ST JOHN'S NEWSLETTER INSPIRING
STUDENTS FOR LIFE
TERM 3 WEEK 8

previous newsletters

A MESSAGE FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Yours in Christian service,

Brad Moss
Principal

R U OK Day

R U OK Day, is a much needed reminder for us to focus on the mental health of ourselves and others, yet it should be our focus every day! As a Christian community that values supporting the needs of the whole child, it’s essential that we prioritise the mental health and well-being of our young people.

Mental health challenges among Australian youth have been rising in recent years. Recent statistics from Beyond Blue, reveal that one in seven Australian young people aged 4-17 experience a mental health condition in any given year and over half of all mental health issues emerge by the age of 14. According to the National Study of Mental Health and Well Being, in 2020–22, 26% of people aged 16–24 experienced high or very high psychological distress. These figures are a sobering reminder of the importance of nurturing a positive mental health environment both at school and at home.

As Christians, we find comfort and strength in our faith. The Bible reminds us of the importance of gratitude and casting our worries upon Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7 tells us, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.'

Teaching our children to focus on gratitude, to talk about their concerns and to know they can trust God with their worries, can provide them with both emotional and spiritual resilience. It is through this approach that we can help them develop strong mental health and navigate the challenges they may face.

I encourage those of us who are in a positive mental space, to offer our support to others. I also encourage those in our community who are going through a mentally tough time, to reach out to friends or professionals. Follow this link for more information and support services:

SPECIAL REPORT: R U OK Day

Term 3 Week 8

Monday 9 September - Questacon Science Circus

Tuesday 10 September - Concert Sound and Lighting Check

Wednesday 11 September - Year 5/6 Write Around the Murray Excursion

Thursday 12 September - R U OK day and Year 1 Write Around the Murray Excursion

Friday 13 September - Concert Dress Rehearsal and Year 3/4 Write Around the Murray

Term 3 Week 9

Monday 16 September - Concert Matinee Performance 12:30pm (doors open 12pm)

Wednesday 18 September - Concert Evening Performance 6:30pm (doors open 6pm)

Term 3 Week 10

Monday 23 September - Board Meeting

Wednesday 25 September - Kinder Transition 1 and Parent Information Session

Friday 27 September - Community Fun Day and Last Day of Term 3

IMPORTANT DATES

From the deputy desk
School Happenings!

Write Around the Murray

This week, our Year 1, 3/4 and 5/6 students are participating in the following workshops as part of the annual Write Around the Murray Festival:

Year 1: Author Ruth Davies

Year 3/4: ‘It’s Time for Little Lunch’

Year 5/6: How to Write a ‘Choose Your Own Book’ story

Concert

Our School Concert is next week! This week we have sound and lighting checks, followed by our dress rehearsal on Friday. Next week, our concert events are:

Matinee - 12:30pm Monday 16th September

Evening Concert – Doors open at 6:00pm for a 6:30pm start. Please drop students off at their classroom from 6:00pm where they will get dressed into costumes and be supervised by staff until it is their turn to perform. After their performance, they will sit on the floor in the hall with other classes to watch the remainder of the concert. After the concert, please return to your child’s classroom to sign them out and collect their clothes for home. We can’t wait to see you there!

Chapel

Every Friday morning at 9:30am we have whole school worship, often led by classes. All members of our school community are welcome to attend each week. This term, our focus is on messages from Bible stories.

Alison Jafari and Anna-Marie Bothe

FROM THE CHAPLAIN

KIDS CHURCH - – Friday September 13

Have you ever felt let down by your friends?

Uncared for?

Like people just don’t understand you?

This week at Kid’s Church we’re exploring how deeply Jesus cares for us. The extremes he went to understand and emphasise with our suffering are amazing! Join us at 6pm Friday to find out more!

Games Night
Fox and Brew host a community games club every Wednesday after school. Kids: come along and challenge your friends to a wide variety of board and card games! Parents: join in the fun or have a coffee with others parents.

New Bible Study
Have you ever wondered who wrote the bible?How was it put together?
Is there a coherent message in the eclectic mix of 66 books?
Join us for conversations over coffee and snacks right here in Jindera where we will try to explore all your questions and more!

Click here to subscribe to our Church Newsletter

COMMUNITY FUN DAY

Friday 27 September

Friday Week 10 is our last day of school and our Community Fun Day!

Please bring a Gold Coin donation and wear your favourite sporting teams colours - any code, any sport.

Last week Angel Baker, Fletcher Barber, Maddison Baker and Jaxon Fraser represented both St John’s and the Riverina Associated Schools (RAS) team in Sydney at the Combined Independent Schools Athletics Carnival. We know that each student tried their absolute best and had a great time doing so!

