Term 3, Week 10, 21 September
Principal Message
Dear St John's Community,
As we approach the end of Term 3, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the wonderful journey we've embarked on this year so far. Term 3 has been a term filled with growth, faith, and community, and I am immensely proud of the progress we have made together.
First and foremost, I want to extend my heartfelt gratitude to our dedicated teachers, support staff, and parents for their unwavering commitment to our students. Your hard work, care, and tireless dedication have created an environment where our students can thrive academically, spiritually, and emotionally.
Academically, our students have continued to excel. They have shown resilience and determination in their studies, and their achievements have been impressive. It's heartwarming to see the progress they've made and the knowledge they've gained in the classroom. This progress is a testament to the dedication of our educators and the support of our parents.
Our sense of community has also shone brightly this term. From our successful community events to our celebration of learning, the unity of our community has been inspiring. It is through this unity that we can continue to nurture the growth and development of our students. Thank you to the School Forum and that core group of parents for their ongoing commitment in this space!
Looking forward, Term 4 promises to be filled with exciting opportunities for our students.
May you all have a blessed and restful break. I look forward to reuniting in Term 4 to continue our journey of growth and faith together.
Staffing News
Permanent Teachers
On Wednesday we held interviews for the 4 candidates who applied for the 2 permanent teaching positions that we have offered at St John's from 2024 onwards. After a very strong field of applicants, I can announce that Ellie Bailey and Laura McEvoy (Louie) were the successful candidates.
I know you will join me in congratulating Ellie and Louie who have already spent time well and truly establishing themselves within the St John's community and will continue to contribute positively for many years to come.
We still have a few temporary teachers to employ before I can announce our full staffing list for 2024. I'm hoping it have it all finalised by early next term.
Term 4 Staffing
As you are aware, Amanda Bottle (Stage 3 teacher) is taking long service leave for the duration of Term 4 and Karla Chartres (Stage 1 Specialist teacher Thursday & Kindy teacher Friday) is replacing Amanda in Stage 3 for this time.
We advertised for a replacement for the 2 days a week that Karla usually works and can announce that Chloe Quinn was the successful applicant.
Chloe has a historic connection with the school as her mother Barbara Quinn worked at St John’s previously. Chloe is a frequent relief teacher, so the students know her well, but from the start of Term 4, Chloe will teach Stage 1 PE and Arts on a Thursday and Kindergarten on a Friday. We welcome Chloe and congratulate her on her appointment.
We thank Karla Chartres for her flexibility in stepping into the Stage 3 role and we wish Amanda all the best on her long service leave, and the renewal that this time will bring Amanda after many hard working years.
Positive Behaviour Implementation Team
In the last couple of years, it has come to our attention that the St John's approach to dealing with student behaviour requires reviewing and updating. This also came through strongly in the recent whole school external review.
There are current procedures that are used, which are evidence based and will continue. However, the school in consultation with staff, parents and students, will develop a positive behaviour for learning (PB4L) framework which is contextual to the school, whilst also complimenting the already existing evidence based approaches that are used.
During the week, a team of 3 staff members were voted in by the entire staff to lead us on the initial stages of this journey. This team is called the Positive Behaviour Implementation Team and consists of Myree Loane, Riley O'Leary and Karla Chartres. This team will operate under the guidance of the school leadership team with support from knowledgeable others from the Lismore Catholic Schools Office. A Behaviour Support Team will be established in 2024.
One of the first elements that this team will focus on is establishing a whole school behaviour matrix which will be a clear set of behaviour expectations which are consistent across the whole school.
I am really excited about this journey and have experienced this cultural transition to the PB4L framework in my two previous schools. Once on the behaviour support team as a teacher and the other leading the PB4L team as an Assistant Principal. Both schools experienced great success by implementing this framework. For a quick introduction to PB4L, please view the video below.
Upcoming Dates
Please find below a list of dates savers below.
- Monday 9th October - First Day of Term 4
- Saturday 14th October - Voice Referendum
- Tuesday 17th October - International Anti-Poverty Day
- Friday 20th October - Junior Johnnies Begins (3 x weeks)
- Wednesday 1st November - Feast of All Saints
- Thursday 2nd November - All Souls Day
- Saturday 11th November - Remembrance Day
- Monday 13th November - Pupil Free Day
- Friday 15th December - Last Day of Term 4
Kind Regards,
Dave Bermingham
From the Assistant Principal
Celebration of Learning
It was wonderful to see so many parents and grandparents visiting classrooms yesterday to celebrate their child's learning. Students proudly shared everything from writing, maths, reading, designs projects and class prayer.
The photos tell the story so please take a moment to watch the video. I have also included some insightful comments from Kindergarten parents and grandparents. It is great to hear of the joy gained from watching their children/grandchildren grow and change this year. Definitely worth celebrating.
