Term 1 - Week 10, 2024

Principal's Message

Dear Families and Friends,

It has been a wonderful two weeks here at Mt St John’s, with several ‘extra’ events that make school special for so many students and promote the feeling of belonging that is so important.

Cross Country

We were blessed with gorgeous weather last Monday for our school Cross Country. Our Stage 3 leaders began our day with a respectful Acknowledgement of Country from Ethan and the Runner’s Prayer read by Colby and Finn.  I couldn’t be prouder of the perseverance, resilience and sportsmanship that all our students demonstrated. I wish all those students competing in Grafton the very best of luck next week!

Easter Liturgy

Thursday saw each of our classes lead part of our Liturgy, remembering the events of Holy Week. Once again, our students led by example and participated with a prayerful reverence. 

Easter Raffle

Thank you to everyone who donated to our raffle and also purchased tickets. We raised $257 that will be donated to Caritas. More impressive than the money we raised was the way students celebrated each other's successes and looked out for others by giving some of their prizes to others! That generosity of spirit is something we should all be proud of.

Catholic Schools Week

Next week our school will join more than 45 schools across the Lismore Diocese to celebrate Catholic Education Week (CEW). This year’s theme is “Innovation and Faith’. The transforming power of innovation and faith works in unison to ensure our students experience the fullness of life (John 10:10). 

For many great innovators throughout history, their faith motivated them to explore and understand the wonders of the universe. Our Catholic schools walk alongside clergy, parishioners and families to prepare and nurture our future innovators and faith leaders on their journey. 

I would like to extend a warm invitation for you to participate in our Catholic Education Week event. 

Mt St John’s Dorrigo will be celebrating on Thursday 11th April with:

9:30 am - 10:30 am - Open Classrooms. Come and see what is happening in our school!

10:30 am - 11:00 am - Games on the field.

11:00 am - Shared morning tea. Morning tea will be provided for all visitors and guests.

We look forward to seeing you then!

Library Update - Open Wednesday

Following the repair of a very persistent leaking roof and subsequent air quality testing to ensure there is no mould contamination, I am thrilled to announce the library will be opened again on Wednesday! Please see the Library section of the newsletter for more information.

What's On - Term 2

Next Friday, we will publish a comprehensive 'What's On' for Term 2. This will have important dates (including the Athletics Carnival, Reports and Class Assemblies) for you to add to your calendar. 

Newsletter Survey

This term, we trialled sending out the Newsletter fortnightly. Please complete this simple SURVEY to indicate if you would like the Newsletter weekly or fortnightly for the remainder of the year.

As always, please call or email me if you have any questions or concerns.

Have a lovely weekend,

Deborah Bailey

Principal

School Improvement - Learning and Teaching

Annually, teachers create Improvement goals that drive the school’s agenda for the year. As last fortnight’s newsletter shared, Mt St John’s has three goals this year: the Mission of Jesus Christ, Learning and Teaching, and Pastoral Care. 

Our Learning and Teaching Goal for 2024 is: 

All students will achieve higher-than-expected growth in reading and mathematics. 

We aim to achieve this by:

1. Analysing data to identify students who require extra support or extension, providing targeted, high-quality, research-based interventions, and monitoring progress.
   
2. Providing professional development to all staff to ensure the curriculum is taught using best practices.
3. Employing High Impact Instructional Strategies in all classrooms to maximise student engagement.

In our school, you will see evidence of this in the following ways:

1. All staff collaborate regularly to identify and monitor students requiring support through Professional Learning Team meetings (PLTs) and Case Management Meetings (CMM). 
   
2. Professional learning that supports all staff understanding of the curriculum and content is identified, planned and acted on, with evidence of implementation.
3. Expert, highly skilled practitioners coaching and mentoring staff to ensure High Impact Instructional Strategies (HIIS) are used and result in greater student engagement.

