School Newsletter - Issue 7 - Friday, 19th May 2023
Principal's News
Dear Parents and Carers,
Thankyou for meeting with the teachers this week to discuss your child’s progress during Parent/Teacher interviews. This is an important opportunity to continue to strengthen the home/school partnership for the benefit of the children. Reports will go home in Week 10. Should you wish to discuss the report further, you will be able to contact your child’s teacher directly. I know that the teachers have valued these conversations this week.
School Building Update
Please find below a link which gives an update on the building works for St John Fisher. This is for the existing Year 5 building and amenities. As we receive new information (including a time frame) I will keep you updated.
https://csbb.catholic.edu.au/our-strategy/learning-spaces/st-john-fisher-catholic-primary-school-tumbi-umbi/
School Entry and Exit Front Gates
The automation of our entry and exit gates to the school office block has just about been completed. They will eventually be put on a timer to accommodate the busy periods but to begin with, if the entry gate is shut, you will have to push the buzzer (which you can do from your car) and the admin staff will buzz you in. The exit gate is controlled by a sensor which will open the gate when you are about to exit.
Principal’s Conference
Over the last 3 and a half days I have attended the NSW Principal Conference in Wollongong. It has been a very rewarding time listening to guest speakers, hearing stories from other Principal’s about their communities as well as networking with Principal’s from around the state. I truly love listening to the great work that is happening in schools and it reminds me also how lucky I am to be a part of our beautiful community at SJF. I am so looking forward to be back on board next week!
Kind Regards
Marcel Arendse
Principal
Assistant Principal's News
We are so excited to celebrate the remarkable achievement of one of our St John Fisher students.
Last weekend Kai Field in Year 6 was selected in the Australian Mighty 11's Test Team. The Mighty 11's has been a BMX tradition for over 30 years. Riders must be 11 years of age and the 4 best male, and 4 best female riders in Australia are selected to represent their country in a weekend TEST against New Zealand. The test will be held in Sydney in July during a National Event attracting the best riders from Australia and New Zealand. The event will be broadcast on SBS on demand on July 8th and 9th.
Congratulation Kai on your success, we wish you the best of luck and are so proud of you for this achievement.
Debating Team
Good luck to our Year 6 Debating Team who will be competing against OLR Shelly Beach on Monday.
Parent Teacher Interviews
Thank you to all the parents who were able to have a conversation with their child’s teacher during this week’s Parent Teacher Interviews. I know teachers have enjoyed the opportunity to have these conversations with you and provide you with an insight into your child’s academic and social outcomes.
Winter Uniform
As the weather is getting colder we are noticing more children coming to school wearing full winter uniform which is great. Just a reminder that children still have the option to either wear full summer or full winter uniform at the moment.
We ask that all children come to school wearing full winter uniform by Week 6.
Pick Up
Over the past couple of weeks we have had contractors using our car park, and have also had parent teacher interviews, so the gates to the carpark have been open earlier some days.
Just a reminder to parents that the gates for pick up usually won’t open until 3pm so we ask you not arrive before that. There have been afternoons recently where there have been large build ups on Hansens Rd well before 3pm which has impacted neighbouring houses and businesses.
The drive through pick up lane will also not open until 3:10pm, so we ask anyone who is using drive through to not arrive until on or after this time. Cars waiting for drive through to open will be asked to park.
Once again we thank you for your support with this system.
Stephen Lynch
Assistant Principal
Class Merit Awards
Religious Education Co-ordinator
The feast focusses on Mary’s help to those in need through her intercession to confront sin and to stand against anti-Christian forces.
Pope Pius VII established the feast in honour of Our Lady Help of Christians in
1815. After being imprisoned by Napoleon Bonaparte, he established the feast in
thanksgiving for his release.
Australia, a new colony at that time, had no Catholic priests and therefore no Mass available. The faithful recited and relied on the Rosary to sustain the Catholic community. In 1844, Australia became the first country in the world to have Mary Help of Christians as Patroness.
– From the ACBC Resource Entrusting Australia to Mary Help of Christians, 2020.
Prayer Link:
https://www.sosj.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Mary-Help-of-Christians-Prayers.pdf
Copyright to the Trustees of the Sisters of St Joseph.
Pentecost
Year 3 are busy preparing a Pentecost liturgy for us on Monday, 29th of May at 2.40 pm. We are having it in the afternoon, to allow parents to come at the end of the day and take their child home afterwards.
What is Pentecost?
Pentecost is on Sunday 28th May. On this day, the Holy Spirit descended on the disciples. The liturgical colour for the day is red. You may see many people wearing red, including the priest! Pentecost occurs 50 days after Easter. It is the very last day of the Easter season. Pentecost is the Church’s Birthday.
We consider Pentecost as being the Church’s birthday because this is the day the Holy Spirit came down and filled the Apostles with the gifts they needed to lead the Church.
What Are the Gifts of the Holy Spirit?
The Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit Are:
- Wisdom: the ability to find God in all things
- Understanding: the ability to analyse and problem solve in order to follow Christ.
