Phone: 6882 2677

Fax: 6884 4500

Email: stjohnsprimarydubbo@bth.catholic.edu.au

Fees Enquiries: 6884 8504

Email: dubsjpfees@bth.catholic.edu.au

Term 3 Week 7 August 28, 2017

ST JOHNS PRIMARY SCHOOL NEWSLETTER

www.stjohnsprimarydubbo.catholic.edu.au

138 Sheraton Road

P.O. Box 4914

S C H O O L M A N A G E R F a t h e r G r eg Ken n ed y

S C H O O L C H A P L A I N F a t h e r G r eg Ken n ed y

P R I N C I P A L M r A n t h o n y O ’ L e a r y

A S S I S T A N T P R I N C I P A L M r A d am F o l e y

R E C M r D a v i d S c h w ag e r

PRIMARY COORDINATOR

Mrs Angela Benton TEACHING STAFF:

KINDERGARTEN Mrs Maria Brice Mrs Teagan Hoper

YEAR 1 Mrs Paula Clifford / Ms Kara Mawbey

Miss Cassandra Hawke

YEAR 2

Miss Madeleine Redden Mrs Laura Emery Mrs Angela Benton/ Mrs Sarah Davis

YEAR 3 Ms Anna Veech

Mrs Kim English/Mrs Erin Carney

YEAR 4

Mrs Judith Gibson/Mrs Aimee Rose Mrs Shannon Lea .

YEAR 5 Miss Emma Bolton/Mrs Karyn Kind Mr George Sayers

YEAR 6 Mrs Mickaela Wright/Mrs Karyn King

Mr David Schwager/ Mrs Gabrielle Jones

SPECIAL EDUCATION: Mrs Patricia Toohey, Mr Adam Foley Mrs Amanda Shields

TEACHER’S AIDES: Mrs Deanna Swanson, Mrs Bronwyn

Harper, Mrs Tracey Duncan Mrs Maricon Suckling, Mr Trevor

Thomas, Mrs Belinda Montague, Mrs Paula Campbell, Mrs Kristie Scott, Mrs Megan Jones, Mrs Jacquie Clark

LIBRARIAN: Mrs Maree Williams

ABORIGINAL EDUCATION WORKER: Ms Tiffany Lucas

CREATIVE ARTS: Ms Louise Lindsay

SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION: Mrs Margo Green, Mrs Karen Meredith

CANTEEN MANAGER: Mrs Cathy Dries

GENERAL HAND : Mr Mark Bradford

CLEANER: Mrs Kerry Iverach

P&F MEETINGS: 2nd & 7th Tuesday each Term PARENTS/GUARDIANS Please note that photographs of students may be used in this publication. Please advise the School Office if you do not approve of your child’s photo being used.

From the Principal’s desk…. Welcome to Week 7.

This week will be an important moment for our Year 2 Parents. 1st

Reconciliation 2017 Children in Year 2 or above are eligible to receive

this sacrament. A parent information evening will be held on Wednes-

day 30th August at 6pm in St Brigid's Church. This is a must if you wish

to enrol your child for the Sacrament this year. Preparing to celebrate

the Sacrament of Reconciliation (also known as Penance) for the first time is an exciting time. It

is a time for focus on God’s mercy, how we forgive among our family, friends, and community,

and how we celebrate forgiveness. Of vital importance to a child’s preparation is the family’s

participation at Mass on a weekly basis. The Mass is a revelation and the greatest expression of

the Catholic faith. It is here that the preparation for this Sacrament comes alive. It is where as a

community we offer as a sacrifice our successes and failures and where God accepts them with

great joy guiding us to a deeper relationship with Him.

The Flu Season: I know that you are probably already very aware of the

fact, but in recent weeks, we have experienced large numbers of stu-

dents presenting with flu type symptoms, headaches, coughing and

vomiting. If your child is unwell, please keep them at home. Home is the best place for the

children and in doing so, limits the spread of germs.

