The Bundaberg RSPCA is hosting a Pet Market in conjunction with our annual Cupcake Day Fundraiser on Sunday 28 August from 9am-12pm.

We will have a yummy bake sale with goods donated by all of Bundaberg’s best cafe’s, a dog treat stall, pet-related second hand stalls, shelter tours, a pet photo booth, discounted microchipping and hydrobathing services available on the day, plus vets, inspectors and shelter staff available to chat about animal services in our area!

Colouring In Competition

We are also currently running a colouring competition to help us raise money to refurbish our cat area – and the winning designs will be framed to hang in the cat condos to brighten up the room! Entry packs can be purchased for $5 in person at our shelter at 31 Doblo Street Branyan (Open Wed-Sun from 10am-4pm).  

Have you thought about joining the P&F Committee?

We would love to see you 🙂

We wish to invite as many families as possible from our school community to join us.

General P&F meetings are held throughout the year, and it is a great way to voice your ideas and suggestions, as well as to find out more about what is happening in and around the school. Our next general meeting is scheduled for Thursday 15 September at 5.30pm in the School Hall.

The P&F Annual Election Meeting will be held on Tuesday 25 October whereby P&F members can vote for positions on the Executive Committee. Please note, in line with our constitution and in order to be able to vote, you must be a member by Thursday 25 August, 2022. Click on the link to complete the P&F Membership Form.

2022 P&F Membership Registration Form

In the meantime, if you have any suggestions or ideas, we would love to hear them. Please don’t hesitate to contact us via email at pandf@stjohnsbundaberg.qld.edu.au or phone 4132 6888.

Grace and Peace,

P&F Executive Committee

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 next week, from Monday 22 August – Friday 26 August 2022.

The theme for this year’s CBCA Book Week is ‘Dreaming with eyes open…’

St John’s will spend a week celebrating books and Australian authors and illustrators by highlighting the importance of reading. Classroom teachers will introduce and read books to the students that have been shortlisted for 2022 book of the year awards. They will also be participating in activities and class competitions.

St John’s will culminate Book Week on Friday 26 August with a fancy-dress day. Students can come dressed as something they ‘dream’ about being when they grow up or dream about being someone special. Class competitions will be held throughout the day, and we will make sure to post lots of photos from the day on the school’s website and Facebook page for all to see.

St John’s would like to ensure safe distancing for everyone so the Book Fair will be held in the Hall. To help with numbers we have alphabetically allocated days (last names). Come and browse and buy from the Book Fair in the below available times.

St John’s 2022 BOOK FAIR

Grace and Peace

Billie-Jean Anderson

TEACHER LIBRARIAN

Student Free Day – Friday 2 September 2022

Just a reminder that Friday 2 September is a Student Free Day; school will be closed.

Should you require care on this day, please do not hesitate to contact our Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) on 0409 759 831 for more details.

Prep Celebrates 100 Days of School

Since beginning school this year, Preps have been counting each day and keeping track on our class chart of how many days we have been at school. The excitement was building in the Prep classrooms as we got closer and closer to 100 days. On Tuesday 9 August, the day finally arrived. 100 Days was here, and it was time to celebrate.

Preps had a very exciting day filled with lots of fun activities based on the number 100. Students made 100 days crowns and necklaces which they wore proudly for the day. We also completed the 100 cup tower challenge, definitely a highlight!

In Prep Blue, we counted in tens to paint 100 dots, to make a 100 Puzzle and to build a 100 unifix chain.

In Prep Red, we used an aging app to see what we might look like if we were 100 years old and used Q-Tips to paint 100 dots.

Prep Red and Prep Blue shared a 100 Days Morning Tea with some special treats. We had an amazing day full of lots of fun.

Mrs Higgins and Mrs Burt

PREP RED & PREP BLUE TEACHERS

Fathers’ Day Stall 2022 – Parent Helpers Needed!

Just a reminder that our annual Fathers’ Day Stall will take place during the day on Monday 29 August. This is a fun and exciting time for students to come and do their own shopping in time for Fathers’ Day!!

Parent help is always greatly appreciated in order to help run a successful stall and we are still looking for volunteers. If you are available to help in any way big or small, please kindly fill in a time slot on the attached letter and return to school or email the office school@stjohnsbundaberg.qld.edu.au by Monday 22 August 2022.