Parent Forum Update

I am very excited to invite you all to our first Parent Forum meeting on Tuesday, 30th April. I am aware that other than at our Welcome Night and Liturgies, parents have not had the opportunity to meet this term; there were some organisational issues from the Catholic Schools Office that needed to be resolved before we could meet and build a new team for 2024.

Parent Meeting 30th April

To kickstart our year, our first meeting will begin with dinner from 5:30 pm, followed by a presentation from Janita Thomson. Babysitting will be provided. All details (including how to RSVP) are in the flyer below. We would love to see as many of you there as possible, I would love to hear how we can involve parents in our school.

Colour Fun Run

Last year, the school community generously raised money through the Colour Fun Run for a basketball half court. Rest assured this money is still allocated for this purpose and we are in the process of gaining approval. I will keep you all updated!

Staff Development Days

Please be advised that our school has the following days as Staff Development Days. Students do not attend school on these days.

Friday 12th April

Monday 29th April

Thursday 30th May

The Resilience Project

Mindfulness

Working on mindfulness allows us to develop our ability to pay attention to the present moment and our thoughts. Practising mindfulness daily can help us stay focused on set tasks and reduce stress and anxiety.

Whole Family Activity - Mindful Walk

As a family, go on a walk outside or in nature. This might be around your local walking track, at your local park, or just around your streets.

While walking, tune into your senses and observe what you can see, hear, and feel. You might choose to focus on just one of your senses. e.g., hearing - what are all the sounds you can hear while walking?

On your way home or when you return home, share what each person saw, heard, or felt.=

Family Habit Builder

Each night at dinner, ask everyone to take one mouthful of food more mindfully than the rest and think about the flavours they can taste and how it makes them feel. (They can also thank the chef!)

GEM Awards

Congratulations to our GEM Award winner for Week  9  - Ethan Miller and Week 10.

Digital Technologies Parental Consent and Student User Agreement

At Mt St John's School, we use a variety of digital technologies to promote engagement and creativity across the learning areas. The attached Parental Consent and Student Digital Technology User Agreement 2024 provides our families and students with the processes in place to build responsible digital citizens and also helps create an understanding of the expectations when using digital technology throughout the school year. Parents and students must sign it every year as it will be updated and changed annually.

Please take the time to read through the Digital Technologies User Agreement with your child. You can locate the agreement by clicking on the link below.

Please be aware that if it is not signed, students cannot use technology at school.

If you have more than one child at Mt St John's Primary School, you will be required to complete this with each of your children. 

Thank you for your continued support of your child and promoting responsible use of the Digital Technology use at Mt St John's Primary School. 

Please contact me if you require any further information.

Kind regards,

Deborah Bailey - Principal

School Library News

We are very excited to report that the school library will open next week, after almost a term of being closed. While it was closed, we took the opportunity to order new shelving, reorganise the resources and have a big clean-out of older and obsolete books and resources in order to make room for the new books we purchase each year. 

Early next week we will put all the books that have been 'weeded' from the library and classrooms on a table in the quadrangle for students to look through and take home to keep if they would like to. 

So, our first library borrowing day will be Wednesday next week. Students may borrow 4 books each week and they should bring a cloth library bag to school on Wednesdays to help protect their books.

We look forward to sharing our beautiful re-imagined library space with the students, and encouraging them in a life-long love of reading!

Enrolment Changes

Our school is moving from paper-based enrolment applications to online enrolments using Compass.  As an existing user of Compass, you will find a new tile in the Compass app called Family and Enrolments, found under the “More” icon in the Compass app or under the Cog icon in your preferred browser.  

Now the family and enrolments module has gone live, as a parent you can update your contact details at any time. We strongly encourage you to log in to confirm your details. If you update your details, they will update across all schools where you have a child enrolled.

Applications for 2025 can be completed from June 2024. 

See our website for more details on how to enrol and where to get assistance if you need it.

Term 1 School Fees

Term 1 school fees are now due, unless you are paying by regular direct debit amounts. Please note that Term 1 fees include a $55 resource fee per student.
 
