TERM 1 - WEEK 2 AT ST JOHN'S

TERM 1
WEEK 2
AT
ST JOHN'S

  • HOME
  • FAMILY HUB
  • LITTLE SAINTS
  • OUR SCHOOL
  • LEARNING AT ST JOHN'S
  • STUDENT SUPPORT
  • JOIN OUR COMMUNITY
  • GET IN TOUCH

A MESSAGE FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Yours in Christian service,

 

Brad MossPrincipal

Brad navy

Welcome back to a new year at St John’s. It has been great to hear the exciting stories and fun times our students have experienced over the summer break. Like every year, the school is too quiet in the holiday period and it is always a good feeling having our students return for day one.

We offer a special welcome to our Kindergarten students and all new students and families to the team.

With the beginning of a new year, it is a perfect time to refocus on the importance of who we are as a school at St John’s. All staff extend their commitment to our families as we work together to inspire learning and growth in our students.

While there is a major focus on teaching and learning, we strive to offer far more than that.  When a family joins a Lutheran school, they become part of a community which strives to be a secure place which offers warm, caring relationships and a safe environment.  A Lutheran school sees each student as being unique with their own particular gifts and needs. The approach is not to ask what students and their families can do for the school, but what the school can do for them.

Lutheran schools have developed a special vision which is based on teachings of the Bible.  As a Christian learning community, St John’s aspires to provide a culture and ethos permeated by the core values of love, justice, compassion, forgiveness, service, humility, courage, hope, quality and appreciation.

Our Learner Profile is also a solid foundation that guides our students in ‘the how’ they approach their learning. We aim for our students to value knowledge, be confident to take risks and understand that failing is a chance to learn and grow.

Lastly, we are school that values communication. Please keep informed with school related events via the website Family Hub and dates of events Term-Dates. You can also be informed by checking your emails regularly. Facebook will be used for promoting learning and sharing successes of our students.

If you have any questions regarding your child’s learning, please email your child’s teacher or call the front office to book a time to meet face-to-face. Our Deputies and myself are always available if you require guidance or clarifications regarding any information that isn’t directly linked to your child’s classroom teacher.
I am looking forward to a fantastic year of learning!

AROUND THE GROUNDS

Start to the School Year
What a wonderful start to the 2023 school year we had last week! In our first Assembly on Monday there was cheering and clapping to welcome in the new school year. We loved seeing how much students have grown, their new haircuts and hearing all about what they did in the holidays.

We are so blessed to have such a welcoming, warm school community. Our amazing staff went to great lengths to make students feel comfortable as they eased into a new year level. On Thursday, we welcomed our new Kinders to St John’s and we pray that their time here is a happy one with learning and activities that help them to thrive.

Start of Year Letters were emailed to all families last Friday. Please don’t hesitate to contact your child’s teacher by phone (via the school office) or email if you have any questions.

IMPORTANT DATES

Friday Night Chapel - All families welcome
School Hall
Friday 10 February 6.00-7.30pm
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Year 5/6 PBL Entry Event - All families welcome
School Hall
Monday 13 February 2.00-2.30pm
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Gould Swimming Lessons Yrs 3-6
Monday 20 to Thursday 23 February
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Swimming Carnival Yrs 3-6
Jindera Pool
Friday 24 February
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Kindergarten First Full Week
Monday 6 March
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Future Kindergarten Student Information Session
School Hall
Monday 6 March 6.00-7.30pm

TEAM APPRECIATION

Our St John's team is an amazing group of individuals who contribute to our wonderful school, and the lives of your children!

 

 

 

Mrs Schulz has just celebrated her 25 year anniversary of teaching at St John's which is an amazing milestone!
We thoroughly enjoy her enthusiasm and energy, love of sport events, passion for community involvement, building relationships and making learning so engaging!
Mrs Schulz's favourite motto sums her personality up perfectly: "To teach is to touch a life forever!"

Mrs Schulz - THANK YOU

GET INVOLVED

BOOK COVERING VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
We're seeking volunteers to assist with book covering - If you have spare time, please call the St John's Office!

