*18th February-Meet the Teacher night.

Yr 5: 5:30pm Yr 3,4 and 6: 6:00pm Yr Kinder-2: 6:30pm *18th February– P&F Meeting 7pm immediately following meet the teacher.

The P&F will provide a Pizza dinner for all those at the 7pm meeting. *21st February-Northern Region Swimming Carnival-Gulgong.

*28th February– P&F Welcome Picnic and Trivia Night. Bring a picnic along and enjoy a night among new and old friends.

*3rd March-Diocesan Swimming Carnival Dubbo. *5th March -Ash Wednesday Combined Mass at St Brigids.

*10th March-Mass in SJP Hall to open Catholic Schools Week 10am. *12th March-Year 5&6 T20 Blast Cricket.

*18th March-Welcome to the Sacrament evening for First Holy Communion 7pm St Brigids Church.

*7th April-Pupil Free Day. *11th April-Last day of Term 1.

www.stjohnsprimarydubbo.catholic.edu.au

ST JOHNS PRIMARY SCHOOL NEWSLETTER

SC HO OL MAN AG ER

Fa ther Mar k McGui gan SC HO OL C HAPL AI N

Fa ther Gr eg Bel l am y PRI NCI PAL - Mr A nt hony O’ Lear y ASS ISTA NT PR IN CI PAL

Mr Adam Fo ley REC – Mr David Schw ager PRIMARY COORDINATOR Mrs Angela Benton

TEACHING STAFF:

KINDERGARTEN Mrs Katrina Isbester Mrs Karyn King / Miss Amber Ryan YEAR 1

Mrs Kim English Miss Louise Lindsay

YEAR 2 Mr Michael Quade/Mrs Maria Brice

Mrs Michelle Noonan

YEAR 3 Mrs Amanda Shields/ Mrs Gabbrielle Jones

Mrs Angela Benton/Mrs Maria Brice

YEAR 4 Mrs Carmen Gain Miss Carmel Reidy/Mrs Maria Brice

YEAR 5 Miss Emma Bolton/Mrs Erin Carney Mrs Kristy Crosby

YEAR 6 Mrs Judy Gibson Miss Anna Veech

TEACHER’S AIDES: Bronwyn Harper, Maricon Amaranto, Trevor Thomas, Belinda Montague, Lucy Sissian, Tracey Duncan.

LIBRARIAN: Mrs Maree Williams

SPECIAL EDUCATION:

Mrs Patricia Toohey

Mrs Deanna Swanson SUPPORT STAFF: Kara Howey

ABORIGINAL EDUCATION WORKER: Mrs Mylissa Smith

CREATIVE ARTS:

Mrs Maggie Dunn

SCHOOL SECRETARY: Margo Green

CANTEEN MANAGER:

Cathy Dries

GENERAL HAND : David Englert

CLEANER:

Kerry Iverach P&F MEETINGS: 3rd Tuesday every month PARENTS/GUARDIANS Please note that photographs of students may be used in this publi-cation. Please advise the School if you do not approve of your child’s photo being used.

Contact Details: 138 Sheraton Road DUBBO NSW 2830. Ph.: 0268822677

Our Vision Is to foster a community of faith that is centred on the teaching of Christ,

where love and concern develops the whole child, empowering each individual with the opportunity to realise their full potential.

School Bell Times

Supervision Commences at 8.20 am. School Commences: 8.50 am Recess: 10.50 am – 11.20 am Lunch: 1.05 pm – 1.45 pm Dismissal: 3.00 pm

SJP School Office Hours

Monday to Friday

8.30am to 3.30pm

* If you have a message for your child

involving a change in arrangements, please

phone the school office before 2.00pm.

Thank you for your assistance in this

matter.

Absentee Notes

If your child is absent due to sick-

ness, there is no need to phone

the school. Simply send in an ab-

sentee note on the first day of

their return to school. Thank you

very much.

SJP Clothing Pool Open Thursday 27th February at 2.45pm

The clothing pool welcomes quality donations.

