Dear St John's Community,

In autumn the leaves start to fall,

From trees both big and small,

They turn yellow and red,

Then drift off to bed,

Until the Winter falls.

A limerick for autumn and winter as we start to feel the colder weather creeping in.

It's interesting to note that anyone who has been following the Global warming/Climate change debate over the last few months may have noticed that things have been changing as more and more science is being looked at regarding the changing nature of our planet.

It is now more widely recognised that the earth changes from time to time, it gets hotter and then colder in natural cycles. People are now beginning to realise that CO2 is not just the only problem. Actually, high levels of CO2 is only a problem for us humans. In the past, the earth's atmosphere has contained much higher CO2 than it does now. This was the time when plant life dominated the planet, when trees were as tall as skyscrapers, and creatures were larger and thrived in the CO2-rich atmosphere.

The Global Warming movement has changed its focus to Climate change or climate crisis. More and more people now realise that our climate can be affected by much more than the gases we release into the atmosphere. Our climate can be changed by the sun, shifts in flowering/plant blooming times, rising sea levels, atmospheric disturbances, asteroids, etc. Our Climate can be changed by so many different things. We need to be more concerned about how we protect it from all threats. Our Earth is the only planet we have.

Even with the new James Webb telescope finding thousands of new planets since it began operation, not one 'yet' has been found that could possibly sustain human life.

Reconciliation

A very special mention for our 23 First Reconciliation students. You can read more about them on the Catholic Identity and Mission page in this newsletter. It is a special moment in the lives of these young catholic children and a very important step towards the extra special event of receiving their First Holy Communion.

We rejoice in their continuing journey in faith.

We pray for them:

Merciful Lord,

With pure hearts we pray for these students as they continue their faith journeys.

Let your Holy Spirit guide their lives so that their souls may bear the fruits of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Renew their desire to be faithful friends and share their love with everyone. Grant them the joy and peace of heart which comes from doing your holy will.

Through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Family Film Night

Thanks to the parents who helped organise the film night. It was a great success and everyone had a great time! They even arranged for the weather to be good! Nice one!

Holy Thursday

Just a reminder that to celebrate the last day of term, students can wear something Eastery on Holy Thursday. I can happily report that we have convinced the Easter Bunny to sneak out a bit early so students will get a little treat on the day!

Easter Liturgy

Grade 5/6s will be leading our Easter Liturgy on Wednesday 5th April at 2.15pm in the Church if you wish to join us.

I am very happy to support an initiative by our parent event coordinators, Kate and Nadia to organise Pilates classes for our parents beginning Term 2 (24th April) on Mondays at 10 am.

One of our mums, trained Clinical Pilates instructor, Francesca, will run 50-minute classes in the school gym that will be focused on core strength, spine mobility and flexibility, and body balance. Kids are welcome to come along.

Each session will cost $10 - Parents can sign in with Francesca in the gym. Please bring your own yoga mat.

ECSI - Enhancing Catholic School Identity

I realise this is a difficult survey to complete but to date we have only had 5 families complete the survey and we are expected to have a minimum of 52 families complete it. Details are included here for your convenience. Please take the time to complete the survey which contributes towards the school's Review process in 2024.

These must be completed before Holy Thursday.

Our Survey Access Code is: Kh9AYr

Jokes for the weekend!

Q: Why did the kangaroo stop drinking coffee?

A: It got a bit jumpy!

Q. How did the Easter bunny feel after his big day?

A. Eggshausted!

Q. What's the best way to make easter easier?

A. Put an 'i' where the 't' is! (think about it...)

Have a great weekend,

Derek Bruitzman

Principal

New School website

Prep 2024 Enrolment Form