Dear Parents, 

I hope that you are all well as we continue with Remote Learning and Stage 4 restrictions.

This second time around seems more challenging but I am impressed with the efforts our families are going to in order to make the most of this time.

The experience for each of us is determined by our mindset. The knowledge that we are all in this together, trying to navigate our way through a difficult and challenging time provides some comfort. It is also important that we all want the best outcome for all students, parents, staff and the wider community.

I have been able to catch up with teachers over the past week who are excited to see students in their weekly Google Meet sessions. The teachers talk about the chatter amongst friends on the screen and the excitement it generates. Our teachers are channelling this energy into the programs they are preparing for students over the next few weeks. The continued aim is to provide learning that is engaging, effective and focused on the areas of Reading, Writing, Numeracy and Religious Education. We are also mindful of making the program accessible for students and the parents/carers who are supporting them. Thank you for working with us.

Please use your knowledge of your children and these few pointers as prompts when working with your children;

·         if your child is finding it hard to complete tasks then concentrate on one or two.

·         break the time spent concentrating on a task into smaller, more manageable parts.

·         encourage your child to check in with their teacher to talk about how much work they are doing/not doing.

·         if your child is looking for more work, encourage them to create a project/task for themselves, create one with them, look for opportunities to extend.

·         consider social and emotional health.

Live Assembly : Tuesday 1st September, 2pm Via ZOOM

Whole School Live Liturgy:  Friday 4th September - we will hold our second Liturgy via ZOOM to celebrate and give thanks for the special men in our lives.

Invitations for the Assembly & Liturgy will emailed to all families the day before the event. 

School Closure day: 18th September - Planning and curriculum.

Regards 

Chris Dortmans, Principal

The middle/senior teachers would like to welcome Mr Daniel Stark to the team. Mr Stark has taken over from Mrs Barnett this week and we wish her all the best in her maternity leave!

Exciting times as the Grade 3/4's joined the 5/6 students by taking part in live Google meetings last week. These meetings are lots of fun and a great opportunity to get together. They will continue weekly until we can all be back together at school again. There may have been slight changes to your grade’s meeting time so make sure you check your Seesaw journal and listen out in the morning greetings for the most up to date times. You don’t want to miss these!

On a curriculum level, we have begun our new writing topic this week. Narrative writing is always a favourite and a wonderful chance to be creative. In maths, we will finish up our time unit later in the week and look forward to seeing your essential assessment results as they come in. Keep up the hard work!

We continue to be amazed at the resilience and perseverance our Junior students are demonstrating! They have worked so hard over the past 6 weeks and are developing some amazing learning strategies.

In Mathematics, the Foundation students have been working on strategies to assist with their knowledge of place value, addition, subtraction, number/visual pattern and division. They have enjoyed playing games such as guess my number and are asking their teachers some tricky mathematical questions.

In grade One and Two we have been making connections between counting patterns, multiplication and division. Students are developing strategies such as groups of, repeated addition, counting patterns and arrays to support their understanding of the concept.

Next week we will begin our unit on chance and data.

Google Meets

We are sooooo excited to host our first Google Meet this week. We have missed you all immensely and can not wait to catch up with you. Check your class Seesaw for meeting times.

1/2 Google Meet - Wednesday 26th August

Foundation Google Meet - tomorrow- Thursday 27th August

If you have a child to enrol at St John's for 2021 please request an enrolment pack from the office, alternatively these can be downloaded from the website. 

Enrolment forms can be completed and returned either by post, dropped in at the office or scanned (as a PDF) and e-mailed to dohehir@stjohnskwr.catholic.edu.au   

Birth Certificate, Immunisation History Statement and identification for fee payers must be submitted with enrolment forms. 

Interviews will be conducted via phone where possible, we will contact you to arrange interviews as we have time slots available. 

Including the communities of:  St Joseph’s Iona,  St James Nar Nar Goon,  Holy Family Maryknoll,  St John’s Koo Wee Rup and St Mary’s, Lang Lang

Administrator:  Fr. Peter Kooloos  Ph: 03 5997 1510   Fax: 03 5997 2220 Mob: 0438 622 766

Baptism Enquiries: Carmelina De Cesari   Mob: 0401 911 092   carmelinadecesari@gmail.com

WEEKEND MASS TIMES:  ALL MASSES CANCELLED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE