Filter Content
Please go to our school calendar on the website or COMPASS for more details.
Please note that the first day of Term 3 and the last day of Term 4 (22 July, and 17 December) are also pupil free days for professional learning for staff. Students do not attend school on these days. OSHClub will be available.
Term 2 Week 3-8
- Friday Fitness (weeks 4-9)
- National Simultaneous Story Time (week 4)
- Regional cross country (week 4)
- Sacrament of Eucharist (week 5)
- Athletics Carnival (week 5)
- K-2 Shoelace Tying Workshop (week 5)
- Feast of the Sacred Heart Day (week 6)
School Focus and Positive Behaviour
The school positive behaviour focus this week was:
Look after equipment
Ngunnawal word of the week:
Garid (means 'rain')
Dear St John's families,
We had a very busy week this week!
Today many of our students participated in Walk Safely to School Day. Thank you to Ms Kennelly and Ms McIver for organising this opportunity opportunity for a fun start to the day and thank you to the many staff members and parents who walked with the students.
![IMG_4523](https://prod005-au.sz-cdn.net/stjohnflorey/media/7219/240517052749282/4032x3024/img_4523.jpg)
![NPEO4583](https://prod005-au.sz-cdn.net/stjohnflorey/media/7220/240517052749897/900x1600/npeo4583.jpg)
![IMG_8267](https://prod005-au.sz-cdn.net/stjohnflorey/media/7221/240517052751457/2316x3088/img_8267.jpeg)
![IMG_8272](https://prod005-au.sz-cdn.net/stjohnflorey/media/7222/240517052754264/3024x4032/img_8272.jpeg)
![IMG_8269](https://prod005-au.sz-cdn.net/stjohnflorey/media/7223/240517052755981/4032x3024/img_8269.jpeg)
![20240517_081238](https://prod005-au.sz-cdn.net/stjohnflorey/media/7224/240517052756797/2016x980/20240517_081238.jpg)
![IMG_7653](https://prod005-au.sz-cdn.net/stjohnflorey/media/7225/240517052809044/4032x3024/img_7653.jpg)
![IMG_7649](https://prod005-au.sz-cdn.net/stjohnflorey/media/7226/240517052810722/3024x4032/img_7649.jpg)
![](https://prod005-au.sz-cdn.net/stjohnflorey/media/7219/240517052749282/500x375/img_4523.jpg)
![](https://prod005-au.sz-cdn.net/stjohnflorey/media/7220/240517052749897/500x888/npeo4583.jpg)
![](https://prod005-au.sz-cdn.net/stjohnflorey/media/7221/240517052751457/500x666/img_8267.jpeg)
![](https://prod005-au.sz-cdn.net/stjohnflorey/media/7222/240517052754264/500x666/img_8272.jpeg)
![](https://prod005-au.sz-cdn.net/stjohnflorey/media/7223/240517052755981/500x375/img_8269.jpeg)
There are so many ways students can travel to and from school at St John the Apostle. We are very fortunate to our access to many local paths, bike routes and buses.
Have you seen the map by the back school gate? It was developed as part of the Active Streets program several years ago. It outlines the best pathways for children to travel safely to school, particularly if parents want to drive only a part way and children walk for part of it too.
We also have access to a large number of designated school bus services that support families. The following suburbs have bus services that transport children to and from our school:
- Florey
- Kippax
- Holt
- Higgins
- Macgregor
- Latham
- Charnwood
- Dunlop
- Evatt
- Gungahlin
- Ngunnawal
- Casey
- Nicholls
- Spence
- Melba
- Fraser
- Aranda
- Cook
- Weetangera
- Hawker
If you want to learn more about the different ways students can travel to and from school then please visit the following Schools Program site and select our school from the drop down box. You'll find the map of safe walking and cycle paths as well as all of the relevant bus timetables.
Teaching Child Safety (Part 2)
Last week I mentioned that there are two main themes that are repeatedly talked about throughout the Protective Behaviours program we teach:
![Protective Behaviors for Personal Safety Parents Families.com](https://www.families.com/wp-content/uploads/media/PB%20themes_01.jpg)
I outlined a few key concepts from the first theme:
- Safety is a continuum - safety is not a binary. We often accept some risk when it is fun and we have some control over the situation, e.g. watching a scary movie.
- Early warning signs - our bodies sometimes give us signs that we are feeling at risk or unsafe, e.g. butterflies.
- Unsafe secrets - are those that my parents don't know, feel 'wrong' or 'unsafe', where somebody might get hurt. Safe secrets, or 'surprises', are okay because no one will get hurt and usually the right people know about it.
We also teach the difference between 'public' and 'private'. In particular we identify that there are public and private parts to our bodies. We name the private parts so that everyone is clear about them. For boys this is the penis, bottom and testicles. For girls it is the breasts, vagina and bottom. For boys and girls the mouth is also a private part.
A good indication of our public and private parts is the clothing we wear. We have public and private clothing (e.g. underwear is private clothing).
No one sees or touches our private body parts without a good reason and our permission (e.g. a doctor has to examine us).
We extend this to include public and private information in an online environment. This is an important component of being safe online.
The last important concept we teach from our first theme is that of 'personal space'. There are different levels of personal spaces bubbles - that imaginary space we create around ourselves. Everybody can decide for themselves who they let into the different space bubbles.
The different levels of personal space bubbles space include:
Personal Space bubble
-
- This is personal and private
- No one touches you without your permission
- We don’t keep secrets about touching without permission
Kiss, cuddle and squeeze bubble
-
- This is for special people (close family members or carers) who you love, are close to and know well
- They can only do this with your permission
- It's okay to say “no thanks” to anyone at any time - even mum, dad or a carer
Hug bubble
-
- This might include extended family and friends you know well and like to be around
- They can only do this with your permission
- It's okay to say “no thanks” to anyone at any time
High Five bubble
-
- These are for people you know, but not as well as in the hug bubble
- Only do it if you feel safe and comfortable
- It might include contact such as a high five, side hug or handshake
- It's okay to say “no thanks’ and move away
Wave bubble
-
- This includes people you might know but not as well as the hug bubble, e.g. neighbour, shop assistant, postie
- You usually say “hello" but generally there's no touching
Stranger/do not touch bubble
-
- This is for people you have never met before
- We do not kiss, cuddle, squeeze, hug these people without your own and their consent
- Sometimes thought you might need to ask a stranger in uniform to help with something
- It might also include people you might know but you would never want them to touch you
We always explain that while it is important to be assertive about your own space bubbles, you must always respect other poeople's personal choices regarding their space bubbles. Everybody is different!
Next week I will share about the important concepts we teach for our second theme: Nothing is so awful that you can't talk with someone about it.
If you want to know more of how you can help your child understand how to stay safe I encourage you to read the ACT Government's Protecting Your Kids: Personal Safety Education for Parents.
Disability Parking
At the front of our school are two parking spaces allocated to those who have a disability parking permit. Disability parking permits are provided by the ACT Government to people who need to park close, have extra space, use ramps, etc. in order to access public venues. Should they use regular parks they have an increased risk of injuring themselves, unlike the general population.
An observation I make in Canberra is that some members of the general population use these parks because 'their just running in' to the shops or other venues. That includes at our school. You never ever know when a person with a disability permit is going to pull up and need that park. There's never a 'right time' to park in a disability allocated parking space when one doesn't have a permit.
We have members of our community who have disability parking permits for a variety of personal reasons and they need those parks to access our school.
If you are a person without a disability parking permit, please support our community by using the regular parks only whenever you come to school. It will likely make a huge difference to somebody and you won't even know it.
Enrolment Period - Fabulous Year 6!
The 2025 Enrolment Period has begun. If you have a child ready for Kindergarten next year now is the time to submit an enrolment form. If your child is heading to Year 7 next year then please submit your enrolment form for SFX within the enrolment window to ensure your child will have a place there.
I would like to offer a big shout out to our Year 6 students who have led tours of families during the past week. They have been amazing. The feedback about their thoroughness, enthusiasm and honesty has been very, very positive! Thank you to those parents who encouraged and enabled their child to participate in this opportunity to show leadership and also serve their school.
Congratulations to our Year students who will receive the Sacrament of Confirmation this evening. We look forward to celebrating this special moment together with them.
Matthew Garton
Principal
Teaching, Learning and Inclusion
National Consistent Colletion of Data on School Students with a Disability (NCCD)
All schools in Australia are required to participate annually in the National Consistent Collection of Data for Students with Disability (NCCD). This allows our Catholic sector to continue to provide and prioritise innovative and high-quality teaching and learning to support all students on their learning journey. Above all though, our Catholic tradition demands that educators see every child as equal, inherently sacred and worthy of dignity and respect. Our Catholic schools support children and young people with disability as an act of love, not merely as a legislative requirement.
What is the National Consistent Collection of Data?
The Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on Student School Students with Disability (NCCD) is a process that all schools must complete on an annual basis. It is designed to count the number of students who receive additional adjustments or “help” at school because of a disability. This national data collection helps federal and state governments plan for the needs of students with disability. It is also the way that schools seek and receive funding to support the learning needs of their students.
Who is included in the data collection?
To include a student in the NCCD collection, schools must consider some key questions:
- Is the student receiving adjustments to assist them with their ability to participate in schooling on the same basis as their peers?
- Does the student meet the NCCD's broad definition of disability?
- Has this school discussed the adjustments(help) with the student and/or parent/carer/ guardian?
- Does the school have documentation (assessments, medical reports or other paperwork) about the student’s functional needs, the adjustments (help) that they provided and how the student progressed overtime?
Where the school decides that the four steps above are in place (i.e. the student meets the NCCD criteria), the school then decides the best disability category and how much help (adjustment level) that the student is provided with.
What is the broad definition of disability?
The NCCD definition of disability is based on the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and there are four categories: sensory (e.g., vision / hearing impairment), cognitive, social-emotional and physical.
The definition of disability is very broad and many students that need help at school can be counted in the NCCD. Students with learning disorders e.g., specific learning disability or reading impairment (sometimes referred to as dyslexia), ADHD or auditory processing disorder, chronic health conditions (e.g., epilepsy or diabetes), physical disability (e.g., cerebral palsy), vision/hearing impairment and social emotional disorders (e.g., selective mutism, anxiety disorders, Autism Spectrum Disorder) may be included in the data count.
A formal diagnosis by specialist may be very helpful for the school but is not needed in the NCCD. A student’s inclusion in the NCCD collection is based on professional teacher judgement. Schools can consider school based and external documents to decide if a student can be counted.
What are examples of adjustments?
Students need different types of help at school. Some students need a little help sometimes (minor adjustments) but other students need a lot of help nearly all the time (extensive adjustments). The type of help and support that a school provides is also very different depending on the needs of the student. The adjustments can include physical changes to the school buildings or grounds (e.g., ramps or special equipment), extra teacher support in classes, special learning programmes, changes to the way the curriculum is presented and delivered or extra adult assistance.
What information is needed about my child?
Schools work together with parents /guardians/carers to understand the needs of each child. Your knowledge of your child's development and learning is important and valuable in this process. It will be very helpful to provide your child's teacher with a copy of any relevant past reports (e.g., from a psychologist, speech pathologist, doctor, Paediatrician, OT etc). These reports will be used with information from your child's teacher, such as information about your child's reading progress or a Personalised Learning Plan, to build a picture of your child's needs and the help that the school is providing.
How is information collected?
The data collection process involves input from teachers, principals and other school staff working together to consider the data for students with disability in their school, the category of disability and the level of adjustment that best reflects each student’s needs.
As a first step, teachers consult with the student and their parent/guardian/carer, to discuss the student’s strengths in the areas where the student needs extra support. This support could be support for their learning, behaviour support, support for medical needs, participation, or other areas where the student needs extra help. Information collected about the type of adjustments the school is making so that they can participate and learn on the same basis as other students. Documentation, such as diagnostic reports, school reports, parent teacher interviews, Collaborative Planning Meetings and Personalised Learning Plans, will help to provide evidence of the type of support that the school is providing.
