Green and Gold Day – Friday 30 July 2021

A reminder that this is our Pizza and Free Dress Day. Students are to wear either green and/or gold ONLY to school.

Should you wish not to dress in green and/or gold, the St John’s formal uniform or sports uniform must be worn.

Parents are asked that children: Do not wear singlet tops or midriff tops, open toe shoes, thongs or fancy shoes with heels.
Please wear shirts with sleeves, joggers – can be school or other and a wide-brimmed hat.

Scholastic Book Club Orders

All orders are due by 1 August, 2021. We continue to encourage our parents to place their orders through the online Scholastic LOOP. Books will be delivered directly to the school saving parents a delivery fee!

School Musical Costumes

A friendly reminder for all of our Prep – Year 2 families, payment of costume prop and costume items are to be brought into school by Week 5 (week commencing Monday 9 August). Please ensure that your child’s costume is labelled and placed in a sealed zip lock bag.

Should you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to contact your child’s teacher directly.

Prep 2023 Enrolments

We are now accepting enrolments for Prep 2023. Children eligible for entry into this class were born between 1 July, 2017 and 30 June, 2018 (early entry consideration up to 31 July, 2018 at Principal’s discretion).

If you, or anyone you know, have not yet enrolled for Prep for 2023, and would like to do so, please contact us soon to secure a place and to arrange for a copy of our Enrolment Application Form. Places for 2023 are filling quickly.

Should you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact us at your earliest convenience.

We always like to share community or online events available to our St John’s School Community. Further details can be found in each of the below events. Should you be interested any of the below, please contact the organiser directly for more details.

West Bundaberg Little Athletics

West Bundaberg Little Athletics

Our People our Stories – Bundaberg Regional Council

Everyone has a story to tell, and we want to hear yours! Join our free Our People, Our Stories workshops in Bundaberg, Childers and Gin Gin and connect with community locals from all walks of life.

To attend the July or August workshops being held across the Bundaberg Region please book here: https://www.bundaberg.qld.gov.au/opos

The Our People, Our Stories project shares stories of the local characters who helped shape our vibrant community. Stories will be featured on 50 postcards that will be available around the region, or view the first collection here by clicking the link provided.

Bundaberg Casting Call – Aged 9-13 (Moncrieff Entertainment Centre)

We’re on the lookout for a powerful group of 9-13 year olds to perform in a theatre production at the Moncrieff Entertainment Centre.

A group of Bundaberg Region young people will have the opportunity to work alongside the award-winning theatre team from The Good Room, a Queensland-based performance collective who use the anonymous experiences of ordinary people to create extraordinary theatre works.

If there is a young person you know who is brave, opinionated, fierce and adventurous, sign them up!

https://www.artsbundaberg.com.au/theatre/i%E2%80%99ve-meaning-ask-%E2%80%93-casting-call

No previous acting experience necessary. Submissions close 30 July 2021.

City to Coast Community Bike Ride

City to Coast Community Bike Ride

Bundaberg Mad Cycologists

Across the Waves Cricket Club

Samway Online Counselling Services

Samway Online Counselling Services

Students from St John’s were joined by Hope Adventist students to compete in our Senior Athletics Carnival on Thursday 17 and Friday 18 July. The two-day carnival saw our house teams compete for overall honours as the students also looked to take out their respective age champion award.

The participation in all events was outstanding, as students from both schools supported and encouraged each other on every throw, jump or run, with many students pushing beyond their comfort zone to finish an event for their team. At the conclusion of the events Biar claimed overall victory by 723 points to Reuther’s 503.

It was a joy to see so many parents and friends out in support of our students. Your attendance is so important in promoting the enjoyable atmosphere that we aim to provide for our children.

To those who were able to volunteer their time to assist in any way I would like to recognise your contribution. A lot of support is required to run our carnival and without you we would not be able to provide such an opportunity for our students. I greatly appreciate your time and effort.

At the conclusion of the day, Age Champion medallions were awarded for those who achieved highly in their age group. We congratulate the students who achieved this award as follows:

Mr Nathan Higgins

PE TEACHER

During the last week of Term 2, the year 2 students ventured out on their Bundaberg Historical Tour as part of their learning about the history and tourism of Bundaberg.

They visited many places including the Hinkler Hall of Aviation and the Mon Repo Turtle Centre. Throughout the term they wrote and published informational brochures about a chosen historical site in Bundaberg and during the excursion, they delivered them to the Tourist Information Centre to be shared with the community.

A great day of fun and learning was had by everyone.

Mrs Laurinda Teacher

YEAR 2 TEACHER

CBCA CHILDREN’S BOOK WEEK

“Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds”.