Angel

High jump - 1.10m (PB) =13th.

100m - 15.68 sec (PB). 13th.

Long jump - 3.53m. 9th.

Fletcher

100m – 27th 200m - 28th.

Maddison

Shotput - 7.01m. 16th.

Discus - 25.01m (PB). 5th.

Jaxon

Discus – 24.83m. 7th.

CIS PRIMARY athletics CHAMPIONSHIPS 2024

TICKETS NOW OPEN
Scan the code or click on the link to book your seats. Limited seating available so don't miss out!

Book your seats here

ATHLETICS CARNIVAL RESULTS

HOUSE CUP RESULTS ATHLETICS CARNIVAL 2024

1st Place: Dight (404.83 points)

2nd Place: Goessling (386.16 points)

3rd Place: Luther (363 points)

STUDENT INFORMATION
WHAT'S HAPPENING IN CLASS

KINDERGARTEN

MATHS

In Maths we have been learning all things numbers, smaller numbers inside bigger numbers, numbers before and after and using the numbers 5 and 10 as a base to make bigger numbers.

PBL

For PBL, we have been exploring where our food comes from. The Kinders have been super excited about learning how plants grow and what foods come from different plants…planting some seeds for our own garden. We have also had Brittany Bakes come in with some eggs to put in the incubator and we are watching/learning about the lifecycle of a chicken and how they produce eggs. This has been a highlight of our term, knowing that we will get some chick and watching the process.

YEAR 1

LITERACY GROUPS

Our students have been thriving in their literacy groups! It's been wonderful to see how much progress they've made, both in their collaborative and independent skills. Through shared reading, group discussions, and individual tasks, they have come so far in building their confidence and ability to work both together and on their own.

MATHS

Our students have been excited to learn a variety of strategies for solving addition and subtraction problems. They've been actively consolidating these skills through a mix of partner work, independent activities, and engaging math games. It's been a joy to watch their confidence grow as they practice and apply these new approaches to problem-solving!

YEAR 2

JINDERA COMMUNITY GARDEN

As Ms Mellick said “It felt like home” when the year twos visited the Community Garden last Tuesday to present Helane and Eileen with the money we raised last term from the casual clothes day for the community garden. The amount was $252.50 and no doubt some of that will go towards the new roller doors that Eloise’s dad Glen has completed and look amazing. Eileen and Helane got the Year Twos straight to work after we had lunch. We mulched some of the garden beds, watered, weeded and repainted some of the artwork that had faded. The students were thrilled to see how much their plants had grown and loved contributing yet again to this great community program.

JINDERA IGA

Last Tuesday the 3rd of September we went to our local IGA and learnt about the daily operations of how a supermarket works. We were shown what happens out the back, where the food is delivered and stored. We learnt that a lot of local produce is sold at IGA and all the workers are locals too. We also enjoyed role playing and were given 20 dollars and we could then purchase whatever we wanted. No doubt the lolly isle was quite popular. A special thank you to store manager Belinda for giving us a tour, plus all the friendly staff who assisted on the day.

JINDERA MUSEUM

Last Monday, 2nd September we went to the Jindera museum as part of our Year 2 PBL on the changes of the community with a particular focus on changes in technology. We went in three groups and had seven stops around the museum where we did lot’s of interactive activities. Some of our favourites was pumping water and using a yoke to transport it into a bath. Plus we enjoyed finding hidden animals in the old shed and matching items that we have today comparing them to what was used in the past. A special thank you to Margie, Brian, Martin and Helane who helped us with all the different activities.

COMMUNITY WORKERS

As part of our PBL the year twos have loved role playing the variety of jobs that Community workers do. This week we were police officers, which caused a bit of a stir as some students when seeing the ‘Wanted Posters’ thought that their teachers were going to jail.

JINDERA POST OFFICE

Last Tuesday the 3rd of September we walked down to the Jindera Post Office and met Mary-Lynne the post master who told us about the running of a post office. She gave us a tour and shared the process of how our letters make it from the post office to our home. Mary-Lynne also shared about all the other jobs that happen at a post office and how her favourite part of her job was the people of her community. Thank you Mary-Lyne for sharing with us about your role in the community.

YEAR 3/4 PV

WEEK 8

This week, 3/4PV students are loving their new comfy cushions for their cubbies and in our Project-Based Learning (PBL) unit, students brainstormed ideas on sticky notes, sparking excitement for the upcoming unit. We watched the concrete being poured for the new path to the Enviro-Science and Cultural Heritage buildings.

Inside, creativity soared as Coby proudly showed off his pipe cleaner cube, while Connor and Ayeva worked together on their own projects.

