In this issue

Last Friday 9 October, the Prep classes were excited to be able to go on our first excursion for 2020.  We rode on the bus (some of us for the first time) and travelled out to Splitters Farm.  Farmer Carly took us on a guided tour of the farm and introduced us to their animals. Splitters Farm is a working cattle farm but they also provide new homes to a variety of rescued farm animals.

After our tour we broke into small groups and revisited the animals at a leisurely pace. We were able to handle, pat and hand feed the animals. This was very exciting. We saw so many different animals including cows, horses, alpacas, goats, sheep, pigs, chickens, ducks, geese, guinea fowl, peacocks, a turkey, the farm dog and guinea pigs. We were also fortunate to see some three day old baby piglets feeding from their mum!

During the day we had picnics on the grassy area and we played on the adventure playground. We were surprised to meet a possum in the cubby house. This excursion was the beginning activity for our unit on farms and living things. We will be investigating what living things need and by farms are important.

We all had a fantastic day!

Ms Linderberg, Mrs Burt, Ms Maddern and Mrs Evans

Enrolments for Kindergarten 2021 are filling fast!

St John’s Kindergarten Come and Play Morning – Saturday 31 October, 2020

Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Nicole on 4132 6807.

St John’s will celebrate Book Week this year but with a difference to our usual colourful celebrations.

“CURIOUS CREATURES WILD MINDS” is this year’s book week theme. During Book Week celebrations the students will participate in class and whole school activities. A colouring, drawing competition and dress up parade will be held over the week where students will have the chance to win prizes from our local book shop, Dymocks. St John’s would like to thank Terese, Phil and staff from Dymocks for the support they have shown us over the years to help us celebrate Book Week. Certainly, 2021 celebrations will be a gigantic event.

Dress up as a character to celebrate Book Week 2020!

On Friday the 23^rd of October (Week 3), the school will hold a fancy-dress parade where children and staff will have the opportunity to dress up as a wild animal character or an imaginary creature from one of their favourite books.

We are sorry to inform parents, friends, and grandparents that due to stringent health measures with COVID regulations, we cannot invite parents to this year’s parade. We will make sure to post lots of photos from the day on the school’s website and Facebook page for all to see. We thank you for your understanding in this matter.

Scholastic Book Club

Issue 7 of Scholastic’s Book Club is now open. This issue is a bumper Christmas edition with lots of new and exciting books.

Online orders can by made via the Scholastic Book Club LOOP. To ensure you don’t miss out, please place your order no later than Monday 26 October, 2020.

Scholastic Book Club Issue 7

Should you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to contact myself or your class teacher.

Regards,

Billie-Jean Anderson

Teacher Librarian

Stockland Battle of the Schools – Bundy’s Ultimate School Quiz

We are excited to participate again in this year’s Stockland Battle of the Schools Quiz. This fun event has seen a record number of local primary schools team up to ‘battle’ against each other!

Congratulations to Bridie, Sienna and Caolan for their first round win against Norville State School last Sunday 11 October. The battle went down to the last question with St John’s winning 18-17. Well done to both teams!

Round Two is scheduled for Thursday 22 October against St Luke’s.

Year 2 Visual Arts

During Visual Arts, Year 2 learnt how design and paint an artwork using multiple stages

and techniques. First we used a line technique to outline the body of a Koala.  Then, we added a textured background colour. Next we used a dabbing technique to apply the paint with quick, light pressure for depth and added multiple layers and colour tones. Finally we added additional details to finish.

Tennis News

Towards the end of Term 3, five St John’s Primary School students participated in the Tennis Queensland Primary School Cup. This event is a mixed team competition for Primary Schools. Our team comprised of Riley and Reegan Jones, Abby Stevens, Levi Faint and Samuel MacDonald. All students played with rigour and shared the St John’s spirit. The team were very fortunate to receive 2^nd place and will now be invited to compete at the State Final at the Brisbane International Tennis. Well done Riley, Reegan, Abby, Levi and Samuel!

Girls Cricket News

Congratulations to our Year 6 student Abby Stevens who was successful in making the Bundaberg Under 12 Girls School Sport cricket team. Abby was part of the team who played on Monday 12 October. After a great day of cricket, Abby has been selected to now compete in the Wide Bay Under 12 Girls School Cricket Team. Well done Abby!

Boys Cricket News

Congratulations also to our Year 6 student Levi Faint who was successful in making the Bundaberg Under 12 Boys School Sport cricket team. Levi competed on Sunday 11 October & Monday 12 October and had a great 2 days at the cricket trials. Levi batted both days – scoring “50 not out” on Sunday, and “20 not out” on Monday. He also managed to take a wicket with his bowling each day also. After 2 successful days, Levi has been selected to now compete in the Wide Bay Under 12 Boys School Cricket Team. Well done Levi!

Uniform Shop – Changes to Opening Hours

The Uniform Shop will be closed in its current location until further notice. If you need to purchase items please complete an order form/s below and email to school@stjohnsbundaberg.qld.edu.au

Due to the busyness in the administration office especially in the mornings, should you wish to purchase uniform items it would be greatly appreciated if an order form could be completed in advance. We will then contact you directly for payment and collection when your order is ready.

Thank you for your understanding in this matter.

