Learning 

Learning & Teaching/Wellbeing/Faith & Farm

Learning & Teaching

 

Remote Learning

Thank you once again to families and children for being able to pivot into the remote learning space during our recent lockdown. The past two weeks have consisted of home learning activities and some online whole group gatherings. Thank you to some families who have shared their feedback on this remote learning model with us. There are many perspectives to consider and we thank you for your patience in working through this together. If you have any other feedback about how remote learning and teaching suits your family, please email Lauren on ldavis@sjfootscray.catholic.edu.au

 

Data Chats survey

We believe that feedback and reflection helps us to keep striving for continuous improvement at St. John's. Look out for an email this week about our recent Data chats. Or alternately, the survey can be completed https://forms.gle/w7M1rHoi5ko74PoV7

 

 

Wonder White - Sustainability initiative

A big thank you to all families who contributed to our collection of bread bags, wrap bags and bread tags over Term 2. Amazingly, St. John’s managed to collect countless bags and 650g of bread tags!!!! This waste has been sent off to NSW as competition closes this Friday 30th July.

 

Lauren Davis & Jarryd Bradford

ldavis@sjfootscray.catholic.edu.au jbradford@sjfootscray.catholic.edu.au 

Learning and Teaching Leaders

 

 

Wellbeing

 

The eSafety Commissioner is hosting free parent and carer webinars during Term 3 which explore ways to help your child/ren develop the skills to be safer online.

The webinar below,  Guide to Popular Apps, takes a look at TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat and Youtube and is designed for parents and carers of children aged 8-13 years old. 

You can register online at esafety.gov.au/parents/webinars 

 

Ashlee Owen

Wellbeing Leader

aowen@sjfootscray.catholic.edu.au

 

 

 

Literacy

 

We are so excited to be back onsite and see our beautiful children once more! One of the perks I experienced during remote learning is being able to jump in and out of meets and observe the interactions between children and Educators. I came to the realisation that oral language is important in this space and is a vital means of making meaning and communicating a message. In particular, as we have few other cues (aside from facial expressions) to rely on to communicate a message in the online environment.

Earlier this year I shared this quote by James Britton, “Reading and writing float on a sea of talk”. It highlights the importance of oral language as a building block for and link between reading and writing. We report against all three in the Victorian Curriculum: Reading & Viewing, Writing and Speaking & Listening. 

Educators use a range of strategies and design authentic experiences to enable children to develop their oral language skills in authentic and engaging ways. Such opportunities include when in ‘Discovery' in their interactions with other children or the influencer, when conferencing or communicating about their projects, during Book Clubs and during Target teaching where we provide opportunities for children to talk about their thinking. 

So how can you support your child’s oral language development at home?

The Raising Children Network (affiliated with the Royal Children’s Hospital) provides a range of tools and strategies for you to support your child with their oral language development (up to 8 years of age). It includes age appropriate ideas and links to other resources that you can refer to: such as the sorts of conversations you may have with them and ways to increase their vocabulary.

If you’d like to hear more about how you can support your child’s Literacy learning at home, please do not hesitate to contact me. Have another Literacy related question? Shoot me an email or call the school! I’d be happy to feature this in the newsletter or have a chat with you.

 

Daniela De Luca

Literacy Leader

ddeluca@sjfootscray.catholic.edu.au 

 

 

Numeracy

 

Next week, children from Years 3-6 have been invited to participate in the Australian Mathematics Competition (AMC). The AMC is an engaging 30-problem competition that demonstrates the importance and relevance of mathematics in the lives of young people. Australia’s leading educators and academics, with a deep understanding of our national curriculum standards, actively design the unique AMC problems each year.

Excitingly, 22 of our children have opted to join in 2021 and will sit the test on Thursday 5th August. We wish them the best of luck during the problem solving experience.

 

 

Faith News

 

Sacrament of Confirmation

We have a tentative date of Thursday 19th August booked to celebrate Confirmation with some of our Yr 6 children. This date is dependent on a new Bishop being appointed so we ask that families please 'hold' this date until we have definite confirmation (pardon the pun!) of the date from the Bishop's office. 

 

Feast of Saint Mary MacKillop

A letter was sent home today detailing our plans for our upcoming celebration of the Feast of Saint Mary MacKillop. We usually welcome families to be with us for part of the day but unfortunately COVID is playing havoc with our plans, so it looks like this just means that next year for our 100 year celebration it will be an even bigger opportunity to celebrate the day as a community! 

 

Our Place, Our Community

We have had to postpone our planned visits to Quang Minh Buddhist Temple and to Sunshine Mosque. We plan to reschedule these visits as soon as we know a way forward with COVID restrictions. 

 

Dignity of the Human Person

We are currently exploring the Catholic Social Teaching Principle of Human Dignity in our Hubs. Reflections on what makes us special and conversations around what makes others special are taking place in our P-2 hubs. Our 3-6 hubs are engaging with challenging questions and imagery to spark children's thinking about how dignity is upheld in our local community and around the world. 

 

Aoife

amccarthy@sjfootscray.catholic.edu.au

 

Woiwurrung Word of the Week

 

St Johns has purchased the Woiwurrung Language Resource for the Early Years.

Woiwurrung language was traditionally spoken and is being reclaimed today by the Wurundjeri people, who inhabited the land along the Yarra and Maribyrnong rivers.

The Woiwurrung Language Cards have been produced by the Wurun Child and Family Place and Yarra Ranges Council with permission from key Wurundjeri Elders.

Acknowledging and celebrating Aboriginal culture and its connection to spirituality and language, family and kinship, land, country and community is important in protecting and developing inclusion and equity. Language in particular is recognised as a precious part of cultural strength and pride.

Each newsletter we will share with you a new Woiwurrung word of the week, we hope that this will provide you with a chance to read, speak, and talk about it with your family.

 

 

 

From the Farm - Recipe

St John’s Farm Apple Slaw

Ingredients

1/2 cabbage grated (harvested from our garden)

1 large carrot grated

I unpeeled granny smith grated

I stick of celery, chopped finely (harvested from our garden)

Dressing

⅓ cup of mayonnaise

⅓ cup brown sugar (less depending on how sweet you want it)

1 Tbsp lemon juice

 

 

 

Directions

In a large bowl combine cabbage, carrot, apple and celery. In a small bowl mix together mayonnaise, brown sugar and lemon juice. Pour dressing over salad mix and combine.

Eat and enjoy!!