In this issue

Music News from Mrs Mac!

Welcome to Music for 2022.

Rehearsals for our Sing Along Choir, Junior and Senior Bands are held in the Hall during lunch playtime.

Rehearsals are as follows:

Monday – Sing Along Choir

All ages from Prep to Year 6 are welcome to join. Sing along to our favourite songs from movies, chapel and favourites.

Tuesday – Junior Band

Beginner band students playing their new notes together

Wednesday – Senior Band

More experienced players playing together their new band repertoire

Thursday – Senior Choir

Years 3 to 6. Learning fun songs with a focus on singing technique and part singing.

Please do not hesitate to contact Mrs Mac should you wish to find out more information.

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St John’s Lutheran Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) Vacation Care Program

St John’s OSHC offer a Vacation care Program during the school holidays from 4 – 14 April 2022.

St John’s OSHC Bundaberg VAC Program APRIL 22

Should you have any questions regarding vacation care, please do not hesitate to contact Barb Thom (Service Leader) on 0409 759 831

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Hello and welcome to the first installment of the P&F News!

My name is Alysha Mutton and I am the current secretary of the P&F Committee.

My family have been at St John’s for four years now. My eldest son Eli is in Year 4, my youngest son Flynn, has just started Prep and my daughter is currently attending St John’s Kindy before moving onto Prep next year. We all love being a part of the St John’s community as everyone is made to feel welcome and excepted.

Last October at the Annual P&F Election Meeting there were a few changes within the committee, which has meant more involvement from the parents within our school community. I am pleased to announce this year’s P&F Executive Committee:

Chairperson – Christine Ewald

Secretary – Alysha Mutton

Finance Officer – Bernadette Latimer

Executive Committee Members – Allison Stallan and Gillian Croft

We have a few exciting things happening in the background currently which we can’t wait to share with you all once COVID restrictions have been lifted, as soon as we can organise and set dates for these events, we will let you know.

For our new and returning families, each year our P&F holds a Welcome BBQ for all to attend. Unfortunately due to the delay in the start of the school year and the current COVID restrictions we have had to postpone this for now. We look forward to sharing these details with you all soon.

A letter along with a membership form will be sent out to all families in the next couple of weeks. We would love to see as many families as possible from our school community join us. We are aiming to have regular general P&F meetings throughout the year. It is a great way to voice your ideas and suggestions, and to also find out more about what is happening in and around the school.

In the meantime, if you have any suggestions or ideas, we would love to hear them, you can contact us via email at pandf@stjohnsbundaberg.qld.edu.au

Grace and Peace,

Alysha Mutton

P&F SECRETARY

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Grace and Peace to you all,

Four weeks into Term 1 and I must say as a new member to St John’s Lutheran Primary School, it has been wonderful to meet and greet many of the students and families of St John’s. Thank you all for the warm welcome, extended to new students and families, and also to new staff. It is very admirable to note the level of care that exists amongst our school family. As highlighted in last edition, a sense of community and level of care is extremely important. Particularly with recent events unfolding and even taking us unawares at a local, national, and global level, which is why our approach to relationships is key – with self, one another and with our God.

As you would be aware our school fosters a Christian ethos and a Christian approach to education, which is embedded in our daily life and the partnerships that exist at school. Students are explicitly taught and encouraged to show respect, empathy, and forgiveness of self, and toward one another. Respect and Relationships can be noted as the bookends of our framework for Building Positive Behaviours.

In addition to Building Positive Behaviours, wellbeing is also an integral part of the school’s curriculum and is explicitly taught through several key programs across the school.

In today’s edition, we will explore one of these programs. implemented from Prep to Year Six. Grow Your Mind is a positive mental health program that focuses on enhancing resilience and wellbeing and provides a consistent language for students, staff, and parents alike. It is aligned to the Australian Curriculum in the Key Learning Area of Health and the Early Years Learning Framework. Grow Your Mind is directly linked to the brain, with a playful animal analogy that resonates with one and all. It has been independently reviewed and listed in the Be You programs directory.

Grow Your Mind focuses on topics such as compassion, gratitude, mindfulness, brain awareness, courage, and resilience.

As part of the systematic and whole school approach to the delivery of Grow Your Mind, students are introduced to the animals of the brain. They are;

• The Wise Owl (Prefrontal Cortex) who helps you to make good decisions
• The Elephant (Hippocampus) who helps you to lock in information and store memories
• The Guard Dog (Amygdala) who senses danger and helps you to fight, flight or flee
• The Sifting Sooty (Ras) who blocks out distractions and helps you to focus
• The Sensitive Octopus (Insular Cortex) who helps you to be aware of how you are feeling and think of how others may be feeling too.

Grow Your Mind also promotes prioritising your own emotional wellbeing. Fill your own cup and prioritise some self-care; a walk, read a book, a swim etc. as we know we can only be effective in helping others when we are caring for ourselves also.

How else can you get involved in Grow Your Mind? We encourage you to discuss with your child/ren, the animals within their brains as they grow and learn more about them.

