Volume 9

12 June 2025

VOLUME 9

12 June 2025

Loving God,

You call us to care for others with kindness and love.

Bless the LifeLink Appeal and all who support it.
May our prayers and actions help those in need
and share the light of Christ in the world.

We ask this through Jesus our Lord.

Amen.

PRINCIPAL'S WELCOME

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Congratulations to all Confirmation Candidates

Last Sunday our Year 6 students and some from the parish Catechist program celebrated the Sacrament of Confirmation. Confirmation is a rite of passage and strengthens the grace received during Baptism by giving the recipient the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Mass was conducted by the Very Reverend Fr Vincent and our new Parish Priest, Fr Bernard and was a lovely celebration for all in our community.

Congratulations to our Executive Director

Congratulations CEWA’s Executive Director, Wayne Bull on being appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia, For significant service to Catholic education, and to Indigenous education support, as part of this year’s King's Birthday Honours List.

It is recognition of the service, compassion, faithfulness, and dedication Wayne has shown throughout his career as an educator and leader in Catholic Education.

2026 Kindergarten and Pre-Kindy Interviews

Interviews are currently being conducted for children entering Kindergarten in 2026. Please make sure you have your applications submitted as soon as possible. Currently, there is no guarantee that there will be a second Kindy class and therefore numbers may be limited.

Three-Year Old Kindy, which is commencing on Tuesdays in Semester 2 also has strict maximum numbers. For families who are enrolling their child into Pre-Kindy in Semester 2 and Kindergarten in 2026, interviews will take place at the same time.

School DISCO

The excitement is building for our P&F school Disco tomorrow evening! I am sure all children who are attending will have a great time. In advance, I would like to thank the P&F committee and Ms Sheahan for all their hard work in organising and running this event and our parents for volunteering to help out on the night.

The K-2 Disco is 5-6:30pm

The 3-6 Disco is 7-8:30pm

Please note that the disco is only for children who our school. Please see the flyer as part of this newsletter.

Interschool Cross Country Carnival

Next Friday the Interschool Cross County is taking place. Students in Years 3-6 have been selected based on their performance at our recent school carnival. We wish all attending good luck. Thanks to Miss Jones for all of the hard work that she has put in preparing the students for this event.

LifeLink Launch and Fundraiser

Last week LifeLink was launched across all schools in the Perth Diocese, and the students at St John Paul II have been learning about the fantastic service these agencies provide. On Monday June 23, students can wear a Loud Shirt to school for a gold coin donation to support the valuable work of the LifeLink agencies in our region. Please see the flyer as part of this newsletter.

Three members of our Student Representative Council – Joy Tawirika, Jasmin Coral and Isabelle Nolan – accompanied Mr Bigwood and myself to the official launch of the 2025 LifeLink appeal at Newman College. We joined Most Reverend Timothy Costelloe Archbishop of Perth, Most Reverend Don Sproxton, Auxiliary Bishop of Perth and Chair, LifeLink Executive, as well as many other special guests. Our students were excellent role-models for our school.

In Harmony

Martin Tucker

Principal

ST JOHN PAUL II CATHOLIC PRIMARY SCHOOL INFORMATION

SCHOOL TIMES

Start: 8.25am

Finish 3.00pm

Monday - Finish 2.00pm

KINDERGARTEN TIMES

Start 8.25am

Finish 2.45pm

Monday - Finish 2.00pm

BREAKFAST CLUB

Wednesday 7.45 - 8.15am

HUNGRY JPs CANTEEN

Thursday Recess & Lunch

UPCOMING DATES TO REMEMBER

JUNE

Fri 13 - Class 3P Assembly
Fri 13 - P&F Disco
Fri 20 - Merit Assembly
Fri 20 - Intercshool Cross Country
Mon 23 - Loud shirt for LifeLink day
Fri 27 - Class 1J Assembly

JULY

Fri 4 - Last Day of Term 2
Mon 28 - Pupil Free Day - No School
Tues 22 - First Day of Term 3

MID-YEAR REPORTS

Student reports will be available at the end of term through SEQTA Engage.

The Mid-Year report is a summary of your child's progress against the SCSA achievement standards that relate to content that was covered in Semester One. The report will help you have a conversation with your child in regard to their achievement, effort, responsibility and attitude towrds learning. It will also help you celebrate successes and to also determine some areas of focus for Semester Two. It is importnat that students own their efforts and achievements and that, as adults in our children's lives, we ensure that they understand and appreciate they are the most influential person, with family and school support, in determining the results they achieve.

Please ensure that you have your login details for SEQTA to be able to access the reports.

To do this please visit the site: https://sjpiicps.engage.cewa.edu.au/

and use your current username and password. If you have remembered your username but have forgotten your password, please click on the "Forgot your Password?" link and an immediate email will be sent to you. The password reset link in the email will expire within one hour, so please action this immediately.

The link to this website is also found on the homepage of our school website –Simply click on the ‘Learn More’ button under the SEQTA Engage title (as shown below):

Should you require any assistance or need to reset your password, please contact Admin before the end of term.

CENTERED ON JESUS CHRIST

URSTRONG: AFTER-SCHOOL CONVO STARTERS

“How was school today?” Good. “What did you do?” Nothing.

(Sound familiar? Let’s dig a little deeper with these questions!)

Sometimes it’s like talking to a brick wall after your kids come home from school. You want to connect with them, but they aren’t quite ready to open up and connect with you.

Just like we need to unwind after a big day at work, kids need this time and space as well to transition and come down from the intensity of school. Some children even experience what’s called, After-School Restraint Collapse, a term coined by Andrea Loewen Nair (Counsellor and Parenting Educator). ASRC is characterised by an emotional meltdown that results from a full day of self-regulating, following rules, and essentially being a “good student”. Not an ideal time to have a conversation!

After giving your child time to relax, here are a few creative questions to get a little more information about their day at school:

1. Tell me about your day.

2. What was the best thing that happened at school today?

3. Tell me one thing you learned today.

4. Did anything make you laugh today? Tell me about it.

5. How did you help someone today?

6. What was hard today?

7. Describe what you did at recess.

8. Did you have any Friendship Fires today? Tell me about it.

9. Where is your friendship on the Friend-o-meter with _____ today?

10. Did you have a cool conversation with your teacher today? What did you discuss?

Choose one or two to ask, but be sure not to inundate your child with too many questions. Your goal is to connect with them, show them you care, and give them space to open up.

Happy chatting! 🙂

Written by Dana Kerford

Friendship Expert and Founder, URSTRONG