Dear St John the Apostle families,

What a wonderful week.

Congratulations to our Kindergarten children who led us in a beautiful prayer assembly yesterday about Mary. They spent many hours practising this week and while there were a few little shy readers in the moment they all sang with enthusiasm and gusto and put many smiles on many faces. Thank you to Ms Kennelly and Mr Doepel for the time and effort in preparing them. They were so very proud of themselves.

Today we enjoyed our Bookweek celebrations. Beginning with our Dress Up Parade, we were amazed by the effort gone to by families to support their child in dressing up. We finished the week with the Staff Play. Thank you to Ms Kate Macdonald, Ms Kennelly and Mr Seaman for their time and effort in preparing this play. The students love to see the staff being a little silly and they were not left disappointed!

Help Our School Grow and Improve

This week we have invited students, teachers and parents to provide feedback on their experience of our school using an online survey. This survey is used by all Catholic schools in our Archdiocese. The surveys are an important part of our whole school evaluation and planning process.

Today is the last day to complete the Tell Them From Me (TTFM) Partners in Learning survey. Thank you to those parents who have completed it (at the time of writing this only 39 parents have completed it). As we value the role of parents and carers within our school community we would greatly appreciate your feedback. The information you provide will be used to maintain our commitment to working together in partnership to further improve student learning and wellbeing at St John the Apostle.

The survey is anonymous and will take approximately 20 minutes to complete. You are able to access the parent survey on your computer or mobile device by using the link below:

Thank you for working together to help make St John the Apostle a great place for students to learn and grow.

On Leave

I am on leave from today until the end of term. I will be travelling with my wife for much of the time as well as resting.

During the remainder of the term the school will continue to be very ably looked after by:

• Acting Principal: Rebekah Brown
• Acting Assistant Principal: Stephanie Stewart
• Acting REC: Rebecca Stevenson
• Coordinator: Bree Dess

I look forward to seeing every next term!

Matthew Garton

Principal

Book Week

What a wonderful Book Week Parade we had today!

I always enjoy seeing all of the amazing costumes across the school. 

There is always so much creativity and excitement.

Thank you to Mrs Emma Alcock who always organises such a wonderful book week and thank you to Mrs Kate MacDonald for all of her work on the teacher play. 

Belconnen Region Athletics

On Tuesday we had around 50 students represent St Johns at the Belconnen Region Athletics Carnival. All of the students tried their best with many students recording new Personal Bests (PBs). A highlight for the teachers was seeing the nerves and butterflies prior to events turn into big smiles after students had competed. We are very proud of all the students who represented St Johns. Special mention to Isabella Jeffs who has qualified to represent the Belconnen Region at the ACT Athletics Championships later this term. 

Congratulations - National Hockey Championships

William Watman (5M) and Emma Duke (6M) are currently in Cairns representing ACT at the Hockey Championships. 

Both Will and Emma have been enjoying their time playing Hockey, having both experienced some wins and losses. 

Congratulations and well done on your sporting achievements, Will and Emma.

We heard today at 11.25am that the ACT boys team (that Will is a member of) won gold at the Hockey Championships. What a fantastic achievement. 

Rebekah Brown

What Students are Learning About

Year 4 Geo Science Excursion

On Monday Year 4 visited GeoScience Australia to learn more about the Earth’s Surface as well as minerals that are found within the Earth’s layers. The students were able to touch 3.8 million year old moon rock and even create an earthquake. It was an informative and interesting excursion and was `the best excursion they had ever been on’.

Today I asked three students from 4M what that excursion had to do with God?  Mariam answered “He created the world, so rocks and earth and things”  Lewis said “You know that story about God creating everything? Well rocks were part of that” and finally Fiesta “Geoscience taught me about how it is important to remember to be on God’s earth and to respect it”

These students understand that the creation story is just that, a story that expresses ancient understanding of God’s role in the world. What they also understand that the role of our creator is in all aspects of our world and we have to take care of it.

Well done Year 4!

Catholic Life and Reflection

I am blessed. I know this. The life I get to live here in Australia; the ease of travel, abundance of food, the opportunities.  I do not take this for granted. I don’t mean that my life is all wine and roses but I work hard to maintain a sense of hope.

Next year Pope Francis has declared a jubilee year “Pilgrims of Hope”. I will share more about this in the coming months but right now this is bouncing around in my head and heart. What does it mean? Who are we as hope filled people? How do we maintain hope when life can be so harsh and heartbreaking?

When things are difficult I often want to “get away” and take time out of my everyday life. Although this is good and provides a short respite, I know that I have to do things in my daily life that will help me navigate the complexities.

What I try to do is pray. While I am waiting in the car for my youngest to finish piano, before I go to sleep or while I am enjoying my first cup of tea in the morning and everyone else is still asleep.  I want it to punctuate my day.  I close my eyes, take a slow breath and talk to God from my heart.

Prayer and hope are intricately connected. When we take time to pray we open ourselves up the true desires of our heart, where hope is stored. 

Pope Francis has asked us to spend the rest of this year praying for hope, being pilgrims of hope, carrying it with us, walking along side it and others.  It is what we, our community and our world need right now.

God bless,

Stephanie Stewart

Religious Education Coordinator

Notices from the Parish

Latest Parish Compact 25th August 2024

Happy Birthday to Xavier Gyles, Bettina Morris, Joseph Garang, Jacob Wooden and Roscoe Moulds who all celebrated a birthday over the last week.

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.

Select students participating in an extension writing program will receive a Writing Mastery Award, when they achieve 85% on an allocated writing task. 

This year we will also be presenting Brag Tag Awards. These will be handed out each time a student receives 20 brag tags. 

Brag Tag Awards - presented on Friday 30th August, 8.50am (Week 6)

Spelling Mastery Awards - presented on Friday 30th August, 8.50am (Week 6)

The Athletics Carnival ribbon presentation will be held on Friday 6 September at 9:00am. Parents and friends are welcome to attend.

Father's Day Gift

The Community Council have organised a Father's Day gift for children to give to their Father, Grandfather, Carer or Father figure in their life for Father's Day on Sunday, 1 September 2024. The Father's Day gift must be pre-ordered via the Qkr! App. It can be found under the Community Council Events tab. The Father's Day gift is $8 per gift (all gifts are the same only with a colour variation) and will be sent home with the children on Friday 30 August 2024. 

Please note that orders close on Wednesday 28 August at 4pm.

Father's Day Breakfast

On Friday 30th August from 7:45am-8:50am, we will be holding a Father's Day Breakfast to celebrate all Fathers, Grandfathers, Carers or Father figures in your child's life. All members of our community are welcome. Please RSVP at the link below by 3pm Wednesday 28 August if you would like to attend.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Opening Hours

A friendly reminder that St Johns is a nut free school. Thank you.