• Encourage your child to draw a picture of their favourite animal
• Discuss who your child can talk to when they feel a certain way or discuss what makes them feel a certain way
• Draw 5 things or people your child is thankful for
• Draw a bucket and draw/write inside, the ways you can be kind to yourself or ideas on how to fill someone else’s bucket today.

For further information on this fabulous program – Grow Your Mind, please visit: Grow Your Mind 

More information on Growing a mentally healthy generation can be found at Be You Be You is the national mental health in education initiative delivered by Beyond Blue in collaboration with Early Childhood Australia and Headspace. It supports the development of a positive, inclusive, and resilient learning community.

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Uniform Expectations and Reminders

“Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not turn from it.” Proverbs 22:65

As per our uniform expectations, “the students are to view themselves as ambassadors of the school in that the uniform is worn correctly.” If you have any questions regarding uniform wear, suitability of footwear and student grooming; please do not hesitate to arrange a time to discuss such with me or contact the administration office for a copy of the Uniform Expectations for our school.

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A reminder of the St John’s Core Values – 6 Rs

In working in partnership with you, we continue to look forward to fostering a safe and supportive learning and teaching environment for all. Thank you for your support in reinforcing the 6 Rs not only at school but also at home.

Respect – ‘for self and others’

Rigour – ‘work hard, work tough’

Responsibility – ‘for learning and actions’

Resilience – Keep on keeping on

Random Acts of Kindness – ‘It’s cool to be kind’

Relationships – ‘the reason’

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Student and Service Representative Council (SSRC)

We will soon be holding the election process for the Student and Service Representative Council, which is built from our core beliefs of students being active participants in their learning. We believe student opinions are valuable and welcome students to have a voice regarding school life at their school. The SSRC is a group of students who have been formally elected by their peers.

Aims of the SSRC:

• Increase communication between students and staff in School decision making processes
• Engage students in the organisation of varying school functions and the responsibility for any money raised from such functions
• Promote participation and involvement in school activities
• Foster a commitment to the ethos of the School
• Encourage the commitment of students to, and responsibility for, the care of others in our community, the wider community and the environment

Membership of the SSRC consists of:

• The Service Team Leader from Year 6 and 1 elected student (the Service Team Leader was selected at the end of the previous school year for the next 12 months)
• 2 students from each class in year levels from Year 2 to Year 5 elected by class members
• The Principal and Director Pastoral Care and Wellbeing and any other staff member who has a specific interest in projects or by invitation.

Teachers will be speaking to students regarding this process in the coming weeks, and we look forward to electing the members of the student body to join the SSRC for 2022.

Tamara Carroll

DIRECTOR OF PASTORAL CARE AND WELLBEING

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Early Years Literacy

At St John’s we are always working to refine and reflect our current Learning and Teaching processes to ensure alignment with latest research and curriculum expectations. This year we are working with Independent Schools Queensland (ISQ) on an Early Years Literacy Program.

This research project is aimed at investigating and implementing evidence-based practices to improve student outcomes. Our Early Years teachers and I will be supported by ISQ to further develop our robust program of Early Years English, specific to St John’s Lutheran Primary School. This will be informed by data, embedded in our school’s approach to learning and teaching and focused on improving student outcomes.

Prior to the beginning of school this year all Prep, Year 1 staff and I have completed training for Promoting Literacy Development (PLD), and we have been working hard to begin implementation of this program in the classrooms. We have already seen growth in student skills which has been very pleasing.

PLD is a specifically designed, evidence-based literacy program focused on teaching Structured Synthetic Phonics (SSP), in conjunction with motor and movement and oral language skills, to help children achieve broad literacy skills. The basis of this program is derived from speech pathology, occupational therapy and best practices in education. This ensures that students are learning to speak well, interpret what they are hearing and transfer all of this information into written language – the skills that are essential to be truly ‘literate’.

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NAPLAN – YEAR 3 and YEAR 5 students

NAPLAN 2022 is scheduled for Year 3 and Year 5 students on Tuesday 10 May, Wednesday 11 May and Thursday 12 May. Please be vigilant in ensuring that you do not book appointments for your child on these days.

A letter has been emailed to parents from these year levels this week.

 

Jocelyn Bakker

DIRECTOR OF LEARNING AND TEACHING

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The Glory Of The Garden

By Rudyard Kipling

Our [St John’s] is a garden that is full of stately views,
Of borders, beds and shrubberies and lawns and avenues,
With statues on the terraces and peacocks strutting by;
But the Glory of the Garden lies in more than meets the eye.

For where the old thick laurels grow, along the thin red wall,
You’ll find the tool- and potting-sheds which are the heart of all
The cold-frames and the hot-houses, the dung-pits and the tanks,
The rollers, carts, and drain-pipes, with the barrows and the planks.

And there you’ll see the gardeners, the men and ‘prentice boys
Told off to do as they are bid and do it without noise;
For, except when seeds are planted and we shout to scare the birds,
The Glory of the Garden it abideth not in words.