What happens to the data? Is it confidential?
All schools must complete the NCCD. Each school principal is required to verify and submit data about students with disabilities in their school during August of each year. The privacy and confidentiality of all students and their families is respected and handled as per the school's Privacy Policy and Collection Notice. Please refer to your schools’ policies for further information.
Do schools require active consent from parents to include students in NCCD?
Amendments were made to the Australian Education Act 2013 and subsequent regulations. As such, schools do not require parents/carers/guardians to provide active consent for students to be included in the NCCD nor is there an option for parents/carers/guardians to request their child not be included (e.g., an opt-out option.)
Where can I access more information?
Please contact your child's school if you have further questions about the NCCD. Additionally, the following link to the national NCCD Portal may be helpful www.nccd.edu.au.
Awards
Congratulations to all of our Spelling Mastery and Maths Mastery Award Recipients who recieved awards today.
![17.555](https://prod005-au.sz-cdn.net/stjohnflorey/media/7230/240517063441785/640x480/17.555.jpg)
![17.55](https://prod005-au.sz-cdn.net/stjohnflorey/media/7231/240517063442253/640x480/17.55.jpg)
![17.5](https://prod005-au.sz-cdn.net/stjohnflorey/media/7232/240517063442838/640x480/17.5.jpg)
![](https://prod005-au.sz-cdn.net/stjohnflorey/media/7230/240517063441785/500x375/17.555.jpg)
![](https://prod005-au.sz-cdn.net/stjohnflorey/media/7231/240517063442253/500x375/17.55.jpg)
![](https://prod005-au.sz-cdn.net/stjohnflorey/media/7232/240517063442838/500x375/17.5.jpg)
Rebekah Brown
Assistant Principal and Inclusion Coordinator
What Students are Learning About
This Sunday we celebrate the Feast of Pentecost, the birth of our church. Students across the school have been reflecting on the scripture from Acts 2:1 – 13. Year One have created a beautiful display showing their understanding of the scripture. Year 6, as part of Confirmation preparation, are working on this Scripture. By looking closely at the scripture, using the Read with a Pencil strategy, they identify key words, questions they may have and important parts of the structure. They also use a map to help them understand where all of the people in the story had travelled from.
What Teachers are Learning About
3 Maroon teacher, Louise Osborne-Goldsbrough, and myself will be attending the Currents of Grace conference next week. It is an opportunity to pray and connect with other education systems across the country. We have chosen two pathways, leadership and mission. We are excited to learn more about our role in this area and where our church is headed.
Catholic Life and Reflection
We live a blessed life. I am grateful and to quote Meryl Streep “That is all.”
May God bless you,
And keep you.
Cause his face to shine on you,
And have mercy on you.
Turn his countenance to you,
And give you peace.
(Parish Blessing Song)
Philippians 4:19-21 (NRSV)
And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
God bless,
Stephanie Stewart
Notices from the Parish
Sacraments of Confirmation and The Eucharist
The Sacrament of First Eucharist will be celebrated on 1 & 2 June 2024
respectively. Most of those celebrating these sacraments are from our school.
Please hold all of the children preparing for these sacraments in your prayers.
Happy Birthday to Klara Nilsson, Jackson Loricchiella, Sonam Drolma, Alexis Greenhalgh, Japji Chohan, Evelina Nilsson, Te-Aroha Baxter, Hugo Mullins and Jonah Terron who all celebrated a birthday over the last week.
This year we will be presenting a number of awards to students. Please see below the scedule for this term. Most awards will be handed out on a Friday morning.
At St John the Apostle we teach a number of programs that focus on mastering particular knowledge and skills in literacy and numeracy. Students are taught based on their individual, current level of mastery. Two of the programs we teach are Spelling Mastery and Rocket Maths. We regularly collect data from students in both of these programs so we can track that they are having continous progress. Students work hard to achieve mastery in these programs, so we celebrate the students who show mastery in these programs by giving them awards.
