Around The Primary

Dear Families

The students and staff have had a wonderful day with our celebrations for Primary House Day.

We commenced the day with a beautiful Mass led by Father Mark.  The students are to be congratulated on the reverent way they conducted themselves throughout the Liturgy. 

The students spent time learning about their House Founders, as well as enjoying some fun activities with their buddy class.

As part of the celebrations, the Year 6 Leaders held a successful ‘Monster Cake Stall’ to raise funds for the Archbishop’s 2025 LifeLink Appeal.  

Primary House Day is always a special day at the College and the students and staff certainly celebrated in fine style!

On Monday morning, Ms O’Connor, Mrs Ferrier, Miss Krikstolaitis, Miss Eisenmann, Mrs Rowson, Mrs Taylor, Mrs Purcell and I are heading off with the Year 6 students to Canberra. There has been a lot of planning and preparation behind the scenes to make this an enjoyable and educational experience for our young travellers. We are very grateful for the willingness and enthusiasm of staff to support this journey to our National Capital. 

We greatly appreciate the trust that families place in our hands when they allow their children to accompany us on this Canberra Camp. Rest assured we will take excellent care of them and know they will return all the better for the experience! 

I hope all families will have the opportunity to relax over the weekend. I’m sure the Year 6 students will be busy packing their suitcases full of warm clothes in preparation for the Canberra camp! Ms Allen (Assistant Principal) will be available to assist with any queries or concerns next week.

Kind regards,

Antoinette De Pinto

Head of Primary 

Dates to Remember

Please check the College Website to note all the important Primary school events for your family calendar. http://www.johnxxiii.edu.au/view/for-parents/calendars.  By subscribing to the College calendar, you are automatically alerted when details of an existing event are changed. 

Year 4 Reconciliation Incursion 

On Monday our Year 4 students participated in a ‘Reconciliation in Education’ lesson.  It was wonderful for the students to hear from Aunty Freda and Sue Jonklassan about Whadjuk Noongar culture.

At the incursion we learnt about the Aboriginal and Noongar people.  We learnt about their ways of communicating and how they never get lost because they use markers, such us, noting that moss grows on the south side of trees because there is less water and how you can find landmarks to lead you back home There was so much we learnt, my favourite parts included drawing the symbols, reading the book with Susan and getting to know the knowledge of Aunty Frida.  Lucy Bowers 4G

At the incursion Aunty Frida talked to us about her life as an indigenous Australian. I enjoyed finding the difference between a ‘Welcome to Country’ and an ‘Acknowledgement to Country’.  I learnt about how long European settlers have been in Australia compared to the indigenous Australians. I learnt that just recently, in New South Wales some people discovered items made by Aboriginal people that date back to 120 000 years ago! I loved this inclusive experience.  Donato Grose 4B

At the incursion we sat in a ‘Yarning Circle’ and held a rope, most of it was plated in yellow, black and red. Some of it was blue, white and red they were the Aboriginal and British flag colours. We held the rope and 26 people held the Aboriginal flag part and one person held the British part; it showed us how long Aboriginal people have been on this land for 120,000 years. Aunty Frida told us about her childhood, and we learned about her tribe. It was so much fun, and she even brought kangaroo fur and we got to feel it felt very soft and warm. Aunty Frida talked about the six Aboriginal seasons, and I learned that my birthday is in the season of Birak.  Florence Anderson 4B

Carpark Safety

As part of our ongoing commitment to ensuring the safety and wellbeing of our students and the wider College community, we would like to remind all families about the importance of safe driving practices in the carpark.

Key Points to Remember:

• No Drop-Offs in the Carpark: The carpark is not to be used for dropping off students. This is not safe due to the high volume of pedestrian traffic. Please use the designated drop-off loop instead.
• Speed Limit: Please adhere to the speed limit within the carpark and surrounding areas to ensure the safety of all pedestrians.
• Parking: Only park in designated parking spaces. Do not park in areas that are not marked for parking, as this can obstruct traffic flow and create hazards.
• Pedestrian Awareness: Be vigilant for pedestrians, especially young children, who may be walking through the carpark. Always give way to pedestrians.
• Patience and Courtesy: We understand that peak times can be busy and stressful. Please remain patient and courteous to other drivers and pedestrians.

Your cooperation is greatly appreciated in helping us maintain a safe environment for our students and community.

