School Newsletter - Issue 6 - Friday, 5th May 2023
Principal's News
Dear Parents and Carers,
Welcome to Term 2! I know that we have only been back 2 weeks, but so much has happened in that time. Last Monday the staff participated in a full day workshop on ‘Understanding Autism’ and took away a great deal of great ideas from this Professional Learning. Tuesday was ANZAC Day and we are so proud of the students who represented SJF both at the Dawn service and the 11:00 march. Thank you to our parents who assisted and attended.
Happy Mother’s Day
We wish all mothers and special women in the lives of our students a very special day Sunday week and thank you for your loving commitment to your children. We have a special morning planned on Friday 12th and look forward to welcoming you to celebrate.
Kindergarten 2024 Enrolments
All enrolments for Kindergarten 2024 should now have been lodged. The next step in the process is an interview, which have started undertaking and will continue next week. This is an important part of the enrolment process and one where the partnership between school and families really begins. We look forward to welcoming new families to SJF alongside the new additions to our current families. Once all applicants have been interviewed, the enrolment committee will meet and finalise placements.
Parent/Teacher Interviews
Keeping students at the forefront of our decision making including strengthening parent partnerships, we constantly review and evaluate everything we do at SJF. To discuss student progress to date, the formal parent/teacher interviews will be held in Week 4 this year. In bringing the feedback cycle earlier, we aim to provide a clear insight into your child’s learning prior to you recieving their report later in the term. This will support you to understand how your child is progressing and the steps teachers are taking to support your child and their learning in class. We have discussed with other schools who have adopted this approach and the positive feedback to them has been overwhelming, including parents appreciating the earlier verbal feedback followed by the formal written report.
Reports will be sent home early Week 10. Should you require a follow up interview once you have received your child’s report, we will ask you to contact your child’s teacher directly.
The booking system will be opened early next week to book your interview time for Week 4 interviews.
Kind regards
Marcel Arendse
Principal
Assistant Principal's News
Uniform
With the weather starting to cool down, we want to allow some flexibility with which uniform the children wear to school. For the next few weeks, we will allow parents to decide which uniform they think is most suitable for their child, based on the current conditions. Therefore, until Week 6, children are able to either wear their full summer, or full winter uniform.
During this transition period children are not permitted to wear a combination of both uniforms, but you have the choice to wear either their full summer, or full winter uniform.
As a school, we will ask all children to be wearing full winter uniform by Week 6.
As a reminder, below is a description of what a full winter or summer uniform consists of.
Girls’ Summer Uniform
* Lemon short sleeved school shirt
* Green checked school dress or green tailored school shorts
* Green socks and black leather shoes (No boots)
* Wide brim school hat and/or cap
Girls’ Winter Uniform
* Lemon long sleeved school shirt
* Green checked school tunic/green tights or green tailored school pants
* Green socks and black leather shoes (No boots)
* Wide brim school hat and/or cap
Boys’ Summer Uniform
* Lemon short sleeved school shirt
* Dark green tailored school shorts
* Green socks and black leather shoes (No boots)
* Wide brim school hat and/or cap
Boys’ Winter Uniform
* Lemon short sleeved school shirt
* Dark green tailored school pants
* Green socks and black leather shoes (No boots)
* Wide brim school hat and/or cap
Attendance
Each day missed:
- Puts your child behind and makes it harder for them to catch up
- Can lead to lower achievement in reading, writing and numeracy
- Can lead to gaps in learning and impact on social and emotional skills
At SJF we pride ourselves on the love and care we have for the students and families in our community. From time to time children will have some anxiety about coming to school and we are always here to support them. If your child is having any unsettling feelings about attending school, please let us know so we can work together and support your child with this.
Stephen Lynch
Assistant Principal
Class Merit Awards
Congratulations! 