Donations can be dropped to the office anytime.

The Clothing pool is located inside the library; it is a volunteer service of the P&F.

Prices vary: $2 for boys shirts, $3 for boys shorts, $2 for girls summer dresses.

All enquiries for the clothing pool can be made to:

Cath Osborne 0407386769.

Welcome to Week 4. Our new year is moving along at a great pace. This week will prove to be no different. Tuesday even-

ing will see the annual ‘Meet the Teacher – Class Information sessions’. The meet the teacher night provides you as par-

ents an overview of the grade goals, term plan and a nice opportunity to simply say hello. The times have been slightly

altered.

5:30 – Year 5.

6:00 – Year 3, 4 and 6.

6:30 – Kinder – Year 2.

The first P&F Meeting will take place directly after the K – 2 meeting in the Library. I hope to see you there. St Johns has an

outstanding P&F, but like any organisation can be even better with an expanded group. You will be made feel very wel-

come.

It's been a whole year since Cardinal Bergoglio became our new Pope, Pope Francis; the first

Pope to be named after St Francis of Assisi. Pope Francis has been a dynamic leader who is seen

as a spiritual leader, a politician, a social innovator and even a diplomat. He has also been named

Time's Person of the Year. Fr Hamilton's wrote these reflections:-

In the Church with Pope Francis: Words of Fr Andrew Hamilton SJ

Everyone knows that Pope Francis is different. When he was elected no one would have expected the new

Pope to go back to the guest house with the other Cardinals in a bus or to celebrate Holy Thursday at the Ju-

venile Gaol, let alone wash the feet of young men and women, Muslim and Christian, with tattoos and without.

Nor would anyone have expected him to ring up people out of the blue and to give long interviews to newspa-

pers.

His down to earth way of speaking came as a surprise, too. He prefers an accident-prone Church to a sick

one, he tells priests that shepherds should smell like the sheep and urges us not to be sourpusses.

But most people like what they have seen and heard in Pope Francis. He has a distinctive way of communicating the Good News of the Gospel. http://www.australiancatholics.com.au/content/view/384/

St John's has 2 main Teaching & Learning goals for 2014. These goals, which are quite specific, provide the teaching staff

with 'direction and focus' for developing our teaching and learning programs and for making

decisions around the professional development of teachers. An overview of these goals is:

Literacy Goal: To further improve students learning and achievement in writing. This was an area that was

highlighted through our analysis of the 2013 NAPLAN data and school based data. Mrs Lorraine Short (Bathurst CEO) re-

cently led a review of the NAPLAN data with staff and writing was an area identified that can be

enhanced.

Numeracy Goal: For all students to progress in the number strand, with a particular focus on mental computation. The

schools commitment to Quick Smart and Mathletics is an example of implementing Best Practice to enhance the teaching

of our staff and the learning of our students.

Collection for ICT access. You will be receiving a copy of the Bathurst CEO Collection notice for the use of ICT and emails

with this newsletter. This is different to the previous collection noticed you received which is school based. The CEO collec-

tion notice is to enable the students to have access to the Bathurst Catholic School ‘cloud’ services. It would be appreciat-

ed if the notices can be returned to school by Friday, 21.2.14.

GOOD LUCK! – This week we wish our swimming squad all the best as they compete at the Northern Swimming carnival in

Gulgong. I am sure all of the students will do their best.

.

This weeks Principal Awards go to:

Apryl-Rose Jones and Bayden Bussey

EXTENDED LEAVE - If you are

planning on taking your child out of school for more than 5 days please be aware that an "Application for Ex-

emption from Attendance at School" form needs to be completed and returned to the office PRIOR to the leave

taking place. Please contact the office if you require a form.

Question of the Week

'Let your light shine before others.' Matthew 5:16

• At school: I can bring light to others by caring and sharing my talents!

• At work or study: Does my face reflect the light of Christ to other?

• In my family life: Have we given hope and joy to each other this week?

