Term 3 - Week 3, 2024
- Principal's Message
- School Improvement Review
- Good luck Jules!
- Parent Cafe
- Father's Day Celebration - Save the Date
- Mini Mounties Transition Program/ Kindy Enrolments
- What's On - Term 3
- Whole School Focus
- 2024 Book Week & Book Fair Events
- Class Awards
- 2024 Premier's Reading Challenge
- Term 3 School Fees
- Information about the NCCD for parents
- School Facebook Page
- How to Cancel a Canteen Order
- Farm Safety Awareness Day
- Community Notices
Principal's Message
Welcome back to our newsletter for Week 3, Term 3. It has been a lovely start to the term, with students enjoying our Buddy Olympic Team time. Last week, teams looked at maps of the world and decided what area of the world their country would be in and what it would be called. This week, they created flags for their country that will be displayed around the school. Our Olympic teams provide opportunities for "students to feel safe at school and connected to our school community" (School Improvement Goal - 2024). They build connections across the school, develop collaboration and creativity skills and, most importantly, have fun together.
Have a lovely weekend,
Deb
Deborah Bailey
Principal
School Improvement Review
This term, in Week 5, Mt St John's will participate in a 3-year School Review Process. During the school review process, expert guidance from the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) specialists helps schools assess their current practices, implement the tool with fidelity and monitor the improvement of the school over time. A panel of reviewers will be in our school for 3 days, reviewing school documents and speaking with staff, parents and students. As a result of the review, our school will be given commendations and recommendations for how we can continue to improve over time, ensuring we provide the very best education possible. If you have any questions about this process or would like to speak to one of the Reviewers throughout their visit, please contact me.
Good luck Jules!
Next Friday, 16th August, Jules will be travelling back to Coffs Harbour to represent the Clarence Zone in both track and field events. Good luck Jules. We are all so very proud of you!
Parent Cafe
Parent Cafe is on each Friday in the library from 2:00 pm - 2:40 pm, followed by assembly. Parent Cafe is an opportunity for parents to connect and chat over a cuppa and afternoon tea, as well as engage in parent education about topics nominated by parents. All are welcome - no need to RSVP.
Father's Day Celebration - Save the Date
Make sure to add Friday, 30th August, to your calendar! We are planning something special to celebrate all the amazing male role models in our lives.
Mini Mounties Transition Program/ Kindy Enrolments
I am very excited to say that it is time to start our Mini Mounties Program for 2024. Mini Mounties in Term 3 is open to any child eligible to start school in 2025. Mini Mounties is an opportunity for preschool students to come to Mt St John's, participate in classes and playground activities, meet some staff, see what Mt St John's has to offer, and most of all, have fun! Parents have the opportunity to socialise and meet new parents. Staff also conduct information sessions for parents to learn vital information about school readiness and are available to chat with parents to address any concerns or answer questions.
Dorrigo Preschool beautifully supports our transition; however, if you know of any other children who would benefit from joining Mini Mounties, please pass this information on!
What's On - Term 3
After positive feedback last term, we have published a 'What's On' for Term 3. This document is designed to help you plan ahead for Term 3. Please be aware that changes may (and probably will!) happen. We will continue to keep you updated via Compass. Here is the LINK.
Whole School Focus
At Mt. St John's, we have four core values that guide our behaviour: Respect, (Self) Responsibility, Safety, and Effort. These four expectations are our behaviour norms.
Our whole school focus this fortnight is Responsibility. Staff have unpacked what Responsibility means in our school and how we can demonstrate responsible behaviour. Our teachers and student leaders look for students demonstrating these skills and give out GEM Awards to celebrate.
2024 Book Week & Book Fair Events
Our Book Week & Book Fair will be held in Week 4 from 12th to 16th August. This year's theme is "Reading is Magic". (We are having our Book Week activities a week earlier than the official Book Week, as our School Review is booked for the following week)
A display of books will be available for purchase set up in the library during this week. Each Book Fair is designed to give kids access to more books they want to read, from relevant new releases to classic award-winners. Every purchase made will benefit our school, as we receive a percentage of all sales made as free books for our library. Thank you to Angela Jackson, who has volunteered to assist with setting up/ packing away our Book Fair in Week 4.
Next Wednesday, August 14th, we will be holding our Book Character Dress-up Parade at 11:30 a.m. This is great fun, with all students and staff dressing up as their favourite character from a book. I'm looking forward to seeing some great costumes!
