School Newsletter - Issue 2 - Friday, 24th February 2023
Principal's News
Dear Parents and Carers,
Welcome to the end of Week 4, another busy week but I feel there is plenty to come! We had our first SJF Advisory meeting yesterday and a major part of the agenda was preparing for our parent forum which will be held on Wednesday 15 March at 6pm (more information below)
Compass and Facebook
It’s been interesting talking to parents over the last few weeks about where they have been sourcing information. Facebook pages seem to be the preferred avenue, which is great, but can I please remind all families that Compass is the main source for information. The school posts all relevant and timely information on Compass, from there I know that information is shared amongst the community. Whilst this is good, I can’t stress the importance of using Compass as your first port of call. We have weekly night events coming up (including Year 5 camp) but I promise early next term we will run a couple of Compass information sessions to inform our community of its best use.
2023 Staff Development Days
Staff development days for the year have been posted on the Compass calendar. Just to keep you updated, here are 2 of the 3 remaining dates for the year:
1/ Monday 24 April (day before ANZAC Day) – Understanding Autism
2/ Friday 30 June – Systemwide SDD
3/ Early T4 – date tbc Staff Spirituality Day
4/ Friday 15 December – last day for students
School Cross Country
For those who remember, I think we had 6 takes at this last year and it ended up being a very memorable ‘mud run! We look forward to welcoming you all to our annual school cross country next Friday 3rd March. As we will be holding our cross country, there will be no assembly next week. Awards will be made up the following week.
250 Club
Wyong Catholic Parish is running a 250 Club to raise funds for employing a Youth Coordinator. This person will be responsible for building and maintaining a youth group. This group will encourage young people to engage and participate in organized youth activities.
Please refer to the flyer below.
Kind Regards 
Marcel Arendse
Principal
Assistant Principal's News
Uniforms
Thank you to all the families for supporting our school uniform policy. It is something that we have asked school staff to monitor throughout the year. Can we ask all families to please review our school uniform expectations below:
Girls Uniform
- Lemon long or short sleeved school shirt
- Green checked pinafore/slacks/ school shorts
- Green socks and black leather shoes (No boots)
- Wide brim school hat and/or cap
- Checked school dress
Boys Uniform
- Lemon long or short sleeved school shirt
- Dark green tailored pants/ school shorts
- Green socks and black leather shoes (No boots)
- Wide brim school hat and/or cap
Sports Uniform / Other Uniform
- Unisex green sports shorts
- School polo shirt with school logo
- Plain white visible socks (no logos or anklets)
- Wet weather jacket
- V-neck school jumper with school logo
- Jacket with school logo
- Dark green trackpants with school logo may be worn in winter.
- School bag
- Year 6 can wear their Yr 6 school shirt
Jewellery
- 1 pair of small sleepers or studs
- 1 necklace to be worn under school shirt/ dress
- Watch: no watch is to be connected to a phone during school hours and on school grounds
- 1 signet ring
Hair
- Natural hair colour
- Shoulder length hair and long should be tied back
- Appropriate haircuts, no mullets or mohawks
Afternoon Pick Up
Thank you everyone for your support with afternoon pick up. Apart from a couple of rainy days, the drive through pick up and walkers have run very smoothly.
Just a reminder. The school gates will be opened at 3pm for families to park on site. Please do not queue on Hansen’s Road.
Drive through will not start until 3:10pm, we ask families using drive through to not arrive earlier than this as it also causes congestion on Hansen’s Rd.
To make drive through move as quickly as possible, please consider the below points:
- Have your sign ready so we can alert your child to be waiting for you at the pick-up gate
- Your child can open the car door themselves
- Your child can buckle themselves up
Once again, thank you for your support. The teachers are noticing how much the extra 15 minutes in class during the afternoon session is supporting teaching and learning at St John Fisher.
