Week 10 Term 2 2024

Principal's Message

Welcome to the final week of Term 2.

Quiz Night

From all accounts our Quiz Night, that was held on Friday 14th June was a huge success. Despite the terrible weather we had a large group of dedicated attendees who threw themselves into the 70’s spirit of the night. A huge thank you to the Quiz Night committee comprising of staff and a Parent and Friends volunteer who planned and executed a wonderful night for our community. Special mention to Jess and Esta who spent months planning for the event. The Quiz Night raised $6,000.00, a big thank you to all the members of our community who supported the event by attending or donating goods or services that went towards raffle prizes. Jess and Esta have listed all the companies that kindly donated at the end of the newsletter. All proceeds from the night are going towards our new playground, with designs and costings currently being investigated and negotiated by the Parents and Friends Committee in consultation with the school leadership team and School Board members.

Swimming Lessons

For the next two years we have locked in our Swimming Program, Monday 26th August to Friday 30th August 2024 for all children in Reception to Year 5. The Swimming Program will be facilitated at iswim @Immanuel. Dino Zandona and Franca Jeffery attended Immanuel to check out the swimming program and changing facilities. They were both impressed with the swimming program, venue and transport they have on offer.

For St John Bosco School to participate in Swimming lessons we require registered and inducted St John Bosco Parent volunteers to assist with maintaining child/adult supervision ratios. Please note that iswim@Immanuel do not allow parents to come and observe swimming lessons unless they are a registered volunteer wearing a yellow vest and assisting in supervision of children. If you are available to assist and are not yet a registered volunteer please see Mary in the front office asap, to allow plenty of time for screenings to occur.

School Fees

A big thank you to all the families that are making regular payments towards their school fees. Congratulations to the families who have already completed paying their 2024 school fees. We encourage all families to set up a regular Direct Debit for convenience.

Have you applied for School Card this year? St John Bosco School offers fee reduction to qualifying low income families, by applying for the Department for Education’s School Card scheme. Under this practice, if a family has been assessed as eligible for School Card by the Department for Education, they become eligible to receive Lower Income Fees. Please note a new application is required for all families each school year. Applications for 2024 can be submitted online electronically, or via a hardcopy form completed and handed to the School Office. More information about the School Card scheme such as income limits, and cut off dates for applications can be found on their website:

http://www.sa.gov.au/topics/education-and-learning/financial-help-scholarships-and-grants/school-card-scheme.

St John Bosco Be Active Day

We all look forward to SJB Be Active Day each year when our community spirit comes alive when we walk, jog, skip or run through our neighbourhood. If you have some free time on Friday of this week, come along and join us. Information was sent home for families, please return your child’s consent form ASAP and think about volunteering to assist Mr Zandona monitoring the course to keep our children safe.

School Uniform

If you require new uniform items, Devon Clothing is open over the school holiday break. As the cooler weather is upon us, please ensure that layers added for warmth are our school bottle green colour. Non uniform pieces are not to be worn as a top layer of clothing. Devon clothing are preparing sample St John Bosco beanies for us to approve. We anticipate these will be available from August this year.

Semester 1 Reports

Your child received their Semester 1 Student Report today. Written reports are just one way St John Bosco School communicates with you about how your child is progressing at school. All schools provide parents and carers with two written reports each year that:

• report on all subjects studied by their child

• are based on a five-point achievement scale

• use plain language

• identify areas of strength and areas that need more development.

Student reports are based on an A-E achievement scale, supported by a description of what this means in relation to their progress against the achievement standard. Reports for Reception students use descriptive wording about students’ progress over the year referenced to the Reception level achievement standard.

Teachers use a range of different assessment strategies and tools to gather evidence of student achievement with reference to the achievement standards in the Australian Curriculum. Based on the evidence, teachers make an on-balance judgement to decide which grade best matches the standard the student has achieved.

A–E grades or word equivalents are used by teachers to report students’ achievement against the Australian Curriculum achievement standards. The grades describe a range of achievement from minimal to excellent. The following table describes each grade in word.

In relation to the achievement standard, your child …

A is demonstrating excellent achievement of what is expected at this year level.

B is demonstrating good achievement of what is expected at this year level.

C is demonstrating satisfactory achievement of what is expected at this year level.

D is demonstrating partial achievement of what is expected at this year level.

E is demonstrating minimal achievement of what is expected at this year level

An ‘A’ grade indicates that the student has shown a thorough knowledge and understanding of a topic and can apply that information in unfamiliar situations.

Typically a ‘C’ grade means a student is achieving what is expected of them at that point in their learning. This is a considerable achievement because of the high expectations built in to the achievement standards.