FRIDAY NIGHT CHAPEL
St John's Chapel, Jindera and St John's Lutheran School are co-hosting our first Friday evening Chapel and BBQ for the year, next Friday 10th Feb! This service is open to all St John's community and the public - please see the event link for further details. We look forward to seeing you there!

BOOK CLUB

Last week the first Book Club newsletter for this year was sent home.

Book Club provides families with an affordable and convenient way to bring the best in children’s literature into their homes. Each issue contains curated, age-appropriate titles that have been carefully selected and levelled by a dedicated team of professional booklovers.

Book Club News is a fun and convenient way of bringing the best in children's literature into your school, whilst also helping to bridge the important class-to-home reading gap.

If you wish to order any books, please use Book Club Loop (Linked Online Ordering and Payment platform for parents). You will find the link below.

CLICK HERE

Please note: if your children attend the same school, you only have to place one order for all.

SPECIAL EVENTS

LEAGUE STARS INSPIRE ASSEMBLY
We were lucky enough to have Leage Stars Inspire attend St John's to talk about health and wellbeing with our students.
They demonstrated important messages on resilience, reflection, gratitude and doing your best!

LEARNER PROFILE IN ACTION

WITH YEAR 5/6

This week, year 5/6 joined together, actively listened to each others ideas, communicated and worked collaboratively to create a Leadership posters, reflecting on what it means to be a leader, now that they are role models in our School!

JUNIOR PRIMARY MATHS

Our junior primary students have been straight into learning maths, and how lucky are we to have such beautiful school grounds to explore and learn that maths is all around! This week, our new Kindergarten students learnt about "what is a mathematician?" and then ventured around the school to find nature items such as bark and leaves, counted them and made them into shapes - great work Kinders!

WITH KINDERGARTEN

DESIGN LAB

This term in Design Lab, we are creating a Maker Space for the students to collaborate, create and problem solve. If you have any of the following items at home, we would love to have them - please drop them in to reception. We will be replenishing these inventing materials throughout the year.

I look forward to working with your children this year in Design Lab!

  • Bottle Lids
  • Plastic Bottles
  • Bubble Wrap
  • Corks
  • Paper Towel / Wrapping paper tubes
  • Small plastic tubs
  • Interesting shaped small boxes & containers
  • Egg cartons
  • Buttons
  • Fabric Scraps
  • Dominoes

STUDENT INFORMATION

WHAT'S HAPPENING IN CLASS

Kindergarten

The Kinders have had an AMAZING start to their time at school! They have loved spending time with their Year 6 Buddies during play times and doing some art about the book ‘How to catch a star’. The Year 6s have been so helpful in getting the Kinders used to school and what to do. They have enjoyed exploring the school, getting to know the routines of the day, meeting lots of new people and of course playing on the big playground!

Year 1

Year 1 have had an exciting start to the year and have enjoyed learning how to work collaboratively in group activities. The students were very excited for their secret Project Based Learning entry event on Monday afternoon. It was a great way to introduce our unit which will be based around unusual weather patterns that we are experiencing. The year 1 students were also very eager to help Chappy Pete show the school their dance moves during Chapel on Friday.

Year 2

Year 2 have had a great start to the year and enjoyed getting to know each other using co-operative games. That have had opportunities to listen to and encourage each other to do their best. From the St John’s Learning Profile, the students are learning to contribute their ideas and encourage others to have a voice. This will continue through out the term.

Year 3/4 PV

There were a lot of 'getting to know you' activities to start the year off in Team 3/4PV. Furniture was rearranged and students got to enjoy their new classroom by playing collaborative games on Friday afternoon- board games, puzzles, Just Dance and Twister. We are loving the new addition of a couple of massive comfy pillows/ beanbags to sit on (or roll on).

The students surprised me with well wishes on the arrival of my first Grandson! Thank you, class and Mrs Gordon, for the balloons and messages. Tuesday afternoon was enjoyed by cooling off and swimming at the Jindera Pool.

Year 3/4 LK

Welcome to Year3-4 LK 2023! The students have settled in very well and are making lots of new friends amongst their new classmates. Students are showing their creative sides designing a comic style self-portrait. Lots of conversations, encouraging words and laughter could be heard as the students worked on their artworks.

Students had fun creating some Would You Rather…  questions for the class to use during brain breaks. The students showed they are deep thinkers and many have a great sense of humour!