And some can pot begonias and some can bud a rose,
And some are hardly fit to trust with anything that grows ;
But they can roll and trim the lawns and sift the sand and loam,
For the Glory of the Garden occupieth all who come to comb.

Our [St John’s] is a garden, and such gardens are not made
By singing, “Oh, how beautiful,” and sitting in the shade
While better men than we go out and start their working lives
At grubbing weeds from gravel-paths with broken dinner-knives.

There’s not a pair of legs so thin, there’s not a head so thick,
There’s not a hand so weak and white, nor yet a heart so sick
But it can find some needful job that’s crying to be done,
For the Glory of the Garden glorifieth everyone.

Then seek your job with thankfulness and work till further orders,
If it’s only netting strawberries or killing slugs on borders;
And when your back stops aching and your hands begin to harden,
You will find yourself a partner In the Glory of the Garden.

Oh, Adam was a gardener, and God who made him sees
That half a proper gardener’s work is done upon his knees,
So when your work is finished, you can wash your hands and pray
For the Glory of the Garden that it may not pass away!

And the Glory of the Garden it shall never pass away!

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Have you ever seen a mustard seed? They are the smallest seeds I have ever seen. A mustard seed is so small that if you were holding one in your hand and dropped it on the ground, you might not be able to find it. Even though the mustard seed is one of the smallest of all seeds, when it is planted in the ground, it grows into a plant so large that birds can perch on its branches and can even build their nests in it. I have read that these tiny seeds can produce a plant that grows ten feet high or more!

Jesus told a parable comparing the mustard seed to the kingdom of God. Jesus said, “How can I describe the Kingdom of God? What story should I use to illustrate it? It is like a mustard seed planted in the ground. It is the smallest of all seeds, but it becomes the largest of all garden plants; it grows long branches, and birds can make nests in its shade.”

How is that a picture of the kingdom of God? Well, when Jesus first began his earthly ministry, he had no followers. The Bible tells us that Jesus was walking along the shore of the sea of Galilee when he saw two fishermen, Peter and his brother Andrew, casting their nets. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said to them. They immediately followed Jesus. As they continued on their way, they saw two other brothers, James and John, mending their nets. Jesus called them and they immediately left their nets and followed him. One by one, Jesus called his disciples until there were twelve of them. That is still a pretty small beginning, isn’t it? Jesus sent out the twelve and they brought others to Jesus and the kingdom of God grew. From a very small beginning, the kingdom of God has grown and grown until it has spread over the entire earth.

To get a better understanding of what this story teaches, I took an apple, cut it open, and took out the seeds. There were five seeds in my apple. Now, imagine that we planted these seeds and each grew into an apple tree. How many apples do you think each tree might produce? Fifty? A hundred? Two hundred? I read that an apple tree can produce from 150 to 300 apples each year and that an apple tree will produce apples for about fifty years. Just think how many apples that is! It isn’t hard to see how we have enough apples to feed the entire world, is it?

Jesus started growing the kingdom of God with a handful of disciples. Every follower of Jesus is a part of the kingdom and that means that you and I are a part of God’s kingdom. Each time we tell someone about Jesus, we are helping to grow the kingdom. Isn’t it great to know that we can have a part in growing God’s kingdom?

Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.” Mark 4:30-32 (NIV)

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Hints for Creating Resilient Families

As we reach halfway through the I refer you to a few ‘nuggets’ of information I came across from Andrew Fuller (website cited) which may be helpful to you and your family. Resilience is the fine art of being able to bungy jump through life. The pitfalls are still there but it is as if you have an elasticised rope around your middle that helps you to bounce back from the hard times.

No. 1 Promote Belonging

Resilience is the happy knack of being able to bungy jump through the pitfalls of life. It is the strongest antidote we know of for self-harm, depression and drug abuse and it’s built on our sense of belonging.

No. 2 Have some mooch time

We live in a world that suffers from attention deficit disorder. We rush children from activity to activity, from lesson to lesson and from one organised event to another. Then we wonder why, when there is a lull that they say “I’m bored”. Be a counter-revolutionary. Find some time each week just to be at home without anything structured happening.

No. 3 Rediscover some family rituals

It doesn’t matter whether it is the after dinner family walk, the Sunday roast, the Friday night pizza or the Saturday morning clean up; all rituals are highly protective. The best rituals often cost nothing at all. These are the activities you hope that, later on in life, your children will reminisce and say “Mum always made sure we did this” or “Dad always made sure we did that.”

No. 4 Spontaneity and curiosity

Spontaneity and curiosity are the building blocks of good mental health. You cannot tell someone how to have better mental health and you can’t give it to them by getting them to read a book. So the really hard message here is that if you want to raise your children to have mentally healthy lives; you are going to have to have a good time yourself. If you want your children to succeed you need to show them that success is worth having.

For more tips on dealing with children, go to www.andrewfuller.com.au

Thank you for working in partnership with us.

Grace and Peace

Chris Mallett

PRINCIPAL

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