In this issue

SSRC (STUDENT SERVICES REPRESENTATIVE COUNCIL)

Nominations and elections for SSRC in Grades 3-6 have taken place. Congratulations to all students who nominated and to those who were elected to represent their respective classes.

Our SSRC representatives for 2023 are: Madix Daley, Eva Allen, Lochie Cleve, Ruby Moreny, Harrison Caruana, Layla Hinschen, Harrison Neal, Annabeth Lankowski, Harley Sampson, Ella Bion, Phoebe Watts.

SSRC will meet during Thursday morning tea (eating/play time) in the library courtyard up to 3 times per term. We look forward to the ideas and actions the SSRC will bring to fruition in serving the school and wider community with their head, heart and hands.

At our first meeting, we explored the aims and expectations of the SSRC, and ideated possibilities for 2023. Harmony Day– ‘Where Everyone Belongs’ is recognised during the week of 20-26 March. Stay tuned for up-and-coming details as to how St John’s will celebrate Harmony Day and our community where everyone belongs.

THINK U KNOW

As you would know, the District Crime Prevention Co-Ordinator Senior Constable Brittany Duncan delivered the Prep-Year Six program along Sergeant John Kendell from the Bundaberg Police Citizens Youth Club (PCYC).

We look forward to welcoming Senior Constable Brittany Duncan back to St John’s during on Monday 6 March at 4:30 p.m for our Parent and Caregiver ThinkUKnow session. Please register your interest by following the link below;

TECHNOLOGY IN THE HOME

Parents and caregivers play an important role in helping children to develop digital intelligence — the social, emotional and practical skills needed to successfully navigate the digital world. There are several free parent webinars to assist parents with the management of Technology within the home. Please see the link below to peruse webinar topics and to register, or alternatively see flyer attached. Webinars for parents and carers | eSafety Commissioner

A Family Technology Agreement is a set of rules about how devices, like smartphones, tablets, computers, TVs and gaming consoles are used in the home. These can be personalised to suit your beliefs, values and routines. Start the conversation with your family today and develop a set of expectations and an agreement that will suit the age and needs of your children, along with the expectations of your family use of technology. The safety Commissioner provides a sample of such agreements.  Family tech agreements | eSafety Commissioner

GROWING SELF-REGULATION

Further to the information provided in the last edition of the newsletter; regarding Grow your Mind, another extremely invaluable program embedded at St John’s Lutheran Primary School, is The Zones of Regulation. In ensuring a consistency of practice and a common language across the whole school, students are explicitly taught about the Zones of Regulation. Whilst there are no ‘good and bad’ zones the zones are referred to as colours, where we naturally experience a myriad of feelings and emotions.

The Zones of Regulation teach students to identify the ‘zone’ they are currently sitting in and develop a bank a strategies to use, in assisting them to shift zones if required.

COMMUNITY SUNDAY

We invite you and your family to join with us for our Community Sunday Worship Service with the St John’s Lutheran Church congregation on Sunday 12 March 2023 commencing at 9.00 a.m.

We would love you to come along and be part of this special time together. Worshipping with others is a great way to praise God, nurture our faith in Him and encourage one another. There will be a shared morning tea following the service. Please bring along a plate to share and join us under the mango tree.

Students in Grades Two/Five and Six will be involved in the service for our first Community Sunday of the year, including singing, reading, action group or simply attending. If you would like any further information about Community Sunday, please feel free to contact the school office (4132 6888). We look forward to you and your family joining us for this service and worship.

Success Doesn’t Come Easy

It’s often easy to look at ‘successful’ people and think that it’s all come easily to them. In many cases this is not what happened. Colonel Sanders went to more than 1,000 places trying to sell his chicken recipe before he found an interested buyer. Thomas Edison tried almost 10,000 times before he succeeded in creating the electric light.

The original business plan for what was to become Federal Express was given a failing grade on Fred Smith’s college exam. And, in the early days, their employees would cash their pay cheques at retail stores, rather than banks. This meant it would take longer for the money to clear, thereby giving Fed Ex more time to cover their payroll.

Sylvester Stallone had been turned down a thousand times by agents and was down to his last $600 before he found a company that would produce Rocky. The rest is history!

The American poet Robert Forst had his first poetry submissions to The Atlantic Monthly returned unwanted. He was published in England before anyone in American even considered he was good enough. He went on to win the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.