Thank you to our amazing teachers for creating such wonderful, engaging learning experiences for their students. When I listen to them plan and collaborate, one thing is clear and consistent, the students are always at the centre of their thinking. We are lucky to have such a dedicated staff.
Naomi O'Dwyer
From the Leader of Pastoral Care
Belonging at school- our collective responsibility!
As the term draws a close I’d like to take the opportunity to thank all of the staff at our beautiful little school for the work that they do in the ‘student wellbeing and belonging’ space. They spend phenomenal amounts of time and energy building and sustaining positive relationships with each and every child which becomes the essential bedrock for the ‘sense of belonging’ that all children need to experience to thrive at school.
The Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO) says the following about student wellbeing and belonging;
Sense of belonging to one’s school is referred to as school connectedness and is the extent to which students feel a part of their school and feel valued and cared for by their school community.
This ‘sense of belonging' has many knock on benefits;
A positive sense of belonging at school has fundamental benefits for students, including feeling that:
- their teacher and peers like, value and accept them
- the curriculum is interesting and relevant
- they are capable of succeeding at school
- their cultural identity is welcome and valued
- they can ‘be themselves’ within appropriate boundaries.2
A positive relationship with the school community can shape a student’s emotional, behavioural, and cognitive engagement with schooling and influence academic outcomes.Those Students who experience positive peer relationships in school are up to 2 months ahead in their NAPLAN scores.
Benefits for learning and engagement at school include:
- lower absenteeism
- higher levels of effort, interest and motivation
- positive homework behaviour
- being more likely to like school
- trusting and respecting their teachers
- enjoying challenging learning activities
I look forward to writing more on this topic next term. I mean the meantime I wish everyone safe and happy holidays and look forward to seeing the children back refreshed and ready for term for in two weeks time.
School Counsellor Information - for Parents/Guardians
From time to time families reach out for support from our Student Counselor’ Anastasia Elliott. Please see the guidelines below which outline all the essentials of the referral and post referral processes.
Our School Counsellor assists in developing and fostering wellbeing at school to maximise learning success for all students. The focus is particularly on building positive relationships and good mental, social-emotional and physical health. Our School Counsellor provides individual and group counselling support for students with a range of mental health, social, emotional and family issues, and targeted interventions in collaboration with staff to improve student mental health and wellbeing outcomes.
Casual interactions between the School Counsellor and students may occur at school at any time and parents may be notified if deemed appropriate. Additionally, our students can speak informally with a staff member regarding concerns. However, parents/guardians would always be informed of the request for a formal discussion, behavioural observation or intervention with the School Counsellor so that consent, communication, and follow up between home and school can fully support the student. Consent is not required for emergency situations.
Students may access support from the School Counsellor by completion of a referral form. If a parent/guardian has concerns about a student’s social or emotional wellbeing, the process for making a referral is as follows:
- Organise a meeting with the student’s teacher to discuss a referral to the School Counsellor and/or School Pastoral Care Team. Alternatively, if a student’s teacher has a wellbeing concern they will contact the parent/guardian to arrange a meeting.
- Complete a Referral Form at the meeting which includes details about the concerns and desired outcomes from the referral, and complete an Informed Consent Form.
- The School’s Pastoral Care Team will review the referral and prioritise according to need.
- The School Counsellor may need to gather more information about the student relevant to the referral. This may include observations at different times, past assessment reports, interviews, reviewing academic progress and consultation with teachers and other health professionals.
- The Pastoral Care Team may recommend formal intervention with the School Counsellor for a set number of sessions (individual or group) that will be reviewed and monitored by the team.
- Relevant information and feedback will be given to the parents/guardian and teacher.
Parents/guardians and students are advised that participation in all services is voluntary and the service provided by the School Counsellor is outlined above. A request made through a referral does not guarantee one-on-one support from the School Counsellor. When providing counselling services, it may become evident that students require specialist support beyond the capacity of the School Counsellor. Therefore, it may be necessary to refer students to external services in which case the parents/guardians will be contacted and this will be discussed.
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.
The Voice Referendum Explained - Can a Voice improve Indigenous lives?
Are you clear on the upcoming referendum?
The well regarded podcast series from ABC Radio National linked here may help in ensuring you’re well informed on all of the issues surrounding the upcoming referendum.
The Voice Referendum explained.
Best regards,
Greg Flint
SCHOOL INFORMATION
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU"
Our Birthday people:-
Tanika, Phoenix, Estelle, Charlotte & Izzie
People who will celebrate during the Spring holidays.
Henry, Noah, Ryder, Tundra & Mr Flint
CORRECT INFORMATION
Please make sure that the school has your correct contact info. If you have moved house! updated your phone! or changed email addresses! Please advise the school office via Compass, email; sjpmull@lism.catholic.edu.au or phone; 0266842386.
Absentees If you know that your child will be away from school for any reason, please let the office know. Compass is having some issues with this, please phone or email the school with this info.
CATHOLIC SCHOOLS PARENT ASSEMBLY
COMMUNITY NOTICES
