Around The Primary

Dear Families

We have had another amazing week of fine, sunny weather and I have enjoyed spending time outside in the playground with the students for morning tea and lunch.  It has been wonderful to observe all the different ways in which our students play at break times. Providing a variety of options for the students to play with their peers is our main objective. Sports games on the green areas, Lego construction beneath the large tree, chess matches, imaginative play in the sandpit, and library visits for reading, board game playing, crafting, or just having some quiet time are all possible.

There has been a great atmosphere on the playground, and it has been amazing to watch our students share, take turns, play fairly, make good decisions, and handle ‘friendship fires’ in the right manner. We will continue to empower our students with suitable strategies to help them build healthy friendships.

Last weekend, on the Feast of Pentecost, several of our Year 6 students received the Sacrament of Confirmation in their various parishes and some of our Year 4 students celebrated their First Communion. Let us keep them in our thoughts and prayers as they complete the Sacraments of Initiation. 

Congratulations to the 64 students who proudly represented the College at the IPSHA Cross-Country Carnival held at Guildford Grammar today. While we certainly celebrate their wins, it is equally important to celebrate their unwavering commitment, dedication, and camaraderie. We are very proud of our team of talented runners and their remarkable achievements.

We would like to express our gratitude to all families who contributed to the ‘Staff Morning Tea’ this morning.  Your kindness and involvement in our school community makes a positive impact on staff and students. 

Kind regards

Antoinette De Pinto

Head of Primary 

Staff News

Congratulations to Mrs Standing and her husband on the arrival of Weston Alexander Standing. Their beautiful baby boy arrived on Mother’s Day!

Important Reminders 

Duty of Care

We kindly request that students do not play on any of the playgrounds before or after-school or use the sports equipment that has been packed away for the day.

Smart Watches

Primary students are not permitted to bring or wear any sort of Smart watch, Apple watch, Garmin, Fitbit or similar personal device to school. Our priority is for the students to maintain focus on learning throughout the day and not be distracted by these items.

Please note that students who do wear these devices to school will be required to leave the device at Front Administration and then collect it at the end of the school day.

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.  

Counsellor’s Corner

We had a wonderful turnout to the Inspire event on Wednesday morning to discuss the introduction of the URSTRONG program within Primary.   The PowerPoint Presentation from the event can be found on SEQTA Engage under the General Primary tab. 

This program is a developmentally appropriate friendship curriculum which uses kids language to explicitly teach friendship skills to empower children to resolve conflict and build healthy friendships.

We explored the main concepts of URSTRONG:     

 This video offers a brief introduction to the URSTRONG program https://urstrong.com/language-of-friendship-intro/

You are also invited to activate a FREE membership for URSTRONG Families. Take advantage of activities, videos, & articles to continue empowering your child with friendship skills. 

• Activate your FREE Parent Membership and explore all the resources available to your family.
• Try out this interactive tool: Friendship Fire or Mean-on-Purpose?
• Pop over to the BLOG with news & advice and be sure to check out our PRESS page for interviews & podcasts! 

If you would like more information about the URSTRONG program please don’t hesitate to get in touch via email – anne.murphy@johnxxiii.edu.au 

Anne Murphy

Primary Counsellor

Year 5 Adventure Camp

My favourite activity from Camp was the high ropes course. It had cargo nets, Tarzan swings, tightropes, suspended rafts and ladders and an awesome flying fox! What made it so special was that when I was waiting for my turn, I was really nervous and scared, when my turn finally came, I had Belle there to support me and help me through my nerves. After I had completed the course, I felt really happy and proud of myself! Thea Barboutis (5G)

 

All the activities were amazing on Camp! Rock climbing was so much fun as it had a small red button perched at the top and when pushed, a loud victory siren filled the air to let everyone know you had reached the top. The climbing wall also had a bump sticking out to increase difficulty. I enjoyed pulling myself higher and higher all the way to the top! While we waited for our turn, there was a frisbee target set up to hit and that was fun too!! Elizabeth Cawley (5B)

