Monday, 25 t h of February, 2013

St Johns Primary School Newsletter

Dear Parents,

Welcome to Week 5. Half way through Term 1, hasn’t time gone quickly. I

continue to be very impressed by the enthusiasm of the teachers and

students. This is evident by the enthusiasm of our Year 6 students as they

lead the ‘Live Life Well @ School’ morning fitness program. Well done

Year 6. Congratulations to all of our swimmers. Mr Foley has a report

highlighting their success.

Last Friday, we received the news that Mrs Ngatukana will be leaving St

Johns Primary as she is heading to the Tweed area. We sincerely thank

Mrs Ngatukana for her work here at St Johns over the past 3 years. Our

school certainly benefitted from her calm and caring manner, as well as

the expertise she brought with the sharing of her Polynesian culture. Her

Dance groups did very well at Eisteddfods and school events. We wish

her and her family all the best.

Just a reminder that some of our students have a ‘nut’ allergy. We make

the request that nuts and nut products NOT be packed as part of school

snacks and lunches. This severe allergy is called ANAPHYLAXIS, and

can be life threatening. Please, NO peanut butter, Nutella, nut products,

etc.

The Principal Awards for the past week went to Sophie Townsend, Laura

Sewell, Connor Mathieson and Caitlyn Murray. All of these students have

shown significant dedication to their studies.

God Bless

Anthony O’Leary

Principal’s News

S c h o o l M a n a g e r

F a t h e r M a r k M c G u ig a n

S c h o o l Ch a p l a i n

F a t h e r G r e g B e l la m y

P r in c ip a l - M r O ’ Le a r y

A s s i s t a n t P r i n c ip a l - M r F o le y

R E C – M r S c h w a g e r

Contact Detai ls

138 Sheraton Road

DUBBO NSW 2830

Ph: 02 68 82 2677

st johnspr imarydubbo@bth.cathol ic.edu.au

Upcoming Events

28/2 & 1/ 3 Principal’s meeting in Mudgee.

28/2-Clothing Pool 2.45pm

Diocesan Swimming Carnival

8/3-Mother's Night Out Essence Café 7pm

“Then from the cloud came a voice that said: “This is my chosen son; listen to him.” Luke 9: 29-36.

This past Sunday’s Gospel account is an eyewitness account from Peter who was praying with

Jesus on the mountain.

It emphasises Jesus’ divinity which will later be confirmed at Easter time.

Lent like Advent with Christmas is a time of preparation for us to invest in

the Easter story, as a story like no other. This Lent we are asked to do three

things: Give alms, pray and fast. What this boils down to is be selfless.

We are asked to think of others and not just ourselves.

www.stjohnsprimarydubbo.catholic.edu.au

Religious Education News At the start of a new school year, it is a good time to revise and reflect upon the process and importance of Religious Education in our school. Throughout Term One, I will be discussing various aspects of Religious Education as it relates to St John’s Primary School. Our Vision On the front of our school newsletter is St John’s Vision Statement. This simple paragraph can be easily overlooked, but I encourage all school community members to reflect on it occasionally as it is a simple yet powerful statement that we always aspire towards. Our Mission Our Mission at St John’s is ‘To live, love and learn in the Light of Christ’. This statement hopefully underpins all that we say and do at our school. Our Motto ‘Christ is My Light’ is not only our school’s motto, it is also the name of our school song which is sung proudly by our students throughout the year. Catholic Schools’ Week Mass The whole school will be attending a combined schools mass at St Brigid’s Church on Monday 11th March at 10am. This is a time we celebrate the important role we all share in catholic education.