10 August 2022 – Fathers’ Day Stall Letter

Fathers’ Day Raffle – Year 6 Fundraiser

We have some amazing Fathers’ Day Raffle Prizes as part of the Year 6 Camp fundraising. Raffle tickets were sent home last week to all families, if you didn’t receive your raffle tickets or wish to grab some more, please don’t hesitate to contact the school office.

Farewell Tea & Coffee Morning – Friday 19 August

You are invited to join us under the Mango Tree to say farewell to Mrs Croft. See below for more details.

Year 6 Market Stall Morning – Friday 19 August

Don’t forget to join us from 7.45am!

Student Awards

Family Fun Night Winter Games– Friday 26 August

This coming fortnight our Family Fun Night Winter Games will be held at the Church Hall from 6:30-9:00pm. All are welcome to attend. The cost of entry is $3 per person which includes an American Style Hotdog Dinner. What a lovely opportunity to connect school and church families. Please see the flyer for further details and RSVP by Wednesday 24 August via the church sign-in sheet or by contacting the Church Office on 4152 5900.

Come along and join the fun!!!

Confirmation Classes

Our St John’s Church Pastors (Pastor Greg and Pastor Graham) are considering commencing Confirmation classes this year. The proposed day for the classes will be either on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday afternoon at 4.00 p.m (and not during School holidays). Please contact the Parish Office on 41525900 if you would like further information or for your child to participate in these classes.

Child Protection Week

Child Protection Week aims to raise awareness of the issues connected to child protection; including abuse prevention, treatment, research, education, and service provision. This year, the Bundaberg Child Protection Action Group has many events planned across the week and is looking forward to partnering with St John’s Lutheran Primary School in support of this important week. In doing so, we have been able to support the provision of Mindful Movement sessions for our students on Monday 5 and Tuesday 6 September.

More Child Protection Week community events:

• Child Protection Week
• 2022 Child Protection Week Colouring In Competition
• CPWAG Think U Know Flyer 2022 PDF

2022 Mayoral School Chaplaincy Support Breakfast

Ten of our elected school Leaders were extended the invitation to attend the 2022 Mayoral School Chaplaincy Support Breakfast. Students enjoyed a hot breakfast and listened to guest motivational speaker and former NRL player Darius Boyd, discuss his personal journey with mental health and highlight strategies for positive mental health. The students look forward to sharing their thoughts about, and learnings from the Chaplaincy Breakfast in the coming weeks. We recognise our elected leaders for their outstanding conduct, and would also like to sincerely thank their parents and families for supporting their attendance at this important event.

More about SU Chaplaincy

School chaplains have been providing social and emotional support, and spiritual support in schools for more than 20 years. Throughout 2021, information and data sets were collected on their activities and impact.

If you would like to help support the work of our school chaplains in the Bundaberg District, donations can be made by following link.

 Bundaberg District Disbursement – Tax Deductible – SU QLD

Grace and Peace

Tamara Carroll

DIRECTOR OF PASTORAL CARE & WELLBEING

Spark! Science Expo

The Spark! Our Science Expo was a spectacular, daylong event showcasing science as a life wide and life worthy phenomenon! Our Year 5 and Year 6 students immersed us in numerous hands-on inquiries into all things science. We met Professor Bakkerspiel igniting students’ enthusiasm in the Spark Stadium. We then moved through a series of ‘spark’ activities throughout the school, giving all participants the opportunity to engage in a diverse range of experimentation activities.

Students were engaged in 9 rotational scientific activities and should have brought home a ‘goody’ bag to ‘spark’ scientific conversations at home.

Mighty Whites, Puppet Patterns, Marble Mayhem, Lightmazing Reflections, Observation Station, Kaleidoscope Chaos, Sugarglass Decorations, Getting Goopy and Dynamic Demonstrations were engaging and exciting for all!

Grace and peace

Jocelyn Bakker

DIRECTOR OF LEARNING AND TEACHING

Many of you will have read the book, “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen Covey. In it he tells the following story:

Two battleships assigned to the training squadron had been at sea on manoeuvres in heavy weather for several days. I was serving on the lead battleship and was on watch on the bridge as night fell. The visibility was poor with patchy fog, so the captain remained on the bridge keeping an eye on all activities. Shortly after dark, the lookout on the bridge reported, “Light, bearing on the starboard bow.” “Is it steady or moving astern?” the captain called out. Lookout replied, “Steady, captain”, which meant we were on a dangerous collision course with that ship. The captain then called to the signalman, “Signal that ship: We are on a collision course, advise you change course 20 degrees”. Back came a signal, “Advisable for you to change course 20 degrees”. The captain said, “Send, I’m a captain, change course 20 degrees”. “I’m a seaman second class”, came the reply. “You had better change course 20 degrees”. By that time, the captain was furious. He spat out, “Send, I’m a battle ship. Change course 20 degree”. Back came the flashing light. “I’m a lighthouse”. We changed course.

