Term 2, Week 8, 20 June 2024

Principal Message

Dear St John's Community, 

Last week I was privileged to join 20 other Lismore Catholic Schools Principals to visit a number of schools in the Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS) system. This visit was reassuring for us as a system to compare our journey with that of the MAC schools in terms of Catholic Identity & Mission, Teaching and Learning, Pastoral Care and Strategic Planning.

I can also positively say that we have an amazing community of students and parents as well as a very committed and high performing staff at St John’s.

Upcoming Dates

Please view the upcoming dates in this newsletter's left-hand column or via the calendar HERE on the school website, which is also synchronised with the Parent Compass Calendar. 

Lismore Diocesan Parish Renewal Journey

Embracing Change - To create a vision for the future

In 2020, the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference established a Plenary Council (the first since 1937) about the future of the Catholic Church in Australia focusing on the key questions: What are we called to do? Who are we called to be? How do we need to change?

“I prefer a Church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a Church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security.  I do not want a Church concerned with being at the centre and then ends by being caught up in a web of obsessions and procedures.”  Pope Francis, Gaudium Evangelli

In December 2021, Bishop Greg Homeming, in consultation with the Council of Priests, commissioned a Renewal of the Diocese of Lismore as a response to the Plenary Council. The Renewal’s goal is to provide a focused way forward in the face of the many challenges in parishes and the diocese.

Through the Renewal we are working together seeking answers to some complicated questions:

• How can we sustain and strengthen our parish communities?
• How do we continue to identify the needs of the people in our parish and find ways to assist them?
• How can we support clergy, parishes and the other works of the diocese?
• What should the mission and focus of our parishes and diocese be as we move further into the 21st century?
• How well are the structures and mechanisms in the diocese working? What could be improved?

The Renewal, which is ongoing, is involving thousands of people from throughout the Diocese including priests, parishioners, school leaders and teachers, aged care and hospital staff, youth ministry teams and many others involved in the wide range of Diocesan ministries.

The Holy Spirit guides us where God wants us to be, not to where our own ideas and personal tastes would lead us. “There is no need to create another Church, but to create a different Church”.  Pope Francis

Canteen Update

It is fair to say that the introduction of burgers to the canteen has been a great success. We are working through further updates in the canteen space starting from term 3. Some of these changes include adding the ability to order other items, such as juice pop tops with food in the compass online canteen portal. We are also adding the following food options:

• Sausage Rolls ($6)
• 3 x veggie spring rolls with soy or sweet chilli ($6)
• 3 x falafels with hummus ($6)

Thank you once again, as we work through this transition and we thank Chincogan Store for their fantastic support!

New Anti-Bullying Policy

At the end of 2023, the Lismore Catholic Schools Office released an updated Anti-Bullying policy named Student Anti-Bullying Prevention and Response Procedures. Last Term, staff participated in a Twilight Professional Learning session to find out more. As part of this package, schools were provided with some posters, which I plan to share with the community through our newsletters. 

Kind Regards, 

Dave Bermingham

Week 8 Awards

Teaching & Learning @ St John's

Understanding Reading Fluency: A Key to Student Success

As we progress through the school year, it’s important to highlight the fundamental skills that contribute to your child's academic success. One of these critical skills is reading fluency. But what exactly is reading fluency, and why is it so important for students?

What is Reading Fluency?

Reading fluency is the ability to read texts accurately, quickly, and with appropriate expression. It serves as a bridge between word recognition and comprehension, allowing readers to understand text effortlessly and focus on the meaning of the text rather than decoding each word.

Components of Reading Fluency

Reading fluency is comprised of three main components:

1. Accuracy: The ability to correctly pronounce words.
2. Speed: The rate at which a student reads, which should be appropriate for their age and grade level.
3. Expression: Reading with the correct intonation, stress, and rhythm, which helps convey the meaning of the text.

Why is Reading Fluency Important?

