Around The Primary

Dear Parents,

As we head into school holidays, I wish all staff and families a restful and re-energising break. It has been a busy 11-week term full of learning, fun, challenges, and good times. I look forward to seeing all students returning to school on Thursday 22 July. 

Please continue to check your emails for further updates and thank you as always for your much appreciated support and understanding. 

I hope everyone enjoys a safe and relaxing holiday!

We love Comfy Day!

Thank you for your generous support!!

Kind regards,

Antoinette De Pinto

Head of Primary

Staff News

We say goodbye to Miss Reynolds (Year 3G teacher) and thank her for contributions.  Next term we welcome Miss Di Stefano to our school community.

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

2021 Semester One Reports

Semester One Reports for Pre-Primary to Year 6 students will be available through the College’s online communication platform ‘SEQTA ENGAGE’ from 3:30pm today.

Instructions

1. Please log in to your SEQTA Engage account at: https://parent.johnxxiii.edu.au
2. Click on the REPORTS link located on the menu at the left side of screen
3. Select Student
4. Select 2021P, Semester One

Mobile Devices

• It is also possible to download the SEQTA Engage App from your provider (e.g. Google Play Store; Apple App Store) if you wish to do this.

We encourage all parents to have a conversation with their child/children about their report. Help your child celebrate the positives and encourage them to keep working hard on those aspects of their learning that are challenging. 

If you have any questions or concerns related to your child’s progress, please book an appointment with your child’s teacher on the Pupil Free Day, Wednesday 21 July.  These meetings will be 10 minutes in duration.

Booking an Interview

• Parents can book their meeting online using PTO which can be found on the ‘Welcome’ page of SEQTA Engage (the PTO link is in the top right corner).  PTO is now open.
• After logging in, you can select a suitable time to meet with your child/children’s teacher/s. All interviews will run for up to 10 minutes.
• If you would like to book an appointment to see a specialist teacher, please contact them directly via e-mail to set up a mutually convenient time.
• If you experience any technical difficulties, please email ithelpdesk@johnxxiii.edu.au

We kindly request that parents that have recently met with the class teacher, schedule a meeting (if required) later in Term 3.

If you experience any technical difficulties accessing your child’s report, please email ithelpdesk@johnxxiii.edu.au

Smart Watches

A reminder that Primary students are not permitted to bring or wear any sort of Smart watch, Apple watch, Garmin, Fitbit or similar personal device to school. Our priority is for the students to maintain focus on learning throughout the day and not be distracted by these items.

Please note that students who do wear these devices to school will be required to leave the device at Front Administration and then collect it at the end of the school day.

Your support is appreciated to ensure that all students can engage effectively with learning each day.

Parliament House

Our Year 5 students visitied Parliament House and the Electoral Education Centre last week. 

During our excursion to Parliament House and the Electoral Education Centre we met Mark McGowan, the Premier of WA, and the Minister of Education, Sue Ellery. We learnt that there are 150 seats in the Lower House and 76 seats in the Upper House. We really enjoyed participating in an election to decide the best chocolate; and the winner was Kit Kat!  Overall, we really enjoyed the excursion!

Isobel Ptolomey (5B)

Parliament House was a great excursion for the Year 5’s. We learnt so much!  The most extraordinary thing in the excursion was learning about the mace and how you can’t make any laws without the mace being on the stand in the upper house (also known as the legislative council).  The other thing that was most incredible was learning about the traditions associated with the speaker and how in olden times in England, the King would chop their head off and put it on skewers for public view.  These days the speaker always has a body guard to protect them.  Overall, it was a great excursion!!

Emily Rintoul 5G

It was very exciting going to Parliament House and we had a great time learning about the Upper House and the Lower House in Parliament. We learnt that the mace is part of the Lower House and if you were to remove it from its stand then no laws can be made to make laws. One man was threatened to go in to jail for removing the mace because he didn’t want the law to be made! The Upper House has a rod that is black with a swan on top.  There are 36 members in the Upper House and 59 members in the Lower House. 

We also went to the Electoral Education Centre and watched an interesting video about Democracy. We saw a scary but funny mannequin whose name was ‘Ferocious’.  We learnt about the secret ballot and the ballot box. The ballot box has to be locked at the bottom and top for security. We had a mini election so we could learn about preferential voting and we all voted for our favourite lolly!  

Maya Johnson 5G

Music

Primary choir rehearsals for Term 3 will recommence in Week 2 (Monday 7:30am for Wanju Voices and Thursday 8am for Primary Singers). 

Congratulations to the students on their excellent efforts this term. 

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

Mrs Catherine Haydon

Primary Music Teacher