Around The Primary

Dear Parents,

We started the day with a beautiful Mass dedicated to Dads and father figures. It was a lovely opportunity for our community to gather and pray together, as well as, for Dads to spend some special time with their children at school. It was great to see families chatting during morning tea and creating what we hope will be a special family memory. 

Last year, in the context of the global pandemic, Pope Francis proclaimed 2021 as the year of St Joseph. One of the ways the Pope described St Joseph was as a “creatively courageous” father. The Pope writes that when parents face challenges or hardships, we “are being trusted to plan, to be creative, and to find solutions ourselves.” 

Another aspect that Pope Francis noted about St Joseph was that he was a model for all parents as he displayed countless hidden, unseen, and unrecorded acts of love for his family and these are qualities that all parents can aspire to.

The article attach link from Michael Grose, leading parent educator, is a great insight of the important role of modern Dads.

Each Friday we have a Community Mass at 8.00am in the College Chapel. I encourage Primary families to consider coming along to this 30-minute Eucharistic celebration. 

Let’s all enjoy some special time with our families on Sunday and be grateful that we are living in WA!

Kind regards,

Antoinette De Pinto

Head of Primary 

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

Student Code of Conduct

The Year 6 class have recently worked together to prepare the ‘Student Code of Conduct’.  These students, under the guidance of Mrs Reddell, Miss Hubbard, Ms Allen and Miss Graves have done an excellent job in putting this together.  The Student Code of Conduct links to our ‘Seek Justice’ motto and is built around the key words of: Competence, Conscience, Compassion and Commitment. The Year 6 students visited other classes to launch the Code of Conduct earlier this week.  The Student Code of Conduct is available to view below.

Sacramental Certificates

Parents are requested to email a copy of their child’s Sacramental Certificate (Reconciliation, Eucharist or Confirmation) to Mrs Petsos in Main Administration nancy.petsos@cewa.edu.au for our College records.

Counsellor's Corner

RUOK? Day

Next Thursday is RUOK? day. Some of our year 6 Leaders are going to visit the classrooms to share the RUOK? message. We recognise children cannot be expected to fix someone’s problems, nor know the best way to help and support. However, they can be encouraged to listen to what their friend is saying, let them know they care and tell a teacher, school counsellor or trusted adult if they are worried about their friend. By promoting an environment of positive peer support and accessing support channels via an adult, children can learn that asking, ‘Are you OK?’ is a key life skill.

Parenting Ideas

As part of our Parenting Ideas membership, all parents have free access to the following webinar. How to register with the free coupon is included in the attached article; ‘Prioritising Mental Health in the Digital World.’

Webinar - Dr Kristy Goodwin presents a related webinar: Taming Digital Distractions

Date - Wednesday 8 September 2021 at 8:00 PM AEST

In this webinar, Dr Kristy Goodwin helps parents and carers understand why children and adolescents are vulnerable to digital distractions. She provides science-backed solutions to help kids and teens develop healthy digital behaviours so that they can focus, learn and thrive online.

To redeem 

1. Click this link: https://www.parentingideas.com.au/parent-resources/parent-webinars/webinar-taming-digital-distractions
2. Click ‘Add to cart’
3. Click ‘View cart’
4. Enter the coupon code TAMING and click ‘Apply Coupon’ Your discount of $39 will be applied.
5. Click ‘Proceed to checkout’
6. Fill in your account details including our school’s name to verify your eligibility. These are the details you will use to login to your account and access your webinar and resources
7. Click ‘Place Order’ This offer is valid until 8 December 2021. If you’re unable to make the broadcast time, just register anyway and you will get access to the recording.

Mrs Anne Murphy

Primary Counsellor

Sport Update

Year 3-6 Athletics

Excitement is building for next Friday’s Interhouse Athletics Carnival!  Some of the events have already started and Houses are accumulating points.  It would be great to see lots of parents and grandparents supporting their children and grandchildren by wearing their House colour.  Fingers crossed for some more beautiful spring weather.  There will be a coffee van on site for adults.  Please remember to wear your Parent badge.

Please see below for links to the parent letter and schedule for the day.  

Also, a reminder that Tuesday 7 September is the final athletics training session.  

Our Kindy students have been working hard to improve the accuracy of their underarm throwing.

Mr Steve Williams

Primary Sports Coordinator 

Music

Catholic Performing Arts Festival Award

Congratulations to Wanju Voices and Primary Singers who both received an ‘outstanding’ award from the adjudicator for their performances at the Catholic Performing Arts Festival last week. This is a very special achievement and testament to their hard work throughout the year. 

Primary Singers and Wanju Voices Choir Rehearsals

Please note the following important information regarding choir rehearsals for the remainder of Term 3:

Week 8  

No choir rehearsal for Wanju Voices

Primary Singers will resume rehearsals on Thursday 9 September

Weeks 9 and 10 

Wanju Voices – Mondays 7:30am (Osborne Room)

Primary Singers – Thursdays 8am (Osborne Room)

Year 6 Musicians – Chamber Orchestra

Year 6 students who play the violin, viola, cello or double bass are invited to join the Chamber Orchestra for the Christmas Season, commencing Wednesday 8 September. Rehearsals are on Wednesdays at 7am in the Osborne Room. If required, to assist in adjusting to playing in the orchestra, practice copies of all music will be available to students to work on in lessons with tutors.  You are welcome to contact the Music Office for more information music.secretary@johnxxiii.edu.au or 9383 0440. 

Primary Instrumental Recitals – Friday 26 November

Please note the above date for your calendar. Students who learn an instrument will have the opportunity to perform in this Recital. More information will be sent out at the start of Term 4.

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

Mrs Catherine Haydon

Primary Music Teacher