Religious Education Co-ordinator News
Celebrating Mothers
This month we prepare to celebrate mothers and motherly figures in our lives. The community of St John Fisher is blessed to have so many wonderful motherly figures that support and guide us to be the very best version of ourselves. As we prepare for our Mother’s Day celebrations that will take place next week, we take a moment to reflect and pray.
What does God say about Mothers?
God has much to say about mothers. He greatly values mothers and their unique contribution to the world. Jesus certainly would not have been born without a mother! One of the most well-known Scriptures related to parenthood is found in Exodus 20:12, which is also one of the Ten Commandments:
“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.”
How can we bless and honor our mothers as God commanded in Exodus? One of the best ways we can honor our mothers is by praying for them. And so in honour of all mothers and motherly figures in our lives, we offer a prayer of blessing.
https://garmentsofsplendor.com/prayers-for-mothers/
Mother’s Day Celebrations
We are very excited to be gathering next Friday to celebrate all of the very special Mothers and motherly figures in our lives. You are warmly invited to:
- BBQ Breakfast 7.30-8.30 am
- Mother’s Day PowerPoint will be playing on loop in the hall for everyone to watch
- Mother’s Day Liturgy at 9.15 am
- Open classrooms from 10.15- 10.45 am (students will be doing literacy or numeracy tasks during this time, but is a chance for you to have a little look inside their classrooms and see them working)
Mother's Day Photo Presentation
WE WOULD LIKE TO CREATE A PHOTO PRESENTATION OF ALL OF THE SPECIAL LADIES IN OUR LIVES. SO THAT YOU CAN BE INCLUDED, COULD YOU PLEASE SEND A PHOTO TO THE FOLLOWING EMAIL BY NO LATER THAN WEDNESDAY 10TH MAY
ssjtu.events@dbb.catholic.edu.au
Stations of The Cross and Resurrection
Last Wednesday, the first day of school, each grade gathered in the Mass Centre for a quiet reflection to mark the Resurrection of Jesus. It was a quiet and prayerful time that allowed each student to look back on the events of Holy Week and the sacrifice Jesus made for us.
We would like to acknowledge and congratulate Reef, Savanah, Leo, Airlie, Sophie and Sheridan for their outstanding performance of the Stations of The Cross. They were very patient, prayerful, and reverent and their commitment was hugely appreciated by the parishioners and the school.
ANZAC Day
On ANZAC Day, we were very proud to have lots of SJF representatives
who joined Mr Arendse,
Mr Lynch, Miss Evans, Mrs Kate Benton and myself for the dawn service and march. We proudly showed off our new school blazers and joined in the events in honour the service men and women who dedicated their lives for our protection. We marked the occasion back at school with a beautiful liturgy led by Year 5 teachers and students.
Behavioural Expectations
To set up positive learning behaviours in class, we have been explicitly teaching
the children:
To Make SJF a Positive Learning Environment:
We Try Our Best and Have a Growth Mindset
We have been unpacking the notion that we are not always good at everything the first time, or we might not be good at something ‘YET’. But to be good at something we must persevere through difficulties and always try our best. Giving up is not an option at SJF! We encourage and support the children to problem solve, show grit and determination, and seek help when needed to achieve their personal best.
As parents, you can support this notion by 
modelling your own persistence and achievements. Most importantly, as parents, don’t step in and take over and show them what to do, this reinforces that they can’t do it. Help them with a guiding hand but allow them to make mistakes and then support them in trying again. Remember the motto “I can’t do it YET!” KEEP TRYING, you’ll get there.
See website below
Tips and Tricks to Teach Your Child to Have a Growth Mindset
Luisa Lawicki
Religious Education Co-ordinator News
Canteen News
Hi everyone, Term Two is well and truly under way and the canteen is back on deck and raring to go. I am always looking at new food options for the canteen and the following is a list of new products available as a trial at the moment. Space in my ovens and the fridge/freezers is limited, so I ask for your understanding when items become unavailable, especially on Fridays, when orders are over triple what they normally are. There is a stock control on products and when it has run out for the week, it will no appear on the QKr list.