Have a wonderful week

God Bless

Anthony O’Leary

COMBINED CATHOLIC SCHOOLS FEES & FAMILY SUPPORT OFFICE Please be advised that this office will be closed between the hours of 9.30am and 12.00noon from Monday 17 February to Thursday 20 February 2014 (inclusive). This will allow those who need to attend in lunch breaks to be still able to do so on those days.

If you have an urgent query during these times, please send me an email and I will endeavour to reply to you the same day.

It is an extremely busy time of year for the staff of this office and your patience is very much appreciated. Each and every fam-ily is very important to us and we will do our best to ensure your queries are answered as soon as is practically possible for us to do so.

It is also timely to remind all those who have a need to contact this office that all communication, whether it be in person, over the phone or by email, is respectful and courteous at all times.

Karen Meredith

Manager

6882 6152

k.meredith@bth.catholic.edu.au

Religious Education News

This week's REC Award goes to:

Beth Clarke

” To Live, Love and Learn

In the Light of Christ”

Conversations with Kindies!

(As told to Mr Schwager)

Name: Bella Burden

Favourite Movie: Barbie and the Fashion Tale

Favourite Food: Prawns

Favourite Sport: Tennis

Favourite TV Show: Rugrats

What makes you happy? When my sister Madi

plays with me

What do you like about St John’s Primary

School? Seeing my buddy, Sarah Bush

What do you like about Dubbo? It’s not like

towns that have bad things in them.

What do you think God looks like? He could

have a sort of dress on, and sometimes he

wears a cross.

How do you try to live like Jesus? Be healthy

and don’t eat lots of sugar

What message would you like to give to the

rest of the school? St John’s is very good!

The Religious Education Curriculum

The RE Curriculum we use at St John’s Primary has

been developed to stimulate and challenge

students, especially in their understanding of

Catholic Scripture and Tradition, and also their

critical thinking and moral reasoning. Central to the

curriculum, and its effective teaching is the ‘To

Know, Worship and Love’ textbook series and

resources we use in every classroom.

Ash Wednesday Mass

Our next major liturgy is a combined Primary

Schools Mass to begin Lent on Ash Wednesday on

the 5th of March. St John’s Primary will be in

charge of organising and running this Mass. Please

be aware there will be very limited seating for

parents at this Mass.

Wishing you a good week,

David Schwager (REC)

Library News

Lunch Time Library!

The library is open at lunch time for quiet reading or drawing.

A special story/activity session will take place each Tuesday at lunch time.

Hi Everyone, wow week 4 already. Frozen treats are keeping can-

teen busy at recess and lunch times-50c gets you either a Quelch

Ice stick (100% fruit juice) or a Fruitzy Snappy (90% fruit juice) -

both are refreshing and healthy. Beautiful Kinder kids are becom-

ing more confident at the canteen window and they are so sweet!

Please have a look at your 2014 Price List as there have been a

couple of price rises.

Thanks Cathy 0458550747

By Madilyn Burden and Brenton Bealing.

What a great start to the year we have had as Captains! The opening school mass was a very proud moment for

both of us, as well as Vice Captains Oscar and Ahlia, all House Captains and all SRC members. It was very special to

see so many families at the mass looking on proudly. Everyone was well behaved and sang beautifully. It was great

to see the Yr 6 Buddies looking after their Kindy buddies from the moment we left school to the moment we got

back.

We had the honour of running our first assembly in Week 2. Madilyn stumbled on some of the words and so did

Brenton, but that was mainly nerves! It was so nice to hand out awards to well-deserving students.

We are both looking forward to putting some of the ideas we mentioned in our Captaincy speeches into place. This

newsletter report was one such idea. We are also looking at fixing the fairy garden and encouraging the school to

add another shelter to Area 4. We hope that every student at St Johns knows they can come to us or any of the

school leaders at any time with ideas or concerns.

As we head into Week 4, our time as Captains can be summed up with – “So far, so good!”

We look forward to serving all students to the best of our ability.

