Volume 3

February 7, 2025

VOLUME 3

7 March 2025

Dear God

We come together in gratitude for the rich cultural heritage and wisdom of our First Nations people. We honour their deep connection to the land, their traditions, and their enduring spirit.

We ask for your blessings upon them, that they may continue to thrive and share their knowledge with future generations. May we walk together in respect and unity, acknowledging the past and working towards a future of reconciliation and understanding.

Grant us the strength to listen, learn, and support our First Nations communities in meaningful ways. May we celebrate their contributions and stand in solidarity with them in their journey towards justice and healing.

Amen

PRINCIPAL'S WELCOME

Dear Parents

Aboriginal Cultural Evening

In what was an awesome community event, our Cultural Evening was a celebration of our First Nations people. It was fantastic to see so many children and families come along and learn a little about Aboriginal culture, watch the children perform and take part in the activities during the evening. There are many people to recognise for this event, and I would especially like to recognise Miss Blackmore, Mrs O’Brien and the school staff, and our P&F, who all played a significant role in making the evening a success.

Before School Supervision

We are pleased to offer supervision for children in Year 1-6 starting from 8am each morning on the oval. Additionally, our popular Breakfast Club kicks off at 7:45am every Wednesday, providing a great start to the day!

To ensure the safety and well-being of all students, we kindly ask that children are not left unsupervised at school before these times. For families needing to drop off children earlier, our OSH service is available and ready to help.

For our youngest learners in Kindy and Pre-primary, we request that parents supervise them until they enter their classrooms. Thank you for your cooperation in keeping our school community safe and happy!

2025 Kindy Enrolments

Is your child turning 4 between 1st July 2025 and 30th June 2026? Make sure you have collected, completed and lodged an application form with the front office as soon as possible. Interviews for kindergarten positions next year have commenced.

Pre-Kindy

I am very excited to announce that commencing Term 3 we will again be running a 3-Year-Old Kindy program. The Pre-Kindy program will be run for a full day on Tuesdays. The focus of the program is to create a smooth transition from home to the school environment, ensuring your child feels happy and safe in our care. There are limited places available for those who take up the offer. Please contact the school office if you are interested in a Pre-Kindy place for your child.

Easter Raffle

Our P&F will be running an Easter Raffle again this term with tickets being sent home with students shortly. We are asking that families donate Easter eggs, Easter toys such as rabbit ears, and Easter books for the prizes.

Harmony Day

We will be celebrating Harmony Day at school on Friday March 21. Harmony Day celebrates diversity, fosters inclusivity and respect for the different cultures within our community. The students can come to school wearing clothes from their culture or something orange. Traditionally the colour orange relates to social communication, stimulating two-way conversations and has been worn to help celebrate the coming together of different cultures. We are looking for some students who would like to perform a song or dance representing their culture. If you are interested or have a dance or song that you would like to perform, could you please see Mrs O'Brien in Year One.

Canteen – Volunteers

The Canteen is always looking for volunteers to help with its smooth running. Please contact the office or speak with Mrs Jo Sheahan on Thursday morning if you are able to assist in any way.

Uniforms

In our first newsletter for 2025 and during the Parent Information Evening, when discussing uniforms, I made particular mention of the children needing to wear all black shoes and the school green or black socks. We require your ongoing support in ensuring that children come to school in the correct uniform each day.

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

MARCH

Fri 7th Class 5J Assembly
Fri 12th Cleanup Australia Activity
12th - 24th NAPLAN Year 3 & Year 5
Fri 14th Class 2J Liturgy 8.45am
Mon 24th Collaborative Conferences 2.00 - 6.00pm
Tues 25th The Assumption of the Lord School Mass 9.00am
Weds 26th Collaborative Conferences 3.00 - 5.00pm
Mon 31st PD Day - NO SCHOOL

APRIL

Fri 11th Last Day Term 1
Mon 28th First Day of Term 2

STUDENT LEADERSHIP

Congratulations to the following Year 6 Student Leaders for 2025:

Student Representative Council

Jasmin Chenelle Coral

Zuri Motaroki

Isabelle Nolan

Nako (Joy) Tawirika

Jada Sakala

Boodjah (Red) Faction Captain

Tommy Dunning

Jeerp (Green) Faction Captain

Jay Piek

Nganka (Yellow) Faction Captain

Cyrus Musukani

Library Leaders

Wiirtuu Lemessa

Logan Lynx

CENTERED ON JESUS CHRIST

LENT

The season of Lent is upon us. This season is an invitation to put aside the many distractions around us and give time and space to God and to others.

PROJECT COMPASSION

Spanning across the 40 days of Lent, Project Compassion brings thousands of Australian schools and parishes together to raise funds for people living in some of the most vulnerable communities across the world.

For the remainder of this term we will be inviting children to contribute to project compassion – all funds raised will be collated at the end of the term and passed onto Caritas Australia to support these communities in need. All the support you are able to provide will be gratefully received.

One of the yearly highlights of Project Compassion is the opportunity to engage with the stories that show the difference Project Compassion makes to the lives of others. I would encourage you to look at one of the stories on the Caritas website to see how our contributions are helping others.

You can support Project Compassion 2025 through the donation boxes or by scanning the QR code below.

Thank you for standing with us as we Unite Against Poverty this Lent.

YEAR 2 LITURGY

Our Year 2J class will hold a class liturgy in the Church next Friday, 14 March. All families are welcome to join them.

CELEBRATING EASTER / CEWA

CEWA have announced the return of their Easter Colouring Competition.

For details on how to enter the competition visit: www.cewa.edu.au/easter/

pdf

insert_drive_file

Easter-Colouring-In-Sheets 2025.pdf

Download

3.7 MB

COLLABORATIVE CONFERENCES

In week 8 we will be holding Collaborative Conferences. These Parent-Student-Teacher meetings provide an opportunity for parents, students and teachers to sit together and discuss your child’s progress to date this year; as well as bring up any questions, queries or concerns that either you, your child or the teacher may have.

These Collaborative Conferences are important occasions that help us work together to provide the best possible learning opportunities for your children.

Collaborative Conferences will be held on:

Monday, 24 March from 2:10pm to 6:00pm; and

Wednesday, 26 March from 3:00pm to 5:30pm

If you are unavailable to meet with your child’s teacher on these days and would like to do so, please make alternate arrangements by contacting them.

Bookings are currently open and will close on Friday 21 March at 3pm.

To book click on this link: https://www.schoolinterviews.com.au/code/mkqt6

or scan the QR code above.

NAPLAN

NAPLAN assessments will take place from the 12 March until the 24 March. Assessments are given in reading, writing, spelling, grammar and punctuation and numeracy. Students will complete the assessments online, except for the Year 3 Writing assessment, which will be completed on paper. The NAPLAN brochure sent home at the beginning of the term, to the parents of Year 3 and 5 students, gives more information about NAPLAN.

The NAPLAN assessments are one of the methods that schools use to determine the achievement of our students and can support school improvement by enabling teachers to monitor their students' progress over time against the national measure. It provides additional information to support teacher judgement about improvement in a child's level of literacy and numeracy.

Teachers will be working with students to ensure they are familiar with the test format, but it is important not to overstate the importance of the tests or to build up anxiety in the children.

IMPORTANT FINANCIAL INFORMATION

CROSS SCHOOL SIBLING DISCOUNT SCHEME

Please click on the link below to access the information regarding our cross-school sibling discount schemes with Mater Dei College and Irene McCormack Catholic College.