The meaning of this story is not lost on our senior school students when it is explained that there are certain ‘lighthouse values or principles’ which are rock solid in lighting our path and that these always remain true. They are not dependent on the behaviour of others, the environment, or the current fad, for their validity. They are not here one day and gone the next.

They can’t be destroyed by fire, floods or theft.

This thought was once captured in the following statement: Some things are true whether we think so or not; some things are just whether or not they go against what we immediately want; some things are beautiful whether we happen to like them or not; some things are sacred whether we are willing to recognise them or not.

Isn’t this what we as parents and educators are trying to do in forming the young people in our care? We are endeavouring to give them “lighthouse” values and true principles which will be there to guide and give them direction as they find their own path in the world.

Taken from A Canopy of Stars by Father Chris Gleeson.

Queensland Road Safety Week

Queensland Road Safety Week is (22 – 26 August 2022) and is an opportunity for all Queenslanders to be directly involved in making our roads safer for everyone. Helping children to be safe around traffic – Road safety skills are best learnt in a real traffic environment. Children learn by experience, and adult interaction helps them to learn. You can help by talking with your child as you walk. Ask questions about roads, signs, traffic and how and where you can cross the road safely.

Road safety for children under five years

Always carefully supervise children in traffic situations.

It is important to:

• Talk with your child about the traffic environment.
• Hold your child’s hand when you are near cars.
• Talk with your child about why it is important to hold hands.
• Explain what you are doing when you cross the road together. Involve your child in deciding when it is safe to cross the road – of course, you still make the decision, but you are teaching your child to think in the traffic environment.
• Always be a good role model for your child by wearing your own seatbelt, obeying road rules, driving courteously and crossing roads safely.
• Make eye contact with road users, especially at intersections.
• Involve your child in choosing safe places to play.
• Separate play areas from driveways.

Road safety for children between five and nine years

Your child still needs adult supervision and assistance in the traffic environment.

It is important to:

• Talk together about signs and traffic lights. Identify and discuss places where it is safe to cross the road.
• Teach your child how to cross roads using the ‘stop, look, listen and think’ process – stop at the kerb, look and listen for traffic and then decide whether it is safe to cross. Take the trip to school together along the safest footpaths and use safe crossing places, such as pedestrian crossings and on straight sections of road.
• Supervise your child on the way to and from school.
• Always be a good role model for your child by wearing your own seatbelt, obeying road rules, driving courteously and crossing roads safely.

Road safety for children between 10 and 13 years

• Children between 10 and 13 can cope more safely in traffic on their own. This will depend, however, on how much practice the child has had in the ‘real traffic environment’.

It is important to:

• Check that your child always ‘stops, looks, listens and thinks’ when crossing the road. Ask them to explain to you what they are doing and why they are doing it.
• Talk with your child about road laws. Go for regular rides and walks together.
• Plan with your child safe routes to school and to places your child often visits.

Road safety is an important conversation to have with your children.

Staffing Update

It is with a heavy heart that I advise that Mrs Gillian (Gill) Croft has tendered her resignation effective Thursday this week. Gill has determined that she’d like to work lesser hours and reduce from a full load capacity in order to maintain work-life balance. She has been offered employment working a 5-day fortnight in the health field. All of that said, I thank Gill on behalf of our school community for her work and efforts over the last 6 years. Rarely, if ever, is it the case that Gill doesn’t have a smile on her face. She’s worked hard in and with our office administration team across general administrative, marketing, enrolments and communications functions and has done a terrific job. On behalf of our entire community, I wish Gill rich blessings as she leaves us and takes up her new employment opportunity. She has declared that she will be in and around our school in her continued capacity as a parent and P&F member. We will hold you to that, Gill! Please join me in warmly thanking Gill for her work at our school.

Gill, I leave you with this verse from scripture:

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29.11

Thank you for working in partnership with us.

Chris Mallett

PRINCIPAL