Students will receive Spelling Mastery Awards once they reach mastery three times at their Spelling Mastery level. For some students this is 10/10 and for others it is 25/25. For Kindergarten students will receive Spelling Mastery Awards when they receive 10/10 for each unit they complete in Sounds~Write.
Students will receive Maths Mastery Awards each time they beat their Rocket Math Two Minute Goal.
This year we will also be presenting Brag Tag Awards. These will be handed out each time a student receives 20 brag tags.
Week |
Award |
Week Four |
Brag Tag Awards Spelling Mastery Awards Rocket Maths Awards presented |
Week Five |
Next weeks award recipients in Newsletter |
Week Six |
Spelling Mastery Awards presented Brag Tag Awards presented |
Week Seven |
Next week award recipients in Newsletter |
Week Eight |
Rocket Maths Awards presented Spelling Mastery Awards presented Brag Tag Awards Notify end of term award families. |
Week Nine |
Next week award recipients in Newsletter |
Week Ten |
Spelling Mastery Awards presented Brag Tag Awards presented Rocket Maths Awards presented |
Brag Tag Awards - presented on Friday 24th May, 8.50am (Week 4)
Benjamin Bevan | Toby Blackford |
Aluel Ajang | Leo Jackson |
Mackenzie Knight | Patrick Glenn-Downey |
Desmond Walsh | Emilio Vinoles |
Oz Haureliuk | Anabelle-Louise Trevaskis |
Rylan Richardson | Henry Cameron |
Alexandra Lowther | Sophia Nott |
William Le | Jack Robertson |
Nate Sawyer | Abbey Wailes |
Jayden Amrado | Emma Perkov |
Reedhee Pandey | Ava Suthern |
Evelina Nilsson | Lilly Van Audenaerde |
Benjamin Cassar | Ava King |
Suban Rijal | Sonam Drolma |
Timmy Masterman | Zachary Williams |
Diyana Weerarathna | Victor Lomax |
Logan Campbell | Ava Kraljevic |
Harry Stone | Grace Whitfield |
Michael Howes | Rubi Shean |
Casper Nolan | Jacob O'Donnell |
Zackary Sutherland | Madelyn Borscz |
Emily Sheppard | Amara Byrne |
Amalie Hanna | Ella Butler |
Nizar Habeb | Ali Kayvanshokoohi |
Sian Kim | Sophie Clifford |
Spelling Mastery Awards Awards - presented on Friday 24th May, 8.50am (Week 4)
Year 1
Tia McNamara
Year 3
Kate Riley
Year 5
Amelia Nguyen
Maths Mastery Awards Awards - presented on Friday 24th May, 8.50am (Week 4)
Year 3
ANDERSON, Thomas
AZZAM, Solomon
CANDY, Lewys
DROLMA, Sonam
FRANKCOM, Lachlan
GREENHAGH, Alexis
HAMEED, Mariam
HOWES, Martin
LEIVA LAINEZ, Erick
PANDEY, Reedhee
TILIJA, Anna
WANGMO, Jigme
AMRADO, Tymon
ASENCE, Kyler
FRENCH, Jeremiah
HAN, Chloe
Year 5
DULGEROV, Roman
GAYTSHO, Jamyang
MATTHEWS, Evie
NGUYEN, Amelia
NILSSON, Evelina
NOTT, Vincent
TON-THAT, Henry
WISE, Charlie
Second Hand Uniform Donations
The Uniform Shop would love to receive second hand uniform donations. If you have school uniforms at home that you no longer need please send them into school. Thank you.
Opening Hours
The Uniform Shop will be open during the following:
Friday 24 May - 8.30am-9.30am
If you have any questions or concerns please email the uniform shop on stjohnsclothingpool@gmail.com
Managing Fatigue as a Parent
If you’re a parent, I can almost guarantee you’re tired. Parenthood and fatigue seem inseparable. Infants and toddlers amplify our tiredness, but regardless of their age, raising children is tiring. (The impact of COVID, economic insecurity, and general life stress from recent years exacerbate this feeling).
