Around The Primary

Dear Families

It has been a wonderful week in the Performing Arts, and we have so much to celebrate and be proud of!

Our Music Eisteddfod is a wonderful experience for our primary musicians. It was great to see so many students from various year levels participating in this event. It is such a valuable experience for our students to perform in front of an audience, to enjoy the performances of other students and to receive feedback from an adjudicator. Special thanks to all involved, especially Mrs Haydon, Mr Kros and all the music tutors. Everyone is welcome to come to the Music Eisteddfod Winners’ Concert next Thursday 15 August at 3:30pm.

Many students from the College will also be taking part in the Catholic Performing Arts Festival, which will be held throughout the term. In a variety of solo and group performances, including Primary Singers and Wanju Voices, our students will be proudly representing our school. This is also a fantastic opportunity for our students to display their talents to a wider audience. 

The Year 4 students have been busy rehearsing for the Primary Musical, ‘Feathers Fly’ - Birds the Musical. Congratulations to all the students, staff and volunteers involved in this busy week of rehearsals. Today’s dress rehearsal to Grandparents was a huge success! The Matinee performance to the Primary school students and the evening show for families takes place on Monday 12 August. The students are very excited about their upcoming performances next week.

Kind regards

Antoinette De Pinto

Head of Primary 

All About St John XXIII 

Did you know?

St John XXIII was the Pope during the Rome Olympics in 1960. He took a very personal interest in the Games, talked to the athletes and had a special memorial medal made for the competitors. On the medal is the stump of a tree, with fresh new shoots coming forth and this represented the young athletes coming out of the death and destruction of World War II. Many of the athletes of the 1960 games would have been born during the war years. Enjoy the remainder of the Olympic Games!

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.  

Book Week

The theme for Book Week 2024 is ‘Reading is Magic’. We will be celebrating Book Week this term during Week 6, commencing 20 August with lots of fun and creative activities. 

Here are a few of the exciting events to note in your family diary. Please email sasha.cattapan@johnxxiii.edu.au with any questions.

Book Week Poster Competition 

Students are invited to enter a poster based on the theme of ‘Reading is Magic’ Students are to write their name and class on the back of the poster and hand into the Library front desk by Friday, 16 August.  Please refer to PDF for competition details. 

Book Week Parade

On Tuesday 20 August, students who would like to be part of the Book Week Parade may come dressed for the day in a costume inspired by a character from a book. Families are welcome to come along to the parade in Roncalli Hall at 9:00am.  Students also have the option of wearing their sports uniform on this day. 

Book Week Guest Speakers 

Award winning author of the ‘Lintang Series’, Tamara Moss will be visiting our Library on Wednesday, 21 August to speak to our Years 4 to 6 students, and illustrator and visual storyteller Aska, will be visiting on Thursday, 22 August to work with our junior students.

Sasha Cattapan

Primary Library Teacher

Helping others in our Community: Roncalli Care

The Roncalli Roster is a College community operated pastoral care program that facilitates the delivery of home cooked meals to members of the College community experiencing hardship and loss. The primary purpose of the roster is to provide meals while maintaining the privacy and anonymity of the recipients and volunteers alike, in a timely and consistent manner. If you or someone you know could benefit from the service provided by the Roncalli Roster, please get in contact through emailing Roncalli@johnxxiii.edu.au. Please note, consent is required from the meal recipient before the roster can begin.

2024 Census Collection Notice

Every August, the Australian Government conducts the Non-Government School Census data collection. The information provided by schools during the Census is collected by the Department of Education to:  

• ensure the provision of Australian Government funding to schools is properly calculated and appropriately managed.  
• conduct research, statistical analysis and develop school education policy for the Australian Government.  
• meet national and international reporting obligations on school students in Australia.  
• publish and provide information about schools to the public.  

Further information regarding the Census can be accessed below and via SEQTA Documents.   

Sports News

Athletics is in full swing in Years 3 - 6.  We have been practicing the different track and field events and it has been great to see the focus and determination of our students when practicing and improving their different techniques.  The time trials for hurdles has been rescheduled to Thursday 22 August so fingers crossed for good weather!

Athletics training continues for Years 3 - 6 on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, 3:30pm to 4:30pm. No booking or payment required.  

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 News

Primary Choir and Instrumental Ensemble Rehearsals

A reminder that, with a number of performances coming up during the term, it is essential that students attend all ensemble rehearsals. If your child is unwell, please email the ensemble director. 

Please note the changed days for choir rehearsals next week due to the Year 4 Musical and Feast of the Assumption.

Music Eisteddfod 

Congratulations to all students who participated in the annual College Music Eisteddfod on Sunday 4 August and Monday 5 August. The adjudicators commented on the excellent standard and strong music program evident across the College. 

Students selected to receive an Outstanding Performer or Special Mention Award will be presented with their awards at the Primary Eisteddfod Winners Concert on Thursday 15 August at 3:30pm in the GBLT. All are welcome to attend and hear a selection of the fantastic performances.

Catholic Performing Arts Festival 

Congratulations to the following Primary students who received special awards from the Performing Arts Committee for their recent performances in the festival:

Excellence: Mia Kwei, Year 6

Merit: Sofia Chiaroni, Year 4

Best wishes to all students representing the College in the festival next week. 

Music Reports

We were made aware that there was an issue with Instrumental reports not appearing on the Semester One reports on SEQTA Engage.  This issue has now been resolved, thank you for your understanding. 

Save the Dates

Please save the following dates for choral performances this term. Further information regarding performances will be emailed directly to families.

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

Catherine Haydon

Primary Music Teacher

Book Drive Thank you!

We have received a lovely note of thanks from Anita Bourke, Internal Committee of the Rotary Club of Dalkeith.

We are thrilled to announce the successful completion of this year's book drive for Buk Bilong Pikinini in Papua New Guinea. This marks the fifth year of the project, and we are proud to share that our ‘guesstimate’ of the total number of books sent through this initiative now exceeds 25,000!

These books are now in transit, and we know they will make a significant impact.

On behalf of the Internal Committee of the Rotary Club of Dalkeith, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to the John XXIII College community. Your generosity and the lovely quality of the donations are truly appreciated.

Thank you for your continued support.

Important Email Address Reminder

The @cewa email domain is no longer active and any emails sent to this domain are not forwarded or received.  All staff have designated email addresses with the email addresses generally follow a pattern – the first name followed by the surname and then @johnxxiii.edu.au eg: firstname.surname@johnxxiii.edu.au 

New College Phone System

As part of our ongoing efforts to improve our services, we have transitioned to a new Unified Communications/Telephony System to streamline our voice and video messaging and enhance the overall experience for parents and staff.

With this new system in place, we ask for your attention when leaving voice messages. After recording your message, please ensure to press the hash key (#) at the end of your message before hanging up. This step is essential as it signals the system to send your message successfully. Failure to press the hash key will result in your message not being delivered.

We understand this is a slight change from our previous system, and we appreciate your cooperation in adapting to this new process. Your messages are important to us, and we want to make sure that they are received and addressed promptly.

Thank you for your understanding and support.

Containers for Change 

Thank you to all the families that have been donating their recyclable containers to the College fund. The member ID number has changed recently for the College to C11452850.

If you are donating your 10c Containers under the College account, you will have to start using this number.  All of the money raised from your donations goes to Caritas or Lifelink.