Term 1 Week 4 February 18, 2019

www.stjohnsprimarydubbo.catholic.edu.au

From the Principal’s desk…. Welcome to Week 4. Last week we held our very informative parent nights. I would like to thank the teachers for all of the preparation put into the information sessions for each grade, as well as the wonderful way they have begun the school year with their new classes. I would also like to thank all the parents who attended the evenings. We value the community building that these events present, not only for the shared under-standing of what will be happening across the year in each classroom, but for the con-nection that occurs between the parents and teachers. We value this connection very much at SJP. Today, our teachers continued their professional learning journey with improvements to the teaching of reading with a focus on comprehension, with Dr Sarah McDonagh. Parents are the first educators of our children, in faith and all subjects. You make a significant difference to your child’s reading journey. The joy and love of reading, of sharing a good book, of reading aloud or being read to, set the foundation for your children becoming successful life-long readers. We hope all of our parents give reading the priority it deserves and model good reading habits with their children too. A great article on what you can do to help your children with reading and writing at home can be found here with some of their tips in the box below -

http://www.petaa.edu.au/imis_prod/w/Teaching_Resources/For_parents/Parents_Guide/w/Teaching_Resources/Parents_guide.aspx?hkey=94ee9655-3f94-4534-9f77-e23d9c40a640

Office of the eSafety commissioner. The eSafety Commissioner is responsible for promoting online safety for all Australians. There is a wonderful website that can provide a great deal of advice and links for parents. The iParent website is a portal where you can learn about the digital environment and how to help your child have a safe and

enjoyable online experience. I would encourage all of our parents to take some time to explore this website. https://www.esafety.gov.au/education-resources/iparent

Northern Region Swimming Carnival. Congratulations and best wishes to the 42 students who made it through to the Northern Region Swimming Carnival in Mudgee this Wednesday. A report from the carnival will be in next weeks newsletter.

VISION STATEMENT

To change the world through our faith in Jesus who is our light and hope.

SCHOOL MANAGER/CHAPLIN Father Greg Kennedy PRINCIPAL Mr Anthony O’Leary

P&F MEETINGS: 2nd & 7th Tuesday each Term

PARENTS/GUARDIANS Please note that photographs of students may be used in this publication. Please advise the School Office if you do not approve of your child’s photo being used.

Gospel and Reflection: Luke 6:20-26 - Blessings and Troubles

Jesus looked at his disciples and said: God will bless you people who are poor. His kingdom belongs to you! God will bless you hungry people. You will have plenty to eat! God will bless you people who are crying. You will laugh! God will bless you when others hate you and won’t have anything to do with you. God will bless you when people insult you and say cruel things about you, all because you are a follower of the Son of Man. Long ago your own people did these same things to the prophets. So when this happens to you, be happy and jump for joy! You will have a great reward in heaven. But you rich people are in for trouble. You have already had an easy life! You well-fed people are in for trouble. You will go hungry. You people who are laughing now are in for trouble. You are going to cry and weep! You are in for trouble when everyone says good things about you. That is what your own people said about those prophets who told lies. Reflection: ‘Blessed are you who are poor.’ When Jesus introduces the Beatitudes he draws distinctions under the headings of ‘poor’ and ‘rich’. The poor are hungry now and they weep now. Their reward is in the after-life at peace in the presence of God. Their hunger will be satisfied and their weeping will be replaced with laughter. The rich on the other hand are not hungry now, they laugh now. At another time in another place, they will go hungry and they will mourn and weep. The mission of Jesus and his disciples was especially concerned with the poor. When on mission, they themselves experienced poverty. Lord, we pray for the grace that we will draw close to the poor, forgotten, despised and demonised. Over the next 4 weeks SJP will be having a significant focus on uniform. This will set the expectations for the year. Our students are expected to be in the formal uniform on a Tuesday and Thursday. Sports uniform can be worn Monday, Wednesday and Friday. It is not appropriate to wear Sports uniform of joggers on a Tuesday or Thursday. We would be very grateful for your support in this. I would like to draw your attention to two aspects this week, shoes and earrings. Shoes need to be black leather shoes with our preference for formal shoes with the formal uniform. No other colours are allowed on shoes. Earrings need to be plain studs or sleepers. While many children love wearing decorative earrings, these are not appropriate or safe for school.

We are currently transitioning to a new online student information system (Compass). The new system provides more flexibility and features around what can be communicated and shared with parents. In the coming weeks, instructions will be sent home to parents explaining how to log into the new Parent Portal.

Food allergies are a growing public concern and a condition that affects many of our students. As an allergy aware school, we are focused on reducing the risk of exposure to students, as exposure in some cases may result in life-threatening anaphylactic reactions. Students with a food allergy may react to tactile (touch) exposure or inhalation exposure. Not every ingestion exposure will result in anaphylaxis, but the potential always exists. Whilst peanut allergy is the most likely cause, eight foods (peanut, tree nut, milk, egg, soy, wheat, fish and shellfish) account for the vast majority of total food allergies. Therefore, no peanuts, peanut paste, peanut butter (including “dippers”), nuts, “Nutella” spread or nutty muesli bars are permitted within the school.

God Bless and have a wonderful week

Anthony O’Leary

School Processes.

