discuss any of these topics further.

Best regards, Greg

AROUND THE STAGES - Stage 3

We have been looking at the unit reign of God. This unit has shown us how to act justly, love tenderly and walk humbly. We decided to show our learning by raising money for the school and the Mullum community. Different year 5 groups did surveys to understand the need of the school so they did different stalls to raise money for their needs for the school. K-2 decided they wanted sand equipment. Stage 2 people decide to raise up for sports equipment. The year 6’s raised money for goats for people in Indonesia. Everyone did different fun activities to raise money such as a bake stall and lolly jar guessing and a soccer and handball competition. At the end of this unit, we hope that most people will understand the unit reign of God.

Community: 

Year 6 raised money for World Vision Australia, this fundraiser is all about buying goats with the money raised from groups, clubs, communities or individuals. These goats will go to Indonesia for the people who are in droughts and don't have any food. This goat will help people with dairy needs such as milk, cheese, and butter. Plus they also provide soap with this goat’s milk. They chose goats because they are easy to feed and almost about eat anything. They are also easy to get the product out of. Each goat costs $40. Through our Christmas-themed dress-up, we raised $92. This amount is enough to buy two goats, with $12 left over. The leftover money will go towards another group who wants to provide a goat but weren't able to pay the full $40.

K-2  Stall: 

Aliza and I raised money for sand equipment for k to 2 because we wanted to make playtime for the kids more enjoyable as this was the top vote. We are going to get buckets and shovels and sifters and trucks etc: We ended up raising $76.30c

Handball, Soccer: Tommy, Marley and Quinn raised money to get more sand equipment for k to 2s like spades and sand buckets and they have more things to play with at lunch and recess and more sand to fill the gaga and sand pit up and we made 56$ and 60 cents.

Year 3 - 6   Lolly Jar.  

Seb, Colt, Will, Hudson and Vida liked the idea of doing a lolly jar. We made $74.30. With that money, we are going to buy handballs and basketballs. I think that everything went well and there were no problems with people guessing and paying money. What we could have done is we could have had three jars so we could have gotten more. There are 4 groups in stage 3 and the group that made the most money. The cause was to help raise money for new sports equipment.​

In our opinion, we think we had no problems, but what we would like to work on is how we talk to our customers​. Vander won and Shanti also won. From Seb, Vida, Colt, Hudson and Will.

SCHOOL INFORMATION

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU"

Our birthday people

Brendan, Annika, Malik, Rocket & Orion 

Piano Lessons

Piano lessons are available at St John’s, during school hours and after school.
Enquiries please call Daniel Holland 0401 071 667

FAMILY CONNECT - The Lunch Box: snack sized tips with Lisa 
Transition to Secondary School
Do you have a child who is starting secondary school next year? This can mean significant changes
and both children and parents can have mixed feelings about this. However, you can help your child
by preparing practically and emotionally for this transition. Here’s a couple of ideas:
 Make sure your child attends any secondary school transition days that are available.
 Involve your child in decision-making where possible. For example, you could discuss
transport options to and from school.
 Talk with your child about what they’re most looking forward to and what they’re worried
about. Actively listen when your child shares their feelings and worries about secondary
school.
 Encourage your child to look at the positive side of the move to secondary school. For
example, you could highlight the new extracurricular activities your child could try.
Headspace has some great resources to support the transition from primary to secondary school
including changes they are experiencing, common concerns, common responses, signs your young
person may need extra support and what to do if your young person needs extra support.
If you’re looking for further support for your children, our Family Connect worker Lisa Wood can
help. Lisa is at St John’s each Monday. You can contact Lisa on 0429 441 518 or email
her lisa.wood@socialfutures.org.au

MULLUM HIGH END of Year Community BBQ

Mullum High are celebrating the year thats been with students, staff families and community members. All the local Primary schools  have been invoited to come along for fun filled afternoon.