Every year, National Reconciliation Week is celebrated from the 27th of May to the 3rd of June. It is a time dedicated to building positive, respectful relationships between Australians and celebrating indigenous culture.

This year, Year 1 Blue acknowledged and celebrated this week through viewing and discussing indigenous culture, reading a variety of stories and completing a collaborative colouring in altogether.

Mrs Samantha Jones

Year 1 Blue Teacher

St John’s is excited to take part in the Wonder Bread Recycling Program.

Thank you to those students and families who have been collecting bread bags and bread tags and bringing them into school. We still have a long way to go however we thank you in advance for your continued support in helping to turn bread bags and bread tags into school play equipment. The program is accepting all branded and non branded bread bags and wraps packaging. (Bags and wrap packaging does not need to be Wonder brand)

The program finishes on Friday 25 June, 2021 so please keep collecting!

Please find below information of how you can become involved in this wonderful recycling program.

Wonder Bread Recycling Program Information

Recycling Tips

We are excited to announce that all Scholastic Book Club orders are now back and being delivered to school!

We continue to encourage parents to use the Scholastic Book Club Loop online link to place orders however it now means no more additional delivery fees when ordering! Orders will be sent directly to the school and then sent home with students through the class box.

Issue 4 2021 Book Club was sent home with all students last week. Should you wish to place an order, please ensure that you order is processed by 10 June, 2021.

Should you have any queries regarding Book Club ordering, please do not hesitate to contact Mrs Anderson – Teacher Librarian on 4132 6888.

Community Sunday Worship Service Reminder – Sunday 20 June 2021 

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 20 June commencing at 10.00 am.

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.

Our P&F are kindly providing a BBQ lunch following the service. Please join us under the mango tree. Please do not forget to return your form to indicate your child’s attendance, as well as your order form for the sausage sizzle by Friday 11 June, 2021.

If you would like any further information about Community Sunday or any other worship times, please feel free to contact the St John’s Church office (4152 5900) or School office (4132 6888). We look forward to you and your family joining us for this service and worship.

State of Origin Pizza Day and Free Dress Day – Wednesday 9 June

This is also a Free Dress Day with gold coin donation – come dressed in your favourite team colours. All monies raised will go towards helping our Year 6 students trip to Canberra.

Parents are asked that children: Do not wear singlet tops or midriff tops, open toe shoes, thongs or fancy shoes with heels.

Please wear shirts with sleeves, joggers – can be school or other and a wide-brimmed hat.

Save The Date – School Musical

Please save the date  – Thursday 16 September for our School Musical. This year our school is putting on the musical “When I Grow Up” by EP Music.

All students from Prep to Year 6 will will be performing onstage at the Moncrieff Entertainment Centre.

More details to follow.

Save The Date – End of Term School Disco!

Our end of Term 2 school disco will take place on Friday 25 June, 2021.

Don’t forget to add this into your calendar. More details to follow.

LLL School Banking – Children’s Savings Accounts

Does you child/ren have an LLL school bank account?

Do they have pocket money they would like to add into their bank account?

A friendly reminder to parents that school banking is done on a Thursday here at St John’s.

Interest is applied to your child’s account on 31 May each year. We kindly request that your child/rens passbooks are returned to the office by Friday 4 June to be sent away to Adelaide to have the interest applied. (no covers please).

More information can be accessed via Internet banking, the LLL app or the passbook.

See https://www.lll.org.au/savings/childrens-savings  for more information.

Uniform Shop Orders

Should you wish to order uniforms, please continue to send your orders through via the class box or email your completed Uniform Order Form to school@stjohnsbundaberg.qld.edu.au

Pre-loved uniforms (selected sizes and styles) are available for viewing; especially our Reuther and Biar house shirts. Should you wish to view any pre-loved uniforms, please do not hesitate to contact the office to schedule an appointment time.

We are still awaiting the arrival of popular sized formal knit jumpers. Unfortunately at this time, the supplier is unable to provide us with an estimated arrival date. Our sincere apologies for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience. We will continue to keep families updated as we know more.

Lost Property – Are you missing anything?

The Lost Property section in the Office continues to grow on a daily basis. A large number of jumpers, jackets, hats, water bottles and food containers are currently waiting to be collected by their owner! We encourage students and parents to visit the office to see if any items may belong to you.

