Jubilee Year 2025 – Pilgrims of Hope

Prayer for Pope Francis

O God, shepherd and ruler of all the faithful,

look favorably on your servant Francis,

whom you have set at the head of your Church as her shepherd;

grant, we pray, that by word and example

he may be of service to those over whom he presides

so that, together with the flock entrusted to his care,

he may come to everlasting life.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

God, for ever and ever.

Amen.

Dear SJA Families,

It has been wonderful to see parents and teachers walking away from interviews looking so positive this week. The parents I have spoken with have been full of praise for their child’s teacher and are looking forward to the rest of the year. Thank you to the parents for your support of all we do here.

Collaborating together is valuable, we now have a better insight into how together we can best support your sons and daughters to learn, grow and flourish in our special faith filled community. A special thanks to the teachers for keeping a smile during the long days of the week on top of all the work involved in organising and preparing for the conferences. Thank you.

We have much to celebrate at St John the Apostle. Our students have started Spelling Mastery, been involved in Footsteps Dance Program, enjoyed participating in Rugby Clinics had visits from the GWS before their big match against Carlton in Canberra.

Ian Luscombe is with us and will continue to support the students and teachers to build positive behaviours. Our students have taken everything in their stride and embraced every opportunity with enthusiasm.

Our Year 6 girls had a visit from Merici College Canberra. One of our alumni Keyna O'Neil shared her experience being a student at Merici.

I am so proud of our Year 6 Captains who celebrated the Opening School Mass, Leadership Ceremonies and special morning tea at St Francis Xavier on Tuesday. This was an opportunity for them to demonstrate their leadership skills, talk to SFX Captains and Teachers. They did a wonderful job!!

Yours in Faith

Jo Reed

Principal

Mufti Day

We will be having a Mufti Day on Tuesday. This is on Shrove Tuesday, so students can wear something purple to signify the start of Lent for a gold coin donation.

This money will be used to go towards the school Fete. We will have some small snacks available at the canteen for students to purchase. 

Fete - Performances

Please see below the times each year level will be performing at the school Fete. I know families have been waiting for these times to sign up for volunteering. Please sign up to volunteer on a stall if you haven't already.  https://www.signupgenius.com/tabs/13572DC02A2C2ECC4A18-fete2#/

5:00pm - Choir

5:10pm - Kindergarten

5:20pm - Year One

5:30pm - Year Two

5:40pm - Year Three

5:50pm - Year Four

6:00pm - Year Five

6:10pm - Year Six

FETE PRE ORDERS 2025

You can pre-order the below items on the Qkr! App. We are also taking cash (not eftpos) payments in the Front Office this week. Pre-orders will close on Thursday 13^th March at 3pm.

Volunteers

We are looking for volunteers. We rely on volunteers to ensure the success of our school Fete. Unfortunately, last year we did not have enough volunteers to successfully run all of our stalls. If every family offered half an hour of their time, we would be very grateful. Please also make sure you look at all of the tabs across the top of the Sign Up Website.

Please sign up to volunteer at the below link:

www.signupgenius.com/tabs/13572DC02A2C2ECC4A18-fete2

Sponsorship

If you have a business, please consider sponsoring our Fete. Contact Rebekah Brown for further details.

Donations

We rely on our community to donate a couple of items per child to help with the success of our school Fete. Please see below the items we are requesting. All of these items can be sent to school with your child or delivered to the Front Office. Thank you so much in advance for your donations and support. 

Tombola

For the 2025 Fete, we are going to be doing Tombola a little differently. We are asking that a full jar is donated. In the past, we have asked for empty jars and the Store convener has filled the jars. The items also don’t need to be in a jar. They could be in a zip lock bag, a plastic container or anything that is enclosed and we can stick a raffle ticket on. 

Items that can be put in the tombola jars/containers:

• Lollies and chocolates 
• Jar of trinkets - small toys, erasers, stickers, hair accessories, craft supplies, stationary etc.

Hampers

We are asking that each child in each year group, donates one or more items for the below hampers. Each year level has been allocated a theme. Please see below images of past hampers. Kindergarten students are more than welcome to contribute to any of the below hampers. All items can be dropped off to the Front Office.

