Around The Primary

Dear Families

Many thanks to all the families who have attended a Parent/Teacher Meeting this week. These meetings are a wonderful opportunity to listen, to ask questions and to clarify how your child/ren are progressing regarding various aspects of their school experience. We hope you found these meetings useful and informative. I am very grateful for the generosity of staff for giving so much of their own time. 

It is important to use these meetings as a prompt to celebrate with your child/ren their successes and to reinforce how proud you are of their efforts, and how committed you are to supporting them to be the best learner (and person) they can be. In doing so:

• Remind your child/ren of their strengths and what they can achieve.
• Talk about some of their challenges.
• Set some goals together as these will help them to target where their time, energy and focus might be best directed.
• Offer your help. This could be in the form of assisting them with their reading each night, practising their times-tables …
• Encourage them to always ‘have-a-go’ and to do their personal best.

Along with the sustained efforts of the staff, it is your encouragement, modelling, your care to provide a calm home environment, your expectations and consistent support, that will make a difference to your child’s progress.

Thank you for all the ways you are setting up your child/ren for success!

This weekend our Primary choristers have been invited to represent the College to sing at the 9am Palm Sunday Mass at St Joseph’s Church in Subiaco. All are welcome to attend.

Easter is the most significant time in our Christian calendar. Our Year 5 students have put a lot of effort into preparing our Easter prayer reflections for next week (details can be found below). Everyone is welcome to join us. 

Kind regards

Antoinette De Pinto

Head of Primary 

Staff Updates

Mrs De Campe (Pre-Kindy Teacher) will be enjoying a well-deserved break for the remainder of the year. Mrs Murphy will be teaching Pre-Kindy Blue from term 2.

Mrs Haines (Teacher) is looking forward to the arrival of her new bundle of joy very soon.

Mrs Watson-Saxon (Pre-Primary Education Assistant) will be enjoying an overseas holiday next term and then returning to do some relief work.

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.

Holy Week

Next week all Primary students will be attending in Holy Week Liturgies. Year 5 students will share the Easter Story over two days.

Families are welcome to join us as we lead into Easter and share the Easter Story.

Sacraments 

Do you have a child in Year 3, 4 or 6?

It is a special year for these students as they look forward to celebrating the sacraments in their parish with their family. 

It is the parent’s responsibility to enrol their child in a parish sacrament program, and you are encouraged to get this done at the earliest. Even children preparing for sacraments in a Catholic school still need to be enrolled in the parish if they intend to participate.

Please be mindful that, due to numbers, some parishes (eg Saint Thomas, Claremont) will not be able to accept enrolments from families living outside the parish geographical boundary. Parish sacrament programs may vary, but usually include a workshop and commitment Mass as well as attending the rehearsal.

Please see the College website for enrolment information received from City Beach, Claremont, Doubleview, and Subiaco parishes.

The sacrament program is family-focused, parish-based, Catholic school-supported. This means that parents are respected as first educators in the faith of their children and celebrate the sacraments in their parish with their children. 

The family is supported by the College Religious Education program. In Year 3, students are taught the content for First Reconciliation; in Year 4, the content for First Holy Communion and in Year 6, the content for Confirmation. 

If you would like further information about the Sacrament Program, please contact:

• Mary-Anne Lumley mary-anne.lumley@cewa.edu.au   08 9383 0513
• Your parish priest or Sacrament Coordinator
• The Archdiocesan website

Specialist Spotlight

Our library lessons at John XXIII College are all about fostering a love of reading. The students enjoy coming to library and listening to stories read aloud, learning about different genres and authors, and sharing their book recommendations with their classmates. We are very lucky to have lots of wonderful new books coming into our library every term, so the students have a fantastic range of diverse and high-quality literature to choose from. We even take special requests from students who are interested in a certain subject or would like the next book in a series. 

As the Primary Librarian, I enjoy helping students find books that they will ignite their love of reading. I encourage students to try reading lots of different types of books, including non-fiction books and graphic novels. The main goal is to have students reading a book they enjoy and can’t put down!

Some of the amazing books we have been enjoying this term....