Counsellor's Corner

Anxiety

When children experience worry, nervousness or anxiety it can be difficult to know what they need from parents. 

Anxiety is a normal human response designed to warn us of danger. If there is true danger, our bodies drive to avoid means anxiety is doing its job. When this happens, our job as parents is to help our children move to safety.

Most often though, anxiety means we are about to do something safe and brave, important, hard. When this happens, our job as parents and caregivers is to help our children learn that they can feel anxious and still be brave and do brave things.

This can happen one little step at a time, 

Yes, they might have extreme anxiety, and yes anxiety makes things feel hard, and yes, they are capable of doing hard things.

It doesn’t matter how quickly they move towards brave or how small the steps are. What’s important is not avoiding new, hard, brave things completely.

Being brave isn’t about ‘no anxiety’. In fact, whenever there is a need for brave behaviour, there will always be anxiety. It’s the existence of anxiety that makes it brave. The key to strengthening children isn’t about ‘never experiencing anxiety’ but about knowing they can handle anxiety. This will only come from experience.

Karen Young, a psychologist recognised as a leading authority on child and adolescent anxiety is offering two free sessions for parents on how to support children with anxiety. 

Ocean Reef

18 June - Karen Young - Behaviour Big Feelings and Self-Regulation

North Beach

19 June - Karen Young Strengthening Children and Teens Against Anxiety - Ngala

Please contact me if you have any questions via email natalie.alach@johnxxiii.edu.au 

Natalie Alach

Primary School Counsellor

Sports Update

It was a fantastic Interhouse Cross Country Carnival last Friday.  Congratulations to Campion who took out the overall honours.

Final Results

Next Wednesday, 28 May our top 4 boys and girls runners (as determined by the Interhouse Cross Country long course results) in Years 3, 4 and 5 will compete in the School Sports WA Cross Country races to be held at Yokine Regional Open Space.  

Then, on Friday 6 June our top 8 boys and girls from Years 3 - 6 (as determined by the Interhouse Cross Country long course results) will take part in the IPSHA Cross Country event hosted by Guildford Grammar.  

There will be cross country training on Tuesday 3 June and Thursday 5 June commencing at 7:30am outside the gymnasium.  This will be to help prepare the interschool runners for the IPSHA Carnival.  We will be running our 1.5/2.5km courses but everyone is welcome to join.  Students in Year 2 and younger need an adult with them whilst running the course.

If you have any queries about anything sport-related, please don’t hesitate to contact me via email: steve.williams@johnxxiii.edu.au  

Steve Williams

Primary Sport Coordinator 

Music Update

Primary Ensembles 

Please see below for rehearsal times for ensembles next week:

Australian Kodály Certificate Concert – Tuesday 27 May (Perth Modern School)

The Australian Kodály Certificate is the Australian fully accredited and nationally recognised program of teacher training in the Kodály concept. This course provides music teachers with the skills and knowledge to deliver a sequential, cumulative, developmental and aural-based music curriculum, and is one of the methodologies used in the Primary Music program at the College. 

I have been undertaking these studies after school this year, as part of the course, a short concert will be held in Beasley Hall at Perth Modern School next Tuesday, 27 May from 6:45pm to 7:15pm. All are welcome to hear some beautiful choral music performed by music educators from across the city. 

If you have any queries regarding Primary Music, please contact me via email: catherine.haydon@johnxxiii.edu.au

Catherine Haydon

Primary Music Teacher

Library News

National Simultaneous Storytime

National Simultaneous Storytime (NSS) is held annually by the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA). This year, the Year 3 classes participated on Wednesday 21 May at 10:00am. 

Mr Mahon and Miss De Pinto were our special guest readers and engaged the students in the story of the Truck Cat by Deborah Frenkel. It is a heartwarming story about humans and cats as well as having a sense of belonging. Most of the students rated the book highly and were keen to share their own pet cat stories. 

We would like to thank Mr Mahon, Miss De Pinto, Miss Micale, Mrs Thomas and the Year 3 students for participating in this year’s National Simultaneous Storytime. 

Library Open Hours 

We would like to inform you of some updates to our library's opening times and take this opportunity to invite you to make the most of our library as a space for shared reading.

New Library Opening Time – 8:00am

We kindly ask that primary students be accompanied by a parent or carer for before and after school visits. This is to ensure a safe and supportive environment for all our students.  We encourage families to drop in during these times to read with your children and make the library a part of your daily routine.