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COMING UP AT ST JOHN’S

SEPTEMBER 4 Tuesday Swimming Continues, Prep - Year 2 7 Friday Final Day of Swimming, Prep - Year 2 12 Wednesday PA Meeting, 7.00pm 14 Friday Art Show, 5.00-6.30 17 Monday School Assembly, 8.50am Literacy and Numeracy Week 19 Wednesday Dress Like a Pirate Day 21 Friday ‘Footy Colours’ Free Dress Day Last day of Term 3, 3.20pm Finish Click here to access St John’s Parish Newsletter

September 3, 2018 No. 24

PARISH CONTACTS:

PH: 9873 1341

PARISH PRIEST Father Dispin John

PARISH SECRETARIES Mrs. Elisa Kelesidis Mrs. Martine Giles

PASTORAL ASSOCIATE Mrs. Maree O’Keefe

SCHOOL OFFICE HOURS Monday -Friday, 8.30am –4.00pm UNIFORM

RHSport , Ringwood PH: 9870 1377 SECOND HAND UNIFORM

CO-ORDINATOR Kathleen Spicer

Open first Tuesday of each month 8.30 -9.00am Multi Purpose Room

CAMP AUSTRALIA

Before & After School Care 1300 105 343

CO-ORDINATOR Rachel Spencer HOURS: 7.00 -8.30 am 3.20 –6.15 pm LUNCH ORDERS

Every Tuesday Lunchtime To order register online: www.flexischools.com.au

A Prayer for Father’s

Loving God, look with love and kindness upon all fathers. May their example be like a beacon that guides to safe water

as their children grow and are nourished in their care. May their love and strength be a blessing upon each member of their family as they share special moments

together. May their openness to your love and understanding continue to nurture their faith and provide a rich ex-

ample to their children. May they be blessed today with health, happiness and love

as they walk life’s journey with their families. We ask this through Jesus your Son.

Amen

Reflection from a St John’s Dad at Church on Fathers’ Day.

As I sat, slightly chilled I have to say, in church on Sunday morning celebrating Fathers’ Day with my family, I looked around trying to spot others like me. Young dads (well youngish) at mass with their family were hard to find. In some ways I thought, “It’s not that surprising” given the increasing disconnect of today’s world from the common image of our church: the formal rituals, the fancy robes of the priest, remembering when to stand, sit, speak, kneel and stand again. Lots of rules about what you can and can’t do overseen by an institu-tion that hasn’t exactly demonstrated its authority as moral compass recently. What is it about all this that

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would connect with people and draw them into being part of this community? As my mind wandered off down this difficult path, I was interrupted by some key words from Dispin’s homily. The gospel from Mark had talked about Jesus criticising the Pharisees for being too caught up in the rules and “clinging to human tradition”. Dispin, in his usual quiet but perceptive manner, was opening the invitation to all people, no matter what our rules, traditions, backgrounds and expectations, to come to our church community and join together in our relationship with God, whatever it looks like. It’s one of the things that actually keeps me coming back each week to St John’s, in spite of that difficult path. Dispin is a very welcome guide, humble and insightful, stripping away all the unnecessary, to help each of us find and connect with God in our own way. Sometimes we all just need a friend to help us see what’s important and cut through our distractions and excuses. Happy Fathers’ Day to all our dads, whatever your day looked like. Dear Parents,

We hope all our dads, grandparents and special friends had a wonderful day yesterday. It was great seeing so many of you at our Father’s Day Breakfast on Friday morning. A big thank you to Liz Swaine and her team of helpers for all their efforts in putting a delicious breakfast together. Art Show – Friday 14 September Preparations are well under way for our 2018 Art Show. We are very excited to share our talent with you all. There will be a $10.00 entry fee per family (paid on the night) and this will enable you to participate in the Art Trail and possibly win a prize. Your invitation is included in todays newsletter. Naplan 2018 Naplan results will be sent home to parents later this week. We are currently exploring our results and will share a summary report in next weeks newsletter. If you have any questions regarding the results please see your child’s teacher.

Have a great week

Jacqui Marshall

RITE OF CHRISTIAN INITIATION OF ADULTS—RCIA

COME AND SEE

The Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA) is a journey of faith — a journey of seeking, meeting new people and learning about the Catholic faith.

You may have questions such as “My child is learning about Jesus at school and comes home asking ques-tions about God and Jesus – where can I learn more to share with my child?” – or “I am not a Catholic and I am not at all sure I want to become one, but I would like to find out more about what Catholics believe”.

St John’s RCIA team are inviting adults who are interested in asking questions about the Catholic faith — and about becoming Catholic to come and join us.

Two information sessions have been planned: Tuesday 4 September &

Tuesday 11 September 7.30pm in Zebedee at St John’s. (Both sessions are the same.)

If you are a Catholic already—you might like to invite family members and friends who seem interested to come along—you may like to accompany them to the information meetings if asked.

Enquiries: Maree O’Keefe 9873 1341

CONGRATULATIONS

On Sunday 2 September Anthony & Thomas Kelly (Year 5) and Josh Plant (Year 4) played tennis in the Eastern Region Winter 2018 Junior Development Sunday Competition and became the premiers. The other player in their team is Angela Arrysandi whose older brother attended St Johns (prep to Grade 4). A big St John's presence!

ART SHOW

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Our Gospel Challenge this week is to: make good choices!

