Principal's Report

Dear St John's Community,

Alleluia, Alleluia, For He is Risen!

Some might think that Easter has come and gone but that's not the case. Easter is still here and continues until Pentecost on 19th May.

The word 'Alleluia' comes from the Hebrew meaning to “Praise the Lord!” The “ya” at the end of “alleluia” is short for Yahweh, which means “Lord”.   At Mass after Jesus' resurrection, we use a double Alleluia. This highlights the importance of Easter. After the long forty days of Lent without saying Alleluia at all we can now sign loud and proud. Singing Alleluia once is good, twice is even better. The double alleluia during the 50 days of Easter reflects the joy of glorified life and the victory Jesus achieved over death. All our faith flows from the knowledge of the resurrection: "If Christ has not been raised, then empty is our preaching; empty, too, is your faith.” (1 Cor 15:14)

School Review

Not many people realise our school is currently undergoing a School Review. These are held every four years and government Reviewers come in and audit every aspect of the school, from finances to learning in the classrooms to what our parents do for a living. Everything is audited and it is a huge imposition on the time and resources of the school as everything has to be prepared and documented as per the Reviewer's requests. Ours comes to a head this term in Week 3 and Week 4 when the Reviewer comes into the school and goes through everything else and holds meetings with staff, students and parents regarding a variety of operations of the school. They then prepare a report that the school needs to use in preparing our plans for what we are going to focus on in the next four years. So, if you see some of us running around a bit frazzled this term...that's the reason!

Mother's Day Brekky & Mass

Our celebrations for the significant women in our lives is coming up very quickly. We will once again be inviting you to a Mother's Day Brekky on Friday 10th May before school and then welcome you to join us for our Mother's Day Mass in the church.

More information to come!

Office Renovations

Over the holidays we finally continued renovating the office area in line with updated security and OHS policies. As seems to be the case with anything like this at the moment, there have been setbacks and delays but I can't thank the office staff enough for their patience and perseverance. If you need something from the office and they seem a bit frazzled! Its because nothing is where it should be at the moment! 

Staff News

Mr Selby is away this term and has been replaced by Ms Sarah Browning.

Mrs Bernie Clutterbuck and Mrs Michelle Munyun both return from Long Service Leave next week.

A Prayer for our Communion Candidates

This term sees a number of our students prepare and receive their First Holy Communion. I ask that we remember them in our prayers this term.

Loving God, 

You are the giver of all we possess, the source of all of our blessings. We thank and praise you. Thank you for the gift of our children. Help us to set boundaries for them, and yet encourage them to explore. 

Give us the strength and courage to treat each day as a fresh start. May our children come to know you, the one true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 

May your Holy Spirit help them to grow in faith, hope, and love, so they may know peace, truth, and goodness. 

May their ears hear your voice.  

May their eyes see your presence in all things. May their lips proclaim your word.  

May their hearts be your dwelling place.  

May their hands do works of charity.  

May their feet walk in the way of Jesus Christ, your Son and our Lord. 

Amen

Being a parent is hard - Screen time rules

Dr Eliza Pressman is a developmental psychologist who has some comments and advice for parents when it comes to battling kids and screen time. Here are some key points from a recent presentation.

• Parents often struggle to enforce screen time at home 
• Dealing with screen time is more challenging because of the addictive design of technology
• Parents often forget they have permission to parent especially when enforcing rules for screen time
• It's the parent's job to establish rules and authoritatively hold to them for their kids
• By setting rules and holding firm, parents support their child’s autonomy, they are ultimately helping them develop executive function skills, which helps them prioritise tasks, exercise restraint and develop impulse control. These skills should be taught to children as their brains are maturing
• Because of the addictive design of social media and digital technologies, children need more guardrails rather than fewer 
• Denying children access to safely discovering the many uses of digital technology only sets them up for the misuse of these digital technologies and space.
• Parents are encouraged to be social media mentors who model appropriate and reasonable online and on-screen behaviour that reflects that family’s predetermined set of screen rules. These situations can create opportunities for parents to be the go-to guides for the kids
• If your child doesn’t respond well to the rules, don't be afraid to change the rules. It’s the parent’s job to reassess and determine if rules need to be changed. You should be helping kids as they navigate things that are developmentally challenging
• Revising the rules and even negotiating them with your child is part of the parenting process.

Production 2024

Auditions start soon!

We're gearing up for our School Production which will be presented in the John Paul College Ngargee Theatre in Term 4. Read all about it!!

 nForma - nPortal Changes

At the end of last term we upgraded our nForma portal with some of the new features being developed by the company. The new portal which parents will be able to access soon provides us with a number of new features.

• Sending notices directly to parents through the portal
• sending medical and first aid notices directly to parents through the portal
• monitoring attendance
• booking parent-teacher meetings, etc

Parents will also have the capacity to receive all that information in one place and it will be recorded against your child's history for easy reference by you at any time. You will also see your children's attendance information and soon you will be able to notify us using the portal about leaves of absence on a day or period of time as well.

This will continue to be upgraded with new features and likely very soon it will all link to an App that you can have on your device to make things even easier. 

More information to come.

Rug up for the colder weather!

Kind regards,

Derek Bruitzman

Principal

Helping your child understand traumatic events in the media

Mr B's Fun Facts & Trivia

1. In the years leading up to 1880, Melbourne was labelled the richest city in the world
2. The Sydney Opera House designer Jorn Utzon was inspired by the segments of a peeled orange 
3. Tasmania has the world's cleanest air
4. A baby echinda is called a puggle

Something funny!

Q: Why do penguins swim in salt water?

A: Because pepper water would make them sneeze!

Q: What would happen if a snowman threw a temper tantrum?

A: They'd have a meltdown!

Q: How did the snowman do his footy tips?

A: He used the winter-net