At school the children are reminded to always wash their hands and appropriately dispose of

tissues. When coughing or sneezing, they are asked to place their arm across their mouth,

covering it with the inside of their elbow. Encouraging such habits limits the spread of germs.

WORLD DAY OF PRAYER FOR CREATION

On September 1st, we celebrate the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation.

This is an annual prayer day, which Pope Francis invites us all to celebrate. It is a

time for us all to reaffirm our personal vocation to be stewards of creation, to

thank God for the wonderful handiwork, which has been entrusted to our care,

and to implore God’s help for the protection of creation.

VISION STATEMENT

To change the world through our faith in Jesus who is our light and hope.

The 2017 theme for Care of Creation is “The Spirit in Creation”. We are invited to see God’s transforming presence in all of

creation, in the gifts we are given, and from nature. We are reminded of our stewardship of God’s creation and the

responsibility we have to care and protect all of God’s creation. Pope Francis, in Laudato Si, reminds us that God is in com-

munion with creation. We are called to be a part of this communion.

SUMMER UNIFORM: When does my child start to wear Summer uniform? Students may wear Summer uniform from Monday,

11 September 2017 until the end of the term. If the weather remains cooler, students may continue to wear Winter uniform,

this is at parental discretion. All students must wear full Summer Uniform from the beginning of Term 4.

Gospel and Reflection:

Matt 16:13-20

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi he put this question to his disciples, ‘Who do people

say the Son of Man is?’ And they said, ‘Some say he is John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah

or one of the prophets.’ ‘But you, ‘he said, ‘who do you say I am?’ Then Simon Peter spoke up, ‘You are

the Christ, ‘he said, ‘the Son of the living God.’ Jesus replied, ‘Simon son of Jonah, you are a happy man!

Because it was not flesh and blood that revealed this to you but my Father in heaven. So now I say to you:

You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church. And the gates of the underworld can never hold

out against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth shall be

bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.’ Then he gave the disciples strict orders not to tell any-

one he was the Christ.

Reflection

Each of us has a unique role in the mission of Jesus and his Church. Our role may not be as prominent as that of Peter who be-came the first pope, but our role is both unique and necessary to the overall mission. We are all pieces of the jigsaw, each of us a small but essential part of the whole mission.

Peter would not have understood his mission fully on the day Jesus told him he was to be the rock on which Jesus would build his Church. It must have taken many years for Peter to develop some understanding of those words. As the Church grew in numbers and expanded geographically Peter fulfilled his unique mission by daily doing the tasks that his discernment told him were part of his leadership role.

We should ask Jesus to help us to fulfil our part of his mission every day, in the daily events of our lives and in the place we have been called to be. We need this guidance because it is easy for ambition and ego-centrism to drive us towards claiming a dra-matic and highly visible role. There can also be a temptation to take over other people’s roles and neglect our own. Some un-derstanding of our particular role in the bigger mission helps guard against these temptations.

The uniqueness of our personal part of the mission of Jesus is part of our uniqueness as a person. When we “fit” into the bigger jigsaw there is a deep peace and joy which remains despite the troubles and difficulties of life.

This peace comes from our daily acceptance of God’s will for us, just as it did for Peter.

P&F Meeting: The next P&F meeting will be held tomorrow evening, Tuesday 29th August, at 7pm in the Staff Room. Anyone

able to attend will be made feel most welcome.

P&F Fathers Day Breakfast: A Fathers Day Breakfast will be held this Friday, 1st September, from 7:30am here at school. It

would be great to see as many dads, grandfathers or significant males come along with their children to share breakfast and

chat to staff and other dads. More information is included in this newsletter.