Class Awards
Congratulations to all our Award Winners for Weeks 2 and 3.
| Principal's Award | Zahli Bailey | For the RESPECTFUL way she treats all members of our community. |
| Abby Thomas | For consistently demonstrating RESPECT and RESPONSIBILITY in our community. | |
| Kindy | Ziggy Carter-Sims | For great participation in sport as you showed off your awesome ball skills! |
| Sam Garnock | For your great learning about clocks and how to tell the time. | |
| Phoebe Sheridan | For your great work reading tricky words in sentences. | |
| Jack Morgan | For working really hard to read unknown words by looking at the sounds. | |
| Stage 1 | Sophie Carter | For great Mathematics discussion and not being afraid to learn from mistakes. Great work! |
| Charlotte Wickham | For working well with others, great talk in Maths and learning from mistakes. | |
| Brianna Bosshard-Guest | For a big effort to locate and place numbers in their correct position on a 100's chart. | |
| Tyler Munro | For his effort to spell 'tricky words' in InitialLit. | |
| Stage 2 | James Beaumont | For excellent work in handwriting tasks. Great effort in joining letters using cursive writing. |
| Lucas Jackson | For displaying confident skills and being able to use a mitt correctly to catch, field and throw. | |
| Samo Floridan | For giving a 100% effort in Drama - doing a great impersonation of a caterpillar. | |
| Jules Francis | For working well in Maths and being able to use partioning to solve multiplication problems. | |
| Rory O'Leary | For great effort with spelling high frequency words and having great attempts at spelling unknown words. | |
| Ivy Jackson | For striving to improve her reading, comprehension and fluency. Well done! | |
| Stage 3 | Malachi Fell | For excellent reporting skills in our celebrity interviews for the student news. |
| Tom Beaumont | For being organised and generous in sharing the props you brought with others to make your history assessment more authentic. | |
| Hayley Munro | For displaying leadership skills, supporting Uncle Allan and fellow students in our catchup yarn sessions. |
2024 Premier's Reading Challenge
The Premier's Reading Challenge aims to encourage a love of reading for leisure and pleasure in students, and to enable them to experience quality literature. It is not a competition but a challenge to each student to read, to read more and to read more widely. The Premier's Reading Challenge (PRC) is open to all NSW students in Kindergarten to Year 9, in government, independent, Catholic and home schools. You must read a certain number of books to complete the Challenge. The Challenge closes for students on Friday August 23, 2024.
Congratulations to the following students, who have completed this year's Premier's Reading Challenge: Zahli, Ziggy, Sam, Henry, Phoebe, Ryan, Sasha, Hunter, Tate, Rory, Tyson, Aurora, James, Piper, Samo, Jules, Oliver, Ivy, Lucas, Lucca, Lakota, Paddy & Darcy.
Term 3 School Fees
Term 3 school fees have been billed to each family. Term 3 fees are due by Friday 6th September, unless you are paying by regular direct debit amounts.
1 student - $318
2 students - $556.50
3 students - $715.50
Payment options are:
- Good news! We now have BPay facilities. On your next school fee statement, there will be instructions on how to make a payment using BPay. This is our preferred payment method.
- 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.
- cash at school
Remember, if you feel you will be unable to finalise your Term 3 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!
Information about the NCCD for parents
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.
Farm Safety Awareness Day
Community Notices
GLUE & Messy Church
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.
The next Messy Church (Messy Samuel - see flyer below) is on Sunday 25th August from 4-6pm. Messy Church is a community event for families and children on a Christian theme with a free dinner provided.
Kids on Stage 2024
Dorrigo Drama Club's Kids on Stage's next production will be Santa Claus: The Panto.
See flyer below for more information or call Dina on 6657 2243.
Camp Creative 2025
The event isn't until January, but tickets are already on sale.
There are over 50 courses available for kids and teens in the 2025 program (age ranges vary for each course). So Camp Creative is a great opportunity for young people to spend an exciting week learning a new skill or craft. There are also 48 courses available for adults, so the whole family can join in!
Camp Creative supports the NDIS, so parents/carers can contact me to create an invoice for their child to attend a course as part of their NDIS package. We also accept Service NSW Creative/Active Kids Vouchers.
If any parents have any questions, they are welcome to reach out to me via this email or my phone number below.
Nicole Ruigrok
Camp Creative Coordinator - Phone: 0419 379 146
Dorrigo Swim Club
Play Tennis in Dorrigo - Hot Shots
Taking expressions of interest for Hot Shots Tennis Coaching for Term 3. I am hoping to run groups of 4 to 6 students for 30-minute sessions on Friday afternoons after school during Term 3.
Tennis Australia trained coach and keen player.
Call Ben Hazlett on 0448 805 336.
Dance Classes for Kids in Dorrigo
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.