Heavenly Father, We praise you for the gift of our fathers And those who have been father-figures

To us. We thank you for the life and love they

Have brought to our world. May they be strengthened in virtue and faith so that

They might give glory to you through lives of service. Amen

On our baptism day we become the beloved son or daughter of our Creator and Heavenly Father. Jesus showed us what our relationship with God the Father can be like. He called his Father ‘Abba’, an affectionate Aramaic name, much like Daddy or Pappa.

Do we feel this close to our Father in heaven? Let’s try praying to our Father with an affectionate name that comes most naturally to us. It might feel a bit strange at first, but with practice we may feel more comfortable talking to God as a Father who loves us.

I read a recent article by Peter O’Shea and Robert Falzon called, ‘The Father Factor’ that stated that dads help their children thrive. Where the dad is absent, the positive findings on fatherly influence still hold strong so long as the father substitute is a loved and trusted male such as a grandfather, uncle, parent friend or step-father. The article outlined that children do better academically, emotionally and socially when their father has greater involvement in their lives. These children tend to take more risks, while also developing greater self - discipline. Involved fathers are also more likely to have a stronger influence on their children’s moral development and religious belief and practice.

The most effective forms of involvement are: Listening, encouraging and conveying warmth

Providing everyday assistance

Providing reasonable and consistent behaviour correction Facilitating children’s increased independence over time.

Have an enjoyable week, Monica

BIRTHDAYS

Congratulations to Daiah Gonsalvez, Olivia Arouff, Chloe Moran, Abbey Tran an Oliver Thai who cele-brate their birthday this week.

We wish you all a very ………

Father’s Day Breakfast

Father’s Day Breakfast

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Father’s Day Breakfast

Good Sport Awards

It was fantastic to hear about so many acts of being a good sport at both P-2 Swimming and 4/5/6 District sports.

Congratulations to the following students who are receiving this week’s Good Sport awards for acts of sportsmanship in our sport programs:

Please continue to encourage and remind your children on how to be a good sport!

Riley Richards Astrid Harkin Hamish Gill Emily Janssen

Father’s Day Breakfast

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We have installed bollards to prevent cars from driving through the play area adjacent to the hall during school hours.

MATH TRAIL - EXPLORING OUR BACKYARD - HELP REQUIRED

As a highlight of the Literacy and Numeracy Week celebrations students at St John’s will be participating in a mathematics trail on Tuesday 18th Septem-ber. The Year 3 to 6 trail will involve student walking in small groups of around 6 students reading and answering mathematical problems in the local area. The Year P to 2 trail involves students participating in small groups around the school. The Year P to 2 trail will be held from 9:00 am to 11:00 pm and the Year 3 to 6 from 12:00 until 3:00 pm. We require the support of parents for these events. In accordance with state regulations a current Working with Children's Check is required. If you are able to support on the day or have any questions please email kcumming@sjmitcham.catholic.edu.au or contact your students class teacher.

Many thanks Kellie Cumming

Italian Phrase of the Week

Ma guarda

(Muh gwarr-dah))

But look!

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ST JOHN’S SCHOOL BANKING PROGRAM

St John’s School is offering the Commonwealth Bank School Banking program to students. The program was launched at assembly this morning and an information pack was sent home today with all students.

School Banking day for St John’s will be on Monday (commencing Monday 10 September).

For each week your child wishes to make a deposit, your child’s Dollarmites deposit book needs to be handed in to their classroom teacher on Monday morning.

Getting Involved in School Banking All you need for your child to be involved in the School Banking program is a Commonwealth Bank Youthsaver account (one for each child).

You can open an account for your child in one of two ways: 1. Online by visiting commbank.com.au/schoolbanking and click on the link to open a Youthsaver ac-count. 2. In branch by visiting a Commonwealth Bank branch with identification for yourself (driver’s licence) and your child (birth certificate).

If your child has an existing Commonwealth Bank Youthsaver account they can start banking straight away. They just need to bring their deposit in on Monday using their Dollarmites deposit wallet.

Further details about the School Banking program in general are available in the Information Pack.

A School Banking Specialist from the Commonwealth Bank will also be available at the school next Mon-day to answer any queries or assist with opening accounts: Date: Monday 10 September Time: between 8.30-9.00am and 3.00-3.30pm Location: Library

School Banking is a fun, interactive and engaging way for young Australians to learn about money and develop good savings habits. Children who deposit money into their Youthsaver account through School Banking earn Dollarmite tokens, which they can save up and redeem for exciting rewards (see infor-mation pack for reward details).

School Banking is also a great fundraiser for our school. Our school receives a Regular Savers Contribu-tion of $5 for every 10 deposits processed per student as well as an Annual Contribution which is based on the number of students who made at least one School Banking deposit in the prior year.

DISTRICT ATHLETICS Last Wednesday the year 4, 5 and 6 students participated in District Athletics with several other schools in our area. We competed in many different events such as long jump, high jump, triple jump, shot put, discus, 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1500m, championship race, shuttle relay, circular relay and parlouf. We were at Rieschiecks Reserve all day and had a lot of fun. Thank you to students for displaying great sportsmanship, staff for organising the day and parents and family members for their support.

Many students made it through to the Eastern Metropolitan Region Athletics Championships in their events including: Hamish 80m Hurdles & Long Jump Maeve Long Jump & 200m Tristan High Jump & 1500m Atonio Shot Put

Congratulations to Hamish who won the boys 100m championship race.

Amity 500m Joshua 200m Erin 1500m Will T 800m Olivia 800m

Deedee Hurdles Anria High Jump Emily High Jump LeBron Long Jump Natasha 800m

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St John’s Primary School

ART SHOW Friday 14 September

5.00 - 6.30pm

S10.00 per Family

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