Please remember to label all items (especially jumpers and jackets) so that if they do make it to Lost Property we can ensure that it is returned promptly. 

Are you missing a jacket?

The following Size 2 jacket was left behind after the recent Junior Sports Day held across the road on Flint Street Oval. If you believe this jacket belong to you, please do not hesitate to visit our Lost Property in the office.

Bundaberg School Futsal Titles

St John’s competed for the first time in the Bundaberg School Futsal Titles on Tuesday 24 May. We had three teams competing (U/12, U10 Blue and U10 Red). The boys played extremely well and continually improved throughout the tournament. For some of the students it was the first-time playing futsal.

The U10 Blue team had three wins and a loss in the group stage. This was enough to earn them a place in the final against St Patrick’s. The boys played their best game of the tournament. In a tightly fought contest and at 2-2 with 2 minutes to go the tension was immense. St John’s successfully scored in the final minute of the game to secure the victory!

Congratulations to all of the students for your sportsmanship and efforts! A big thank you to Mr Higgins and Mr Kewley for assisting on the day with the U10 teams.

Also, Minkang, Hayden, Jonte, Jackson, Riley, Declan, Knox, Brayth and Caleb have been selected in the Queensland Country Futsal Squad! Well done!

Mr Bakker

Queensland Rugby League Fan Day

St John’s students joined in the celebrations with thousands of locals when the Queensland Maroons came to town on Tuesday 1 June, 2021. The morning began with the students taking part in a range of Rugby League skill activities. The students were soon joined by some former origin greats, as Sam Thaiday, Petero Civoniceva, Darius Boyd and Matt Gillett arrived at the skills clinic to offer their encouragement and sign a few autographs. At the conclusion of the clinic the students waited eagerly for the first signs of the arrival of the Maroons players as the talk quickly turned to which was going to be the most prized signature.

All the students had a fantastic experience as the players’ parade allowed them to get up close with current and former players. Stars the likes of Jonathan Thurston, Nate Myles, current Maroons Captain Daly Cherry-Evans, Valentine Holmes, Xavier Coates, Kurt Capewell and Kyle Feldt spent time talking to the students, signing autographs, and posing for photos. The excitement and smiles that were left, even after the players had moved on, proved what a fabulous opportunity this had been.

Senior Athletics Carnival Reminder & Parental Help Required!

St John’s Senior Athletics Carnival will take place on Thursday 17 and Friday 18 June at the Bundaberg Athletics Club. Students in 9 to 12 Years Age Groups (born 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009) will have the opportunity to participate in the events held on these days.

As in previous years, parental help is asked to ensure a successful day for our students. We are still looking for more parent helpers on both days and would greatly appreciate your assistance if available. Thanking you in advance.

The Bundaberg Athletics Club will be operating a canteen on both days of our events. Students wanting to use the canteen facilities must do so by a lunchtime pre-order system (students will need to bring their own morning tea). If you wish to order lunch for your child, an order must be handed in to school no later than Wednesday 9 June. Orders must be placed in a clearly marked paper bag, including student name, class, items ordered and correct money. Please note that the canteen will have extra items for sale on the day should parents wish to purchase for themselves.

We are excited to welcome parents to join us for these days but continue to ask for your assistance with maintaining appropriate COVID safe practices.

Should parents wish to take photos on the day,  please ensure that other students are not included in these photos without the consent from their parents or caregiver. Due to publicity permission, we respectfully request that photos with other students in the background should not be posted on social media.

Student Awards

The Australian Curriculum is designed to teach students what it takes to be confident and creative individuals and become active and informed citizens. It sets the goal for what all students should learn as they progress through their school life – wherever they live in Australia and whatever school they attend.

From the first year of schooling to Year 10, students develop knowledge and skills in eight learning areas plus Christian Studies (P – 6 at St John’s):

English

Mathematics

Science

Health and Physical Education (HPE)

Humanities and Social Sciences (HASS)

The Arts

Technologies

Languages

Christian Studies

In the early years, priority is given to literacy and numeracy development as the foundations for further learning. As students make their way through the primary years, they focus more on the knowledge, understanding and skills of all eight learning areas.

Every student is unique, with different needs and interests. Teachers use the curriculum to plan in ways that respond to those needs and interests. The Australian Curriculum is flexible, allowing schools and teachers to personalise student learning.

