Term 3 - Week 6, 2021

Acting Principal's Message

What a gift it's been to join the beautiful Dorrigo community. I know I've already said it in the video above but the dedication and professionalism of the staff this week has been inspiring. They are so committed to the children and families of Mount Saint Johns.

I'm a little bit of a Mother Teresa fan, so I took the opportunity to add one of her most famous quotes to the school sign. In these very interesting times, let's all remember to love God with all our hearts, souls and minds and to love our neighbours as ourselves. (Matt 22)

I'm looking forward to announcing this week's class award winners in my Monday morning video; you will see it in your child's Google Classroom.

Mount Saint John's now has a school Twitter account. If you sign up and follow @MSJDorrigo you will see some little snapshots of life in the time of Blended Learning.

Warm regards,

Liz Watts
Acting Principal

Mount Saint Johns Dorrigo

2021 Book Week & Book Fair POSTPONED

We have made the decision to move Book Week (including the Book Fair and book character dress-up day) to Week 10, ensuring the best possible chance for us to be together to celebrate the wonderful world of books. 

Crazy Hair Week

Due to being in COVID lockdown, we decided - just for fun - to make this whole week Crazy Hair Week. Below are some of the great photos students have shared with us.

Crazy Hair Photos

Supporting Children’s Social and Emotional Wellbeing

Weekly Awards

This week's class awards went to:

Owen K - for not giving up when the learning was tricky and for achieving success with holding the big number in his head and counting on in addition.

Aurora W - for climbing out of the learning pit by not giving up and then celebrating her new learning by helping her peers succeed as well.

Ethan Mac - for trying hard to improve your handwriting by forming letters and writing more neatly. Keep it up.

Jinky W - for the huge effort you have put into your Crazy Hair 'style'. Not only have you been so creative, but you have also taught us all how to stay safe in lockdown. Thank you for bringing a smile to our faces.

Mia G - for putting in high quality effort in her home learning.

Clay B - for putting in high quality effort in his home learning.

Harry W - for showing initiative, leadership and kindness towards younger students at garden group.

Lacey P - for showing respect and responsibility for your learning during our reading groups.

Cash G -  for being an excellent worker at home and submitting completed tasks during our online learning. Well done Cash.

Zoe B - for an excellent piece of art work displaying the things she is grateful for.

We would also like to give an award to all of our parents for their support this week!

2022 Enrolments Now Open

We are taking enrolments for Kindergarten for 2022. Children are eligible for Kindergarten if they turn 5 by July 31 of that year. All children must be enrolled in school by their sixth birthday. To enrol at Mt St John’s, follow these three steps:

1. Collect an enrolment form from the school office.
2. Return the completed enrolment form to school office.
3. Attend an enrolment interview with your child.

In Term 4, students who are enrolled for 2022 can attend our formal Kindergarten transition sessions. We look forward to meeting our new Kindergarten students soon!

Big School Experience session cancelled

During term 3, we were hoping to welcome our local pre-school children to join in experiencing 'big school'! We have had one session, but unfortunately due to COVID restrictions, other sessions have been cancelled. Hopefully we can hold the session booked for later in the term on 14th September. Children will need to bring a hat and a water bottle. Call the school on 6657 2552 for more information.

Lost School Jackets

Some navy school jackets have gone missing recently - please check the name tag in your child's jacket and make sure he or she hasn't taken home someone else's jacket by mistake.

Head Lice

The dreaded head lice were detected in the school at the end of last week. Please check your child's hair regularly and treat if necessary. A reminder that long hair must be tied up while at school.

Parenting Webinars

Below are two flyers for our school community.

1. A collection of helpful parenting webinars on a range of topics with links for more information and registration.

2. A webinar funded by Parent Assembly for all Catholic school parents in the diocese of Lismore, presented by psychologist Andrew Fuller.

Mini Vinnies Winter Appeal

We are gathering donations again this year for our Winter Appeal. Please help us if you can. We need toiletries (soaps, shampoos, toothpaste, moisturizer, deodorant, toothbrushes), scarves, beanies, blankets, jumpers, socks etc. Whatever you have to spare would make a real difference to someone in need.

Thank you for your  support,

The Mini Vinnies Group

School Facebook Page

We have launched our new school Facebook page! It has been wonderful to be able to share the good news of our school with our families and community. 

