Term 1 - Week 4, 2023
- Principal's Message
- Important Dates
- Weekly Awards
- Mt St John’s School Colour Explosion
- Ash Wednesday Liturgy
- Garden Club
- Term 1 Swimming Lessons each Thursday
- How to Cancel a Canteen Order
- School Facebook Page
- Library Day - Tuesday
- School Bus Travel
- School Drive Subsidy
- GLUE
- Healthy Lunchbox Website
Principal's Message
Dear Parents,
This week I write to you from Los Angeles, as I am travelling to the Religious Education Conference which starts today. The Los Angeles experience has left a lasting impression on me. In this town, there are an estimated 50,000 homeless people. They seem to be everywhere you travel in and around the city.
On Tuesday, we attended Mass at The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. This was an amazing experience. In the Cathedral there was a life-size sculpture of Jesus on the crucifix overlooked by a tapestry of his mother Mary on the wall behind.
On Wednesday we visited Homeboy Industries. This organisation is the largest gang rehabilitation and re-entry program in the world. It is staffed by people who have been incarcerated and are looking to rebuild and redirect their lives. It was established by Father Gregory Boyle. Today we were fortunate to visit the cafe, which is one of the enterprises that assists these people to learn skills to add to their resume to gain future employment after prison.
While at Homeboy Industries, a priest led a short Ash Wednesday liturgy. The words ‘let love live through you’, were offered as the ashes were placed on our foreheads. It was a powerful phrase when you consider that many of the people in the room were there due to a lack of love or supportive family at some stage in their lives. The whole organisation felt like a family as we watched a group of people work together to become contributing members of society.
I know our students paused for their own Ash Wednesday liturgy this week. I look forward to sharing my story with them when I return. I’ve attached some photos from my travels and I leave you with this quote from the staff shirts at Homeboy Industries to share with your children:
You are exactly what God had in mind when he made you.
Regards,
Nathan Trezise,
Principal
Important Dates
These dates were shared via Compass last week.
Please note these upcoming dates for community gatherings:
- Friday 24th March - Mt St John’s Colour Run 1:30 - 3:00pm
- Monday 27th March - Cross Country Carnival 1:30pm - 3:00pm
- Thursday 30th March - First 50 Days Celebration of Learning 5:00 - 7:00pm
- Wednesday 5th April - Dance Fever Showcase Assembly 2:30pm
- Thursday 11th May - The Resilience Project Parent Information Session 5:00 - 7:00pm
Pupil free days for 2023:
- Thursday 6th April - Staff Spirituality Day
- Monday 24th April - Term 2 Staff Development Day
- Thursday 1st June - Staff Proclaim
- Monday 17th July - Term 3 Staff Development Day
Term 4 - Staff Development Day (to be confirmed - we may align this day to the Dorrigo Show).
These dates have been added to the calendar and should be visible in Compass and on the school website.
Weekly Awards
Congratulations to the following students, who received learning awards this week:
Tyler M - for your great work in Maths when creating repeating patterns and working as a team.
Chayse B - for great work in Maths when creating repeating patterns and working as a team.
Lakota M-T - for being kind to others and showing empathy.
Keira T - for a great attitude to learning and for her contribution to making Year 2/3 a great place to be!!!
Chloe T - for great work in measuring and estimating the size of angles.
Cooper H - for being focused in writing tasks and creating narratives which use a variety of literary devices.
Eden G - for being able to calculate the size of angles by using a protractor or by using subtraction.
Mt St John’s School Colour Explosion
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
Join us for a day of fun and laughter! We are looking for volunteers to help with our incredible School Colour Explosion Run 4 Fun on Friday 24th March 2023.
To help provide a safe and smooth-running event, we need volunteers for numerous roles such as powder stations, water stations, setting up/down and so on. A letter will be sent home with your child today with more information.
Don’t forget to create your child’s online profile page at www.australianfundraising.com.au. So far we have raised $850 with 29 days to go!
For the next three weeks the top class for each week will be awarded a prize.... so let’s get fundraising!
Ash Wednesday Liturgy
This week has seen us commence an important time in the Church's Liturgical Calendar; the season of Lent. Tuesday saw the children enjoying pancakes for morning tea to commemorate Shrove Tuesday.
On Wednesday we came together for our school's Ash Wednesday Liturgy. The children had ash placed on their foreheads as a sign that they are wanting to live like Jesus would want them to. Thank you to those parents who were able to attend.
Louise Sprowles - RE Coordinator
Pancake Tuesday
Garden Club
Look at our lovely sunflowers! The sunflower seedlings were originally from Hayley & Tyler's mum, Natasha.
Term 1 Swimming Lessons each Thursday
Our Term 1 swimming program has commenced for all students from Kindergarten to Year 6. Swimming is a compulsory part of the PDHPE curriculum.
Students will need to bring swimmers, a towel, goggles, caps (the school can provide swimming caps for those students who don't own one), and sun shirts to school each Thursday for their lesson. There is no extra cost for swimming lessons, as the school covers the pool entry fees and payments to the swim teachers.
Students will walk to and from the pool. Please note, K - 1 students are to be collected from the pool at the end of the day each Thursday as their lesson will finish at 3:05pm. Kinder & Year 1 students catching buses will do so from Dorrigo Public School, supervised by our staff.
How to Cancel a Canteen Order
If you need to, you can cancel canteen orders before 8:30am on Friday mornings. 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.
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.
Library Day - Tuesday
Library day for all students has changed to Tuesday - please make sure your child brings in his or her cloth library bag on this day. Each student may borrow four books per week.
School Bus Travel
Applications for student travel can 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.
GLUE
GLUE "God Loves Us Eternally" KidsClub returns on Wednesday 15th February from 3-5pm at the Anglican Hall. Afternoon tea, games, fun worship and craft. All primary kids welcome, as are newcomers. For more info, ring Gwenneth on 6657 2135. COVID-safe practices will apply.
The first Messy Church is Messy Lent, which will be held on Sunday 19th March from 4-6pm in the Anglican Hall including dinner. Please look out for posters around town nearer the time and postcards that you can take with all our dates for 2023.
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.