- Counsel: the ability to discern between what is right and wrong
- Fortitude: the ability to overcome fear and temptation
- Knowledge: the capacity to know God
- Piety: the capacity to live humble and respect others
- Fear of the Lord: being aware that we are always in God’s presence
Why Do We Use Flames to Represent Pentecost?
Acts 2:3
“Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them.”
In the bible, it is stated that the seven gifts were given to the Apostles as flames. This is why you will see fire and the colour red to represent Pentecost!
Loving Father,
Be my breath Holy Spirit,
Be in my thoughts Holy Spirit,
Be in my actions Holy Spirit,
Strengthen me Holy Spirit,
Be in my heart Holy Spirit,
May I always be holy
Amen
Year 3 and Above: Confirmation
Students in Year 3 and above who have not yet made the Sacrament of Confirmation are invited to enrol for this sacrament on Tuesday 29th May at 7 pm at St Cecilia’s.
The Sacrament will be held at 11am on Saturday 15th July at St Peter’s Catholic College.
If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact Luisa Lawicki.
We have been thinking about our Environment
To Make SJF a Safe and Happy Place
We Care for Our Environment
- We put all our rubbish in the bin
- We pick up any rubbish that we see
- We recycle
- We stay on the path when walking
- We respect the environment around us
- We take care of our prperty
How can you look after the environment at home and in your community?
As a family, see if you can think of ways to look after this beautiful world in which we live.
Luisa Lawicki
Religious Education Co-ordinator
Sports News
Broken Bay Cross Country
Broken Bay Primary Schools Cross Country will be held on Tuesday 23rd May at Galston. We would like to wish all of our students taking part in this event, all the very best of luck.
Michael Pobjie
Sports Teacher
Library News
All St John Fisher students are invited to participate in the 2023 NSW Premier's Reading Challenge. Reading for leisure is the best (and most enjoyable) way to improve your child’s literacy in all subjects. It is now open and runs until Friday 18th August.
The Challenge aims to encourage a love of reading for leisure and pleasure in students, and to enable them to experience quality literature. It is not a competition but a challenge to each student to read, to read more and to read more widely.
The PRC books are available for borrowing from our school Library. Students may also read books from other Libraries, books that you have at home and any online platform you have access to. You can include books your child has read since the start of 2023.
Students will be rewarded with a class award at the halfway mark and at the completion of the challenge. Completors will also receive a certificate from the NSW Premier and be able to gain more prestigious awards with continued participation in future years.
It would be great to see all students involved in the challenge this year.
PRC logins for every student have been generated and were sent home on a bookmark last term. Please login and save these details on a home device, either by scanning the QR code on the bookmark or by visiting the website
https://online.det.nsw.edu.au/prc/home.html.
Please note that the logins are case sensitive, with usernames entered in UPPERCASE and passwords in lowercase with 2 digits at the end.
Students in Years K-2 are reading PRC books in our Library sessions, and I am entering those books into their reading logs. It would be great if they could be encouraged to add books of their own.
Please click the links for support with adding a book to a student reading record and adding a personal choice book.
If you would like to know more about the NSW Premier's Reading Challenge, have a look at the website, particularly the Rules tab in the menu.
If you have any further questions, please email teresa.okeeffe@dbb.catholic.edu.au
Happy reading!
Mrs O'Keeffe
Librarian
Francesca L, James F, Oliver S, Zoe K, Eliana W, Riley B, Isla G, Maddison S, Olivia S, Lachlan B, Kai N, Harriet O, Aurora N, Laila W, Jax B, Cruz V.
Three students have completed the challenge :
Leonardo L, Sophie K and Arthur M.
Well done on a massive reading effort!
Parent Engagement Co-ordinator (PEC)
Mother’s Day Parent Helpers
Pre School VisitOn Monday we had the children from Goodstart Early Learning Centre visit our library. Our Year 6 library leaders did a fantastic job reading to the pre schoolers and leading them with a drawing activity. Thank you to Mrs O’Keeffe for getting our leaders organised and thank you to the SJF Year 6 students for their wonderful leadership during this activity.
Sport & Cheer Hero Disco
Kindy, Year 1 & Year 2 will be dancing from 5:30pm – 6:45pm.
Year 3, Year 4, Year 5 & Year 6 will be dancing from 7:15pm – 8:30pm.
excellent resource. Next week the CCSP are hosting a fantastic webinar about Children and Online Gaming on Tuesday 23rd May at 7:30pm. The link to register is below.
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Kate Benton
Parent Engagement C0-ordinator (PEC)
Flyers
Upcoming Events
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | |
| Week 5 | 22nd May 11:30 am | 23rd May Broken Bay Primary Cross Country | 24th May | 25th May | 26th May |
| Week 6 | 29th May Pentecost liturgy | 30th May | 31st May | 1st June | 2nd June |
| Week 7 | 5th June | 6th June | 7th June | 8th June | 9th June |
| Week 8 | 12th June
Kings Birthday PUBLIC HOLIDAY | 13th June | 14th June | 15th June | 16th June |
| Week 9 | 19th June | 20th June | 21st June St John Fisher Mass 9.15 am | 22nd June | 23rd June |
| Week 10 | 26th June | 27th June | 28th June | 29th June | 30th June |