New Items available:Ham and cheese Pockets, a wrap filled with ham and cheese and toasted served warm - only available for Recess Make your own Salad Bowl - A salad bowl starting at $5 (salad only) add your protein (chicken $1, ham $1 or egg $0.50 or a mix of all) and add your sauce (50 cents each). only available for LunchRed Rock Deli Chips in sea salt or honey soy $1.50 available for recess or over the counter.Pieces of fruit are available over the counter at recess and lunch for $1.00 per piece. Please also find below a price list for your convenience.Oven space in the canteen is at a premium, the hot food takes up this space very quickly. Please understand that hot food will only be provided based on the space available and supply of the food. As previously mentioned, if an item is not available on QKr when you try and order, it means the stock has run out. If you see an item continuously out of stock, it means I cannot source the product from my suppliers. I appreciate your understanding with this.Thank you to my volunteers for their assistance in helping out in the canteen. If there is anyone else who would like to give it a go, please get in touch via email. There is a process to undertake first to enable you to help out (It is easy to do). Working in the canteen is fun and busy! Thank you again for your support, I look forward to a great Term Two and beyond.
Helen Taufel
Canteen Co-ordinator
Parent Engagement Co-ordinator (PEC)
Mother’s Day Stall
Little Fisher’s Playgroup
Parent Helpers
Any parents available to help at the following events please email
kate.benton@dbb.catholic.edu.au with your availability.
Mother’s Day stall next Wednesday 10th May (in the morning for a few hours).
Mother’s Day Breakfast Set Up next Thursday 11th May (in the afternoon from around 1:30pm until pick up).
Fathers, Grandfathers or Special Male Figures in our lives are invited to help during our Mother’s Day Breakfast next Friday 12th May (From 7am until 9am, or even a portion of this times).
Disco “Save the Date”
Date: Friday 26th May
Theme: Sport & Cheer Heroes
Time: Kindy, Year 1 & Year 2 - 5:30pm – 6:45pm
Year 3, Year 4, Year 5 & Year 6 - 7:15pm – 8:30pm
This is a drop off event and we request that parents who are not already signed up to help do not stay at the Disco. There will be a small canteen available so students are welcome to bring $2 coins to purchase.
Please book tickets with the following link:
https://www.trybooking.com/CIBNX
Music
MUSIC @SJF – Musica Viva Visiting ensemble
This term in music we will be having the great pleasure of a visit from an ensemble called TOPOLOGY. The cost of this in house performance is covered in school fees and will be a wonderful learning experience for our students. Parents are invited to the concert/workshop as well.
Monday 15th May
Years K-2 at 9:30 in the hall.
Years 3-6 at 11:30 in the hall.
Topology, consists of four composers/musicians from Brisbane and on Monday of Week
4, students will be entertained and enlightened by their music played live. Students will see and hear pieces played by the Quartet on Saxophone, Violin, Viola and Double Bass.
So, the focus for this term is on SHAPES in music and all students K-6 will be learning more about how musical shapes can be put together a bit like a puzzle, to create pieces of music. This will inspire our term of learning as we make musical shapes, notate them, sing them and transfer them onto a variety of instruments to perform our own musical composition
See below for a piece of music to listen to. It is less than a minute. Play it whenever you like.
Lynda Burke
Music Teacher
Upcoming Events
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | |
| Week 3 | 8th May | 9th May Little Fishers Playgroup | 10th May Mothers Day Stall | 11th May | 12th May
|
| Week 4 | 15th May | 16th May | 17th May | 18th May | 19th May |
| Week 5 | 22nd May | 23rd May Broken Bay Primary Cross Country | 24th May | 25th May | 26th May |
| Week 6 | 29th May Confirmation Information Evening at | 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 | 22nd June | 23rd June |
| Week 10 | 26th June | 27th June | 28th June | 29th June | 30th June |
