Two Weeks at a Glance

Date Activity Venue Details
Fri 10 Jun Coffee and Connect Morning Mango Tree Area Join us for coffee from 8am
Fri 10 Jun Chapel and Assembly Service St John’s Church 8:45am start, all families and friends welcome
Fri 10 Jun Year 1 Excursion Moncrieff Ent Centre Bus departs at 9.15am
Fri 10 Jun School Disco & BBQ Hall and Mango Tree Area 5:30pm – 7:30pm
Tue 14 Jun Taiko Japanese Drums Performance School Hall During class time
Tue 14 Jun Pizza Food Day Orders   Due back today
Thur 16 Jun Prep Vision Screening School  
16 & 17 Jun Senior Athletics Days Athletics Grounds Parent Helpers Needed!
Fri 17 Jun Coffee and Connect Morning Mango Tree Area NO Coffee and Connect this morning due to Athletics Day
Fri 17 Jun Chapel and Assembly Service St John’s Church NO Chapel and Assembly service today due to Athletics Day
20 & 21 Jun ThinkUKnow Student Presentations School During class time
Wed 22 Jun Pizza Food Day School  
Fri 24 Jun Closing Service and Semester Awards St John’s Church Service commences at 1:30pm
Fri 24 Jun Last Day of Term 2   Wishing everyone an enjoyable holiday break!
Mon 11 July Term 3 Commences School Welcome Back!

 

School News »
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School News

Year 2 Bundaberg History Tour WOW what an incredible day! This Term, Year 2 have been very busy doing many things across the curriculum, but …

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School News

Year 2 Bundaberg History Tour

WOW what an incredible day!

This Term, Year 2 have been very busy doing many things across the curriculum, but the most exciting highpoints have related to our Inquiry Units of study.

For HASS we have been sought to deepen our understanding about – Why visit Bundaberg (why is Bundaberg so special and what places can reveal about the past and present)? This led us to surveying our Year 4 buddies and each other to collect, and analyse data and to determine a list of significant places to visit during our Year 2 Bundy History Tour.

Following on in Week 6 we went on our special History Tour – it was jam-packed and thanks to Ms Jakins, Mrs Glass, Mrs Heidke, Miss Lewinton, Mrs Mesner, Mrs Quinn, Mrs Robertson, Mrs Roll and Mrs Warburton for joining us and helping the day be such a success!!! We were able to visit so many local attractions including East Water Tower, Millaquin Sugar Mill, Bundaberg Brewed Drinks, Mon Repos Conservation Park, The Hummock Lookout, Bundaberg Tourist Information Centre, Botanical Gardens and Hinkler Hall of Aviation. At each destination Mr Allen and Ms A (aka: our tour guides) shared some interesting information about the significance of each place. The notes we took and what we learned has since become a useful resource for developing our informative brochures as we inquire further into one of the local sites we visited.

We are now busily drafting and publishing our informative brochures in readiness for display at the Bundaberg Tourist Information Centre, where we aim to lure more tourists to visit our amazing local area!

Here are some amazing things our Year 2 students learned while on their adventure:

Bundaberg Brewed Drinks started in the 1960s – Jonathan and Tanatswa

From November to December, you can see the turtles hatch and lay eggs – Darcy

Did you know that Bert Hinkler’s house was brought here from England? – Chloe, Alexandra and Maverick

I learnt that history is sooooo IMPORTANT! – Emmy

The Bundy Brewed Drinks is shaped like a barrel – Tiffany

Aboriginal things are in the turtle centre too, it’s not just about turtles – Ruby

Did you know that the Botanical Gardens was built in 1881? – Ruby

I did not know that Bert Hinkler built a full plane – Adrian

I’m still wondering why Bert Hinkler used to have ice in his bath! – Thomas

The Millaquin Mill has been working for 130 years! – Godric

I did not know that Mon Repos had BABY turtles – Ellah

The Hummock is an extinct volcano… it’s been around for 900 000 years – Annie

The East Water Tower is 120 years old! – Asher

Grace and Peace

Ms Lena Andersen and Mr Shaun Allen

YEAR 2RED AND YEAR 2BLUE TEACHERS


Readers Cup Challenge Competition

Readers Cup is organised by the Qld Branch of the Children’s Book Council of Australia. It is a state wide competition for young readers. Teams of four to five students together read a set of books, and then compete with other teams to answer quiz questions from the books.

Congratulations to Alexis, Olivia, Mikhail, Flynn, Ella, Savannah and Ruslan who competed in the Readers Cup Challenge yesterday in Hervey Bay. Both teams performed well throughout the day.

