The final sports carnival of the year was held on Friday 19 November as students from Prep to Year 6 participated in the St John’s Swimming Carnival. Students aged 5 to 8 participated in a fun program of events and it was wonderful to welcome parents and friends to promote an enjoyable atmosphere for the students.

Students aged 9 to 12+ competed in 50m and 25m events throughout the day to earn points for their respective houses. Biar ended the day as swimming carnival champions, outscoring Reuther 457 to 341.

Congratulations to each student for their participation on the day. It was wonderful to see the great team spirit and sportsmanship displayed throughout the day.

A special thanks to all staff, parents and friends of St John’s who assisted in any way before, during and after the day’s events.

Age Champions

9 Yrs Girls:        Abbey-Rose Gaston

9 Yrs Boys:       Minkang Jeon

10 Yrs Girls:      Sienna Evans

10 Yrs Boys:     Eric McDonald

11 Yrs Girls:      Sebella Marano and Savannah Watts

11 Yrs Boys:     Mikhail Egorov

12 + Yrs Girls:   Peyton Coulton

12 + Yrs Boys:  Cooper Croft

Yours in Sport

Nathan Higgins

PE TEACHER

We invite you to join us for our annual Twilight Concert on Thursday 25 November 2021 in our Multi-Purpose Hall. This is a wonderful opportunity that is given to the instrumental music students at St John’s to perform for the school community. Come and listen to these talented students as they perform orchestral, solo and ensemble items. This is always a great evening of entertainment for all the family. Come dressed for the occasion in your best Christmas outfit.

5.00pm – Piano Recital

5.00pm – Sausage Sizzle commences

6.45pm – Instrumental Concert

Concert performances include:

• Piano Solos
• Senior Concert Band
• Junior Concert Band
• Ensembles and many solo performances
• Choir (Year 3-6 students)

Please note we will be commencing our BBQ dinner from 5.00pm this year. (Pre-orders needed to be placed by Monday 22 Nov)

We look forward to celebrating our musicians and look forward to welcoming you join us together as a community.

Mrs Diane MacDonald

INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC TUTOR

2022 Uniform Orders 

Existing orders are currently being filled. A text message will be sent to you when your order is ready for payment and collection. Payment and collection can be made from the main office during normal hours. (Monday – Friday 8:30am – 3.00pm). It would be greatly appreciated if orders could be collected by the end of the school year (Friday 4 December, 2021).

Due to COVID-19, our suppliers have advised that some uniform items will be delayed.

Formal Dresses and Shirts – An estimated time will be confirmed as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, this is beyond our control and we will contact you when these items arrive. We thank you in advance for your understanding in this matter.

Uniform Exchanges

Uniform exchanges will take place at school on Wednesday 12, Thursday 13 & Friday 14 January, 2022. Please be aware that this will be by appointment only. This is an opportunity for parents to exchange any new uniforms that may not be the correct size.

We encourage parents to wait until closer to the start of the school year before washing uniforms in case exchanges need to be made.

It is important that exchanges can only be made to uniforms that are in their original packaging with all labels still intact.

Embroidery (optional)

Should you wish to have your child’s items embroidered with their name, please find below details for your consideration.

Shawline Embroidery – (backpacks, homework satchels, library bags. Unfortunately, Shawline are no longer able to embroider hats)

17 Walker Street, Bundaberg South / ph:07 4152 8139

Shawline will be closed from Friday 24 December & re-opening Tuesday 4 January 2022.

Instyle Mensland – (hats, backpacks, homework satchels, library bags)

23 Electra Street, Bundaberg / ph: 07 4151 6788

Instyle will be closed from Saturday 25 December – Tuesday 28 December 2021 (inclusive)

Normal Trading Hours (will then apply):

Monday to Friday – 8.30am – 5.00pm;

Saturday 8.30am – 1.00pm

Closed Public Holidays

Many Thanks

The Uniform Shop Team

Student Awards

ThinkUKnow Program

We have recently undertaken, with support from Queensland Police personnel, to deliver the ThinkUKnow Program to students in Years 2 – 6. ThinkUKnow Australia is an evidence-based education program led by the Australian Federal Police (AFP), delivered nationally in partnership with state police and industry partners to promote general child safety and prevent online child exploitation.