Ray Kroc, the late founder of McDonalds, knew this too. “Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence,” he once said. “Talent will not. Nothing is more common than unsuccessful men and women with great talent. Genius will not. Persistence, determination and love are omnipotent.”

At assemblies, as is usual, we acknowledge children in our school who have achieved a measure of success. That said, whether it be NAPLAN, class results or success on the sporting field, the true determiner of success isn’t necessarily the isolated result in itself, rather, it is the effort and perseverance one needs to self-employ which is crucial to achievement.

Those referenced in the above tales of success clearly shine a light on this notion of effort. At St John’s it is one of our 6Rs – we call it rigour and resilience! Remember: Rigour – work hard, work tough. Resilience – keep on keeping on!

Dare To Be

When a new day begins, dare to smile gratefully.
When there is darkness, dare to be the first to shine a light.
When there is injustice, dare to be the first to condemn it.
When something seems difficult, dare to do it anyway.
When life seems to beat you down, dare to fight back.
When there seems to be no hope, dare to find some.
When you’re feeling tired, dare to keep going.
When times are tough, dare to be tougher.
When love hurts you, dare to love again.
When someone is hurting, dare to help them heal.
When another is lost, dare to help them find the way.
When a friend falls, dare to be the first to extend a hand.
When you cross paths with another, dare to make them smile.
When you feel great, dare to help someone else feel great too.
When the day has ended, dare to feel as you’ve done your best.
Dare to be the best you can –
At all times, Dare to Be!

Steve Maraboli

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. Blessed is the man who remains steadfast (or perseveres) under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.” James 1:2-4, 12

 Thank you for working in partnership with us.

Grace and Peace

 Chris Mallett

PRINCIPAL

NAPLAN 2023 – Year 3 and Year 5 students

A letter was sent home earlier in the term – please read this carefully and book an appointment to see me should you wish to withdraw your child from NAPLAN, or if you have any questions. Please note, students are not expected or encouraged to study for NAPLAN. You can support your child by reassuring them that NAPLAN is part of their school program and reminding them to simply do their best. Teachers will ensure students are familiar with the types of questions in the tests and will provide appropriate support and guidance.

If you wish to visit the Public Demonstration site, you can find it here: NAPLAN – Public Demonstration Site

The NAPLAN information or parents and carers 2023 is linked here: Information for Parents and Carers

This year the NAPLAN tests will be held from Wednesday 15 March to Friday 17 March. We respectfully ask that you do not book appointments or the like for your children on these days.

Student Medical Information on Parent Lounge

 Please remember to update your child’s medical information on Parent Lounge so that all details up current and reflect any allied health providers your child may visit. By keeping details up to date parents are acknowledging that:

• It is the responsibility of parent/s to update child’s Medical Information as it changes.
• It is understood and agreed that allied health professionals submitted for my child, can be contacted when required, by relevant staff members.

 Parent Lounge is our main information portal, and we thank you in advance for keeping this up to date for your family.

Growing in Learning and Teaching Information

Last Thursday as part of our Staff Meeting rotation our teachers spent the afternoon exploring more of v9.0 of the Australian Curriculum, reviewing time allocations of subjects and exploring St John’s Lutheran Primary School Learning Behaviours and Attitudes.

This opportunity allowed dedicated time for teachers to view curriculum documents to ensure rigorous understandings of how learning should look in each year level.

We also revisited the Alice Springs (Mpartntwe) Education Declaration for schooling and how, at our school we contribute to achieving the two national goals for schooling. The goals set in the declaration are:

1. The Australian education system promotes excellence and equity.
2. All young Australians become confident and creative individuals, successful lifelong learners, and active and informed members of the community.

Working collaboratively teachers explored the question, “What type of person are we aiming to grow and teach, and what does this look like in our classrooms and in our school?”

Teachers provide our students with the knowledge and skills they require from the Australian Curriculum and Christian Studies framework, alongside explicitly teaching and imparting positive Learning Behaviours and Attitudes with students. These Learning Behaviours and Attitudes help to shape the ‘why’ we do what we do and ‘why’ we teach the way we do at St John’s Lutheran Primary School.

It was wonderful to hear the passion and synergy from our teaching staff during the afternoon learnings and discussions.

Grace and Peace

Jocelyn Bakker

Director of Learning and Teaching