• Year One 2025 – Baby hamper (e.g. wraps, clothes, nappies, rattles, baby toys, wipes etc.)
• Year Two 2025 - Pet Hamper (eg. pet toys, treats, feeders, bowls etc.)
• Year Three 2025 – Kids Toy hamper (e.g. puzzles, fidget toys, board games, balls etc.)
• Year Four 2025 – Pamper hamper (eg. bath salts, candles, body products etc.)
• Year Five 2025 – Parents hamper (eg. wine, beer, chocolates, nuts etc.)
• Year Six 2025 - Home hamper (eg. tools, cleaning products, Bunnings gift card

Books

We will be having a book stall. We would love donations of books to sell at the Fete. These can be picture books, children and adult novels, recipe books etc.

Lucky Lock

We will be having a Lucky Lock competition again for the 2025 Fete. An esky is filled with alcohol and locked with a padlock. We sell keys and one key opens the lock. This lucky person wins the esky and its contents. To run this competition, we would love donations of the following:

• Alcohol - Wine, beer etc. ( Please drop these at the front office)
• Old keys that are no longer useful 

Pre-loved Soft Toys

We are asking for clean and in good condition pre-loved soft toys to be donated. 

Raffle Tickets

Each family received one Raffle Ticket Booklet. Raffle Tickets are $2 each or $30 a book. All Raffle Ticket books (sold or not sold) need to be returned to the Front Office by this Thursday 13th March.

Prizes:

• First Prize: $1000
• Second Prize: $500
• Third Prize: $250

What Students are Learning About

Year Four are learning about the books of the bible and the difference between the old and new testament. 

The acheivement standard for Year 4 says, "students develop their understanding of God's Word in Scripture as they use the Bible's referencing system to locate books, people, places and things in the Bible and engage with a variety of books and text types in the Old Testament and New Testament."

Year 4 wants to let you know that we have learnt

• the 3 languages of the bible, they are Greek, Aramaic and Hebrew.
• the Legend of the Donkey and The Story of Jonah.
• that biblia means books in Greek. That is where the bible gets its name.
• how to find scripture references using chapter and verse. 

Catholic Life and Reflection

Last Sunday's gospel was Luke's Sermon on the Plain, (Luke 6:17-26). Matthew's version is often more well known but Luke has a different take. 

If you were to go down the rabbit hole of the internet and look for comparsions you would be amazed!  In the end regardless of if he went up a mountain or sat on a plain the message was the same.  

Blessings and Woes

²⁰ Then he looked up at his disciples and said:

“Blessed are you who are poor,
    for yours is the kingdom of God.
²¹ “Blessed are you who are hungry now,
    for you will be filled.
“Blessed are you who weep now,
    for you will laugh.

²² “Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you^[a] on account of the Son of Man. ²³ Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.

²⁴ “But woe to you who are rich,
    for you have received your consolation.
²⁵ “Woe to you who are full now,
    for you will be hungry.
“Woe to you who are laughing now,
    for you will mourn and weep.

²⁶ “Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.

"This scripture emphasizies humility, forgiveness, and generous care for our neighbors, Jesus encourages people to choose God’s way of love, which will eventually renew all of creation. He calls this restored world God’s Kingdom. This is a realm in which Heaven and Earth are inseparably combined, a place where life flourishes that’s free from injustice, suffering, and death."https://bibleproject.com/articles/what-is-the-sermon-on-the-mount/ 

Hmmm....generous care, what a wonderful way to live a life.  Jesus knew what we would need for millennia to come. 

God bless, may you receive generous care in the coming week.

Stephanie Stewart

Religious Education Coordinator

SJA ICT AGREEMENT

Just a friendly reminder to please go onto COMPASS into the Insights Section and complete the ICT Agreement form.

You child will not be able to use ICT until this is completed

SJA School Community Council

Our first Community Council meeting of the year was held at school last week. I am pleased to introduce to you the 2025 SJA Community Council Executive:

On behalf of our community, I thank each person on the Council who will serve our community this year.

A huge thank you to outgoing Chair, Katie Matthew’s who has been on the Council for many years and served our community so well. Her leadership in this space has been outstanding. A special thank you to our outgoing Secretary Lisa Zaretzky for being so efficient with keeping the minutes and other communications in order. Moving into a new year we appreciate both ladies staying on and supporting the transition.

Parking in these spaces is reserved for people who have priority parking cards.

If you do not have a disability parking sticker please do not use these spots

Thank you for your support in this matter.

Happy Birthday to  Avlyn, Chukwubuikem, Thayoee, Kiranjot, Charles, Mariam, Amara Noelle, Rylan, George, Euphel, Leo, Eli, Jacob, Rihaan, Gursirat, Carter, Jack, Addison, Desmond, Grace, Timothy, Zachary, Samuel and Julia who all celebrate a Birthday in February.