A huge thank you to Mrs Bester and Mr Rewald for their work with our students.


Lost Property – We currently have a large amount of lost property items in the office. The following items are currently waiting to be collected by their owner. If you recognise anything please visit the office to collect.

« Two Weeks at a Glance School Sporting News »
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School Sporting News

Senior Athletics Days – VOLUNTEER HELPERS URGENTLY NEEDED We are continuing to urgently seek assistance from parents to help at our upcoming Senior Athletics Days …

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School Sporting News

Senior Athletics Days – VOLUNTEER HELPERS URGENTLY NEEDED

We are continuing to urgently seek assistance from parents to help at our upcoming Senior Athletics Days on 16 and 17 June, 2022.

Please do not hesitate to contact the school office is you are able to assist in any way big or small. Your assistance is always greatly appreciated.


Bundaberg School Futsal Titles

St John’s competed at the Bundaberg School Futsal Titles on Wednesday 25 May. We had three teams competing (U/12 Girls, U10 and U11). It was the first time St John’s had an all-girls team. All of the teams did extremely well and continually improved throughout the tournament. For some of the students it was the first-time playing futsal.

The U11 team had three wins and a loss in the group stage. This was enough to earn them a place in the final against St Luke’s. The boys played their best game of the tournament. In a tightly fought contest and at 0-0 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 Mrs Rycen for assisting on the day with the U10 team.

Also, Cooper, Toby, Jackson, Jonte, Utah, Abbey, Hayden, Knox, and Caleb have been selected in the Queensland Country Futsal Squad! A massive congratulations to those students!

Mr Bakker

YEAR 5 TEACHER


School Boys Rugby Team

Congratulations to Lennox who was recently selected in the U10 school boys rugby league team.

Lennox travelled to Rockhampton in April to compete against Port Curtis, Mackay and Rockhampton and competed in Bundaberg last weekend against Rockhampton.

 

 

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Student Awards

Student Awards Congratulations to this fortnight’s award recipients Prep Red To be announced on Friday 10 June Prep Blue To be announced on Friday 10 …

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Student Awards

Student Awards

Congratulations to this fortnight’s award recipients
Prep Red To be announced on Friday 10 June
Prep Blue To be announced on Friday 10 June
Year 1 Red Bridget Watts, Vincent McMahon, Mason Lambert, Eli Avenell
Year 1 Blue Lylah Anthony, Zayden Bramham, Azaiah Clarke, Gabriel Clarke
Year 2 Red Emeilia Green, Erin Steindl, Daniel Park, Lizbeth Thomson
Year 2 Blue Alexandra Perez, Lochie Cleve, Tiffany Fyfe
Year 3 Levi Daley, Georgia Golchert, Nate Gordon, Randy Wahyudi
Year 3/4 Nicholas Callaghan, Lennox Higgins, Scarlett Porter, Dylan Linderberg
Year 4 Aiden Smith, Blake Rayner
Year 5 Nashe Bere, Isabella Maloney
Year 6 Ky Ditchmen, Byron Higgins, Evie Kay, Eric McDonald

 

« School Sporting News Pastoral Care & Wellbeing »
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Pastoral Care & Wellbeing

COMPASSION – SPONSOR CHILD Hello, My name is Brayan. Brayan is our Compassion sponsor child who lives in Bolivia. Brayan was born on 6 May …

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Pastoral Care & Wellbeing

COMPASSION – SPONSOR CHILD

Hello, My name is Brayan.

Brayan is our Compassion sponsor child who lives in Bolivia. Brayan was born on 6 May 2010. Through sponsorship, in the form of weekly offerings at our School Chapel Service, Brayan is provided with education, healthcare, and the encouragement needed, to be socially confident to plan for his future. Thank you for your consideration of offerings every Friday, in support of Brayan. These much-needed funds make a significant difference to his life.

MORE ABOUT COMPASSION

Please follow the link below to hear more about Compassion.

Introducing Compassion | Compassion Australia – YouTube


FAMILY FUN EVENING

The first of our Family Fun nights – An evening of fun, fellowship and faith was held on Friday 27 May. Thank you to the families who came along to support this important event; an opportunity to build connections between our church families and school families. The next of our Family Fun nights will be occurring at the end of the term with further details to be provided in our next fortnight’s newsletter.


