Term 2 - Week 8, 2021

Principal's Message

Dear Parents,

This week we have had a renewed focus on students' wellbeing. In last week's newsletter I wrote about the importance student wellbeing has in improving academic performance. This week we have held a number of activities to help bolster student wellbeing, form positive relationships and build healthy interactions. We have held whole school meditation, morning sing-alongs, extra play, an author visit and a continental breakfast. Today we conclude Wellbeing Week with our Athletics Carnival. It will be a chance to get out and be active which is also a factor in keeping well and being the best person we can be. I look forward to seeing our students compete alongside the St Mary's Bellingen students. 

Save the date: Thursday 17th June -

Movie Night and Parent Assembly Term 2 Gathering

Next week we will be hosting a student movie night and parent assembly gathering on Thursday June 17th from 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm. Our Parent Assembly Representatives have sought feedback around what we could present about. Leadership staff will talk briefly about Extending Mathematical Understanding (EMU) tasks. These have been added to our newsletters in previous weeks and are a chance for students to play EMU games at home to help them build their mathematical understanding. Teaching staff will pop in and out of the parent session as a way for parents to meet the teachers informally. More info will be sent out about this parent session early next week.  

Regards,

Nathan Trezise

Principal  

Staff Development Day

We have a staff development day on the first day of Term 3, Monday 12th July. Staff will be focusing on learning around Clarity and School Improvement. The first day of Term 3 for students will be Tuesday 13th July. 

Author Visit - Anna Fienberg

We were very excited to welcome the celebrated children's author, Anna Fienberg, to our school. Anna is the author of the award-winning Tashi series, as well as many other stories. She held some sessions with our students in Years 2-6, in which she discussed the books she loves to read and write, and how imagination is the essential ingredient in both. She revealed the hidden lives of her characters, where they sprang from, how their feelings and actions are shaped into a
story, and what it’s like to create your own universe where everyone does and says what
you want! Our sincere thanks go to Anna for sharing her ideas with us, and to Bellingen Readers & Writers Festival for enabling the visit to take place.

Wellbeing Week

Student wellbeing is enhanced by positive relationships, positive emotions, positive health, positive engagement, positive accomplishment and positive purpose. These elements are integral to student wellbeing and flourishing. This week we have focused on the well-being of our staff and students. Please enjoy the gallery of photos and videos. 

Wellbeing Week Photos

New School Website!

We have launched our new school website complete with updated information, pictures, format, and some feature articles of our incredible students hard at work and play! Head over and have a look. You can find dates of upcoming events on the website and learn more about our teaching and learning, and family and school partnerships at Mt St John's. 

Weekly Awards

This week's class awards went to:

Ryan - for trying very hard to participate in Reading groups.

Adaline - for being an enthusiastic member of Reading groups.

Piper - for the detail you include in your writing. Well done!

Ethan Mi- for the amazing writing you do every day in Quick Write. You are such an enthusiastic writer! Keep it up.

Jordan - for great reading and comprehension during Reading groups.

Kyrin - for a great learning attitude in class and wonderful work during Reading groups.

Shyla - for being able to apply decimal notaton to record length when converting from centimetres to metres.

Holly - for setting out mathematical solutions neatly and striving for accuracy when measuring perimeters.

NAIDOC 2021 Colouring In Competition

Hayley and Salena have designed a great picture for you to colour in.

There are some really cool prizes from the NAIDOC merchandise catalogue, like beanies and balls and watches.

Can you please return your completed colouring-ins to Cathy in the office. Please remember to put your name and age on the back!

EMU Homework 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 - EMU Homework (see video below)

Even Groups?

Each player in the group takes a handful of items like blocks or beans. Next, they put the items on the table and work out whether they can be organised evenly into groups.

Stage 1 - EMU Homework (see video below)

Stage 2 - EMU Homework (see video below)

Stage 3 - EMU Homework (see video below)

2021 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 20, 2021.

Congratulations to the following students, who have completed this year's Premier's Reading Challenge:

Ava, Holly, Harry W, Willa, Abbi M, Shyla, Harry C, Keira, Abby M, Zoe R & Ruby F.

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. 

School Uniform Items Available

We have a stock of school uniform items available for purchase from the front office. We accept cash, cheque or bank transfer. Uniform prices are as follows:

School hats - $15

School shirts - $25

Skorts - $20

Shorts - $20

Rain jackets - $50

We also have some items available to buy from our 2nd-hand uniform pool.

Canteen

Thank you to all today's canteen volunteers who helped out at the Athletics Carnival. 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.

Messy Church

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. 

Head Lice

If you notice head lice on your child, please treat his or her hair ASAP and notify the school that you did this. Remember – long hair must be tied back at school.

After School Lego at Dorrigo Library

Working With Children Check

For those parents who are volunteers at school, such as canteen helpers, we need to ensure that you have a current Working with Children (Volunteers) Check. To apply for this check, go to 

COVID Student Attendance

Staff and students exhibiting even mild COVID-19 symptoms should be sent home and are required to produce proof of a negative COVID-19 test before returning to school. 

As per these guidelines, a screenshot of the text message, confirming a Negative result, is all that will be required to return to school. 

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

- 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. 

School Bell Times

This year we have modified our bell times.  The current times are as follows:

8:55 am - 11:00 am English Block

11:00 am - 11:15 am Lunch (children sit and eat)

11:15 am - 11:35 am Lunch Play

11:35 am - 12:55 pm Mathematics Block

12:55 pm - 1:05 pm Recess (children sit and eat)

1:05 pm - 1:20 pm Recess Play

1:20 pm - 3:05 pm Other Key Learning Areas (Science, Arts, History etc)

Term 2 School Fees

SCHOOL FEES: Term 2 fees are now due, unless you are paying by regular direct deposit amounts. 

Several payment methods are available; 

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

If you are planning to set up regular direct deposit school fee payments for the 2021 school year, following are instructions on how to do this: 

Suggested direct deposit amounts (from beginning of February 2021)

1 student - Term 2 - $276.00

       $46.16 per fortnight (x 25 fortnights)

       $23.08 per week (x 50 weeks)

2 students - Term 2 - $483.00

       $81.28 per fortnight (x 25 fortnights)

       $40.64 per week (x 50 weeks)

3 or more students  - Term 2 – $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

GLUE

GLUE: "God Loves Us Eternally" (formerly GFS) is on each Wednesday 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.

Nutrition Snippet