In this issue

I spent time over the past week and a bit at meetings in Brisbane with and around other Lutheran school personnel. There were many great discussions undertaken, but one that resonated was related to the concept of resilience, and how we as educators and parents have to let our students experience challenges that allow them to build character. This concept was presented through a simple, yet effective story, which follows:

The Butterfly

Once a little boy was playing outdoors and found a fascinating caterpillar. He carefully picked it up and took it home to show his mother. He asked his mother if he could keep it, and she said he could if he would take good care of it.

 The little boy got a large jar from his mother and put plants to eat, and a stick to climb on, in the jar. Every day he watched the caterpillar and brought it new plants to eat.

 One day the caterpillar climbed up the stick and started acting strangely. The boy worriedly called his mother, who came and understood that the caterpillar was creating a cocoon. The mother explained to the boy how the caterpillar was going to go through a metamorphosis to become a butterfly.

 The little boy was thrilled to hear about the changes his caterpillar would go through. He watched every day, waiting for the butterfly to emerge. One day it happened; a small hole appeared in the cocoon and the butterfly started to struggle to come out.

 At first the boy was excited, but soon he became concerned. The butterfly was struggling so hard to get out! It looked like it couldn’t break free! It looked desperate! It looked like it was making no progress!

 The boy was so concerned he decided to help. He ran to get scissors, and then walked back (because he had learned not to run with scissors). He snipped the cocoon to make the hole bigger and the butterfly quickly emerged!

As the butterfly came out the boy was surprised. It had a swollen body and small, shrivelled wings. He continued to watch the butterfly expecting that, at any moment, the wings would dry out, enlarge and expand to support the swollen body. He knew that in time the body would shrink and the butterfly’s wings would expand.

 But neither happened!

 The butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shrivelled wings.

 It never was able to fly.

As the boy tried to figure out what had gone wrong his mother took him to talk to a scientist from a local college. He learned that the butterfly was SUPPOSED to struggle. In fact, the butterfly’s struggle to push its way through the tiny opening of the cocoon pushes the fluid out of its body and into its wings. Without the struggle, the butterfly would never, ever fly. The boy’s good intentions hurt the butterfly.

 As our sons and daughters go through school, and life, keep in mind that ‘struggling’, ‘experiencing difficulty’, and ‘making mistakes’ are important parts of any learning growth experience.

 Sometimes, as parents, it is easy to ‘snip open the cocoon’ to allow the butterfly to fly early.

But in fact, it is the ‘struggle’ that causes them to develop their ability to fly.

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Junior Sports Day

After having to make the decision to postpone our Junior Sports Day from last Friday owing to inclement weather, we were blessed with beautiful weather today such that our ‘little ones’ could come together to enjoy the sports activities. Thank you to our staff and parent volunteers/helpers. Also, thank you to Mr. Higgins for organizing the day.

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Ready for a Holiday

Have you ever felt overwhelmed by something, wondering if you’ll be able to cope with what you have to face?

A time when our family faced some very challenging times came recently at the passing of my father. This was a time of great sadness, but also a time when God was there with His promises.

Perhaps you have felt like you’ve hit ‘rock bottom’. Perhaps you are going through something like this right now!  Then God’s promises are for you!

God doesn’t always promise to take away the problem, but He does promise to go through it with us.  He doesn’t say that the going will always be easy, but He does say, “I will be with you,” and “You are precious”! (Isaiah 43)

With Him walking beside us we need not be afraid, because He is in control. He won’t let us be swept away by the difficulties & challenges we face. He will provide the strength and support to see us through.  We can feel confident that God can use even the difficulties in our lives for His purposes, for our growth and good.

So, each day remember that whatever awaits you around the corner – God is already there. And praise Him that He is beside you each step of the way!

“The Lord Himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.  Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged”.  Deuteronomy 31:8

As this is the final newsletter for the term, I offer my heartiest thanks to all in our community for your continued support of our school. I pray blessings and travel mercies for you all and look forward to seeing you return in Term 4. Please note, Monday 3 October is the Queen’s birthday public holiday.

Term 4 commences on Tuesday 4 October.

Grace and Peace

Chris Mallett

PRINCIPAL

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Year 6 Ukulele Visit to Kindy

For Classroom Music Specialist lessons this term the Year 6 class have been building on our ukulele skills. We have practised changing chords, using different strumming techniques and the skill of singing whilst playing. Our final task was to perform for an audience. On Thursday last week the Year 6’s visited the Kindy class and performed a selection of young children’s songs. The Kindy children were enthusiastic participants in the interactive performance, doing actions and singing along. The year 6’s also enjoyed the opportunity to perform, and a fun time was had by all.

Jenny Linderberg – Classroom Music Teacher

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Child Protection Week

St John’s Lutheran Primary School students and St John’s Lutheran Kindergarten children took park in Mindful Movement sessions last week, which were facilitated by Pilates Instructor – Amy Maher. Thank you to the Bundaberg Child Protection Week Action group for funding these sessions. It was wonderful that students had the opportunity, in recognition of Child Protection Week, to participate in some mindful breathwork and subsequent movement activities.