Each year, across Australia, The CBCA brings children and books together celebrating Children’s Book Week. During this time St John’s and Dymocks come together for one glorious week to celebrate Australian Children’s Literature.

St John’s will celebrate Book Week this term in Week 7, from Monday 23 to Friday 27 August 2021.

The theme for this year’s CBCA Book Week is “Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds”.

St John’s will celebrate book week with reading the short-listed books, develop activities, competitions and create colourful displays to highlight the importance of reading.

Due to COVID guidelines number restrictions in the library will apply. To help with numbers we have alphabetically allocated days.

Come and browse and buy from the Book Fair in the below available times.

2021 Book Fair

Mrs Billie-Jean Anderson

TEACHER/LIBRARIAN

Student Awards

Year 2/3 Sea Life Excursion

Wow, what a fin-tastic learning opportunity our Year 2/3 and 3 Class had in visiting Sea Life Aquarium in Mooloolaba! The whole purpose was to help us hook into our inquiry into Biological Sciences – how living things, grow, change and have offspring similar to themselves and how living things can be grouped on the basis of observable features and can be distinguished from non-living things. We will now inquire further into a marine creature of interest and begin investigations into the movement of the Earth (Earth and Space Sciences). Our culminating task will be to develop a multimodal information text trying to work out how our marine creature and coral biomes are reliant on the movement of the Earth and how we can conserve these precious ecosystems.

Thank you to all of our turtley awesome parent and staff helpers – Mrs Neal, Mrs Park, Mrs Anderson, Mrs Bakker, Mr Rewald, Mr Smith, Mrs Jones, Mrs Mutton and Ms Roberts for making this excursion a success!

Here are just some of our favourite memories or so-fish-ticated facts that 2/3 learned:

• I learned that there is such a thing as ‘glow in the dark’ coral – Oliver
• Did you know that octopi have nine brains and three hearts – Layla, Annabeth, Lakirah, Harrison
• Grey Nurse Sharks can only eat small fish because if they have to chew on big fish, their teeth fall out – Jarvis
• Some sharks have fake eyes on their tails – Hayden
• Turtles are endangered because of rubbish – Tallen
• Sharks lose a lot of teeth every year and when they lose them it doesn’t hurt them because they regrow – Kamdyn
• We need to put rubbish in the bin to protect Sea Lions – Dylan
• Seals have two layers of fur – Scarlett
• Seals are endangered – Charlie
• Potato Cods are very, very, very, very, very, very, BIG!! – Zaiden
• Turtles should not be kept in cages or in marine parks because they need to return to where they were born. Leave them in the ocean! – Charlotte
• I learned that Sharks can grow big – Nikith
• Jellyfish (sea jellies) can be up-side-down – Chloe
• Seals can do tricks – Ruby
• Seals can move fast on land and swim fast in the ocean – Ryan
• There are thirty-one types of seals – Cooper
• I found out that there are only ten thousand Australian Sea Lions in the wild – Lennox
• When a Blue-ringed Octopus squirts you with its ink you can die very quickly – Harper
• Stingrays have their mouth on the underside of their bodies – Abigail
• Sea stars have their bottoms on top and Sea Slugs poop out clean sand – Bailey
• Nielson and Groucho (the seals) are VERY cheeky! – Nicholas ????
• My favorite part was when the seal threw rubbish in the bin – Dyjey
• The same species of jellyfish can come in different shapes and sizes – Charlie
• Seals can swim up to 30km\hour – Harry
• Sharks only eat injured prey – Toby
• The starfishes bottom is on the top and their mouth is at the bottom – Hayden and Harrison S
• Jellyfish are related to coral – Logan
• Stingrays are messy eaters – Ella
• Seals don’t have ear flaps like humans – Arianna
• The Megalodon has 5 rows of teeth – Jackson
• I learnt about penguins with the touchscreen game on the wall – Aiden
• Starfish can lay millions of eggs – Harrison
• I was excited about seeing nurse sharks for the first time – Lindon
• The seal presentation was the best! – Reuben
• The male seahorses give birth instead of the females – Vienna and Eli
• My favorite part was seeing the penguins, I learnt that they make a low pitch growling noise – Nixon and Harley
• The stingrays were my favourite, they are like vacuum cleaners of the ocean – Blake
• Groucho did a cool trick where he jumped out of the water and ate a fish out of a lady’s hand – Lachlan
• My favorite part was touching the starfish in the sensory tank – Aadhya
• My favourite part was watching the sea urchins spikes moving – Jonte
• My favorite part was putting my head up under the Dome tank and walking through the tunnel – Minkang and Gilbert

Ms Lena Andersen & Miss Caitlin Mader

YEAR 2/3 & YEAR 3 TEACHERS

Welcome back to our first ‘Pathways’ for the new term. The students seemed to have enjoyed holidays full of interesting and varied activities. From what parents have said, the break from the usual pressures of school routines was also appreciated! Semester 2 will present many wonderful opportunities for our students to strive for their personal best in a variety of pursuits. We thank you for your continued support as we work together in the education and encouragement of our children.