Reading rather than screen-time

During the recent holidays I had set myself a goal to read more (more reading – not school related). This was partly due to the fact I needed to switch my brain off, but also because I had realized I was using my screen more and more – a habit that I knew was not good me, especially before bed!

I started reading a book by one of my favourite authors, but I struggled to really ‘’get into the book”. I persisted…….and persisted. By about day 4 I finally felt immersed in the novel.

I really felt like the reason I was struggling to “read’’ was because I had let myself fall too far into the realm of ‘scrolling’. I firmly believe this is the same for our children. Research is full of information around the impact screen time has on our brain, mental and emotional well-being.

Some of the benefits linked to reading verse screen time include:

• Mental stimulation having your brain engaged in a test helps to exercise your brain.
• Immersing yourself in a great story assists with stress-reduction as it helps your brain to stop and be in the present whilst reading.
• Knowledge – reading brings knowledge!
• Vocabulary Development – the more we read the more words we are exposed to which helps assist us with developing our vocabulary.
• As we read, we need to use our memory as we remember the characters, plots, sub-plots etc.
• Focus and Concentration – when we read all of our focus is on the story/text. This is a time when we do not need to multi-task.

Reading is also free entertainment that unlocks all areas of learning for all of us – young or old. I challenge you this term to support yourself and your child to take on the challenge of less screen time and more reading time.

Jocelyn Bakker

Director of Learning and Teaching

Earthing Greetings, Earthlings! Oh, sorry, earth-ing.

Earthing: The action of walking on grass in bare feet: soaking up the earth’s energy through your soles. (urbandictionary. com)

How interesting. I don’t know about ‘the earth’s energy’ but certainly there is a lot of sensory information we get through the soles of our feet that we miss when we have shoes on.

I recently attended a Spiritual Retreat with other principals from Queensland Lutheran Schools. We met in the city and spent some time reflecting on a few Bible passages and in prayer, having a meal together and just kind of getting away from it all for a day in each other’s company. There is a famous quote from one of our principal colleagues that we often throw around when we get together. ‘The only place you don’t feel like a principal is when you’re with other principals.’ That supportive collegiality is special, taking time to consider our work and our spirituality, to focus, or re-focus is important. Part of that retreat included some time wandering through the Roma Street Parklands. We were invited to go and find a quiet place, to sit, to soak up the environment, to avoid emails and questions and people….. just to be.

It was lovely. We took off our shoes, walked on the grass, sat in the shade, watched people go by, listened to toddlers chatting with young mums, avoided those massive lizards that are wandering around. The sun was out, that smell of a new spring was in the air. The moment was rejuvenating and important. But it was deeper than hippie stuff and avoiding workI The theme for the retreat was incarnation. A simple translation for this word could be, becoming flesh. More usually it is referred to in relation to God becoming human in the form of Jesus. He was incarnate. Our amazing, infinite, powerful, eternal, glorious, lightning-bolts-coming-out-of-his-eyeballs God humbled himself and took on human form. And a frail one at that, a tiny baby to start with, completely at the mercy of the world. Immanuel, God with us. God was not just ‘with us’ as a bloke who walked around Palestine 2000 years ago. He is actually present every day. Our infinite God of Love is present physically in the world. The Bible tells us, ‘… since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made…’ (Romans 1:20).

In other words, you can experience God through nature. Yes, that beautiful sunset, that clear blue sky, that rolling sea or gentle breeze, that scary storm or the smell of blossoms in spring, the taste of food, the majesty of forests, grass under your feet, the list goes on. God didn’t make it all a gazillion years ago, disappear for millennia, send his Son down to sort it out 2000 years ago and then take off again. He is here, He calls to us in every moment, He always has. He is as close as our breath. Indeed, His name YHWH is breath itself, the word in Hebrew is designed to be breathed not spoken. It’s always God’s work. He is not an old-fashioned idea but an ever-present help. He is active in the world, healing through the work of doctors, loving through the hugs of mums and dads, feeding us through the work of farmers and shops, and raising and growing our kids through the work of schools.

As you go about this day, week, month, term, I encourage you all to take time to be with God and bask in His glorious creation.

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Be like a Bumblebee

According to scientists, the bumblebee’s body is too heavy and its wing-span too small.

Aerodynamically, the bumblebee cannot fly. But the bumblebee doesn’t know that and it keeps flying. When you don’t know your limitations, you go out and surprise yourself. In hindsight, you wonder if you had any limitations. The only limitations a person has are those that are self-imposed.

Don’t let yourself or others put limitations on you.

This is an exciting time of the year as we celebrate student achievement across the school. There will be a few events (Covid-19 dependent) as the year draws to a close where the student body will be able to come together as a community and share in the successes of 2020.

This final term for the year has started well with all classes underway with their units of work. In addition, many other activities are planned or already in progress. It promises to be both a busy but rewarding term ahead and I would like to encourage all students to continue to strive for excellence in all areas of their school life.

Specifically, we welcome Mrs Roslyn Hunting who has been appointed to teach Year 4 for this term owing to Miss Morgan’s maternity leave and departure back to Brisbane. Also, we welcome Ryan (Yr. 1/2), Lachlan (Yr. 2) and Savanah (Yr. 4).

I’m sure you’ll join me in welcoming these new faces into our school community.

Our Term 4 Goal: Start Strong, Finish Strong, Together.

Thank you for working in partnership with us.

Grace and Peace

Chris Mallett

PRINCIPAL