 

On the first day, we played lazer tag. Each team had 10 players and we were equipped with metal laser tag guns with a small screen displaying the amount of ammunition. I dodged enemy bullets, hiding behind massive tractor tyres, climbing up them and with a crack of gunfire, I sniped every enemy. It was memorable when the boys on my team mixed water with the orange dust to create face paint. David Chan (5G)

Bike Safety

Last week, Year 6 students travelled to Constable Care Safety School in Maylands to learn about bike and pedestrian safety in preparation for when we travel to Canberra and go on a cycling tour. We cycled around mini roads with working traffic lights, played games and learnt about how to react to a broken power line. It was a lot of fun!  Nicholas Lamattina (6B)

 

The Bike Education incursion was so much fun! The most exciting part about it was riding laps around the netball courts using the skills that we had learnt during the activity. Some examples of the skills we learnt included – using hand signals to indicate where we were going; if we were turning left or right, we learnt to glide while standing and we also found that it was quite easy to balance while we looked behind us. Another skill that we learned was to ride in formations.  We rode in a one-by-one as well as in a two-by-two formation. It was an amazing experience.  Alia Hartfield (6G)

Library News

National Simultaneous Storytime

This week in the library we have been reading “Bower Bird Blues” by Aura Parker for this year’s National Simultaneous Storytime. A beautiful story that showcases the unique characteristics of the Australian bower bird and their curious habit of collecting blue objects. The students especially enjoyed our bower bird nest display created by our library technician, Ali Carlton. 

Lost Library Books 

If your child has misplaced their library book you will receive an email with the details and price of the book. You can make a payment at the library so we can replace the book.  Payment can either be made by cash or credit card in person at the library, or by credit card over the phone on 9383 0453. If the book turns up at some point, we’re happy to provide you with a refund.  The Library open hours are 7:30am to 5:00pm, Monday to Thursday, and 7:30am to 3.30pm on Friday.

Problem Solvers

This term the Year 3 and 4 Mathematics Problem Solving students completed an International computational thinking challenge called Bebras, run by the Australian Math Trust. 

They participated in teams and had to complete 15 problems, with varying levels of difficulty.  The Year 3 problem solvers - Benjamin Bourke, Aiden Vujcich, Joshua Haydon and Donato Grose received a perfect score of 135 and achieved a certificate of excellence!

It is the first Mathematics challenge the students have been involved in and the manner in which they approached it as a team was outstanding. They communicated with each other, shared ideas, thoughtfully listened and talked through their reasoning – it was very impressive.  Well done and congratulations.

Meg Gilmour

Primary Numeracy Specialist

Sports News

It has been an incredible cross-country season!  We have had huge numbers of students attending early morning training sessions, amazing efforts at our Interhouse Cross Country Carnival and today our top 8 boys and girls from each year group competed at the IPSHA Interschool Cross Country Carnival.  There were 11 other schools competing and the standard was extremely high in every race.  We had some outstanding individual performances, lots of ribbons (top 4) and certificates (top 10). 

I am always so impressed by the way our teams support each other and celebrate their achievements.  It makes me very proud to be part of the College community when parents, grandparents and staff from other schools' comment on how strong and supportive our students are at these sporting events.

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

Rehearsals

Choir and instrumental ensemble rehearsals for next week are as follows:

Australian Guild of Music and Speech (AGMS) Virtual Festival

Students who undertake instrumental lessons are invited to enter the AGMS Virtual Festival. 

To participate, students are required to upload a video of their performance to the appropriate category. All participants receive feedback on their entry and awarded bronze, silver, gold, or platinum level for their performance. Entries close on 25 June. 

Please use the link below for more information or to place an entry. 

Enter the 2024 Virtual Festival | AGMS

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

Catherine Haydon

Primary Music Teacher

Parking Update

As part of our continuous efforts to prioritise the safety and convenience of everyone within our community, please find below some important updates regarding car parking rules on campus and changes to the Heritage Lane parking. 