As we come to the end of Semester 1 all students will receive a report card which aims to capture student growth and progress. As always, if you have any questions, please contact your child’s classroom teacher.

Information taken from: www.australiancurriculum.edu.au

Jocelyn Bakker

Director of Learning and Teaching

Honest Abe

I’ve shared this story before. So, forgive me if you’ve read this but I think it has great merit.

Abraham Lincoln, the much celebrated American President, was one of the great men in History.

Before he became president, Lincoln spent twenty years as an unsuccessful Illinois lawyer – at least he was unsuccessful in financial terms. But when you measure the good he did, he was very rich indeed. Legends are often untrue, but Lincoln was the real thing. During his years as a lawyer, there were hundreds of documented examples of his honesty and decency.

For example, Lincoln didn’t like to charge people much who were as poor as he was. Once a man sent him twenty-five dollars, but Lincoln sent him back ten of it, saying he was being too generous.

He and his associate once prevented a con man from gaining possession of a tract of land owned by a mentally ill girl. The case took fifteen minutes. Lincoln’s associate came to divide up their fee, but Lincoln reprimanded him. His associate argued that the girl’s brother had agreed on the fee ahead of time, and he was completely satisfied.

“That may be,” said Lincoln, “but I am not satisfied. That money comes out of the pocket of a poor, girl; and I would rather starve than swindle her in this manner. You return half the money at least, or I’ll not take a cent of it as my share.” He was a fool, perhaps, by certain standards. But he was a good human being by anyone’s standards.

Of course as human beings we can be prone to the evils of dishonesty, untruths, misguided comments, even gossip!  The unfortunate result of these can be demeaning, degrading, and hurtful. Not based on facts, but misinformation, interpretations and perceptions. Unless one actually witnesses an event, hear-say doesn’t make it the truth. Fortunately we have a school whose principles, beliefs and ethos are based, among other things, on the notions of trust and honesty.

Honesty makes us feel good about ourselves and creates trust in others. It even improves our relationships. It seems not much in fashion these days to talk about the benefits of such but the benefits are undeniably there and they are valuable and worth the trouble. I see it daily in our students, teachers and parents!

Honesty – it may be corny, but it’s the finest force for good in the world, and it always will be! It worked for Abraham Lincoln.

Life is always full of questions. Some of these are more technical, such as “how does an aeroplane fly?” Or, “how do you bake a chocolate cake?” Other questions help making meaning of things in our lives, such as “why should I learn Mathematics?” or, “what will I do when I grow up (or get older!)?

Still other questions are about life itself, such as, “Does God exist?” or “What is the purpose of my life?”  “How am I meant to live my life?” Whether we always are aware of it or not, questioning forms the basis of so much in our lives, and it is a natural way that we learn new things, whether we are young or old.  One can argue that a meaningful life must be a questioning life. Mrs Bakker, Director of Learning and Teaching, has over time, shared information about the school’s adoption of Inquiry-Based Learning, where students are encouraged to ask questions which help guide their learning in class.

Questions to God in prayer, or desperate pleas to a God, or more rhetorical questions such as, “Why does God sometimes let bad things happen to good people?” are also part of our questioning lives. The role of the teacher in Inquiry-Based Learning is to empower and enable students to find answers to their educational questions. Similarly, the role of the Bible (God’s message to humanity) is His way of empowering us to find answers to the big questions of life, if we are able to bring an open and humble mind to the task.

Perhaps the most famous questioning book in the Bible is that of Job, who was tested by God almost to the end of his endurance. Job questioned whether God’s actions were fair and God answered Job’s questions by revealing his constant presence. He encouraged Job to constantly trust His goodness and love towards him, even when it logically seemed that life was unfair. God’s answer, although indirect, gave Job hope for the future and a purpose to living. Despite being challenged, his questioning life was blessed in the end.

God invites us to ask Him the hard questions about life, and to honestly seek his answer. Many such questions have their answer in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, who more fully reveals God’s plan for mankind and his great goodness and grace.

We are invited to listen with hearts that will be opened by hearing of his love in Jesus, which is what we strive for each day here at St Johns.

Thank you for working in partnership with us.

Grace and Peace

Chris Mallett

PRINCIPAL