YEAR 3/4 LK

Week 8

Over the last few weeks students have been learning about eating a healthy eating in PBL. As part of the project, they have investigated how we can motivate people to make changes. One way is through capturing people’s attention through art. The students looked at the artworks of Australian artist, Joel Moore aka Mulga. The students then created their own fruit characters in the style of Mulga. The very creative completed pieces are now on display in the front office.

YEAR 5/6

BUDDIES

This week our students have had some fun spending time with their buddies. Year 5’s had their first buddy session for the year with Little Saints, which we look forward to spending more time with them and getting to know them better! Year 6’s had a sport afternoon with their Kinder Buddies. It is great to see the leadership on display during these times.

WELLBEING and the flu season

Flu season

It's that time of year again when coughs, colds and covid are about in the community.

NSW Health advise we are currently in the moderate level of COVID-19.

For everyone to stay well this season please follow the recommendations of the NSW Government and keep your child home when sick.

You can find out more via the following links

https://education.nsw.gov.au/schooling/covid-19/advice-for-families#Staying1

https://www.nsw.gov.au/health/covid-19/testing-managing/symptoms

Whilst we understand how challenging it is to be called at work, we also know parents value a safe school and we thank you for your support.

STAY HOME WHEN SICK!

PRAYING FOR YOU

At St John's, we pray for our students and their families and staff members.
This week, we are praying for:

Week 7

Lachlan Paris

Soraya & Aida Valente

Billie, Pippa & Evy Groenewald

Jackson Williams & Edward McDonald

Nicole Parker

Week 8

Sarah & Zoe Bergmeier

Betty Blackman

Henry Edwards

Hallie Valente

Mr Peter Reid

MERIT AWARDS

Kinder
Ezra Harper and Ella Lewis

Arthur Lieschke and Liam Thomson

Year 1
William Scolyer and Piper O'Grady Moll

Stevie Thies and Ava Dowell

Year 2

Sophie Wenke and William Jensen

Benjamin Busch and Ashlynn Deegan

Year 3/4 LK
Mannix Dowell and Maeve Bryant

Betty Blackman and Thomas Hancock

Year 3/4 PV
Fletcher Barber and Jethro Harper

Eden Lawrence and Amelia Yong

Year 5/6 GC
Ian Wang and Meggie Kinning

Jett Smith and Hannah Code
Year 5/6 DB

Annabel Johnston and Cyrus Jafari

Luke Schulz and Billie Groenewald

Hats

Be like George!

Label your hat
Keep your hat in your bag
Wear your hat if the UV is 3 or higher
Look after your hat

THEIRCARE
BEFORE & AFTER SCHOOL CARE

26/08/24 – 06/09/24

Our theme of outer space proved to be a very popular choice in the past, and so that will continue!! There was plenty of enjoyment and SO many interesting facts learnt this week 😊! There were lots of crafts to start with we made spaceships out of paddle pop sticks, button planets and handprint rocket ships! We tried something new and made our very own “sandwich sushi” with lots of different spreads and fillings😊. We got nice and creative and had lots of fun decorating some arrowroot biscuits with colourful icing and space themed sprinkles!! A bit messy…but worth it!! 😊 We made some Father’s Day crafts, getting nice and creative with some cards and gifts for DAD!! And to finish off the afternoon we played a little bit outside and in the hall before settling down to end the day with a movie and some popcorn!!

😊We said goodbye to winter and said a very happy hello to SPRING!!! Our theme was all about spring so for craft we made our very own pom pom caterpillars, paper bowl flowerpots and paper flower hands. For food we tried cheesy quesadillas, that were a hit and loved by all! We also tried something new by making Mac N Cheese, we had a few mixed reviews😊. To finish off the week, we spent a little time outside soaking up the nice warm weather and then came inside to chill out for the rest of the day with some popcorn and a movie!

Our theme of animal week was a very popular choice! We have plenty of crafts planned for the week, starting with making some paper plate animals, crepe paper starfish, paper peacocks and build your own bumble bee! We will continue cooking making scones with jam and cream, this was an absolute hit last time with the children! 😊Thursday we are making paper peacocks for our craft and then we will head outside to the oval and playground to play some fun group games! Friday morning, we will have a go at some connect the dots and compete in a colouring in competition. Friday afternoon we will spend some time outside before coming back in to pop on a movie whilst we enjoy some popcorn! 😊😊😊😊

HEAD LICE

Currently we have an increased number of cases of head lice presenting at school. Please click here for a fact sheet of treatments and preventative measures which may be a support to families. If head lice is detected at school, home will be contacted. In line with school expectations, any child with below shoulder length hair is required to tie their hair back while at school. Please ensure if your child has longer hair it is tied back for the school day.

ST JOHN'S NEWSLETTER INSPIRINGSTUDENTS FOR LIFETERM 3 WEEK 8