Pets on School Grounds
We have noticed this year there have been quite a few pets on school grounds. As much as we love our family pets unfortunately, we are not allowed to have them on school grounds unless they are an aid or support pet. We thank you for your understanding.
New Bus Route
Our bus route to Chittaway Bay has been extended to Chittaway Point now. Therefore, families living in Chittaway Point no longer need to leave their children, or pick them up, from Chittaway Shops. Below is an update bus route schedule for our school.
Stephen Lynch
Assistant Principal
Class Merit Awards
Religious Education Co-Ordinator News
Often when I am looking for a prayer to share with the community, I look on this excellent website: Prayers - Catholic Online It has some wonderful prayers and reflections that can be used in anyone's house.
A Lenten Prayer called the Passion
Dear Lord Jesus,
by Your Passion and Resurrection
You brought life to the world.
But the glory of the Resurrection
came only after the sufferings of the Passion.
You laid down Your life willingly
and gave up everything for us.
Your body was broken and fastened to a Cross,
Your clothing became the prize of soldiers,
your blood ebbed slowly but surely away,
and Your Mother was entrusted to the beloved disciple.
Stretched out on the Cross,
deprived of all earthly possessions and human aid,
You cried out to Your Father that the end had come.
You had accomplished the work given You,
and You committed into His hands,
as a perfect gift,
the little life that remained to You. 
Lord, teach me to accept all afflictions
after the example You have given.
Let me place my death in Yours
and my weakness in Your abandonment,
Take hold of me with Your love,
that same foolish love that knew no limits,
and let me offer myself to the Father
with You so that I may rise with You to eternal life.
Sourced from: Prayers - Catholic Online
Burning of the Palms and Ash Wednesday
We have had a busy week, starting with the burning of the palms on Tuesday. In
the Gospels, Jesus entered Jerusalem riding a young donkey, and to the lavish praise of the townspeople who threw clothes, or possibly palms or small branches, in front of him as a sign of homage. This was a customary practice for people of great respect.
Palm branches are widely recognised symbol of peace and victory, hence their preferred use on Palm Sunday.
We saved the palms we waved last year and during a beautiful ceremony on Tuesday, led by the some of the members of the Year 6 Mission Team (Alaura, Ella, Isla and Ivy) we burnt the palms until they turned to Ash. 
These Ashes were then blessed and used during our Ash Wednesday Liturgy as a symbol to of our failings or mistakes.
We know we are not perfect, but we will try to walk closely with Jesus this Lent and we reach out and think of others.
Opening School Mass Monday 9.15am
On Monday we are excited to gather together to celebrate the start of our school year with our Opening School Mass. We are delighted that the parishioners will be joining us as we not only celebrate our community, but also acknowledge our Kindergartens as they start their journey with us and the Year 6 students as they enter their final year at St John Fisher and are presented with their leadership badges. Following the mass, parents and parishioners are welcome to stay for refreshments.
Reconciliation
We keep the Year 4 students in our prayers, as they prepare for the beautiful sacrament of Reconciliation. Reconciliation allows us to reflect on our actions and acknowledge what we have done wrong. Nobody is perfect, and so by asking for forgiveness it allows us to make amends and move closer to God.
Growing in Faith and Knowledge Awards
It is always such a difficult decision to decide on the recipients for the Growing and Faith and Knowledge Awards, but the following students stood out for their hard work, kindness, leadership and enthusiasm:
Behavioural Expectations
We have been really focusing on quality learning in the classroom. To get quality learning we need to know how to:
To Make SJF a Positive Learning Environment:
We learn and help others learn
Luisa Lawicki
Religious Education Co-Ordinator
SJF School Cross Country Carnival
Friday 3rd March Cross Country Carnival. 
Students will gather at the COLA as usual then teachers will take them to the top oval to commense the events.
Cross Country events will commence at 9:00am.
Parents and carers are invited to come and watch and bring along a blanket and picnic lunch. Students will be allowed to go home with parents or carers after all events have concluded.