God bless and have a wonderful week

Anthony O’Leary

Important Dates to Remember Aug 29 P&F Meeting 7pm

Aug 30 Year 4 at St Laurence’s for Mass

Aug 30 Placement Testing SJC Year 7 2018

Aug 30 Parent Reconciliation Information Evening St Brigid’s Church 6pm Please note change of date

& time

Sept 1 FATHERS DAY BREAKFAST 7:30AM

Sept 4 PUPIL FREE DAY

Sept 8 NAIDOC Day

Sept 11-15 RSL Learn to Swim (Years 1 & 3)

Sept 18-22 RSL Learn to Swim (Kinder & Year 2)

Sept 22 Term 3 concludes

Congratulations to the following St John’s Primary Students who participated in the recent ICAS Writing Competition Assess-

ment.

Merit Yr 3 – Casey Seo

Merit Yr 4 – Brianna Shuttle

Credit Yr 3 – Vishaka Rupasinghe

Credit Ye 3 – Vaylia Sunderland

Credit Yr 4 – Miika Bibb

Credit Yr 4 – Grace Peters

Credit Yr 5 – Abby Osborne

Credit Yr 5 – Jonty Winsly

Credit Yr 5 – George Ashcroft

Credit Yr 5 – Isabelle Russell

Credit Yr 6 – Georgia Brydon

Distinction Yr 3 – Saheli Jayanetty

Distinction Yr 3 – Aiden Webeck

Distinction Yr 5 – Carrigan Baker

Well done everybody.

Religious Education News Term 3, Week Seven 2017

Well Done Year 6!

Today, we received the results for the 2017 Year 6 Religious Education Test. The general consensus was

this was the hardest RE test that has been set so far. However St John’s Primary once again did very well

and we congratulate the students on their fine achievements: 2 High Distinctions, 22 Distinctions, 24

Credits and 10 Participation Certificates.

There were 6 Skill Areas in the test. Our students were above or equal to the Diocesan Average in 5 of

those Areas:

St John’s Primary were ABOVE the Diocesan Average in questions relating to Church, Sacraments, Litur-

gical Year and Prayer

We were EQUAL with the Diocesan Average in questions relating to Scripture.

And we were BELOW the Diocesan Average in questions relating to Beliefs and Decision-Making.

Congratulations to the following students who achieved at a high standard:

High Distinctions:

Ellie Driscoll and Jade Turner

Distinctions:

Oliver Spora, Gemma Jackson, Malindi Samarakoon, Isla Cole, Sarah Marsh, Eva

Osborne, Henry Smith, Ethan Letfallah, Amoya Quigley, Edwina Tink, Dylan Bedingfield,

Lily Erskine, Wilson Etcell, Jorja Kubski, Milly Williams, Zac Carroll, Kate Foley, Darby

Hutchison, Jack Tudor, Georgia Brydon, Olivia Mintern and Jessica Whillock.

Reconciliation Parent Information Night

Parents of Year 2 students who are enrolling in the St Brigid Parish’s Sacrament of Reconciliation are in-

vited to attend the Parent Information Night this Wednesday 30th August in St Brigid’s Church com-

mencing at 6pm. Children are not required to attend.

Year 4 Grade Mass

On Wednesday, Year 4 will travel by bus to St Laurence’s Church to participate in the 9.30am Parish

Mass. Afterwards, they will have some time to socialise with the Year 4s from St Laurence’s School.

Wishing you a good week, David Schwager (REC)

LIBRARY NEWS

The Premier’s Reading Challenge concluded last week. Congratulations to Sophie Eastburn, Xavier Evans,

Abby Osborne and Olivia Evans and who have all completed the PRC Challenge. Well Done! Certificates

for all children who successfully completed the 2017 Premier’s Reading Challenge will be issued later in

the year.

Winner of the CBCA Picture Book Section: Home in the Rain

By Bob Graham

Illustrated by Bob Graham

The extraordinary touches a seemingly ordinary moment of family life, in this tender, heart-warming story

from the award-winning Bob Graham. Francie's going to have a new baby sister very soon. But what will

her name be? Francie has so many ideas! On a long drive home with Mum, in the pouring rain, maybe

they'll find one that's just right... From multi-award winning author-illustrator Bob Graham comes a ten-

der, touching story of family life, perfect for sharing when a new baby is on the way. A beautifully ob-

served celebration of the way inspiration can, and often does happen in the most ordinary and unlikely of

places. This is Bob Graham doing what he does best: this is a thoughtful and perceptive piece of storytell-

ing, with a philosophical message about the extraordinary touching all our ordinary lives, wherever we

are, whoever we are.

