st year Dear St John’s Community,

We made it! We crossed the 11-week term line! Phew! We were lucky as well, despite the chilly start to the last day, the sun shone all day, and after a number of wet day programs this week, we were happy to see the kids playing outside in the sunshine.

For the first time, we offered parent-teacher meetings at the end of Term 2 so that parents could discuss reports with teachers while things were fresh in everyone's minds. This had been a request made through the school board we were happy to try and accommodate. Thank you to those who provided feedback this week, saying they did appreciate the opportunity. We will continue to do this in future at mid-year.

Another great event I want to celebrate this week was the Grade 3/4 learning that has taken place over this term. Their learning in science around materials and their uses for specific purposes was tied into the Religious Education aspects around homelessness and homeless shelters. This culminated in a fantastic and very exciting Twilight School event on the oval last night, where they tested out the shelters they had designed and created over the term to see if their chosen materials and designs could withstand water, wind and my puppy Macka!

Thanks to the teachers and to the parents who helped make the night a huge success.

Reflection on the learning by 3/4 students:

On Thursday, July 3rd, we all attended a twilight event from 10:30 AM to 8:30 PM. It was shocking! Everyone loved it, though.

Firstly, we watched Cars, then some people went to draw in Miss Klimek’s room. So far, everyone was having fun. Then, people started to arrive at around 10:45 AM, and the fun began. We went out for recess, came back in, and worked on our structures for the whole block. After that, the 3/4s had a break and went outside for lunch. We were so surprised that the day was going so quickly!

We lugged our structures out to the oval and set up our campsite. After that, we went to the hall to play dodgeball until our first guest speaker, Jenny, arrived. Jenny, is an avid trekker and camper, she shared her outdoor experiences with us and brought along a variety of materials and equipment she would normally use for camping. This included hiking poles, backpacks, 'gaiters' (a type of mudguard for your boots), woollen jumpers, waterproof jackets, and more!

We started to get nervous yet excited for our testing, and then it was game on! The watering can came out first and was poured over each structure. If it survived for 10 seconds of sustained water pouring without leaks, it was deemed waterproof! Most of them lasted, but sadly, some of them did not. There was cheering and chanting going on throughout, which kept the energy up.

Next, Mr. Bruitzman’s puppy came! He was SO cute. Mostly the 3s came up to feed this cute but exciting puppy called “Macka.” The 'animal proofing' test was finally underway. Macka wandered up to each structure and sniffed it out, some of them he went into and some he stood on top of them.

Lastly, as scary as he was, here came the big bad wolf! The leaf blower came out and tried to blow some structures down, and it did succeed! The structures that survived 10 seconds were determined to be windproof.

After the testing, we went to the hall to listen to our final guest speaker, Shane, from Vinnies. He spoke to us about the significance of having access to materials and shelter in the real world and how difficult it is for those who are sleeping rough.

Parents started arriving from 7 PM, and we all did a reflection on our shelters together. We then did a Booklet on materials with our families and classmates before inviting our parents to see our shelters on the oval.

We had so much fun learning about this.

First Holy Communion

I'd like you to continue your prayers for those studnts who made their First Holy Communion this term.

Dear God, we thank you for the gift of faith and for the grace you offer through the sacraments. We ask for your blessings on our First Holy Communion children who have received this joyous Sacrament. May their lives be a witness to your love, and may they always be filled with your Holy Spirit.

Amen

St John's Footy Tips

Come on, kids and parents! Don't let the teachers win!

Top 10 Footy Tips

1 - JARON96 101

2 – Mr B 99

3 - ASHFOUDY 99

4 – Mr LEFEBVRE - 98

5 – MISSBNG2014 98

6 – JESSA1923 – 97

7 – EZNDAZ 96

8 – MASTERPNG2018 96

9 – MATT-LEDGER 96

10 – LAMBY LAMB MAN 95

School Uniform Reminder

Just to clarify for everyone, we no longer have a Summer and Winter uniform. There is only a School Uniform and a Sport Uniform.

Enjoy the next two weeks, try and have some downtime with your kids and shove them outside as much as possible!

Kind regards,

Derek Bruitzman

Principal

Jokes of the week: (These are bad, I know!)

Q. Can February March?

A. No, but April May...

Q. Where do snowmen hear about the weather?

A. The winternet

Q. Why did Mr Lefebvre pour hot water on his computer?

A. He'd asked Mrs Wood what to do if his windows froze

Fun facts of the week:

The Earth travels around the sun at 107 826 kilometres per hour! That similar to the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport whose average speed is 322 km per hour. The Earth is fast!

The name "Earth" comes from the Old English word "eorþe," which is about 1000 years old and has Germanic and Latin roots meaning "ground" or "soil". Ancient civilisations had other names, including Gaia in Greek and Terra in Latin.

About 6000 lightning strikes happen on Earth every minute! Zap!

NCCD Information Sheet for Parents, Carers and Guardians