The ThinkUKnow Australia program is aligned to the Australian Curriculum (Health and Physical Education and Digital Technologies subject areas) and aims to support positive, proactive engagement between children and police. These presentations aim to help students understand the benefits and challenges of technology and develop critical thinking skills to identify harmful situations and how to get help.

The program is pro-technology and addresses topics including self-generated online child exploitation material, online grooming, image-based abuse, extortion, and importantly encourages help-seeking behaviour. The course is designed to be delivered at an age and stage appropriate to young children and their level of emotional and cognitive development, and again, is aligned with the Australian Curriculum.

The program provides a broad understanding of the types of things that young people see, say and do online.

• What they see – Young people search for and consume content including videos, images and text.
• What they say – Being connected is a huge part of young people’s lives, including interacting with friends and family.
• What they do – There are many types of activities including apps and games that children and young people use.

The program is a partnership with the AFP, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Datacom and Microsoft Australia, and in collaboration with all State and Territory police and Neighbourhood Watch Australasia.

In our context, Senior Constable Brittany Duncan from the Bundaberg Police delivered the content to the varying age groups at our school, on the following days:

• Wednesday 10 November – Year 3, Year 4
• Tuesday 16 November – Year 5, Year 6
• Wednesday 24 November – Year 2

Please note: Recently our Kindergarten, Prep and Year 1 classes were visited by Qld Police who conducted a variety of safety information sessions (road safety, personal safety, group safety, etc.) with the younger children.

For more information, please access the following website: https://www.thinkuknow.org.au

We believe this is a proactive way of educating our children in regard to broad: road safety, personal safety, cyber safety and group safety matters. Should you have any additional queries, please don’t hesitate to contact our school office.

Jocelyn Bakker

DIRECTOR OF LEARNING AND TEACHING

I’ve recently spoken with our students about the notion of resilience. Life being as it is, is never always smooth sailing. We endure the ebb and flow of the tides and the waves that pitch high and low depending on the ‘conditions’. Being resilient enough to navigate such life conditions will only hold young people in good stead in the long run. Resilience is the ability to ‘bounce back’ from life challenges. It results in individuals having the skills to steer the ship in a different direction if the waters are treacherous.

Amanda Ripley, author of new book, ‘The Smartest Kids in the World and How They Got That Way’ writes, “The trick is that teaching kids to fail and then recover is easier when they are 10 than when they are 30. So if we don’t teach them about resilience when they are younger we are not really helping them.”

Michael Grose is one of Australia’s foremost experts in relation to childhood development. He suggests that the keys to building resilient children lies in the following:

• Spirit Temperament and in born characteristics count!
• Self-esteem Telflon kids against rejection.
• Skills The big 4 – independence, problem solving, social skills and optimism.
• Support The power of ONE resilient adult in children’s lives is huge.
• Stuff Kids experiences of every day ‘upsets’ help them deal with major challenges that inevitably happen.

For more information check out Michael Grose’s website – www.parentingideas.com.au.

Year 6 Camp

Last week our Year 6 students travelled to Luther Heights for their annual excursion. The reports I have had from Mr. Bakker and Mrs. Anderson (and parent volunteers) suggest that the children were fantastic and had a terrific time! Highlights vary according to different children; however, it seems common that they all had a terrific time.

WELL DONE YEAR 6! Thank you for representing our school and community so admirably.

FAITH FORMATION

Have you ever felt as if you have too many things to do and not enough time to do them?  Sometimes it may seem that way – that there are just too many demands on our time and we just can’t meet them all.

