Around The Primary

Dear Parents

It is beginning to feel a lot like Christmas around the Primary school!  

This week our Kindy, Pre-Primary and Year 1 students shared the Christmas story in a variety of delightful ways with their family and friends in our community. In doing so, they helped us think about the real reason we celebrate Christmas and reminded us to be kind, patient, loving and generous to each other.

The time has also come to farewell our wonderful Year Six students. Next Tuesday 6 December, they will celebrate with an end of Primary school Mass, followed by morning tea with their parents. This is a special time to remember and commemorate their journey through the Primary years.

Regarding class placements for next year, we cannot stress enough, the importance of downplaying which of their peers may or may not end up in your child’s class. While staff have once again worked very hard on creating class lists that take a myriad of factors into account, in the end, all children need to learn to navigate their way through different teaching styles and different class make-ups.

It was great to see so many excited and happy faces at the close of the day as the children shared the good news of who their teachers and classmates were going to be.  Our job as significant adults in a child’s life, is to model confidence in their ability to work through any perceived worries or challenges and to let them know we are all here to support them. 

 Let’s make the end of term 4 a great one!

Kind regards,

Antoinette De Pinto

Head of Primary 

Staff News

At the end of the term, we say good-bye to Miss Lauren Nish, our dedicated Primary teacher.  We thank Miss Nish for all her hard work and commitment to our school community for the past 13 years. We wish Lauren all the very best in her new role as a Primary Resource Creator.

Next year we welcome back Mrs Emma Distante to Kindy and Ms Karen Ilich who will be teaching in Mary Ward. 

Christmas Newsflash

Next Thursday 8 December, the students can come to school dressed in Christmas colours or wear a Christmas t-shirt, hat etc… If preferred, students can come in their House shirt and sports shorts.  (No coloured hair spray or face paint please).

On this day we hope to raise the students’ awareness of how fortunate we are to have access to everyday privileges at Christmas. All students are asked to bring along a gold coin donation for St Vinnies. Thank you in anticipation of your generous support.

Presentation Night

Congratulations to the Year 6 students who received an award at Presentation Night.  We are very proud of their wonderful achievements.

Zoe Hipolito was awarded the Outstanding student award for achieving academic excellence across all Learning Areas. 

Ruby Scott was awarded the Simon Casey Sports Award which recognises outstanding participation, sportsmanship, enthusiasm, commitment and encouragement of others during Sport and displays the same interest in sport as shown by Mr Simon Casey.

Semester Two Reports 

Semester Two reports for Pre-Primary to Year 6 students will be available through the College’s online communication platform ‘SEQTA ENGAGE’ on Thursday 8 December at 3:30pm. 

Instructions

i. Please login to your SEQTA Engage account at:  https://parent.johnxxiii.edu.au

ii. Click on the REPORTS link located on the menu at the left side of screen

iii. Select Student

iv. Select 2022P, 2022S2

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.

Save the Date!

2023 Term Dates 

Please note the following Term Dates for 2023 for Primary students:

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. 

Taiko On

Last week our Primary students were entertained by the group ‘Taiko On’, a traditional Japanese drumming group based in Perth. Taiko is much more than just drumming, it is also about the movements, interactions with each member of the group as well as with the audience. Taiko are often heard at festivals and events in Japan.  It was a fabulous performance that all the students thoroughly enjoyed. 

Rowson sensei

PAL 2023 Coordinators

A very warm welcome to our Primary PALs for 2023:

Sports Update

This week our Year 4 students played in the Interhouse Tennis Tournament.  The game was redball tennis which is a modified version of tennis and allows beginners and experienced players to have some fun and be competitive at the same time.  Students earned points for their House and there was great tennis and sportsmanship on display. Congratulations goes to Koolyangarra, the winning House.

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

Steve Williams

Primary Sport Coordinator

Counsellor’s Corner

It’s hard to believe it’s the end of another year! I hope your children go into the holidays feeling proud and excited about moving on to the next year.