In Kindy we have been reading the wonderful rhyming books from the “Macca the Alpacca” series by Matt Cosgrove. They especially love our Macca puppet.

Pre-Primary students have been thoroughly entertained with the hilarious Pigeon Books by Mo Willems. After reading all the books together we watched how Mo Willems draws his pigeon and the students had a go at drawing their own. 

Year 1 has been engrossed with the adventures of Nibbles the Book Monster and these books are always first off the shelves! Our early reader series have been very popular too, with Zac Power, The Dinosaur Club and Meet Ella in high demand.

In Year 2, the students have been captivated by the hilarious and exciting story of The BFG by Roald Dahl. Graphic novels are very popular with the students and funny stories, such as Dog Man by Dav Pilkey and Bunny vs Monkey by Jamie Smart are always on the list.

The Year 3 students are loving the enchanting story of The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo so much that some students have borrowed the book themselves and finished it. No spoilers please!

Our Year 4-6 students are very independent readers and enjoy discussing books they have read with their classmates. Many students are enjoying the fantasy genre and books like the Wings of Fire series and Harry Potter are very popular.

It is fantastic to see so many students excited to come to library and enthusiastic about reading books. We always love visitors, so come in and have a look at our wonderful books.

Sasha Cattapan

Primary Library Teacher

Kindy 2025 Interviews

Kindy 2025 Interviews are commencing in Term 2.  If you have not submitted an Application Enrolment Form, please do so by the end of Term 1.  For your convenience, please use this link:  New Submission (johnxxiii.edu.au)

Sports Update

Term 2 Sport

Cross Country 

Training begins in Week 6 of Term 2 every Tuesday and Thursday mornings at 7:30am.  If it is too wet to run, training will take place in the gym.  Students in Year 2 and below must be accompanied by an adult throughout the session. 

Extra-curricular opportunities

Tuesdays - J&J soccer sessions 

• Years 1 to 6 – begins Week 2, Tuesday 2 May in the Junior Primary Oval (3:30pm to 4:30pm).  Booking and payment required.  To enrol email juricadi@hotmail.com

Thursdays - Redhage Basketball 

• Years 2 to 6 – begins Week 2, Thursday 4 May in the St Louis Sports Centre (3:20pm to  4:20pm).  Bookings and payments required.  Registrations open Sunday 26 March, please enrol at www.redhagebasketball.com

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

Steve Williams

Primary Sport Coordinator

Music Update

Year 4 Musical

The Year 4 students were very excited during their Performing Arts lesson this week as roles were announced for the 2023 Year 4 Musical – ‘Little Shop of Horace’. Rehearsals commence next term, with performances in Term Three.

Primary Singers and Wanju Voices

Thank you for supporting the students in attending rehearsal during the term. Final rehearsals for Term One are as follows:

Palm Sunday Mass at St Joseph’s Church, Subiaco

Students from Wanju Voices will be representing the College by singing at the 9am Palm Sunday mass at St Joseph’s Church in Subiaco. All are welcome to attend this special Mass.

Catholic Performing Arts Festival

Entries for the Catholic Performing Arts Festival are now available. With over 20 000 students involved from 163 Catholic schools across Western Australia, this festival is a wonderful opportunity for students to gain performance experience and feedback from professional adjudicators, as well as viewing performances by students from other schools. This festival takes place in Term Three. Primary students from Years 4-6 may wish to enter a solo performance item. Please contact your child’s instrumental tutor for more information. Students who learn an instrument outside of school may contact Mrs Georgia Bouhlas at the Music Office for more information. 

Chapel Choir

As there is no Community Mass next week, Chapel Choir will resume in Term Two. 

Chapel Choir is open to all Year 2 to 12 students who love singing, with a focus on liturgical music. Rehearsals commence at 7:30am in the Chapel with Mrs Haydon and Mr Johnston. Chapel Choir then sings at Community Mass at 8:00am). Please contact Mrs Haydon for more information. 

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

Bricks 4 Kidz will be running After School Classes in Term 2 and bookings are now open on TryBooking.

Please refer to attachment for further information.