Would you rather live forever or talk to animals?
Would you rather a rainbow or a storm?
Would you rather ride a pig or a pug?
Would you rather be hot or cold?

Year 5/6

What a wonderful start that our 5/6 students have made to the school year. The students were excited to see all the new learning spaces in the 5/6 room and we have been enjoying getting to know each other by sharing each day “Me in a nutshell. “ As over the holidays each student and staff member in 5/6 had to collect three items to that best represents them. Some of the interesting things we have learnt about each other are:

Ava- loves avacodos

Lara- dislikes spiders and creepy crawlies

Darcy S- loves crystals and oils

Mrs Lukins- collects elephants

Ryder-collects shoes

Mrs Nic-loves listening to her Ipods

Finn- favourite animal is capybaras

This week our Year 6’s have loved helping their Kinder buddies settle into school and enjoyed helping them borrow books in our library. During this time our Year 5 began working on a ‘passion project.’ We cannot wait to share these with the rest of the school.

THEIRCARE
BEFORE AND AFTER SCHOOL CARE

We are so excited to be partnered with TheirCare to provide our School community with exceptional outside school hours care!

TheirCare provides a stimulating and safe environment for all children. Children develop life-skills, friendships, confidence and creativity through play-based programs.

The program is available for all children at St John’s Lutheran School from 7:00am until 8:55am and 3:20pm until 6:00pm each school day.

The service will operate out of St John's School Grounds, within the School Hall.To learn more about the wonderful services provided by TheirCare and to enrol your child please visit the website: www.theircare.com.au.

Please note, families may be eligible for a Government Rebate called the Child Care Subsidy which can reduce the cost per session by up to 85%.

For more information please contact TheirCare Support Team on 1300 072 410.

TheirCare - It’s Where Kids Love To Be!

GOOD SAMARITIN AWARDS

Kinder
Florence Tyrell & Paige Whelan
Year1
Jasmine Piltz & George Shipp
Year 2
Lincoln Heinrich & Joel James

Year 2
Archie Mahon & Grace Allan
Year 3/4 LK

Maddison Baker & Molly Ginnivan
Year 5/6 FS
Freya Bardsley & Tom Mitchell

Little Saints
Jordan Shaw & Delilah Harrington
Kinder
Sophie Wenke & Sophie Chang
Year1
Nathaniel Pallet & Betty Blackman

Year 3/4 LK
Ben Baird & Louise Jarick
Year 3/4 PV
Isabella Cameron & Darcy Wright
Year 5/6 NC
Aylena Millar & Jacob Blackie
Year 5/6 FS
Ella McGrath & Elijah Kinning

merit awards

DEVOTION

The Wonder of Creation

I love the country setting of our school so much, and I know many of you feel the same way. After school on Monday, Mrs King and I were so excited to see this little beauty in the staff carpark, waddling and nosing around for something to eat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Then Molly and Chloe had the rare treat of having the friendly echidna come right up to them in the TNT doorway! It seemed like it really wanted to come inside. They wondered if the poor thing wanted to escape the rain.














God has given us the role of caretakers of his creation – he works through us. At St John’s, a big part of our learning focuses on our responsibility in caring for the environment. A few examples from this year: our Year 3/4s became passionate advocates for protecting endangered wildlife. Our Kinders are learning about how to care for plants that provide food. Our Year 5/6s investigated sustainable farming practices.

When our learning is based on applying skills and knowledge to real life contexts, we are doing God’s work. A desire to be a part of God’s ongoing act of creation drives our curiosity and compassion!

Psalm 8:3-9 You made us to rule over the works of Your hands. You put all things under our feet: All sheep and cattle, all the wild animals, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, and all that pass through the sea. O Lord, our Lord, how great is Your name in all the earth!

Anna-Marie Bothe

PRAYING FOR YOU

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

Week 1
Eva, Eddyson & Ollie Allen–Cameron
Isabella Cameron
Eden & Ivy Lawrence
Chloe Oates
Kaela Hutchinson

Week 2
Evie Wright
Alannah Van Der Linde
Jett & Cruz Smith
Ava Terlich
Kerrie Gordon

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