Thank you to all the parents and carers who have volunteered to help on the day. If you haven't already done so, please click here to complete the Declaration for Volunteers/Contractors form 0nce completed, it is valid for 12 months.
Michael Pobjie
Sports Teacher
Parent Engagement Co-Ordinator (PEC)
SJF Parent Advisory
Yesterday we had our first Parent Advisory Committee meeting for the year. We welcomed our newest member Adele Toomey, who has made a wonderful addition to the committee. The minutes for the meeting will be finalised and posted to the website in the next few days.
School Community Round Table Discussion Evening
On Wednesday 15th March at 6pm we would like to invite our parent community to attend our Round Table Discussion evening. This will be your opportunity to voice your ideas, concerns and aspirations for our school. We hope the evening will provide a space to discuss and collaborate openly and honestly. Our aim is receive constructive feedback which could highlight areas of need, while focusing on building collaborative partnerships within our community that strengthen the family, school and parish.
We will provide nibbles and beverages on the night. We would love to see as many parents as possible attend.
I will post an RSVP form on compass for you to fill out if you are able to attend.
Parent Team Leaders
You may have seen a form come via Compass asking for “Parent Team Leaders” for our wonderful school community events. Days like our Mother’s Day Breakfast, School Disco’s and many more don’t happen without support from our amazing parents. Please check Compass or click the link below for the form to see if you can help.
https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=6TdW9-zmC0maab_Nfg2vr-y1eOZjshRKofKo1vemVcFUMVZESEE2SU1HNThXT0kyT1I2QU45MTg3RS4u
Kate Benton
P.E.C.
LITTLE FISHER’S PLAYGROUP
Playgroup is BACK for 2023!
Our SJF Playgroup provides a strong sense of connection to our school for the children to “feel at home” when its their turn to begin their big school journey. It gives parents and carers an opportunity to connect with other families.
Thursday 9th March 9:15am – 10:15am
Monday 27th March 9:15am – 10:15am
We would love to see you there!
Canteen News
Thank you to the many people who have come forward and put their hand up to volunteer in the canteen. I have already sent out a roster based on numbers I had last week, but have since received more, so will be tweaking the roster and will resend shortly.
Thank you those who have already helped out, it makes providing lunches for your children that much easier. I look forward to meeting all of you at some stage throughout the terms/year. If you haven't already
please click here to complete the Declaration for Volunteers/Contractors form
Please check that your child is in the correct class/colour
in QKR.
If an item is not on QKR at time of ordering, it will be due
to the supplier being out of stock
Helen Taufel
Canteen Co-Ordinator
Upcoming Events
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | |
| Week 5 | 27th February Opening School Mass 9:15am | 28th February | 1st March Positive Parenting Program Wk 1 | 2nd March | 3rd March |
| Week 6 | 6thMarch | 7th March | 8th March Positive Parenting Program Wk 2 | 9th March | 10th March |
| Week 7 | 13th March | 14th March | 15th March Positive Parenting Program Wk 3 | 16th March Open Day 9:30am-11am 6pm - 7:30pm | 17th March St Patrick's Day 9:15am Liturgy  |
| Week 8 | 20th March | 21st March Harmony Day Wear Orange Accessories  | 22nd March Positive Parenting Program Wk 4 | 23rd March | 24th March |
| Week 9 | 27th March | 28th March | 29th March Positive Parenting Program Wk 5 | 30th March | 31st March |
| Week 10 | 3rd April | 4th April | 5th April Positive Parenting Program Wk 6 | 6th April Holy Thursday 9:15am Reflection & Liturgy LAST DAY OF TERM | 7th April Good Friday  |
| TERM 2 Week 1 | 24th April PUPIL FREE DAY | 25th April ANZAC Day  | 26th April | 27th April | 28th April |
| Week 2 | 1st May | 2nd May | 3rd May | 4th May | 5th May |
Flyers