SCHOOL OFFICER DAY – WEDNESDAY 8 JUNE

Today we recognised the School Officers (Office/Grounds/Cleaning Staff and Teacher Assistants) who make up such a valuable part of our team here at St John’s. Thankyou to our School Officers, for all that you do on a daily basis to support our school community. We value and appreciate you! Our School Officers were presented with a fridge magnet, handmade with love by our SSRC (Student Services Representative Council) as a token of our appreciation. They also joined together over a warm cup of coffee and cake.


THINKUKNOW STUDENT PRESENTATIONS

As you know, St John’s Lutheran Primary School, with support from Queensland Police personnel, will be offering the ThinkUKnow Program to students in Years Prep – 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. These sessions will occur in Week 10 on Monday & Tuesday. Please contact the office should you require any further information.


MINDFULNESS & GRATITUDE

As we read last week, The Director of Wynne Centre for Boys Health and Wellbeing at Christ Church Grammar School – Liam Casson, promotes that a positive mindset allows us the opportunity for greater physical and emotional success. We are encouraged to find the moments of gratitude and grace as often as we can. So, what does practicing mindfulness and gratitude look like, feel and sound like?

There are many different ways to help us to be more mindful, more grateful. Simply having an awareness of being ‘in the moment’ within your daily life can increase mindfulness. In addition, it can also be practiced more deliberately if you so choose. Like all things, the more we practise, the better we become. Deliberate practise can involve stillness and movement, sound, taste, touch and our awareness of these senses.

I encourage you to experience it for yourself … Often it can be performed with no or little equipment and takes only a short period of your time (even as little as three minutes.)

‘I invite you to sit quietly and comfortably. With your head aligned, keep your feet planted on the floor and your arms softly in your lap. If you feel comfortable, gently close your eyes. Relax your breathing and become aware of your breath – its depth and its lifegiving power. In this moment, be grateful for your breath. Think of how you use your breath – to laugh, to sigh, to speak, to exercise… Feel a growing warmth and sense of gratitude for the power in your breath.

Or you may choose to try it with the next meal that you eat. In this moment, focus on the food that is in your mouth. Feel the texture as it moves around your mouth. In this moment, be grateful for your food. Think of how this food was produced, how it reached your household and made its way to your plate. Feel a growing warmth and sense of gratitude as you swallow each bite. Think of how you use this food as fuel to do God’s work.

Take a moment to rest in the awareness that you have much to be grateful for in life – the value of your experiences, connections and environment, and how these empower and guide who you are. Take this sense of gratitude forth into your day or night– noting it, expressing it and living with thankfulness.’

Grace and Peace

Tamara Carroll

DIRECTOR OF PASTORAL CARE & WELLBEING

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Curriculum Connections

Showcase Events This year we are working towards hosting “Showcase” events in each class. These events will be held in a variety of formats which …

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Curriculum Connections

Showcase Events

This year we are working towards hosting “Showcase” events in each class. These events will be held in a variety of formats which allow classes to invite parents along to school, share learning in our local region or provide a service to others in our school community.  Your child/ren’s class teacher will communicate with you about these exciting events.


Contemporary Learning Tour

Two weeks ago, I was able to travel to Melbourne and participate in one of the Lutheran Education Australia Contemporary Learning Tours. During the tour we were fortunate to visit 5 schools – all of whom are doing amazing work in contemporary education.

These tours are an opportunity for Lutheran Educators to engage with schools from all sectors and observe ways they are innovating, collaborating, and using research to determine what best and next practice is in education.

It was such a wonderful opportunity for me to be able to participate, grow and learn. It was also an opportunity for celebration as I was able to reflect on the wonderful work our educators are already developing at St John’s Lutheran Primary School.

These tours are designed to support school improvement for those schools who have the desire and vision to remain and the forefront of innovation and practice in education. We will be using these learnings to support our continuous development of teaching and learning.


MS READATHON – REGISTER NOW FOR AUGUST

Reading can take kids on incredible journeys of discovery, awakens their imagination, and builds their confidence. It is never too early or too late to help them find inspiration and motivation to pick up a book.

The MS Readathon has been inspiring kids to read more for 44 years, and this August, it will be more fun than ever before. We have authors and ambassadors who can share their stories, incentives, and prizes to motivate kids. Register your interest today.

If that is not enough, all the money raised will help support the thousands of families living with MS in Australia. We have stories to share about the people we care for that will warm your heart. Watch Karla read the beautiful letter she has written about her mum, who lives with MS.

To make it fun and keep kids interested, we will be offering children who register a FREE T-shirt. By wearing their t-shirt, they will help raise awareness and be proud that they are helping others.

