Learning and Teaching 

Ride To School Day 2021

This coming Friday, 19 March, is Ride to School Day. Students are encouged to walk, ride, scooter or skate to school. Students will receive fruit and juice on their arrival at school. Staff will be at Rooks Reserve, Halliday Park and Walker Park for students who wish to meet them there. They will be departing from these locations at 8:00am sharp. Parents are welcome to make their own arrangements and come directly to school.

Chinese Language at St John's 

Ni hao! The Year 5 / 6 students and I have been fortunate in the past few weeks to begin our new adventure of learning Chinese at St John’s! We interact with our Chinese teacher: Zhang Meng direct from China, learning key phrases and correct pronunciations of words, followed by a segment learning about the diverse culture and festivals in China. We learnt all about Chinese New Year and why pandas are so very special to the Chinese people. We also learnt about how names are different in China and we practised writing our names using Chinese characters. 

Each week we have a follow up lesson where we practise pronunciations of new words and phrases with our classmates, take part in quizzes and discuss our learnings. 

In the past few weeks we have learnt:

 Ni hao            - Hello!

Wo jiao ____  -  My name is _____

Ni hao ma?    - How are you?

Wo hen hao   - I am very good.

Xie xie            - Thank you.

Bu yong xie    - You are welcome

Za jian            - Goodbye.

And much more! Ask our 5 / 6 students to share what they know! 

One fun way that we have learned these phrases is through quizlets and song. Here is the link for the ‘Ni Hao Panda’ song that we learned last week. Have a look! Ni hao panda.

Xie xie,

Za jian,

Ange Crowe

acrowe@sjmitcham.catholic.edu.au

Harmony Day 

Harmony Day is being celebrated on Monday 22 March here at St John's.  Harmony Day is a celebration of our cultural diversity – a day of cultural respect for everyone who calls Australia home. Held every year in March, Harmony Day coincides with the United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Students are invited to wear their national dress or orange clothes to school. Orange is the colour chosen to represent Harmony Day. Traditionally, orange signifies social communication and meaningful conversations. It also relates to the freedom of ideas and encouragement of mutual respect.

Students will rotate through activities led by members of our community in which they share elements of their culture with us. Students will participate in a "Be More" Lap-a-thon at Halliday Park to raise funds for Caritas (a Catholic aid agency). We will also gather as a school community to pray, connecting our Catholic faith to a living response.

Twilight Sports

It was certainly a wonderful evening. Congratulations to Coghlan Team. Thank you to the parents who assisted with the Twilight Sports, making the evening enjoyable for all.

Hockey

Sporting Schools is an Australian Government initiative designed to help schools increase children's participation in sport and connect them with community sport opportunities. Sporting Schools programs are provided  to help students build the confidence and capability to be active for life.

This term we have selected a hockey program for the students. A specialist coach, Adele from Hockey Victoria, will facilitate four, hour long sessions for each class over a four week period. 

Below are our 1/2s in action.

Environmental & Sustainability Team 

This year the Environment & Sustainability Team has organised a number of activities for the school to be involved in. On Wednesday 10 March 2021 the whole school participated in the Clean Up Australia/ Schools Program. Every student and teacher spent the afternoon tidying up the school playground areas. All rubbish that was collected on the day was collated and sorted into recycling and landfill. 

Our next program that the school will be involved in is Earth hour on Friday 26 March.

Isla, Keira, Zoe, Carmel, Julie, Melinda and Cheryl

Environment and Sustainability Team

Assembly

Parents are allowed to attend our final assembly for the term next Monday 22 March at 2:30pm. Our new student FIRE Carriers (Riley, Harry, Mia, Monica and Connor) will be commissioned and our Future Leaders will be presented with their badges.

Active and Safe Schools Program

Thank you to all families who completed the survey. The Whitehorse Active Transport Officer will be coming out to work with our Future Leaders in the coming weeks. 

Parent Helpers' Course

We are thrilled to be able to welcome volunteer helpers back into our learning areas! At St John’s we value parent (and grandparent) support of our learning and teaching programs and would love for you to join us and enhance your children’s learning experiences.

If you are able to volunteer for an hour a week, fortnightly or even monthly we’d love your support. Please speak to your classroom teacher to discuss ways in which you can be of assistance in your particular learning space.

In order to be eligible to assist, we request that you attend a Classroom Helpers’ Course. This session outlines the type of tasks you will be assisting with and your role and expectations as a Classroom Helper at St John’s.

If you would like to be a new Classroom Helper in 2021, 

you are invited to attend   

Parent Helpers’ Course

 on 

Thursday 25th March at 9.00am

in the 

Library at St John’s.

***A Working with Children’s Check is  required. 

RSVP to Ange Crowe

acrowe@sjmitcham.catholic.edu.au

If this time does not suit, and you would still like to assist, please speak to Ange to arrange another time.