Week 6 Term 2 2023

Welcome to winter, last night’s thunderstorm was the hot topic of conversation with the staff and children today. As the weather cools down can I remind families to please ensure that if your child is wearing a skivvy or tights that they are in the school uniform bottle green colour. It is fine to add these items as an underneath garment for warmth, although they are not to be worn as the only layer of clothing.

Second Hand Uniforms

A Facebook group has been set up for selling, swapping and buying of second hand St John Bosco uniform items. You are welcome to send a request to join the private group titled, St John Bosco School Uniform Buy, Sell or Swap. Please make yourself aware and obey the rules of this group.

Pupil Free Day

We have a Pupil Free Day this Friday 9th June. If you require care for your child/ren please contact Mirella at Mirella.Tsimiklis@sjb.catholic.edu.au to secure a booking. There is a charge of $49.00 per child for the day, government rebates do apply. St John Bosco staff will be engaging in Professional Learning with the Wellbeing Distillery with the theme ‘Wellbeing for All – All the Time’ being explored. We are all very excited to join 130 of our colleagues from Catholic schools to further our journey in engaging deeply with enhancing the wellbeing of all at St John Bosco School.

Pupil Free Dates for the remainder of the 2023 school year to place in your diary:

Friday 28th September

Thursday 14th December

Friday 15th December

Car Parking

The West Torrens Council Parking inspectors have had a presence in the streets surrounding our school, many drivers who are disregarding street signage have received a fine in the post. Please pay particular attention to the parking signage around the school.

Many drivers are beginning to park their cars in front of the St John Bosco Church, please be aware this is a no parking zone. 

School Hall

We are very excited to announce that our building project will begin next week with the builders Harrold & Kite erecting their fences on Wednesday to begin construction. This long awaited building project will enhance the teaching and learning at St John Bosco School. The building project consists of a large gathering space for assemblies, liturgies and Physical Education lessons in wet or hot weather. A new OSHC space and a space for our Playgroup and Little Boscos Transition Program. We will also have a new sports court between the School Hall and Marshall Terrace. The building project is located in space that will not greatly affect the children and teachers undertaking their learning and teaching.

School Statements

School Statements outlining your child/ren’s School Fees are sent home each term. It is an expectation that families make regular payments to ensure the balance is decreasing as the year progresses as outlined in our School Fee Policy. Please refer to the School Fee Policy 2023 to access information and or complete a Direct Debit Form. If you plan on applying for School Card please complete your application ASAP as the closing date for 2023 is approaching. A big thank you to families that ensure their child’s school fees are paid on time.

Sibling Enrolments

We have limited vacancies available in the coming years for Reception. Please ensure you complete an enrolment form for all younger siblings that intend to attend St John Bosco School. Enrolment Forms are available from our front office.

Wishing you all a wonderful long weekend.

Kate Turner

Last Tuesday, the SJB community gathered to celebrate the feast of Pentecost. This wonderful event marks the beginning or ‘birthday’ of the Church. On this day, we remembered the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles. Pentecost reminds us of the power and presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. It is a time to reflect upon the gifts given to us by the Spirit: wisdom, knowledge, understanding, reverence or respect, courage, wonder and right judgment. We need the Holy Spirit in our lives as we are called to follow Jesus and be his disciples in the Church today. He wants us to continue to carry out the work or mission he gave to the first disciples many years ago. The Spirit works in us to help us become more like Jesus and to use the unique God-given gifts we have been given. We thank Fr Long Hai for leading our Mass and the parishioners, family and friends who joined us in the celebration. A special mention goes out to the children who took part in the mass and to those who created some special artwork.

As part of the English curriculum, the students in 1/2LA have recently been learning about persuasive writing. Persuasive writing, also known as opinion writing, is a type of writing that is used to convince or persuade someone of something. It is a form of non-fiction writing and the students have been learning to develop arguments and carefully choose words to support their opinions.

In order to build their skills in persuasion and developing an argument, the students were asked to give their opinion on homework. The students all chose a side and put forward arguments as to why they think homework should be banned or not. Here is what they said:

Homework should not be banned because it helps you learn and have a say in your education. - Ilia 

Homework should be banned because it wastes your play time and it’s sometimes too hard to do at home with no teachers. - Jessie 

Homework should not be banned because it helps you learn and makes you smarter. Homework helps you to be able to get an A at high school. - Paolos 

Homework is boring and it takes too long. - Levi 

I like homework because it’s fun to do at home with your mum and it helps you learn. - Sofia 

Homework is good because it gives you a better education. - Elkin 

I don’t like homework because it takes up our time at home when we should be doing fun things and active things. I think it should be banned. - Delly

I like homework because you might be homeless if you don’t learn enough and can’t get a job when you are older. - Freya

Homework should be banned because it takes a long time and it makes me tired at home. - Leonida 

Homework helps you learn more and helps you practise what you’ve learned at school. If you do homework, you can get even smarter. - Zina 

Homework should be banned because it’s hard to do. At home we should be doing sports or having playdates. - Aaliyah 

Homework helps you learn words. It is also nice to share your school learning at home with your parents. - Athul 

Homework is good because it means you get to do less at school. - Basit 

I like homework because I like learning. If you do it, you will know a lot of stuff when you’re older. Also, homework can help you learn about ancient history and how to make stuff and how to write. - Anastasia 

I like to play at home so I think homework should be banned. It takes up lots of time at home and makes children get tired. - Ganeev

Homework should stay because I love homework. I like learning from the teacher and practising at home. - Luca 

I don’t want homework to be banned because it’s good for you and there might be some activities that people think are fun. - Minka-Lee

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­(when asked if homework should be banned, she said no) - Jennifer 

Louise Marshall

Many students are well underway with accruing hours in their Children’s University passports for 2023. Please don’t forget that I am available every Tuesday at recess (in the library) to check and stamp passports, provide help with the Portal and answer any CU-related questions.

The last day to accrue hours for 2023 is Sunday 24th September, so please use the upcoming school holidays in July to complete as many activities as possible. For those who gain enough hours, the CU Graduation Ceremony will be held in early November (further details to be provided in Term 3).

On Tuesday 20th June (Week 8) children are invited to participate in a fun lunchtime activity which on completion will gain them 30 minutes in their passport.  Emma Scott from the Children's University will be helping to run the activity on this day.

Louise Marshall

Children’s University Coordinator

Alex and Yarshira attended CESA’s Thriving People cultural event at Carclew for children who identify as Aboriginal. They participated in a range of activities that celebrate Aboriginal culture, history and stories. This was a valuable opportunity for all children in Catholic schools to not only experience various aspects of culture but also to connect with their peers from other schools.

I liked decorating the calico bags. I used posca pens to make a kangaroo head. - Alex

We loved making music with Jerome the producer in the Gig Rig van. -  Alex and Yarshira

I painted a campfire, the sun and kangaroo tracks on a canvas with lots of bright colours.  - Yarshira

I learnt how Aboriginal people made fire with a flint stone and a stick. - Alex

I enjoyed all the activities and being with all the Aboriginal children from other schools. - Yarshira

Uncle Ivan, a Peramangk Elder painted our hands with red ochre. It was so soft. - Yarshira and Alex