PRAYER:

Jesus, help me to believe

That your love is the greatest energy in the world; That your love is an attitude of service to other people;

That your love is in every circumstance of my life; That through my life I can communicate your love to others,

As you did to the people in your life. Amen

Wishing you a good week, David Schwager

(Religious Education Coordinator)

On Friday 22nd of February St John's Primary had 38 swimming representatives attend the Northern Region Swimming Carnival held in Gulgong. At this carnival our swimmers competed against swimmers from St Michael’s Dunedoo, All Hallows Gulgong, Sacred Heart Coolah and St Laurence's Dubbo to gain selection in the Northern Region Swimming Team to compete at the Diocesan Swimming Carnival in Dubbo on the 5th of March. All of our swimmers did a great job on the day with 22 individual swimmers from St John's Primary qualifying to compete in various events at the Diocesan Swimming Carnival. All of the St John's Primary 4 X 50m relay teams did a great job to clean sweep all of the relay races that were swum on the day. There were some notable performances from 3 of our students to break long standing Northern Region Swimming records. Claudia Mulholland - Girls 100m Free 1.19.32 Angus McDonald - Boys 100m Free 1.10.50, Sen boys 50m Back 36.31, Sen boys 50m fly 34.19, Sen boys 200M IM 3.02.94, Josh Kearns - Sen Boys Multi Disability 50m Free 2.06.47. Northern Region Age Champions from St John's Primary - Jun Girl: Isobel Pearson, Jun Boy: Billy Crowley, 11yr Boy: Brenton Bealing, Sen Girl: Claudia Mulholland, Sen Boy: Angus McDonald.

Special mention must also go to Angus McDonald as he also broke 4 long standing records at our school swimming carnival held on the 7th Feb. The new benchmarks that Angus has set are as follows - Boys 100m Free 1:09.27, Sen boys 50m Free 30.79, Sen boys 50m Back 36.20, Sen boys 50m Fly 33.83. Great results Angus for all of the hard work and training that you have done over the summer, well done. Adam Foley Assistant Principal

Live Life Well Programme A very organized Year 6 have lead the entire student community at St John’s in a Live Life Well exercise routine at the commencement of the school day. Year 6 students have done a wonderful job under the skilled guidance of Mr Quade and Miss Veech. The Year 6 cohort are to be congratulated on their fantastic leadership skills!

WAY OF THE CROSS MUGGA HILL Good Friday, March 29th at 10.00 am

5 WEEKS TO GO

Start preparing NOW for the 5 kms walk

All parishioners & friends are invited to join one another to walk to

Mugga Hill on Good Friday morning. Walkers leave St Brigid’s at

8.30 am sharp.

Stop Press

School Sports Shirts are now back in

stock at Lowes Menswear.

Snack Attack News

Hi Everyone, parents please note that St John’s

is a lunch order school-canteen does NOT

attempt to provide food over the counter at

LUNCH- send your child with a lunch order!! A

special offer for children to try- Chicken,

Cheese and Corn Roll (similar to a sausage

roll) and a bottle of water or juice popper (not

Pop Top) or milk for $3.50.

Thanks Cathy

0458550747

ST BRIGID’S CHILDRENS’ CHOIR DOES YOUR CHILD ENJOY SINGING

The Childrens’ Choir plays an important role in church liturgy and at the present time is looking for new members. Practice is from 5.00pm – 5.45pm each Wednesday during school term and the choir is rostered on the Vigil Mass once a month to sing. Just turn up – there will be a BIG WELCOME for you. Enquiries: Marie Duffy - 68824233

CDF Banking The Catholic Development Fund (CDF) runs a

school savings program at St John’s Primary

School. Children are able to open a Koala Club

savings account and are issued with a

passbook. There are no fees or charges on any

account with the CDF, including children’s

accounts. Children are asked to bring their

banking to school each Tuesday and books are

returned to them after the banking has been

recorded.

Any child wishing to open an account with the

CDF is asked to call at the school office to

collect a New Account Form.

St John’s is looking for any parent or

grandparent who would be willing to volunteer

to process the school banking. Volunteers are

placed on a roster and are usually only called

on every 4 – 6 weeks (depending on the

number of volunteers). In the past this has

suited parents who, because of work

commitments, have not been able to volunteer

in the canteen or classroom. The banking

needs to be collected from the school on

Wednesday, processed at home, and dropped

back to the school on Thursday or Friday

morning. Anyone interested in helping out or

wanted more information is asked to please

contact the school office.