Mathematics Games Video Tutorials

Each week, students are encouraged to play some mathematics games at home to help support their learning at school. Our classroom teachers take students through the homework tasks and to assist families to play at home, we are including a video tutorial in the newsletter. 

Kindergarten - Mathematics Games (see video below)

Playing 'Fish'

Building number and symbol recognition. Using your pack of cards, play the game 'Fish'. To make this game harder you could decide that to have a pair your cards need to add to 10.

Stage 1 - Mathematics Games (see video below)

Halves bingo

Give students a blank 3x3 bingo card. Ask each student to fill the card with numerals from 1-20. Students place a counter on a numeral if it is half the number called. Use a spinner with even numbers from 2-20 or make your own number cards. From time to time ask the students to justify how they knew their number was half the number called. The first player to fill their card wins.

Easier: use counters to halve the number.

Challenging: numbers up to 100.

Stage 2 - Mathematics Games (see video below)

Stage 3 - Mathematics Games (see video below)

Connect and Reflect - Parent Gathering POSTPONED

We are disappointed to announce that these events will be postponed. Lockdowns throughout the diocese and difficulties with presenters travelling have made the logistics of these events too difficult to arrange. The safety of our parent community is a priority and we want to make sure we can host these events in a way that ensures everyone's health and wellbeing. We look forward to a time when we can re-schedule these events, but until then, please note the Parent Assembly hosted webinars which are advertised in this newsletter.

Regards,

Christine Morrison, Parent Assembly.

Parent Assembly Recruitment

Library Day - Wednesday

Library day for all students is Wednesday - please make sure your child brings in his or her cloth library bag on this day. Each student may borrow four books per week. 

Canteen

If anyone is available to volunteer in our canteen one or more Fridays per term, please contact our canteen co-ordinator Alicia on 0488 280683. If we have no volunteers available we will have to cancel canteen for that week.

A reminder to place your canteen order before Thursday night each week.

Please note - if you top up your canteen account via bank transfer, the funds will take a week to clear so you will not be able to order canteen immediately. 

Please send your lunch wallets into school and we will keep them here.

Dorrigo Show 2021

Below are some exciting competitions that the Show Society will be holding this year. The Show organisers are encouraging students to participate and make a wonderful display. Please note that this year's Show will be held on Friday 26 November and Saturday 27 November. Check out the Dorrigo Show website for more information. 

Vision Screening Clinics

School Bus Travel

Applications for student travel can now be made online. Apply here 

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. 

Instrumental Music With Hazel

We have music tutor available to teach instrumental music through private tuition. Hazel Buchanan is interested in working with our students. Hazel can teach flute, clarinet, saxophone, oboe, bassoon, trumpet, trombone, percussion and bass guitar.

The school owns a flute and a clarinet, which are available for families to borrow long-term at no cost. The payments for lessons are billed each term and paid directly to Hazel. An Essential Element Band Book will be supplied by the school too.

Students wishing to learn these instruments can do so in individual lessons or in small groups depending on the instrument chosen. It is hoped that one day, we can start a small ensemble or band for instrumental students to play together. 

If you are interested in taking up this opportunity, please contact Hazel directly on 0458 572 525.

Lessons will take place on Fridays. 

Term 3 School Fees

Term 3 school fees are payable by Friday 27th August, unless you are paying by regular direct debit.

Several payment methods are available; 

• Regular direct deposit payments (see suggested amounts below).
• Lump sum direct deposit
• Cash
• Cheque

1 student - Term 3 - $276.00

       $46.16 per fortnight (x 25 fortnights)

       $23.08 per week (x 50 weeks)

2 students - Term 3 - $483.00

       $81.28 per fortnight (x 25 fortnights)

       $40.64 per week (x 50 weeks)

3 or more students  - Term 3 – $621.00

       $105.36 per fortnight (x 25 fortnights)

       $52.68 per week (x 50 weeks)

If you would like to arrange a regular direct debit payment from your Bananacoast Credit Union account into the school’s account, the BCU Credit Union in Dorrigo will organize this for you.

When using Internet banking, please use your child’s surname as a reference.

Bananacoast Community Credit Union   BSB no. 533-000

Account no. 3282 0430                 Name: Mt St John’s Primary School

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.

Nutrition Snippet