Around The Primary
Dear Parents
As the majority of our students have now returned to classroom learning, it has been heartening to see the excitement of students and teachers alike as our school buzzes with life.
From Monday 18 May, all Catholic School students in Western Australia are required to attend school unless they are unwell or have a medical referral to continue their learning from home.
Many thanks to families for:
- reading our school correspondence carefully
- emailing Nancy Petsos if needing to collect your child early - this allows time for staff to have your child ready and waiting in Administration
- dropping and collecting children at designated locations and not coming on to the school grounds during this unprecedented time
- not getting out of cars at the loop drive through in the morning or afternoon
- keeping sick children at home
- emailing teachers and Primary Absentees with any change to your child’s attendance
- being patient when parking around the College
- sending staff notes of encouragement
Our reading theme for this term is ‘Look Who Got Caught Reading!’.
It is so important that every child is reading, or read to, every day. Please ensure that your child has reading time as part of their routine every day. There is nothing quite like reading together as a family. Whether you're flipping through picture books with your little ones or sitting in the same room with older children while, each immersed in a piece of literature, these are times your child/ren remember. For a moment, you are all able to escape worries and experience art in written form.
Through daily reading, children are exposed to a world outside their own reality. It expands their knowledge, opens their minds and creates the potential for a continuation of ideas and an endless number of possibilities.
Please make sure your child has their Library Bag with them on the correct day so that they can bring home a couple of good books to enjoy! The Library is also open in the mornings and lunch time for reading and borrowing.
Our Year 6 leaders were very excited about show casing their new shirts around the Primary school today! They continue to display great leadership skills and are wonderful role models for the younger students.
Kind regards
Antoinette De Pinto
Head of Primary
If your child is unwell, please keep them at home. If they come to school and are found to be unwell, Nurse Jenny will contact you and you will be required to pick them up from the Health Centre.
The Importance of Reading at Home
Uniform Shop – New Opening Hours
Extended hours and appointments are now available. Please follow this link http://www.johnxxiii.edu.au/view/for-parents/uniform-shop
Dates to Remember
| Monday 18 May | Pre-Kindy Classes resume |
Term Two Update
Assemblies, school Masses, Incursions, Excursion and Interschool activities will not recommence until further advice is received from the Department of Health.
Absences & Appointments
For students who have Recurring Absences (weekly or fortnightly), as well as incidental appointments (e.g. Uniform Shop appointments), the College must be notified by email to primary.absentees@johnxxiii.edu.au detailing the below information:
- Day of appointment
- Time absent from school
- Reason for appointment
During the period of COVID-19 restrictions, please ensure the following procedures are followed:
- Parents/Guardians are to come at Main Administration and the Administration staff will collect the student from the class.
- Upon return, parent/guardian is to come to Main Administration and the child will be taken back to class by staff.
Where possible, please make appointments outside of the school day.
It is important to note Parents/Guardians are NOT able to go directly to classrooms at this time.
Your support in ensuring the guidelines are followed is greatly appreciated.
Primary Absentees
Please ensure when you are emailing to primary absentees that you state the reason for your child’s absence. If your child is unwell, please state this in the email. Alternatively, if your child is remote learning, please state this in the email to primary.absentees@johnxxiii.edu.au
Discovery Kids - Term 3 Start
As of yet we have not received an approval to open at John XXII from the Regulatory Unit and we have been given no indication when this will eventuate. Due to this and the new Government regulations we have had to postpone our new start date to Term 3.
The previous provider has NOT handed over any enrolments to Discovery Kids. It is essential for parents to submit an enrolment form directly to Discovery Kids for your child/ren.
Please enrol via our website at: www.discoverykidsoshc.com
Visit the bookings page and
- SIGN IN if you have previously used My Family Lounge- select Discovery Kids John XXIII from the drop down menu and begin your enrolment form.
- IF you have not had a My Family Lounge Account previously please REGISTER. You will be then prompted to complete the account details and will be forward to the enrolment form.
To access this you will need to ADD CHILD and begin the enrolment form for each child, select Discovery Kids John XXIII from the drop down menu and begin your enrolment form
We look forward to receiving your enrolments and meeting you in person in Term 3. We thank you for your support and interest.
Please feel free to call either Jessica or Josephine for any enquiries (please refer to the website)
All the best,
Josephine, Jessica and the Discovery Kids Team
Counsellor's Corner
It has been wonderful to see the children return so successfully to school this term. There has been a great sense of excitement with so many enjoying the normal routine and happily reengaging with staff and friends. I also realise that some of our children and families have experienced significant and difficult change over the past few months and many are under enormous stress. Other children find the resumption of classroom expectations and friendship dynamics challenging. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if I can offer any assistance, ranging from talking through concerns; providing information and resources about parenting and mental wellbeing; referrals to outside agencies; individual or group interventions and classroom and playground support. I am at school Monday to Thursday and can be contacted by phone 9383 0469 or by email anne.murphy@cewa.edu.au
These resources may be of interest:
Helping children to cope with Covid 19:
How to stay connected with children during the crisis.
Social story to help children deal with loss associated with Covid 19
Helping adults cope with Covid 19 stress:
Coronavirus-Anxiety-Workbook-1.pdf
Helping to manage children’s anxiety:
https://www.heysigmund.com/anxiety-at-bedtime/
Maggie Dent:Helping children to fall asleep
Also don’t forget to sign up for free family membership of URSTRONG to access many useful resources about children’s friendships. The coupon code is URSTRONG and can be accessed here
Anne Murphy
Primary Counsellor
Congratulations to Erin Ralph (4G) who has had two works chosen by the United Nations to help promote public safety messages about stopping the spread of
COVID-19.