About the author

Bob Graham is a Kate Greenaway-winning author-illustrator who has written and illustrated many ac-

claimed children's picture books including How to Heal a Broken Wing, How the Sun Got to Coco's

House, Max, Jethro Byrde: Fairy Child and April Underhill: Tooth Fairy. His 2011 title, A Bus Called

Heaven, is endorsed by Amnesty International UK and was the winner of the 2012 Children's Book Coun-

cil of Australia Picture Book of the Year Award - a prize Bob has won an unprecedented six times. In

2014, Silver Buttons was awarded a prestigious Prime Minister's Literary Award in Australia. Bob lives in

Melbourne.

Happy Reading!

Maree Williams

Librarian

CDF BANKING

Our banking volunteer for this week is Tracy Letfallah.

Please remember to bring your bank books in before

Wednesday.

Canteen News

Friday helpers this week are CJ Willis & Lee Schellnegger.

Brooke and Cathy 0458550747

Year 4 Excursion to Shoyoen Garden for the Art of Setting Stones

Last Tuesday nearly 60 Year 4 students travelled to the Shoyoen Japanese Gardens for an excursion of immersion into Japanese culture. Year 4 are currently Studying Australian and Asian cultures, landforms, flora and fauna and climate. Mrs Karen Hagan from the Western Plains Cultural Center welcomed us. We divided into four groups who then rotated through rich, interactive activities. Students experienced a full garden tour that focused on Japanese History and Culture and dressed in traditional Japanese dress. They designed and built a Japanese garden using sand and found objects. Students learned about sumi-e art forms and used ink and sticks to draw objects they observed in the environment. Students (and teachers) could not believe that they were allowed to tour the Japanese Teahouse, a gift from Minokamo, Dubbo’s sister city, in 2002. Whilst inside the teahouse, students sat on tatami-mats and composed Haiku poetry.

“Bring a Dad to Breakfast to Celebrate”

Children, we invite you

to bring along a Dad,

Step-Dad, Uncle or

Grandpa to

St John’s Primary to

celebrate a great

Father’s Day Breakfast

Date: Friday, 1st

September

Time: 7.30am — 8.40am

You and your children will

feast on Egg and Bacon Rolls,

Tea, Coffee and Juice Poppers

Bacon and Egg Rolls $4.00

Juice Poppers $1.00

Tea/Coffee FREE

We hope you can come and join us

We will require some helpers with serving and cleanup. Please email stjohnspandf@gmail.com if you are able to help

(DO NOT SEND IN MONEY. PAY ON THE DAY)

2017 SCHOOL FEES

If you are paying your school fees by the term, Term 3 2017 fees were due last Friday 18 August 2017.

Also, as previously advised, the K-Yr 3 Swimming Program ($80.00) has been added to your school fee account this term. If

you are on an agreed payment plan this may mean that your account will not clear at the end of November as previously ar-

ranged. You may wish to increase your payment plan by a small amount or, depending on the amount of your payment plan,

leave as is until it clears.

Please remember to check your invoice/statement against your bank statement to ensure receipting is correct and let me

know as soon as possible if there are any discrepancies.

If you have any concerns at all please do not hesitate to contact me on 68848504.

Karen Meredith

Dubbo Neighbourhood Centre are offering Long Day Care for the St John’s Pupil Free

Day Monday 4th of September from 7.30am-6pm. Drop off in the morning is located

in the Dubbo Neighbourhood Centre building( Central) at 80/1 Gipps street Dubbo.

Due to After School Care being run at Central in the afternoon, St Johns students will

be bussed to St Laurence’s School Hall for collection after 3pm.

For more information please contact 6882 2100.