Heritage Lane Parking

Moving forward, the Heritage Lane car park will be exclusively reserved for staff parking. This adjustment aims to enhance safety measures throughout our College. Below is an outline of parking and pick-up options for families based on the year level of children. Your cooperation in adhering to these guidelines is greatly appreciated: 

Pre-Kindergarten, Kindergarten, and Pre-Primary Parent Parking Options

Families with children in Pre-Kindy, Kindergarten, and Pre-Primary can utilise the Early Years Carpark off John XXIII Avenue for drop-off and collection. Overflow parking is available in the main car park off John XXIII Avenue and the Loop car park off Mooro Drive. 

Years 1 to 6 

For students in Years 1 to 6, pick-up arrangements can be made at The Loop off Mooro Drive which is staffed to help for an effective flow of traffic. Please follow these instructions: 

• Have your surname sign displayed on your dashboard.
• Drive all the way to the bottom of the loop.
• Have your child exit from the passenger (left) side of the vehicle. At pick-up, please stay in your vehicle and staff will guide your child to get into your car safely from the passenger side.

Alternatively, students from Years 1 to 6 may also be collected from the Kiss ‘n’ Drive Loop off John XXIII Avenue if accompanied by a sibling in the Secondary School.

Families who prefer to park and drop-off or pick-up their children can utilise the main car park off John XXIII Avenue or the Loop car park off Mooro Drive. 

To ensure the safety of students and pedestrians, we kindly request all families to observe the following guidelines: 

• Utilise designated College car parks.
• Drop off and pick up your child only in designated areas.
• Adhere to the 40km/h speed limit in school zones.
• Follow all traffic and parking signs.
• Refrain from double parking and illegal parking.
• Yield to pedestrians, especially near driveways.
• Park only in marked bays on the College campus.

By working together, we can uphold the safety and wellbeing of our entire community.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Sacramental Certificates

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

College Staff Email Change

A reminder that the @cewa email domain is no longer active. 

All staff have designated email addresses with the email addresses generally following a pattern – the first name followed by the surname and then @johnxxiii.edu.au eg: firstname.surname@johnxxiii.edu.au  

Calling All Artists! 

Students of John XXIII College are invited to create an original artwork on the theme of ‘Christmas’. 

The winning entry will appear on the Principal’s 2024 Christmas card. 

For information on how to enter, terms and conditions, please refer to the attached flyer.

Upcoming Inspire Events

Creating a healthy relationship with food for the family 

Food and mealtimes can be tough. From starting solids to fussy eating, it’s a lot to handle. Dr Kyla Smith, a Perth-based paediatric dietitian with 18 years of experience, will share evidence-based tips to help your children love their food and feel good about eating. 

Tuesday, 11 June 2024

7:30am - 9:00am

Gonzaga Barry Lecture Theatre

Light breakfast provided

RSVP by Friday, 7 June: https://www.trybooking.com/1225400

Hosted by INSPIRE Parent Association.

Building Courage and Resilience in Children and Adolescents

Join Karen Young, founder of 'Hey Sigmund' and author of best-selling books, for an informative session on helping children build courage and resilience. Learn practical tools and strategies to support your children in overcoming adversity and fostering a brave mindset.

Monday, 22 July 2024

6:00pm - 7:30pm

Gonzaga Barry Lecture Theatre

RSVP and details: https://www.trybooking.com/1225467

Hosted by INSPIRE Parent Association.

Rotary Book Drive 

Let's spread the joy of reading and learning to those in need

Join us in supporting primary school education in remote communities in WA and Papua New Guinea by donating your pre-loved books for children ages 5-12. Simply drop books to the College's Main Reception. Items of interest include books and literacy materials up to 12 years old, picture books, fictional and non-fiction books, baby books and puzzles.

If you have any questions, please contact Lisa Martella, Marketing and Communications Manager if you have any queries - lisa.martella@johnxxiii.edu.au