Week 10 Term 1 2021
Principal's Message
This week we began the very important celebration in the Church year -Easter. This follows the events of Holy Week: Palm Sunday where Jesus is acclaimed as King, to the Last Supper on Thursday evening when Jesus eats for the last time with his friends and forms a loving covenant with them, to Good Friday when Jesus is nailed to the cross and finally to the joy and hope of the resurrection on Easter Sunday. This week represents love, fear, pain, suffering, joy, and hope. The death and resurrection of Jesus reminds us of His promise of eternal life.
You can see how we celebrated Holy Week at school in the RE News section of our newsletter. You may have already seen photos on Facebook.
Covid Updates
As you will have seen there have been regular updates about health directives for staff and students coming out on Seesaw. We do have staff and students away who are following these directives. Our communtiy thanks you for your adherence and patience with these. As you would be aware these change frequently and as soon as I am made aware I do pass this information on to staff and families. So please check Seesaw regularly.
Today marks the last day of the Term. The staff and students have worked really hard throughout the term and I sincerely congratulate them on their efforts. I am regularly in and out of classrooms and I get to see first hand the exciting things students are learning about but also get to see the changes in growth for students across the term. There is not a room I don't go into where I can't see the increase in engagement and the student ownership of their own leanring. This ownership is crucial and many parents would have heard goals for their children at their parent teacher meetings being held ove the last two weeks. Thanks for making the time to invest in your child's learning.
Term Dates - to note for your diary
- Wednesday 31st March last day of Term
- Thursday 1st April is a Staff Development Day (pupil free)
- Term 2 begins 19th April
- Wednesday 5th May is a Staff Develeopment Day (pupil free)
- Friday 25th June is a Staff Development Day (pupil free)
- Monday 12th July is a Staff Devleopment Day (pupil free)
- Monday 1st November is a Staff Development Day (pupil free)
Due to flooding our Stage 3 students were unable to attend camp. This has been postponed to Week 8 next Term. Thanks to their students for their gracious understanding.
Wishing all families a very happy Easter. May you spend time with family and stay safe & well,
Renay
Principal Awards Week 8
Principal Awards Week 9
Assistant Principal's Message
Student Representative Council (SRC)
The Student Representative Council (SRC) at St John’s is an elected group of students that dedicate their time and enthusiasm to organise ways for all students to participate and contribute to the school and the wider community.
Students from Year Two through to Year Six are given the opportunity to run for a SRC position through School Captain and Class Representative Elections. Through this process, one representative is elected from each class to attend regular meetings with Mr Flint. SRC members are also committed to sharing the ideas of their peers, contributing to meaningful projects and discussions and reporting back to their class and the whole school on current initiatives. Our first school SRC team for 2021 (elections will be held again mid-way through term 3 to elect new class representatives from Year Two through to Year Five) are;
Year Two; Sybella Fisher
Year Three; Vander Akehurst
Year Four; Tommy Jackson
Year Five; Kodi Mangleson
Year Six; Tanesa Browning & Max Nugent (standing in for Omar Bradbury)
Our SRC team will have their first meeting on Tuesday the 20th of April. First two agenda items are organising this year’s ‘ Big Bike & Scooter Day” and planning for an audit of recycling processes at St John’s. I’m really looking forward to working with this team of students who are so keen to contribute to our school.
Greg Flint
Teaching & Learning
Teachers at St John’s spend a lot of time planning their lessons. They help students to understand their learning by providing clear learning intentions. Often students and teachers co-create success criteria together and look at examples of what successful learning looks like.
What Are Learning Intentions?
Learning intentions describe what students should know, understand and be able to demonstrate by the end of a lesson, a series of lessons or a unit of work. Learning intentions are informed by curriculum documents and focus on knowledge, understanding or skills.
What is Success Criteria?
Success criteria state what students have to do to show they have achieved the learning intention. It can be used for students to self assess their learning in order to improve achievement. The criteria should be co-constructed with students and have a sufficient level of challenge.
Why are they Important?
Learning intentions and success criteria give students clarity around what they are learning, why they are learning it and assists them to track and assess their progress. They are very powerful in helping students in their progression towards higher levels of achievement. Using the success criteria as a basis for feedback, students will know what they need to do to improve. This encourages independent learning. Self assessment, as well as effective and timely feedback from the teacher, has significant impact on student achievement. Learning intentions and success criteria provide an anchor for students when they are tracking their progress.
Students will be well supported when effective learning intentions and success criteria are used. They can be used across all Key Learning Areas. In particular, success criteria will
- Improve understanding
- Help when designing tasks
- Help learners to focus on the task
- Encourage independent learning
- Enable accurate feedback
- Allow students to self assess
Students will take more responsibility for their learning when they know what they are going to learn, how they will recognise when they have succeeded and why they should learn it in the first place.
RE NEWS
HOLY WEEK
This week we have been learning and celebrating Holy Week. Holy Week starts with Palm Sunday and finishes with Easter Sunday. It is observed with special solemnity as a time of devotion to the Passion of Jesus Christ. Classes have been engaging with each part of the Holy Week story through storytelling. Find below some video that tells the story of Holy Week.
Kindergarten News
Kindergarten and Year 6 students doing a Maths Rich Task together on length. How many cubes long is your year 6 buddies shoe?
SPORT NEWS -note came home today
CANTEEN NEWS
Thanks for all your help with Canteen this term, lots of delicious and healthy food options were available.
I appreciate all the donations of baked goods or fresh produce that we received in our canteen this term.
I will be put together a roster next term, thanks for your show of interest.
See below the option of buying reusable lunch wallets through stickybeaks.com A great alternative to paper bags!
Stay healthy and have a safe holiday
Jacki
REMINDERS
Thursday 1 April is a Pupil Free Day
Monday 19 April School Resumes for Term 2
Wednesday 21 April Cross Country to be held
COMMUNITY INFORMATION
