Term 1 - Week 6, 2023

Principal's Message

Dear Parents,

It has been good to be home and back at school this week after attending the Religious Education Congress in Los Angeles. The conference was an amazing experience. I heard from some inspiring keynote speakers and attended a variety of workshops that balanced intellectual thought, storytelling and music to connect to our faith. 

The learning I will take away from this conference is that we need to be the face of Jesus to the people in our lives. We can do this through kindness, charity, forgiveness and service. However, if we are going to genuinely live our faith then we intentionally stand with those on the margins.

I will be implementing a project as part of the learning from the congress. For our students, we need to use more than words to teach them about faith. Within our school this year, we are looking to deepen our understanding of who is St John the Evangelist (our school's patron saint). We will need to use visuals, tell stories, use music and make real life connections to how we interact with each other, so that our children understand what it means to attend a Catholic school. I look forward to sharing this learning with our whole community. 

I travelled with ten colleagues from our diocese. I was grateful to travel with our group and learn about their journey into leadership roles in schools within our system. On the final day, we went to Mass at Christ Cathedral in Anaheim. This cathedral featured an organ with over 1700 pipes (although unfortunately we didn’t get to hear it play). Christ Cathedral is made entirely from glass and is a grand structure. I’ve attached some pictures below from the congress.

Regards,

Nathan Trezise,

Principal

Mt St John’s School Colour Explosion

The countdown is on…. 2 weeks to our Colour Explosion School Fun Run on Friday 24^th March 2023 from 1:30pm.

Make sure you invite your family and friends for a day of fun and laughter! 

Don’t forget to register (use the link below) and start your fundraising now. There are lots of interactive features and rewards up for grabs. Visit www.australianfundraising.com.au to create your profile page and share with family and friends to spread the word!

Volunteer permission slips need to be returned to school by Wednesday 15^th March.

We look forward to seeing you all there.

Project Compassion/St Patrick's Day

The patron of the Lismore Diocese of Lismore is Saint Patrick, and as such we celebrate and commemorate the teaching that St Patrick did - especially in teaching people about the Holy Trinity with the use of a shamrock. Next Friday 17th March our students and staff may come to school dressed in green/Irish-themed clothes for a gold coin donation, and there will be cupcakes (with green icing of course!) at recess. 

We are also continuing to collect toiletries such as soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, brushes, combs, sanitary items, shampoo, deodorant, washing powder and warm items like socks and beanies, all of which will be donated to Pete's Place in Coffs Harbour to help homeless people in our local area.

Please help if you can - there is a basket at the front office in which to place your donations.

Thank you!

Louise Sprowles - LOSEC

Canteen date changes coming up

Canteen will be on THURSDAY again next week, so please make sure you get your orders in by Wednesday morning.

The following week (Friday 24th March) there will be NO CANTEEN.

50 Days of Learning Celebration

Our 50 Days of Learning Celebration is coming up on Thursday 30th March - see flyer below. All family members are welcome - parents, grandparents, siblings, aunts and uncles etc.

Dinner is provided - families MUST RSVP using one of the methods below for catering purposes.

Important Dates

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:

Conrad G - for excellent grouping in mathematics, finding lots of ways to organise things.

Charlotte W - for excellent grouping of objects in mathematics.

Ryan B - for using interesting maths strategies, especially group counting by 10s.

Piper B - for being a cooperative partner in Mathematics.

Chloe T - for creating an  engaging maths game which demonstrated your understanding of adding fractions with like denominators.

Eden G - for creating an engaging maths game which demonstrated your understanding of adding fractions with like denominators.

Cormac O - for being able to demonstrate your understanding of fractions, decimals and percentages through an engaging KAHOOT. Well done!

Term 1 School Fees

Term 1 school fees have been billed to each family. These fees are payable by next Friday 17th March, unless you are paying by regular direct debit amounts. Please note that Term 1 fees include a $50 resource fee per student.
 
1 student - $340
2 students - $607.50
3 or more students - $802.50
 
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!

Term 1 Swimming Lessons each Thursday

Our Term 1 swimming program continues 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 is held each Wednesday during term time 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.

Orienteering in Dorrigo

Circus in Bellingen

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.