Week 2 Term 4 2023

Welcome to Term 4, it’s great to see all the children back at school engaging in their learning. It is a special term for our Year 6, senior children who will have a busy term celebrating the end of their primary school education. It is natural for the Year 6 children to feel excited, nervous and also a bit sad. Our teachers and staff will assist the children in navigating their emotions while ensuring their last term of primary school is memorable.

Christmas Concert

Please place Friday December 1st in your diaries as we have our School Christmas Concert. We will have our concert on our school oval with gates opening at 5:30pm and the concert beginning at 6:00pm. Families are encouraged to bring a picnic rug and dinner, find the perfect spot on our oval and sit back and enjoy each class perform. A BBQ will be available on the night, vegetarian options and drinks will also be available. We look forward to seeing all families at the Christmas Concert, it promises to be a fun filled night!

Parents and Friends

All parents whose children attend St John Bosco School are members of the Parents and Friends (P&F) Committee. The P&F fosters and promotes parental participation in the life of the school through social and fundraising events, both essential to the life and spirit of St John Bosco.

New members to the committee are always welcome to volunteer their time to assist with events and functions. The P&F would love assistance from parents and friends to support with Term 4 events which include a Special Lunch for the children and a Christmas Raffle.

Please speak to the staff at the school office if you would like to know more about being an active participant in our P&F.

The P&F are currently collecting donations for the Christmas Raffle. An assortment of new goods are welcomed which may include; chocolates, Christmas cookies, homewares, vouchers for local businesses or any item you would love to receive in a gift basket. Please leave donations at the school office.

2024 Class Placements

We are beginning to plan for next year, working on 2024 class placements in the coming weeks. If you have any special considerations, you would like us to be aware of please speak to me or email me personally kate.turner@sjb.catholic.edu.au by Friday 10th November. Please be mindful that this is not an opportunity to list all the children you would like to be in your child’s class. Our teachers work tirelessly on placing each child in a learning environment that will provide the best opportunities for every learner to thrive and flourish.

School Picnic

We had a wonderful day as a community at Thorndon Park Reserve, for our School Picnic, late last term. The staff, children and families enjoyed the beautiful surroundings while also having lots of fun on the challenging playground equipment. It was great, to start the day with our House Captains leading our Health Hustle before we began exploring everything Thorndon Park had to offer. Thank you to all the staff and volunteers that assisted on the day to make the event possible. If you are looking for a great playground, head to Thorndon Park Reserve as it was recently awarded Best Playground in Australia, by the Australian Institute of Landscape Architecture. I think our children would agree with the judges!

Volunteering at St John Bosco School

Getting involved in the school community is easy.  We appreciate any time that you can spare to assist in the following:

• Helping in the learning environments
• Listening to reading
• Supporting excursions
• Assisting with events on Sports Day
• Coaching an Out of School Hours Sports team
• Volunteering to participate or coordinate special events or activities 

We place great importance on the safety of our school community and will support you to become a Registered Volunteer and obtain a Catholic Police Clearance.  You will need to participate in a Volunteers Induction program with a member of staff and complete all requirements to be able to volunteer at St John Bosco.  The next Volunteers Induction is being held at 9:00am on Thursday 9th November. Please email elaine.cram@sjb.catholic.edu.au

Volunteers must also complete an online training module, please click on the link below to complete;

Responding to Abuse & Neglect Online Training 

https://www.plink.sa.edu.au/pages/external-dashboard.jsf?menuId=1104&locale=en-GB#/?dashboardId=6

For more information, please speak to the friendly staff at the school office.

Kate Turner

St Maria Mazzarello Fundraiser Day – Wednesday Week 10 

On Wednesday of Week 10, our St Maria Mazzarello House Captains, Giulia and Eli, led a Fundraiser for Our Lady of La Vang & St Patrick’s Special Schools. They did an amazing job at planning and engaging the children in a variety of activities. Here’s what Giulia had to say:  

Giulia: Blue Team Day was a blast! Thank you to all the students who volunteered to help with this fundraiser. A special ‘thank you’ to Miss Bell for all your help, we couldn’t have done it without you. It took a lot of organising and preparation, but we thought it was an incredible day in the end. We hope everybody had a fun day and enjoyed the activities. The Blue Team (St Maria Mazzarello) House Captains are proud to say that we raised approximately $155 for St Patrick's Special School and Our Lady Of La Vang. We appreciate all the contributions and thank everybody for coming to school with their jerseys, you all looked awesome!  