Term 1, 2025 school fees were issued yesterday. As previously advised last year by the Director of Catholic Education, there is now a School Building Levy. This Levy is $75 per term, per family or $300 annually. 

For details about the 2025 fees, please check the News Feed under "Tuition Fees 2025."

Thank you for your continued support of St John the Apostle. If you have any questions or require assistance, please contact the front office.

NAPLAN testing will occur in our school between 12 and 24 March 2025 for students in years 3, 5, 7 and 9.

Online NAPLAN tests provide more precise results and are engaging for students. The tests are tailored (or adaptive), which means that each test presents questions that may be more or less difficult depending on a student’s responses. This helps students remain engaged with the assessment.

Tailored testing allows a wider range of student abilities to be assessed and measures student achievement more precisely. A student’s overall NAPLAN result is based on both the number and complexity of questions they answer correctly. Your child should not be concerned if they find questions challenging; they may be taking a more complex test pathway.

All Year 3 students will complete the writing assessment on paper.

NAPLAN provides valuable information to schools and parents about literacy and numeracy achievement. It supports school improvement processes by enabling teachers to monitor student progress over time and to identify areas of strength and development.

All eligible students are encouraged and supported to participate in NAPLAN testing. Visit www.nap.edu.au to see interactive versions of the test and for more information.

Opening Hours

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

The Power of Belonging

Why Feeling Connected at School Matters More Than You Think

We all want our children to be happy and successful at school. We focus on their grades, their friendships, and their extracurricular activities. But what if I told you that one of the most important factors for their well-being, both now and in the future, is their sense of belonging?

A fascinating new study from Monash University has shed light on the profound impact of school belonging on long-term mental health. Associate Professor Kelly-Ann Allen, the lead researcher, followed over 1500 individuals from adolescence to adulthood, examining the link between their feelings of connection at school and their mental well-being later in life.

The findings were striking: those who felt a strong sense of belonging in high school experienced fewer mental health challenges in their twenties. This connection was evident even after accounting for other factors like academic achievement and family relationships. In other words, feeling like you fit in, that you matter, that you’re part of the school community, has a lasting positive impact on your mental health.

Why does belonging matter so much?

Think back to your own school days. Remember that feeling of walking into a classroom where you felt welcomed, valued, and supported? Or perhaps you recall the opposite—the sinking feeling of being an outsider, of not quite fitting in. These experiences shape not only our immediate well-being but also our long-term sense of self and our ability to navigate social and emotional challenges.

When children feel like they belong, they’re more likely to:

• Engage in learning: They’re more motivated, attentive, and eager to participate in classroom activities.
• Develop positive relationships: They feel more comfortable interacting with peers and teachers, fostering friendships and a sense of community.
• Cope with stress: They have a support system to turn to when faced with academic or social challenges.
• Build resilience: They develop a stronger sense of self-worth and the confidence to navigate life’s ups and downs.

So, how can we, as parents, foster a sense of belonging for our children?

1. Partner with the school:

• Open communication: Stay connected with your child’s teachers. Attend school events and parent-teacher meetings. Be an active participant in your child’s school life.
• Advocate for your child: If your child is struggling socially or emotionally, don’t hesitate to reach out to the school counsellor or other support staff.
• Support school initiatives: Get involved in school activities and events that promote a sense of community and belonging.

2. Nurture connections at home:

• Family time: Prioritise quality time together as a family. Share meals, play games, and engage in activities that foster connection and communication.
• Emotional support: Create a safe and open environment where your child feels comfortable expressing their feelings and concerns. Validate their emotions and offer unconditional love and support.
• Social skills: Help your child develop strong social skills. Encourage them to engage in activities that foster friendships and positive peer relationships.

3. Champion their interests:

• Encourage exploration: Support your child in exploring their interests and passions. This could involve extracurricular activities, hobbies, or simply pursuing their own unique curiosities.
• Celebrate their strengths: Focus on their positive qualities and accomplishments. Help them develop a strong sense of self-worth and confidence.
• Foster autonomy: Give them age-appropriate choices and responsibilities. Allow them to make decisions and experience the consequences of their choices (within safe boundaries).

The Bottom Line:

School belonging isn’t just about feeling happy and comfortable in the classroom; it’s a crucial ingredient for long-term mental health and well-being. By partnering with the school, nurturing connections at home, and championing our children’s interests, we can help them build a strong foundation for a happy, healthy, and fulfilling life.

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.