There are some wonderful parenting resources online for you to read over the holidays and are detailed below:

For parenting advice, I recommend Happy Families ; https://www.happyfamilies.com.au/

which has a mega sale at the moment offering discounts on books online courses and the like.

For Friendship advice all John XXIII College parents can register for free parent membership for URSTRONG. Included in this are virtual lessons for children if you’re looking for educational holiday activities follow this link to activate https://urstrong.com/parents/

For advice about anxiety Karen Youngs website has well researched strategies shared via free articles, videos and she now offer an online course for parents and children . All available on her website 

https://www.heysigmund.com/

Wishing you all a wonderful break and special Christmas full of love joy and peace.

If you have any concerns, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.  I am available at school Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursday mornings.  My direct number is 9383 0469 and I can be contacted anytime by email:  anne.murphy@cewa.edu.au 

Anne Murphy

Primary Counsellor

Primary Music

It has been a busy week of music for Primary ensemble students. The Primary choirs and instrumental ensembles presented outstanding performances in the Christmas Carols Concert last Friday. Wanju Voices performed at an exceptionally high standard with the combined Secondary choirs and instrumentalists at the College Presentation Night, and the Primary Singers are also to be commended for their role in supporting the Year One students in their Advent Liturgy.

Primary Instrumental Recitals

Congratulations to all students from Years One to Six who performed in the Primary Instrumental Recitals on Tuesday. Parents and students were treated to solos, duets and trios with students singing and playing the piano, guitar, violin, viola, cello, double bass, clarinet, flute and saxophone. It was wonderful to see the students supporting each other and demonstrating the result of their hard work from throughout the year. A big thank you to all the music tutors who were involved in preparing the students, and to Mr Ryan, Mr Pitt and Ms Jennings for accompanying student performances.

Choir Rehearsals

Wanju Voices’ final rehearsal will take place at 7:30am on Monday 5 December in preparation for the final Masses of the year. Primary Singers has completed all rehearsals for 2022. Information regarding choirs for 2023 will be sent out at the start of Term One, 2023.

Music Programs

Year 3 Strings Program – End of Year Information

Families of students in the Year 3 Strings Program are asked to refer to the communication sent regarding continuation of lessons in 2023. 

2023 Year 3 Strings Program

Year 2 families have been emailed with information regarding the 2023 Strings Program. Enrolment forms are due by Friday 2 December. 

2023 Year 5 Band Program

Year 4 families have been emailed with information regarding the 2023 Band Program. Enrolment forms are due by Friday 2 December. 

2023 Enrolments/Withdrawals

Enrolment in Music Lessons – 2023

Applications are invited for individual music lessons on instruments and voice for 2023. Please click here to apply. Please note that current enrolments automatically roll over into 2023.

Discontinuation of Lessons - 2023

For students who will not be continuing individual music lessons in 2023, please click here and complete the online form before the closure of the Music Office on Thursday 8 December at 4pm. Enrolments in lessons will automatically roll over into 2023, unless a withdrawal notice is received.

Please contact Georgia Bouhlas, Music Secretary on 9383 0440 or email 8550svc_music@cewa.edu.au with any queries relating to Music Programs and Enrolments/Withdrawals of Music Lessons. 

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

Catherine Haydon

Primary Music Teacher

Bricks 4 Kidz

We are delighted to announce that Bricks 4 Kidz will be offering the after-school classes in Term 1, 2023.  Lessons will take place on Tuesday afternoons from 3:30pm to 4:50pm for 8 weeks commencing in Week 2 and concluding in Week 9.  Please refer to the attached flyer for further information. 

Please note that there will be a Junior Robotics session for Years 2 & 3 and an Advanced Robotics session for Years 4 to 6.  Year 1 students will be offered the opportunity to participate in Term 2. 

Please note Year 3-6 Swimming Training will also take place on Tuesday afternoons from 3:30pm to 4:30pm during Term 1, 2023.