I would like to inform all families of recent changes to some of our school processes.

1. School pick up /Drop off zone. This as the sign says a drop off and pick up zone only. We kindly

ask that you do not leave you vehicle parked or unattended at any time, so as to keep the traffic

flowing during our busy morning and afternoons. Also for the safety of all our children please only

let you children out of your vehicle in this area and not on the administration building side of the

drive way. Also please do not park or drop off children in the Staff parking area.

2. Collecting your children in the afternoon. To maximize the learning time of our students we

would please ask that any parents collecting their child/children to please wait under the cola area

until the bell for end of day rings. The children can get distracted if they see their parents waiting

outside their classroom. The last 10 minutes of each day is a time that the teachers and students

reflect on their day and any messages can be given and end the day with Prayer. Your assistance

with following these new processes are very much appreciated.

3. Late to School /Early Release of Students. With the rollout of the new Compass System and roll

marking, children arriving anytime from 9.00am and after are classified as late, students must be

signed in via the front office before children proceed to class. If you are picking up you child early,

again children must first be signed out via the office then sign out slip taken to the classroom and

children collected from the classroom. Sending children to wait at the office to be picked up will no

longer be able to happen unless there is an emergency.

4. Volunteers. We are very pleased to accommodate any parent who would like to volunteer their

time helping through out various activities with our school. It is now regulation that anyone

volunteering in our school have a current Volunteer Working With Children Check certificate which

you can obtain through Services NSW. Once you have a WWCC Certificate please bring a copy in

to our office and have it verified through Catholic Education Diocese Bathurst.

We Thank you for your cooperation with all of these matters.

Important Dates to Remember

Feb 20 Northern Region Swimming Carnival Mudgee.

Feb 21 Year 6 Blue Visit to Masonic

Feb 27 Information night at St Brigid’s Church for all 2019 Sacraments. 5.45pm Mass then meeting

Mar 1 Dio Swimming Carnival Dubbo

Hopefully by now everyone has received their Term 1 statement. Please check your statement carefully to ensure that all your

payments are reflected correctly.

Please note if you are planning to pay your fees for Term 1 in one payment, the due date for payment is 1/3/19 (21 days

after the invoice date).

You can still pay your fees by regular payment plan, and the options available are Direct Debit, BPay and Credit Card. If you

had a direct debit in place last year and would like to continue paying that way and your bank details are the same, all you

need to do is adjust your payment plan amount for the 2019 year. If you fall into this category please telephone the Fees

Office on 6884 8504 and I will calculate your new payment plan amount and get it set up for you. If you choose BPay it would

still be advisable to contact the office to ensure you have the correct payment plan amount set up to ensure that your fees

clear by the end of November this year, in line with the School’s Policy.

If you have not yet set up a direct debit so that your fee payments can be deducted regularly, please contact me this week,

so that this can be arranged. It is important that school fee payments are commenced early in Term 1, to minimise your

payment amounts.

Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call to see me or telephone on 6884 8504.

Margo Green

Fees Office

Canteen News

Thank you to those who have sent a response in to help out in the canteen this year.

We are still in need of helpers on a Friday. Please complete the fill out below if you are able to help. Friday’s are

our busiest day so extra help is much appreciated.

This Friday’s helper is Christina Elliot.

Cathy Dries 0458 550 747

Canteen Manager.

Please remember your Volunteer’s Working with Child Check.

Yes I am able to help in the Canteen this year.

Name:………………………………………………………………Mobile……………………………..

Preferred Day ………………………………………………….Child’s Class:………………………………

CDF BANKING

Our next rostered banking will be Wednesday

February 20. Our banking parent for this week is .

Please ensure that child’s banking is sent in to

school before Wednesday .

CLOTHING POOL

Our first clothing pool for 2019 will be

Thursday 28th February 8.30 - 9.00am

Outside the school library.

Thank you

Brooke Whiteley - 0429 840 992

COMMUNITY NEWS

St Brigid's Parish, Dubbo 198 Brisbane St, Dubbo Ph 6882 4233 P.O.Box 579 Email: office.dubbo@cdob.org.au 6th February, 2019

To Parents / Guardians of children who wish to receive a sacrament this year. Dear Parents/ Guardians, This year our Parish is changing the format for those enrolling for the sacraments of Confirmation (in Term 2), First Communion (in Term 3) and First Reconciliation (in Term 4). As many families "double up" we have decided to have one parent meeting at the beginning of the year to explain the process for all the sacraments. This meeting will be repeated over three nights to ensure that as many as possible can attend. The dates for these meetings are Tuesday 26th, Wednesday 27th or Thursday 28th February. They will commence with Mass at 5:45 and conclude by 7pm at the latest. For organisational reasons we have assigned each school to a particular night, but you may attend any of the nights that suits you: St Mary's on Tuesday, St John's on Wednesday, St Pius' and St Laurence's on Thursday. There are some other changes to our process for this year so it is very important that at least one parent/guardian attend. If your child is in Year 2 they can enrol for Reconciliation, in Year 3 for Communion and in Year 6 for Confirmation. For those unable to attend any of these nights we will organise another meeting in order for you to begin the enrolment process. You will need to contact the Presbytery on 6882 4233 prior to that week. Yours sincerely,

Fr Greg Kennedy P.P.