We have competitions to win prizes, last year we gave away holiday vouchers for Big 4 holiday parks. We developed activity sheets, colouring sheets, forms, and bookmarks to get even the most reluctant readers involved.

To make it easy for parents, we have created emails and social posts so you can let friends and family know how they can support your little readers through sponsorship and words of encouragement.

Check out the resources they include fundraising resources and tips, activity sheets, sponsorship forms, social posts, posters and a reading tally.

Whilst you will need to register from home, please let me know once you do. If you would like some help finding books to read, please see Mrs. Anderson in the library.

NAP – Parent/carer support. (2022). Retrieved 9 May 2022, from https://www.nap.edu.au/naplan/parent-carer-support

 MS Readathon. (2022). Retrieved 9 May 2022, from https://www.msreadathon.org.au/

Grace and Peace

Jocelyn Bakker

DIRECTOR OF LEARNING AND TEACHING

« Pastoral Care & Wellbeing From the Principal »
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From the Principal

Now what? The end credit scene in Finding Nemo sees the fish from Nemo’s captivity tank roll across the road in their plastic bags and …

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From the Principal

Now what?

The end credit scene in Finding Nemo sees the fish from Nemo’s captivity tank roll across the road in their plastic bags and plop into the water of Sydney Harbour. There is a pregnant pause and then the big guy says, ‘Now what?’ Well, we have survived (are surviving) a pandemic, we have flattened the curve, we are now seeing ‘easing restrictions’ (to a degree) and listening daily to the news to see what new ‘old’ things we are allowed to do again. All of our children are back at school, not just some of them. The program is kind of getting back to normal, as the next ‘stage’ of restrictions come closer to be lifted and so our weekly schooling experience will continue to move back, bit by bit, to a more familiar pattern.

So, what changed? Well, nothing and everything! I can’t remember talking with anyone who was not, in some way, thankful for the massive pause button that got pushed on all our lives. The relentless busyness of life! It was crazy. And it all stopped in a heartbeat. I think the great fear in many people is that we fall too quickly back into the ‘old habits’ and leave behind the joy and space that many of us have found recently through forced isolation.

So, the burning question is, like the fish in Finding Nemo, ‘Now What?’ Certainly, schools are asking serious questions of themselves. What have we learned in doing things differently, what was the experience like for our learners, who flourished, who struggled, what can we drop and never pick up again, what have we found that we now cannot let go? Like all industries we are in an important ‘new world’ of both behaviour and reflection.

Over the past 6 months we have been re-working the ‘how and why’ of life at St John’s. Our capacity to adapt to this new environment has been, in my humble opinion, outstanding. We are an energised learning community. We have become so adept; teachers, staff, students and families, so very good at what we do in partnership, together. These past weeks and months have demonstrated so clearly that something very special is happening here – that we are together so strong, so ready to launch into whatever this brave new world throws at us in service of the students, the children in our care.

Ultimately, we are loved by He whose name is Love, our foundation is built upon the Rock, the Alpha and the Omega, that is the beginning and the end. We move forward with this great assurance that God is actively at work through each of us. In a world where so much has changed that one thing has not. I am so excited by the energy and optimism that flourishes here at St John’s Lutheran Primary School.

Now what? Just keep swimming, that’s what!

*  Some elements of this article cited from various sources


 National Reconciliation Week

Recently we celebrated National Reconciliation Week, 2022. A number of in-class activities occurred around the school. This year’s theme, gave us all call to reflect on our own individual and community parts to play in reconciliation, no matter the size or what we feel our influence could be. We are connecting in different ways, in small communities and globally, and Reconciliation Australia has found many ways for us to connect through Reconciliation Week.

A year or so ago, our entire staff team were fortunate to have guest speaker, Mr. Robert McLellan, spend time ‘walking us through’ Indigenous Perspectives as part of our embedded curriculum and subsequent ‘call to arms’. We are fortunate to have a number of indigenous students and parents in our community. Last week, this week, next week, always – we stand united in the plight of good and fair for all peoples of this earth.


School Officers’ Day

Today, Wednesday 8 June, marks School Officer Day which is a day set aside to recognise and celebrate how our school officers and services staff support quality education in our school. The day gives visibility and recognition to the critical role of school officers and services staff in the delivery quality education. I acknowledge the wonderful work of school officers in our school and thank them all on behalf of our community. As a small gesture of thanks every member of staff was ‘shouted’ cake and scones.

Grace and Peace

Chris Mallett

PRINCIPAL

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