An ‘E’ grade means the student is just beginning to work towards the achievement standard.

A-E grades and the accompanying comments are one aspect of reporting to parents/carers/guardians. The report can also provide information about:

• a student’s strengths and areas for development

• information about their social development

• strategies to assist their progress

• involvement in school programs and activities

• attitude and commitment to learning

• attendance and late arrival

Wishing you all a wonderful holiday break. Term 3 will begin on Monday 22nd July 2024, at 8:45am.

Take care

Kate

From the APRIM

St Maria Mazzarello House Fundraiser

On Wednesday 12th June we celebrated St Maria Mazzarello Day, where we came together to support the Cancer Council. Children wore yellow to show their support and created a Cancer Council logo coin trail. Imelda and Chris, St Maria Mazzarello House Captains, sold cookies during Recess and Lunch. Together, we raised a total of $649.00. Thank you for your continued support and involvement in our school fundraisers.

St John Bosco 70th Anniversary Liturgy

On Monday 17th June, we celebrated the 70th anniversary of St John Bosco School. This milestone marked seven decades of educational excellence, community spirit, and unwavering commitment to our children’s growth and development. The celebration began with a liturgy in the school hall. Following the liturgy, we continued the celebration with cake and coffee. This was a wonderful chance for staff, parents, parishioners and past students to mingle.

Michael Mangan Concert

Well-known Catholic composer, performer and liturgist, Michael Mangan, visited St John Bosco School on Friday 21st of June, to present a whole-school concert. The children loved singing along to our favourite songs and learning some new songs. Michael sang the St John Bosco School song that was written by himself, staff and children 13 years ago.

Year 6 Retreat – By Joanna, Allegra and Yuvraj

Breath in, breathe out. Doesn’t that make you feel nice and calm? On Year 6 Retreat we did yoga with our instructor Amy, and she taught us all the ways to do calm breathing, to relax and calm down. We also did some poses to stretch our body and let’s just say, it wasn’t easy. All the year 6 students tried to do the poses, even some of the teachers! We did the warrior pose, downward dog, cactus pose and many more. We were all exhausted, but little did we know, it was just the beginning. Love, humour, kindness, zest and leadership. These are all different character strengths. Based on what our top character strength was, we were asked to draw a portrait of ourselves on a small canvas and include different elements of our top character strength. When we finished our portrait with a lead pencil (and one of the teachers approved our drawing) we could either colour using markers or paint! After we did a small session of the portraits, we had stopped for a recess eating break. The lovely Lisa Ida had brought in a surprise for us all! Donuts! After recess we all got back into the hall. Now on to the amazing group activities! Firstly, we started off with a hula-hoop game where we all had to form a group of five we all were given three hula-hoops to create a path to get to the other side of the hall. But beware, there is a twist to the game that you cannot step out of the hula-hoop. It was the first team to reach the other side of the hall that we thought wasn’t that far, but it was. Next up the most spectacular game we played was the caterpillar track game which involved strategy and teamwork. We had to create a caterpillar track out of newspaper which we could all fit in. The thing was that the newspaper was very thin, and we had to watch our every step, so the newspaper wouldn’t rip but, in the end, a lot of groups ripped the newspaper. The point of the game was the exact same as the previous game - to get to the other side of the hall and not touch the floor. The part of the retreat that all the year 6 students loved was the letter reading! We each got a letter from our parents which we had to read and reflect on. Let’s just say it was very emotional. In the letters our parents wrote all the character strengths they saw in us, from ever since we were little. It was a very reflective and quiet way to wrap up our day. After we read our letters, we each got a piece of paper which Miss Bell called the ‘Exit Ticket’! When we finished reflecting, it was sadly the end of the day. All the year 6 students and the teachers were sad that the day was over. We all had tons of fun and it was a wonderful experience for everyone.

St Dominic Savio House Fundraiser

On Wednesday 3rd July (Week 10), we will be holding our St Dominic Savio House Fundraiser. This year, Alayna and Oscar have chosen to support the Vinnies Winter Appeal. On this day, children are encouraged to come to school wearing their coziest pyjamas and are welcome to bring a small soft toy. In addition, we will be selling delicious hot chocolate at Recess for just $2 per cup. To support our school's sustainability efforts, you are welcome to bring your own keep cup! We will also be accepting donations for the Vinnies Winter Appeal. Your generosity will help those in need during the cold winter months. Please refer to the donations guide for more details on the items that are most needed. We look forward to seeing everyone in their pyjamas and enjoying a warm cup of hot chocolate!

Leah Bellifemini