1 student - $373
2 students - $666.50
 
Payment options are:  

1. using the Compass app - You can check your school fee balance and pay fees through the Compass app. Select more - school fees - next - and enter your credit card details. You have the option to pay in full or pay a portion of your fees. 
2. cash or cheque at school 
3. direct deposit to the school's bank account (see instructions below)

When using Internet banking, please use your child’s surname as a reference.
Banancoast Community Credit Union   
BSB no. 533-000
Account no. 3282 0430                 
Name: Mt St John’s Primary School
 
Remember, if you feel you will be unable to finalise your Term 1 school fees by this date, some financial assistance may be available from St Vincent de Paul - to make an appointment with them, call 0472 718862. You will need to take your school fee statement with you to your appointment.
Thank you!

Community News

ANZAC Day March

The ANZAC Day Dawn Service will commence at 5.30am at the Dorrigo Monument and breakfast will be served in the Dorrigo Memorial RSL Club after the Service.

Our school will be marching as a school group in the Dorrigo ANZAC Day March and Wreath-Laying Service on Thursday 25th April. Students are to wear full school uniform, including school hat, and assemble at 10:40am at the Dorrigo Memorial RSL Club. The March & Wreath-Laying Service will commence at 11.00am.

As with last year, the Order of March will have the Dorrigo School contingents near the head of the march, and the Schools will end up in Cudgery Street behind the Veterans Group near the bus shelter.

For further information contact Phillip Corlis on 0408 033141 or email phillipcorlis@bigpond.com

School Facebook Page

Check out our school Facebook page! It is wonderful to be able to share the good news of our school with our families and community. 

How to Cancel a Canteen Order

If you need to, you can cancel canteen orders before 9am on canteen day. If you know your child is going to be away you can go into Compass Canteen and select "cancel order".

The refunded money goes back into your Compass "wallet" so you can use it next time you order - when you get to the Confirm & pay screen, click on the down arrow and select Compass Credit. 

Community Notices

GLUE

GLUE God Loves Us Eternally KidsClub is held each Wednesday during school term time from 3-5pm at the Anglican Church Hall. Afternoon tea, games, fun worship and craft. All primary kids in Years 1-6 are welcome, as are newcomers. For more info, ring Gwenneth on 6657 2135.

Dorrigo Rangers Rugby

School Holiday Activities at Local Libraries

Bellingen Bulldogs AFL

Bellingen Bulldog's Junior AFL offers programs for boys and girls aged from 5 years old to 17 years of age, starting with an Auskick program for younger children and competitive teams for boys and girls starting from under 10's up to under 17's.

Information on how to register for the club along with contact information for parents is below. 

School Bus Travel

Students who need a School Opal card or travel pass for 2024 can apply here. A new application will need to be submitted if they are applying for the first time, or if they are requesting additional travel entitlement because of new shared parental arrangement (e.g. joint custody).

If a student’s distance eligibility has changed based on their grade (i.e. grade two to grade three), the system will automatically update their entitlement if they meet the new criteria. If they do not meet the new eligibility criteria, an expiry notification will be sent via email.

Students who have an entitlement approved under a medical condition that is due to expire will receive a notification advising them to re-apply.

Term Bus Pass holders will receive a notification to re-apply.

Students living in rural and regional (R&R) areas should receive their travel pass at the start of the new school year from their nominated transport operator. It may come via the school or be sent directly to them at home. Note: some R&R operators do not issue travel passes. Students/parents should confirm with their nominated operator if they do not receive a pass.

School Drive Subsidy

The School Drive Subsidy is available for eligible school students where there is no public transport available for all or part of the journey. If you have to drive your child more than 1.6km to a school bus stop, you may be eligible for this subsidy – go to the link below to apply. 

Vaping Information for Primary School Parents

Healthy Lunchbox Website

Cancer Council’s Healthy Lunch Box website is your one-stop shop for everything you need to know about packing a healthy lunch box.  For recipes, information and health tips please visit the website below.