Around The Primary

Dear Parents

Our Primary Choirs form an integral part of our Music program. These choirs provide the opportunity for students to grow vocally and share a sense of accomplishment both individually and collectively. The benefits for students of being involved in cross-age groups and with others who share the same passion for singing is not only a catalyst for connection but also central to student wellbeing.

Early mornings see many a choir rehearsal and a plethora of students entering the rehearsal space with huge smiles, a positive attitude and ready for full engagement in our choral program.

Ably led by Mrs Catherine Haydon and accompanied by Mr Peter Johnson, our choirs not only rehearse to improve their collective voice, but also to perform at events such as Assemblies, Presentation Night and most recently the Catholic Performing Arts Festival where the Primary Singers and Wanju Voices received excellent reports for their performances.

Our choirs will be performing at the Grandparents’ Picnic in Term 4 and we welcome everyone to attend and share in the joy of group singing.

‘The more that you read,

the more things you will know.

The more that you learn,

the more places you’ll go.’  

Dr Seuss

It was a beautiful day to conclude Book Week with our much-anticipated parade. Students and staff did a magnificent job in dressing up as book characters. Well done to all the family members who helped put the creative costumes together. 

One of the many joys of my profession is the delight in browsing, buying, and reading books to children. The width and breath of children’s books these days provides wonderful opportunities for children to be immersed in language, culture, history, and fun.

The importance of reading to children regularly and from a very young age is shown to be critical in terms of children’s language and communication development. There are of course many other benefits, including the development of relationships and simply cuddling up for shared enjoyment and discovery together. At the same time, children are exposed to new words and meaning and wonderful illustrations and types of print. They learn to read from left to right, they learn to hold the book and turn the pages. They learn to ‘read’ favourite books that are repeated over and over until you think you are reciting it in your sleep. They learn that the text is the same whoever reads it (unless you are trying to trick them by changing the words). They learn about the rules of language, and they learn that reading is fun and books are amazing.

Reading to children is not something that should stop just because they can read to themselves. Many adults read to each other, sharing a piece of information from a paper or article. Book clubs have had a resurgence where adults read a given book and then discuss and reflect on the book. 

Book Week is the perfect time to share some of your favourite childhood books with your children. 

Happy Reading!

Kind regards

Antoinette De Pinto

Head of Primary 

On Friday 2 September we are celebrating a Mass to thank God for the gift of our fathers 

and father-figures. This Mass will begin at 7.30am in the St Louis Sports Centre. It is hoped all dads will be able to come along to celebrate Mass with their children. This year all Mums are invited to join us too.  Please book tickets for adults attending (students do not require a ticket). https://www.trybooking.com/937739 

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 and subscribe to the Primary Calendar.

Book Week

A buzz of excitement has been in the air this week in the Library, with so many exciting and fun activities for Book Week. From the awesome cake competition, the incredible artwork for the poster competition and we finished off with a bang today at our spectacular Book Week Parade! Thank you to all students, parents and staff for the amazing array of book character costumes. 

All competition winners will be announced next Wednesday. You are welcome to come and see all the wonderful posters on display in the Library. We love Book Week!

Ms Sasha Cattapan

Primary Library Specialist

Sports Update

Athletics preparations have been going very well for our Year 3 – 6 students.  In our PE lessons, sport sessions and afterschool training, we have been learning different techniques and practicing all the track and field events for the Interhouse Athletics Carnival on Friday 9 September.  Numbers have been high at the Tuesday and Thursday training sessions with students wanting more practice which is fantastic to see.  

With the sun out this week, some of the pre-carnival events have begun!  On Thursday the Year 5 & 6 students had the opportunity to participate in the 400m event and to practice their team games.  Next week will see the beginning of the Year 4, 5 & 6 high jump, Year 3 & 4 triple jump and the Year 5 & 6 long jump events. 

Keep up with the training!

If you have any queries about anything sport related, please contact me via email steve.williams@cewa.edu.au 

Mr Steve Williams

Primary Sport Coordinator

Primary Music

Catholic Performing Arts Festival

Congratulations to Wanju Voices and Primary Singers who represented the College at the Catholic Performing Arts Festival this week. The students performed beautifully and were excellent representatives of the College. Both choirs received fantastic reports from the adjudicator. A special thank you to the family members who were able to attend the performance to support the students, Ms Thompson and Mrs Taylor who assisted with supervision, and to Mr Johnston who has encouraged the students throughout the year and always provides exceptional accompaniment. 

Choir Rehearsals

Please see below for rehearsal times next week. Attendance is important as the choirs will be performing at the Father’s Day Mass.

Father’s Day Mass

Primary Singers, Wanju Voices and Chapel Choir members will combine to create a ‘Massed Choir’ for the Father’s Day Mass next Friday. Choir members need to be at the Gym by 7:20am on Friday, wearing the uniform they normally wear on Fridays. We look forward to sharing this Mass with the school community and enhancing the Liturgy with beautiful music.

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

Mrs Catherine Haydon

Primary Music Teacher

Inspire

Expressions of Interest: New Inspire Representatives – Primary 

The Inspire program at John XXIII College was instigated in 2013 in response to a request from the College Leadership to promote more parent engagement and to address arising social issues affecting the students and their parents/guardians.

We are looking to appoint two new Inspire representatives one each for Primary and Secondary. Inspire representatives seek to provide high quality presenters with excellent reputations in their field. The successful candidates will work with College Leadership to seek presenters / educators that support the curriculum of the students, ensure the correct procedure for Funding Submissions is followed and report back to the Parents’ Association meetings each term.

If you are interested in an Inspire representative role please forward your expression of interest to the Parents’ Association President, Paula Hackett, on parentsassociation@johnxxiii.edu.au.

Sacramental Certificates

Parents are requested to email a copy of their child’s Sacramental Certificate (Reconciliation, Eucharist or Confirmation) to Mrs Petsos in Main Administration nancy.petsos@cewa.edu.au for our College records.