Around The Primary

Dear Parents,

Welcome to the 2021 new school year!  It is such a joy to see the happy faces of the students fill the Primary school once again.  Students all over the Primary school are settled, engaged and happy, and thoroughly enjoying catching up with friends and teachers.  The first weeks are always focused on connections, establishing new routines and exploring new learning spaces.

Many thanks for making sure your family was on time for school and for helping to support children with a calm, ‘can do’ attitude! It is terrific to see so many parents wearing their badges (and masks), thank you!

Families are reminded that all the Parent Information Sessions are being held next week. The session times are listed below.   Due to social distancing requirements, it would be appreciated if only one parent per family attends these sessions.  Notes of the presentations will be shared on SEQTA Engage.

Like all schools, we continue to remain vigilant, informed, calm and proactive in supporting an appropriate and effective response to Covid-19. We will continue to reinforce the importance of hygiene practices in regard to hand washing.  Also, all parents and guardians need to say ‘goodbye’ to the children at the classroom door or Kindy/Pre-Primary gate. 

Parents are required to park in the area off John XXIII Avenue. The small carpark (near Pre-Primary) is for Pre-Kindy and Kindy families only.  Please be mindful in the carpark as there will be new families who will be learning the ropes and may not yet be familiar with our drive through and parking procedures. Your patience and cooperation is appreciated. For more information please click below. 

We encourage all families of students (Years 1 to 6) to use the ‘loop drive thru’ each morning.  Also, we recommend all Years 1 to 3 (and their older siblings) are collected in the loop in the afternoon.  Year 4 to 6 students need to be collected from the main carpark, off John XXIII Avenue. 

A 30 minute ‘Community Mass’ is held in the College Chapel every Friday at 8am. We would love to see more families come along and join the staff throughout the year.  Our next Community Mass will be on Friday 19 February.

Reading Homework

Our goal is to continue to ignite the students love of reading. In Term One, the important message filtering through every class in the Primary school is to discover the magic of reading.

The students will engage in reading or reading related tasks each night for homework throughout the term.  This is a wonderful opportunity for students to pick up a good book and share it with a family member and to discover reading for pleasure, reading to learn something new, reading to have a laugh or reading to simply just relax! 

We hope all parents will encourage their children to read each day and allocate some family reading time in your busy schedules.

Parents are very welcome to accompany their children to the library before or after school to help them choose books or to spend some special time sharing a story.  Our library team are looking forward to seeing many new faces in the library.

Our new school year has begun and we are very much looking forward to the journey with you and your child/ren this year. 

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

Sports Update

Swimming

Swimming training begins on Tuesday 16 February at the College Pool, and is open to all Year 3–6 students.  Swimmers must be able to swim 25m.  

Tennis

Tennis begins Monday 15th with Nick, 7:30 on the JTC tennis courts. Sign up at www.coastaltennis.com.au

Soccer

We had a great start to our afterschool soccer sessions with the J&J coaches.  All are welcome, however booking and payment is required.  Please see the information at: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=Iy-FxTM2KU-zhlHaU-NeI4fO5fE1KuVBpnYb15FwdC5UQzNHOTkxQU5WTVBTWFAyQzJXM0VWTkYyVi4u

Mr Steve Williams

Primary Sport Coordinator

Primary Choirs

It has been wonderful seeing the students during their first week of music classes. Please see below for information regarding choirs for Primary students. Primary SingersPrimary Singers is open to all students in Years 2 and 3 with rehearsals on Thursday mornings from 8:00am to 8:40am in the Primary Music Room. The first session is Thursday 18 February.

Wanju VoicesWanju Voices is open to all students in Years 4 to 6 with rehearsals on Monday mornings from 7:30am to 8:30am in the Primary Music Room. The first session is Monday 15 February. 

Chapel ChoirChapel Choir is open to all students at the College. This is a very special choir as it includes both Primary and Secondary students and is a fantastic opportunity for younger students to rehearse and perform with more experienced vocalists. Chapel Choir rehearses on Friday mornings from 7:30am to 8:00am in the Chapel, and then remains in the Chapel to sing at Community Mass from 8:00am to 8:30am. Parents and siblings are also welcome to attend this Mass each week. The first rehearsal/Mass is on Friday 19 February.

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

Mrs Catherine Haydon

Primary Music Teacher

Counsellor's Corner

As of January 1, 2017, the new registration standards and other requirements for Non-Government Schools Subsection (12.1e) requires the “delivery to all students of a developmentally appropriate protective behaviours curriculum, developed by experts in child abuse prevention, and covering what the boundaries are between appropriate and inappropriate interactions and when, how and who to tell when a boundary is crossed…”

All Primary staff at John XXIII College are trained in the delivery of the Keeping Safe : Child Protection Curriculum. The KS:CPC is an evidence based, best practice curriculum developed collaboratively with child protection experts, teachers, educational leaders and other professionals. It will be taught across the Primary school in Years K-6 throughout the year as it was last year.

The KS:CPC is based on two main themes which are presented through topics and activities of increasing complexity. The two KS:CPC Themes are:

· Theme 1: We all have the right to be safe

· Theme 2: We can help ourselves to be safe by talking to people we trust.

The two KS:CPC Themes are explored through four Focus Areas, which are examined in growing complexity in accordance with the age of the students. The four KS:CPC Focus Areas are:

· Focus Area 1: The right to be safe

· Focus Area 2: Relationships

· Focus Area 3: Recognising and reporting abuse

· Focus Area 4: Protective strategies

If you have any concerns or queries please don’t hesitate to contact me on 9383 0469 or via email: anne.murphy@cewa.edu.au

Anne Murphy

Primary Counsellor

Sacramental Program 2021 

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

Do you have a child currently in Year 3, 4 or 6? In their Religious Education classes, students will be preparing for the sacraments of Reconciliation, Eucharist and Confirmation. While the students will learn the appropriate content at school, they celebrate the sacraments with their family in their parishes.  

Have you enrolled your child in a parish sacrament program?

Parents are encouraged to enrol their child, as soon as possible, in their parish – usually, but not necessarily, the parish closest to home. Most parishes are beginning their programs at this time, and it is essential to enrol your child in advance.  

How do I enrol?

Contact the parish: the parish secretary, the sacrament coordinator or the parish priest. Parish contact details are available here.  The College provides information from some of our local parishes. It is the parents’ right and responsibility to follow up with enrolling their child in the parish.  

If you would like further information about the Sacrament Program:

• If your nearest parish is not listed, search the Archdiocesan website;
• Check the information available on the College website  here
• Contact Mary-Anne Lumley via email mary-anne.lumley@cew.edu.au or 9383 0408

Ms Mary-Anne Lumley

College Liturgist