It’s ok not to be ok

With the busyness of life and the constantly changing guidelines and restrictions in the current climate of Covid we need to ensure that we are thinking about self-care to manage our mental health and wellbeing. This current pandemic means that we all find ourselves consistently challenged in ways we have never experienced before, and it is easy to feel drained. The thing to remember is that “It’s ok not to be ok”.

It’s a natural human response to say to someone who is going through tough times, “I understand”. We recognise that for many of us who are either in heightened physical distancing or supporting our people in that situation, that right now we empathise with you. We are genuinely cheering and supporting you through these challenges. We’re here for you and will stand beside and with you.

Other self-help strategies that can be implemented during this time, as students build momentum for the term ahead.

Get enough sleep:

Chronic sleep deprivation can have a dramatic effect on a child’s life including affecting their mental wellbeing and reducing their academic performance at school. Sleep research suggests that 8 and 10 hours of sleep every night is appropriate. Smart phones and other devices used around bedtime reduce sleep time as do stimulant drinks in the evening.

Get enough sunlight:

During the day, it is important to make time to see the sun. It improves mood, concentration.

Get active:

Do not just try something once and declare it a failure; try again. Look at activities that you can do in and around the home (gardening and walking with a friend). Teaching the mind new tricks gives confidence and helps to maintain mental health.

Find an activity:

Do something that you like, that is fun and enjoyable.

Perhaps with 2021 being a quiet year, use the time to fine-tune a skill (like a language, instrument, or creative pursuit) that makes you smile.

Connect, connect, and connect:

Being sociable (in a COVID safe way) helps to reduce worries, stressors, and challenges.

Help someone:

Help someone else with either a skill that you have or with your physical strength.

Ask for help:

Help can be provided by a friend, parent, teacher or online through Kidshelp line. It is really important to seek help when you are not feeling ok and to develop strategies that work for you.

Information cited in and amended from AccessEAP newsletter

A STRONG PERSON V’s A PERSON OF STRENGTH

A strong person works out every day to keep her body in shape.
A person of strength kneels in prayer every day to keep her soul in shape.

A strong person isn’t afraid of anything,
A person of strength shows courage in the midst of her fear.

A strong person won’t let anyone get the best of her,
A person of strength gives the best of herself to everyone.

A strong person walks sure footedly,
A person of strength knows God will catch her if she falls.

A strong person wears the look of confidence on her face,
A person of strength wears grace.

A strong person has faith that she is strong enough for the journey,
A person of strength has faith that it is in the journey that she will become STRONG.

This resonates with our common message to our students again this term – Start Strong, Finish Strong, Together. Also, I commend our students for maintaining their focus on our 6 Rs:

Relationships, Respect, Responsibility, Rigour, Resilience and Random Acts of Kindness.

How fortunate we are

Let us never underestimate the value of positive attitude and belief in ourselves and each other. Our world is truly great – even though we are often bombarded with portrayals of violence and despair. Dennis the Menace (of all people) once said, “People wait for opportunity to come along……yet it is there every morning.” Each morning that we come to St John’s we can be thankful that we do indeed come to a terrific school community where people matter. You matter. Your children matter.

Parent communication and information – The Essential Ingredient at St John’s Lutheran Primary School

St John’s encourages an environment that allows parents to feel included, valued, fully informed and knowledgeable about the school and the progress of their children. As such, I encourage you to continue to speak with your child’s teachers about their academic and social development. Schooling is and should be about the development of the ‘whole’ child – mind, body, spirit. Thank you for continuing to work in partnership with us as we shape and mould our children today, into the adults and civic leaders of tomorrow.

 School Routines

Please be reminded that school commences at 8.30am sharp. As official roll marking commences at this time we would appreciate your support in ensuring students arrive promptly ready for classes. Students are permitted to be on campus from 8.00am. Drop-off and pick-up routines were issued to families at the beginning of the semester.

 Term 3 Key Dates

23-27 August        Book Week

3 September        Student Free Day (Staff Professional Development)

15 September       School Musical Rehearsal Day

16 September      School Musical ‘When I Grow Up’ – One Night Only

School Musical – One Night Only

Limited Tickets – Ticketing Restrictions Apply

(More information to come)

Thank you for working in partnership with us. Grace and Peace.

Chris Mallett

PRINCIPAL