Time is a gift from God.  24 hours in every day. How we use our time and where we put our priorities is our response to this gift. God gives us enough time for what’s important but often we use our time to focus on less important things, frivolously wasting this precious gift. Often we are focused on earthly things such as having fun and doing what feels good, having the latest gadgets, getting lots of money, rather than focusing on things of lasting eternal value. These things in themselves aren’t wrong, but can become so important to us that they overshadow what is of lasting value.

The book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible states, “There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven.”  And in the New Testament God’s people are urged to, “Be very careful, then, how you live – not as unwise but as wise, making the most of the time.

Ephesians 5: 5, 16

Blessing

May God’s love

make you brave and strong.

Trust in Him to help and defend you.  Amen.  

Remember you are welcome in the Father’s presence;

You have been given access through the Son;

You are invited by the Holy Spirit.

End of Year Assessment and Reports

Reports have been completed and will be uploaded to Parent Lounge on Friday, 26 November 2021. Please carefully read and consider with your children. Reports are a snapshot of your child’s social and academic growth and development over the past semester and are intended to be used as a tool for shaping conversations about focus areas for continued growth.

End of Year Principal Letter (including Staffing Updates)

Next week I will be in a position to write to families advising of most teacher allocations for 2022 (I’m in the process of finalising interviews/contracts right now. However, at this time I am able to advise the following staffing updates:

Miss Emilie Matuschka, who has this year taught one of our Year 1 classes, has indicated that she would like to return to her homeland – Tasmania. Miss ‘M’ has been a positive addition to our team over these last 12 months and will be sorely missed. Miss M, whilst having enjoyed the Bundaberg lifestyle, is looking forward to returning home to the ‘chilly’ climes of Hobart and will return to Eastside Lutheran College as a valuable member of their team. On behalf of all in our community – we wish you rich blessings Miss M. Please return to say ‘hi’. You’re always welcome!

Miss Caitlin Mader, who this year has been employed to teach Year 3, will remain on staff into next year. Miss Mader’s quiet resolve, high work ethic and dry sense of humor has been highly valued. We look forward to Miss Mader remaining with our school in 2022.

Year 6 Graduation Service

Next Thursday, 2 December will be our Year 6 Graduation Service. The evening will commence at 5.30pm, sharp. We ask that all students are seated (with their class and teachers) by 5.15pm. Students are to wear their formal uniform. This evening is an important one as it allows the opportunity to acknowledge our graduating class. It also serves to enable us all to come together in Worship. The evening provides us an opportunity to conduct the ‘Rite of Transfer’ which involves the current Year 6 leaders announce next year’s leadership team.

Semester Awards and Closing Chapel Service

Next Friday, 3 December 2021 will be our Semester Awards and Closing Chapel Service. This service will take place at 1:30pm sharp inside the St John’s Church. Students are to wear their formal uniform.

Carols By Candlelight

On Sunday, 28 November 2021, St John’s Lutheran Church will be hosting an evening of Christmas Carols. We would very much like you to join us from 6.00pm. The evening is another lovely way to mark the season of Advent and to join together in fellowship.

School Office Dates

The school office will remain open until Friday, 17 December 2021. We close-down for three weeks for the Christmas vacation period and re-open on Monday, 10 January 2022.

Uniform Shop

A reminder that the uniform shop is closed over the school holidays. Existing orders may be collected from the office during normal office hours. The date of re-open is Monday, 10 January, with uniform exchanges being available on Wednesday 12, Thursday 13 and Friday 14 by appointment only.

 2022 Term Dates

Next year’s Term Dates will be attached to my End of Year letter next week. Specifically, please note that start of the school for next year is Monday, 24 January.

Please note: Wednesday, 26 January is the Australia Day public holiday. School will be closed for all children.

Finally

We thank you for your continued support throughout 2021 and we look forward with excitement to the 2022 school year. I pray that the warmth of Christmas brings peace and joy to your home. May you find happiness, love, grace, and peace this festive season.

“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace.”

Colossians 3:15

Thank you for working in partnership with us.

Grace and Peace

Chris Mallett

PRINCIPAL