CDF Koala ClubCDF Koala ClubCDF Koala Club

The Catholic Development Fund (CDF) runs a school savings

program at St John’s Primary School. Children are able to open a

Koala Club savings account and are issued with a passbook. There

are no fees or charges on any account with the CDF,

including children’s accounts. Children are asked to bring their

banking to school each Tuesday and books are returned to them

after the banking has been recorded.

Thank you to the parents who volunteer to process our students’

banking each week.

Any parent wishing to open an account with the CDF for their

child is asked to call at the school office to collect a New Account

Form.

School Banking for 2014

will commence this week

so please ensure that your

child’s banking is sent in on

or before Tuesday.

Roster for school banking:

Renee Crain Week 4,

Tracey Letfellah Week 5.

If you have time to assist with the banking please contact

the Saint John’s Primary School Office. We would love your

assistance in lightening our load. Thank you.

The Zoo2Zoo bike ride started in 2006 and is an annual series of bike rides from Zoos to Zoos.

There is the Gulgong Zoo2Zoo bike ride on Saturday 1st and Sunday 2nd March. Please follow the link below and

sponsor our Librarian Maree Williams.

As well as being a personal physical chal-lenge, we also aim to raise funds and awareness for the Black Dog Institute, a world leading organisation in the diagno-sis, treatment and prevention of mood dis-orders such as depression and bipolar dis-order. You can find out more about the

Black Dog Institute below.

In 2013 we raised over $200K for the

Black Dog Institute which goes directly to-

wards helping those in our community who

deal with mental illness such as depres-

sion and bipolar disorder every day

http://www.everydayhero.com.au/event/

zoo2zoo2014/sponsor_a_friend

Proverbs 3:5-6 -- Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on

your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will

make your paths straight.

Quiet time - getting the balance right

All children need down time, but the more time children spend too much time sitting still, the fewer opportunities they have to grow, learn and develop through play, real world interaction and relationships with others.

Time spent sitting still doing productive activities like drawing, puzzles and reading is necessary for your child’s health and de-velopment, but there are other activities that are not. Activities like watching TV, playing computer or electronic games, and long periods of time spent in a stroller or high chair - are not essential for young children.

Balancing the time spent sitting still with active time ensures that your child has the opportunity to develop in a range of ways. Limiting activities that involve sitting still and replacing with more active options is an easy way to make sure your child is getting enough active time.

It is recommended that the time children spend sitting still is limited to no longer than 1 hour, unless they are sleeping or eating. This includes time spent in high chairs, car seats or strollers.

* The recommendations are draft and subject to endorsement by the Australian Health Ministers’ Conference

MORE DETAILS COMING SOON

Saints Netball Registration

To be held at Sporties Function Rooms: Friday 21st February 4-6pm

Saturday 22nd February 10-12noon

Cash or cheque accepted. Uniform available to purchase & order.

See www.saintsnetballdubbo.com for

further information.

U12 2014 Boys Dubbo Soccer Representative Trials

Players wishing to trial for Dubbo Boys Under 12 Representative Soccer,

trials are being held 16th & 23rd February at Lady Cutler field 6, from 4:30-

6:00pm. All enquiries contact Michele 0405547137.

Coolah Central School

Horse Sports

Term 4

Friday 17th October 2014 All enquiries: Coolah Central 02 63771101

ARE YOU MARTHA OR MARY?

We can all be like Martha and work

until all the jobs are done, but

sometimes we need to be like Mary

and take time out, sit and listen to

Jesus so we can hear what he is say-

ing to us.

Come and join WOMEN’S GIFT—

Women Growing in Faith Together.

An invitation is extended to all ladies

who are looking for fellowship

through faith. This is an opportunity

to share our faith and experiences

and encourage each other as we read

the Gospel together and open our-

selves up to the Holy Spirit.

First introductory meeting will be at

St Laurence’s Primary School Hall, cnr

Tamworth & Fitzroy Streets on

Tuesday 25 February. Arrivals from

6:45pm for a 7:00pm start. We will

conclude with a cuppa at 8pm. We

look forward to welcoming you.