 

 

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R U OK? Day

St John’s Lutheran Primary School Staff took part in a national day of recognition and action on Thursday 8 September by participating in an R U OK? Day morning tea and dressing in yellow. This day shines a spotlight on encouraging friends, family and colleagues to initiate meaningful conversations whenever they spot someone, whom they care about who may be struggling with life. Meaningful conversations support and encouragement need not wait for a national day, but can be enacted everyday particular for those with whom we connect and relate to. Isaiah 40:10 Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

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Up-and-Coming Family Fun and Faith Evenings for Term 4

You may be aware; St John’s Church and St John’s Lutheran Primary School have been partnering together to provide an opportunity for school families to attend fortnightly Family Fun and Family Faith Evenings.

Please mark these dates in your calendar:

October 14 – Family Fun

October 28 – Family Faith

November 11 – Family Fun

November 25 – Family Faith

If you have any questions regarding these evenings, please do not hesitate to contact our church or school office (41525900 – Church Office and 41326888 – School Office).

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Healthy Relationships Education

During Term 4, we have the opportunity to be involved in a human relationships and education program run by Life Education Queensland called – ‘Talk about it’. Talk about it is a sensitive and age-appropriate program designed to help support students understand and manage physical and emotional changes and engage is respectful relationships. This program will be run for students in Grades 4-6 and will be facilitated by a Life Education Specialist Health Educator. Detailed information will be outlined in a permission letter in the coming days. Please do not hesitate to contact Mrs. Tamara Carroll to discuss further on 41326888.

 

Wishing our school families all the very best for a blessed and safe holiday. We look forward to seeing you in the coming term.

Grace and Peace

Tamara Carroll

DIRECTOR OF PASTORAL CARE & WELLBEING

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AUSTRALIAN CURRICULUM V9.0

Our staff have been investigating key changes in the Australian Curriculum in preparedness for implementation of v9.0 over the coming years. Staff have been collaboratively exploring the website and using focus documents to explore key changes and identify how this may lead to changes with our Learning and Teaching program.

As part of our recent pupil free day program, teaching staff spent time looking more deeply into Contemporary Learning skills and dispositions, and ‘ideating’ around units of deep inquiry using a human-centered focus.

It’s very safe to say that we have a truly dedicated and passionate staff working together to ensure all students flourish and are enabled to dream big at St John’s Lutheran Primary School.

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ICAS RESULTS

Well done to the students who participated in the ICAS English and Maths assessments. Participating students have received details on how to access their results. Please check with your child if you have not received this information. Once certificates are sent to us, we will present these at our weekly assembly.

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NAPLAN RESULTS

We have had some parents enquiring about NAPLAN results. At this stage the only information we have is that this information will be available between August and September. Once we receive results and information this will be distributed to parents.

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YEAR 3 SHOWCASE EVENT

Our Year 3 students are presenting their Great Barrier Reef Showcase on the Thursday 15^th and Friday the 16^th of September this week. If you would like to come along and enter the magical Year 3 classroom our student experts will share information with you about saving our reef, sustainability and life on the reef. The Year 3 classroom will be open between 3:00pm and 4:00pm on Thursday and between 8:00am and 8:30am on Friday morning. Thank you to Mrs Kadel and the Year 3 class for their efforts with this unit of work.

Grace and Peace

Jocelyn Bakker

DIRECTOR OF LEARNING AND TEACHING

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Date	Activity	Venue	Details
Thu 15 Sept	P&F Nominations Due		P&F Members only – Committee Executive Nominations due
Thu 15 Sept	Year 3 Showcase	Classroom	3.00 – 4.00pm
Fri 16 Sept	Year 3 Showcase	Classroom	8.00 – 8.30am
Fri 16 Sept	All Schools Touch Competition	Bundaberg Touch Football Association	Selected Year 5 & 6 Students – Login to Parent Lounge for more details
Fri 16 Sept	Term 3 Closing Chapel	St John’s Church	8.45am – All Welcome. Come and join us for Coffee & Connect from 8am
Fri 16 Sept	Term 3 Concludes
Mon 3 Oct	Queen’s Birthday Public Holiday		School Closed
Tue 4 Oct	Term 4 Commences
Tue 4 – Thu 6 Oct	Year 5 Camp		Login to Parent Lounge for more details
Fri 7 Oct	Term 3 Opening Chapel	St John’s Church	8.45am – All Welcome. Come and join us for Coffee & Connect from 8am
Mon 10 Oct	Swimming Lessons		See email sent on 6 September 2022

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Please remember to return your booking form including your relevant completed permission forms for in/excursions. Bookings cannot be confirmed without a signed in/excursion permission form handed in beforehand. For any enquiries, please contact Barb on 0409 759 831 or email stjohns.oshc@qlecs.org.au.

Link to Form and Information: Vacation Care September 2022

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