It’s tempting to see our parental exhaustion as a moral failing. We are worse parents when we are tired. We parent better when we feel alive and vital. But life conspires against us.
We’ll never beat fatigue completely. The daily grind combines with ageing to ensure we’ll be tired every day. It just happens faster with kids than without them! But we misunderstand two things about this exhaustion.
The first is that much of our tiredness is firmly within our control; it comes down to choices (with the exception of parenting young children who genuinely require us at ALL hours and remove a lot of choice for attentive and involved parents).
The second is that we think we have no way around our fatigue, whereas the truth is that we may not have learned better strategies to reduce our exhaustion.
We’re also afraid… of change. What if we make a change and we’re less tired, but that change requires us to sacrifice something we really like in our lives?
If we do have more control than we realise, and if strategies do exist, then there is value in making the attempt to reduce fatigue. The following three solutions feel kind of sucky because they’re so obvious, but they work.
Solution 1
Sleep: The Ultimate Recharge
- Sleep is non-negotiable, but so many of us treat it like a luxury item. Get real about sleep (unless you are dealing with a baby or toddler) by:
- Switching off screens (no streaming, no socials, no games) at least 30 minutes before bed.
- Focusing on reading or connecting with your partner before sleep. (Sex is great for enhancing exhaustion. Some people get tired just hearing it’s a possibility! Others get tired right after it.
- Shooting for a solid 7+ hours each night (recognising some people need up to 9).
- Waking up early enough to be tired at night.
- Staying off the coffee, sweets, and alcohol, particularly in the afternoon and evening.
Solution 2
Diet: Fueling the Body
- Quick, sugary snacks and convenience foods exacerbate fatigue (and inflammation). It sounds boring, but:
- Minimise drinking anything other than water (and drink plenty of it).
- Increase your vegetable intake for snacks and at meals.
- Grab a handful of nuts rather than sweets when you need a snack.
- Prep well-loved, nutritious meals in batches on the weekend to minimise stress on busy nights.
- Set up a routine where you have the same meals each week or fortnight to minimise cognitive load. Eg: Monday is Mediterranean, Tuesday is Tacos (Mexican), Wednesday is a one-pot solution, Thursday is Pizza, Friday is Fish, Saturday is BBQ, and Sunday is leftovers (or a roast).
Solution 3
Attention Management: Be Present
Multi-tasking is both exhausting and inefficient. Focus on one thing. Do it well. Be present. Engage. When complete, move on.
Your energy flows where your attention goes. Putting attention on too many things pushes energy in too many directions. Be clear on your focus. Direct your energy. Watch your productivity increase while your exhaustion drops.
Parenting requirements shift from moment to moment, day to day, and week to week. But improved sleep habits, better systems, and clearer focus will increase your balance and allow you more time and energy to spend on what (and who) matters most—your family.
![](https://schools.happyfamilies.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DrJustinCoulson_300x300-150x150.jpg)
AUTHOR
Dr Justin Coulson
Dr Justin Coulson is a dad to 6 daughters and grandfather to 1 granddaughter. He is the parenting expert and co-host of Channel 9’s Parental Guidance, and he and his wife host Australia’s #1 podcast for parents and family: The Happy Families podcast. He has written 9 books about families and parenting. For further details visit www.happyfamilies.com.au.
St John's staff are all walking to raise money and awareness for the Brad Hardy Foundation to make an even bigger difference for the Australian Federal Police Legacy. For more information about the Brad Hardy Foundation please visit:
Our goal is to walk a total for 250kms in the month of May! Staff have currently clocked up 203km!
We would really appreciate donations if possible. If you would like to make a donation please visit:
Fight Parkinsons
Ted Kell and his family have a long association with St John's. Ted's four children and grandchildren have attended St Johns. Ted has been living with Parkinson's for four years now. Below is his message.
Please sponsor me today and make a real difference to progress life-changing research and
improve services to maximise choice, independence and wellbeing for people living with
Parkinson's.