Pupil Free Day – Be Of Benefit 

On Friday 29th September, the St John Bosco staff gathered for their Pupil Free Day. The theme of the day was Be of Benefit. Our aim was to Be of Benefit to the wider community and cultivate the character strength of kindness. We gathered for a Liturgy in the morning and then provided a service to support our chosen community groups. Some of the community groups included Women’s and Children’s Hospital, the Australian Red Cross, Clean Up Australia, and Pet Food Bank Fill Their Bowl Project. It was wonderful to see the staff engaging in these activities and providing service to others.  

“You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.” Jane Goodall 

New Excellence School Bench 

Our second bench was delivered this week, by artist Anna Small and her husband, Warren Pickering. Zoe, Thomas, Jude and Lia enjoyed taking the first seat on the bench. The artwork was originally designed by the SJB children. We are now in the process of finalising out last two bench designs, based on the school values of Loving-Kindness and Service. We hope to have them completed and delivered by December.  

Mission Day – written by Nicola K, Victoria and Giulia 

Mission Day was a blast! The 5/6 unit has been working very hard to create small businesses/stalls to advertise their products and raise money for a charity, which this year was Centacare. Centacare is a charity that supports the homeless and provides care packs for those in need. This year there were 13 stalls in total, each with a unique atmosphere. Some stalls had come back after a few years of being discontinued, like the infamous ‘Haunted House’ and slime stalls. There was so much food being sold, sweet and savory!  The stalls were spread out around the courtyard, and some were connected to the mini oval, this made it easier to raise awareness about the stalls. “COME TO SWEET TOOTH” Children were talking over the microphone to make the stall heard, it especially became hectic close to the end, with stalls making announcements that everything was half price, or everything was FREE! This year there were more food stalls like ‘Sweet Shack’, and less games/toy stalls. Unfortunately, there was no raffle this year, BUT we did have more sweet stalls, so it was evened out. It made teachers very happy to see past students coming to support Mission Day stalls.       

All Saints Day Mass 

On Wednesday 1st November we will gather as a school community for All Saints Day. Mass will be celebrated in the St John Bosco Church at 9:00am. All families and friends are welcome.  

Leah Belllifemini

Last term the 3/4 Learning Community went to Warrawong Wildlife Sanctuary for our biannual camp. Prior to camp, we explored different character strengths that the children thought that they would need to draw on while away, including bravery, resilience, humour, patience, and the list goes on. Although the weather was cold and wet, it certainly did not dampen the children’s spirit and camp experience, as they had an amazing time participating in a range of different activities. Some of the activities we participated in included animal walks, kangaroo petting and feeding, dusk tour, animal shows, holding snakes and lizards, talking to the talkative birds and much more. The children also got to watch nocturnal animals come to eat and explore through the windows as they fell asleep. A big thank you to the parent helpers and staff who helped the children to have a wonderful time! Here are some words from the children, highlighting their favourite thing about camp:

My favourite thing about camp was seeing the snake. - Gurasees 

I loved roasting marshmallows. - Aliyah

I liked the animal show. - Evelyn

I loved everything about camp. - Ruby

I liked holding the reptiles. - Alexis 

I liked seeing the kangaroos. - Junior 

Feeding the kangaroos and talking to Charlie the bird. - Cooper

I liked everything. - Nicolas

Feeding the kangaroos. - Chris 

I liked everything. - Jordan

Feeding the kangaroos and going on the night walk. - Bruno 

My favourite was watching the movie and roasting marshmallows. - Terry

My favourite thing was feeding the kangaroos. - Guransh 

My favourite was feeing the kangaroos and watching the birds. - Abhiram 

Charlie the bird. - James

Feeding the roos and seeing the platypus and turtles. - Camden

The night walk. - Amber

Feeding the kangaroos. - Chloe 

Spending time with my friends and going to bed. -Mikaela 

Feeding the kangaroos and the bird show. - Odelinda 

Toasting the marshmallows. - Andrea 

Feeding the kangaroos and seeing the animals. - Achira 

Seeing the koalas and kangaroos. - Keren 

Roasting marshmallows. - Chace 

Feeding the kangaroos and the night walk. - Lorenzo 

Final hours have been counted for 2023 and I am proud to announce that 20 dedicated students will be graduating with a Children’s University award this year. I am so proud of the dedication these students have shown towards the program and look forward to celebrating their achievements at the Children’s University Graduation Ceremony, which is to be held on Friday 3rd November at Bonython Hall. The students graduating are:

Freya, Levi, Minka-Lee, Odelinda, Summer, Waris, Ekam, Cristopher, Roona, Andrea, Aedan, Delphine, Elkin, Elliana, Athul, Alayna, Alex, Avraaj, Jasmehraj and Sebastian.

I hope that this is just the start of the students’ Children’s University journey and that they continue with the program in 2024 and beyond. For those students who signed up this year but didn’t meet the minimum requirements to graduate, rest assured that the hours you gained in 2023 will not go to waste and will be your beginning point in 2024 should you wish to continue. New students from R-6 interested in the program are also encouraged to sign up  – keep your eye out in the new year for more information!

Louise Marshall

Children’s University Coordinator

On Friday of Week 1, some of our Reception to Year 2 children participated in an after school fun clinic hosted by the West Torrens Baseball Club. Our children had a great time with smiles all around having their first taste of modified baseball and all the sport has to offer. The West Torrens Baseball Club would lo like to extend the invitation for any Reception to Year 2 children to register and give the Mini Eagles program a go. 

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact the Mini Eagles team through the email address at the bottom of the flyer.

Mace van Weenen

Physical Eduacation Teacher

On the 26th of September, our fantastic 5/6 students represented St John Bosco School at the Catholic Schools Music Festival. The festival is a big deal as over 20 Catholic school groups from the state, all come together for a night of choral singing. Our choir practiced for a total of three terms. We travelled to rehearsals and impressed our choral trainer Mr Scott and choir conductor Denise Rothall. All the practice definitely paid off!

Backstage, our hearts were skipping a beat every minute! We were equally nervous and EXCITED as we warmed up our voices!!! The time came when we took our positions on stage before the curtains opened up. When they opened, we looked upon everyone smiling up at us from a packed Adelaide Festival Theatre audience. It made the experience surreal. - Harriet 

It was an outstanding experience; it will definitely be one of the most unforgettable days on my journey in SENIOR YEAR! I loved spending time singing with my buddies! - Japnoor 

 It felt so amazing standing up on the stage. It was such an unforgettable moment going through a journey with all my amazing choir friends. -Mia 

The bright lights were startling! I was amazed to see the big audience for us when the curtains opened. - Miguel 

I was very proud to sing the National Anthem. My family were so excited to see me. - Dishita  

The Year 5 - 6 students travelled to Glenhaven Park in Stockport for three days camp last week. We participated in various activities, celebrated a birthday, and had a talent show in that short time. We did lots of fun activities including the giant swing, archery, high ropes, and the leap of faith. Everyone had so much fun! We even had a competition for the loudest screamer. For the “I love you, pole!” on the High Ropes, we had two winners, Ivy, and Liam. For the Giant Swing, Harriet and Tendai were the winners for having the loudest screams. In Archery, group three had the highest score. In the Leap of Faith, we had a competition to see who could do the most chin-ups. The winners were Roman with 20, and Harriet with 10. 

On the first day of camp, we had sandwiches for lunch and ‘possum’ (beef) lasagna for dinner. For dessert, we had apple crumble with custard followed by milo and biscuits for supper. On the second day we had pancakes with toppings for breakfast, then participated in two activities, then enjoyed pizza's for lunch. We had fruit for afternoon tea, did one more activity and had roasted chicken Maryland for dinner and vegetables with ice cream and fruit salad for dessert. We even had biscuits for supper. We were spoilt with great food.  On the last night of camp we had a talent show, where everyone was in a group and shared their talents. Giulia, Victoria, Joanna, Ivy, Harriet, Mia, and Japnoor hosted the talent show and dressed up as the teachers who were at camp! It was hilarious. 

We really enjoyed creating memories at camp and making the most of our senior years in primary school. We recommend going to Glenhaven Park Camp. It was an amazing experience. 

Faith and Joanna