Dear St John's Community,

What a fantastic week of Literacy and fun! Starting with the Book Parade on Monday and finishing with the Pyjama and Teddy/Book Day today. We've had Dean Rankine working with the kids.

We've had book tastings! And lots more over the week. There have been lots of smiles and joys which has been wonderful to see.

BIG things to be aware of next week!

Tuesday 29th - 2-3pm - St John's Church - Andrew Chinn & St John's Children Concert

Thursday 31st - Father's Day Stall

Thursday 31st - 5.30-7pm - Father's Day Arvo & BBQ

Uniform changes 2024

Recently, the school board met and one of the topics of discussion was our school uniform. A number of students and a few parents have been asking for a few changes so these were all discussed. An agreement was reached in adding an option for a St John's Beanie, a spray jacket (lightweight raincoat) and a heavier softshell jacket. These will not replace anything, they will just be available for those people who want them. I have samples in the office at the moment and I will have them there until the end of term if anyone wants to have a look.

We've also agreed to remove the idea of a summer/winter uniform/sports uniform and simplified it to School Uniform / Sports Uniform. There are no 'changes' to the uniform beyond making the items above available to purchase.

This is what the structure will look like:

Sandpit warning

You may have heard that our very popular sandpit has been closed on and off over the last week. We now believe that sometime in the last few weeks 'a person/people?' have entered the school after hours and buried a heap of concrete rubble in the back of the sandpit.

It was first discovered last week when students were found using some of the concrete blocks to 'build' their sandcastles! We closed the sandpit and Mr Caine and I pulled out several large chunks of concrete which shocked us completely.

Low and behold, a few days later more concrete appeared in the sandpit and we had to close the sandpit again and remove the concrete rubble that had been buried just under the sand.

We have been trying to find the perpetrators on our camera footage but have not been successful so far. This is a very dangerous thing for someone to do, especially given how many of our junior children play in the sandpit and we are keen to hear if anyone has seen or heard anything about it.

In the meantime, staff will be doing regular checks of the sandpit to ensure safe play can occur there.

St John's Choir

If you haven't had a chance to hear the choir lately, they are improving every time they perform. We were very proud to see them perform last term at the Peninsula Choral Festival. Their first ever 'gig' outside the school and church. In fact, they so impressed the festival organisers that they recently contacted Mr Caine and provided a $500 grant for more music and support for the school choir! Well done, everyone! Hollywood next?

Basketball Lightning Premiership

Congratulations to the Grade 5/6 teams who played in the Division Lightning Premiership against 12 other schools today. The boy's team finished a respectable fourth and the girls won their entire event meaning they will go onto the next level in the not-too-distant future. Congratulations and well done!

Here's a photo of a couple of our very happy basketballers...

Prayer

Loving Lord,

We know that all things come from You and You hold all things together, not only in the vastness of the universe, but in our own simple lives too.

Help us we pray, to plan our future paths carefully and wisely, and may we follow those paths in a way that honours you.

Watch over all our plans and all that we say and do in our dealings with others. Show us how to give our best and not shy away from hard work, help us gladly fulfil all the duties and responsibilities of life in a gracious and discerning way.

Govern our actions, guard our tongues, bless our efforts, guide our decisions and help us to produce the best we can, so that in our lives we may honour Your name.

Amen.

Q: What did the alien say to the cat?

A: Take me to your litter

Q. What did Mars say to Saturn?

A. Give me a ring sometime!

Q. What does Earth say to the other planets to tease them?

A. You guys have no life!

Enjoy the weekend!

Kind regards,

Derek Bruitzman

Principal

School Website

Cybersafety

St John's Online Safety Hub

Marty's Cybersafety: Parent Toolkit

Book Week 2023