1. Enhanced Comprehension: Fluent readers can focus on understanding the text rather than struggling to decode (sound out) words.
2. Improved Confidence: As students become more fluent readers, their confidence in their reading abilities grows, encouraging them to read more often and tackle more challenging texts.
3. Important for all Key Learning Areas: Reading accurately, and at a good pace with understanding is a skill required across all subjects

.Reading Fluency in the NSW Curriculum

In the NSW curriculum, reading fluency development is embedded across all stages of primary education, tailored to the needs of each year level.

• Kindergarten to Year 2: Focus is on phonemic awareness, letter-sound relationships, and word recognition of ‘tricky’ words. Children engage in activities that teach them to segment words into sounds and blend them to read the word, a sentence, a short passage and eventually longer texts. There are many opportunities to read aloud and practise smooth, accurate reading of simple texts.
• Years 3 to 4: Emphasis shifts to improving reading speed and accuracy with more complex texts. Students begin to explore expressive reading and understanding punctuation to enhance meaning.
• Years 5 to 6: Students refine their fluency skills with increasingly complex texts, aiming for more advanced speed, accuracy, and expression. They also engage in more in-depth comprehension activities, tying their fluent reading skills to deeper understanding and critical thinking.

Supporting Reading Fluency at Home

As parents, you play a vital role in fostering your child's reading fluency. Here are some ways you can help:

1. Read Aloud Together: Model fluent reading by reading aloud to your child. Encourage them to read along with you.
2. Practice Regularly: Consistent practice is key. Set aside time each day for your child to read aloud to you.
3. Choose Appropriate Books: Ensure the books are at the right level—not too easy, but not too difficult. This helps maintain their interest and promote gradual improvement.
4. Use Expressive Reading: Encourage your child to read with expression, varying their tone, and pace to match the meaning of the text.
5. Discuss the Text: After reading, discuss the story or information with your child to ensure they understood what they read.

By working together, we can help your child develop strong reading fluency skills, laying the foundation for lifelong learning and success. 

Learning

WELLBEING @ St John's

Creating Tech Use Agreements @ Home

One of the greatest challenges of modern parenting is managing the what, when, and how of children’s use of technology, especially social media and gaming!

At school, technology is an invaluable learning tool that is integrated into class life and learning in a multitude of ways. 

Technology at home also has many positive outcomes if used well: if left unregulated it can impact negatively a student's class life, wellbeing, and learning. Children can quickly become dependent on and addicted to some forms of technology, some modern technologies such as social media and games are designed to create dependency in users. When children overuse technology it can result in poor sleep health and possibly reduce a child’s capacity for concentrating and learning at school. 

Developing guidelines and agreements (rules, if you must!) that clearly define the expectations around screen-based media use (the fancier term for ‘screen time’) is an essential part of life for modern families.

You need to consider these before the tech genie is unboxed.  Or, at least, when the newest version of the coolest new shiny thing is purchased (thanks Santa).

There are many examples online, but many are simply long cut-and-paste lists of things we tell kids they should and shouldn’t do!  

That’s totally not what I suggest an agreement should look like.

A family technology agreement works best when it:

• is developed together as a family including co-parenting and blended families, and even grandparents, it’s not handed down by the adults (or one of the adults) without consultation.
• it asks questions about what the best parts of technology and its uses are, it doesn’t just focus on risk, harms and ‘negatives’.
• takes on young people’s perspectives and really listens to their voice and ideas, get them to do the first draft
• includes rules for parents/adult’s technology use, yep parents are not off the hook!
• is clear and specific but has room for some (respectful) negotiation and contingencies (like when completing an assignment or on a rainy weekend).

A family technology agreement co-exists with other family expectations/rules which are always based on shared family values and regular, clear communication.  If your family hasn’t worked on getting clear on these your tech agreement may fail or simply fall over!

Now you try it!                                                                                                                                                                                                          Got questions or need support?  Get in touch to have personalised support to get back in control of technology in your home

Had success with developing a tech agreement? Share it with me!

Websites for further info;

Government e-safety: an excellent source of information on all aspects of technology use for parents & school-age students too.

https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents

Jocelyn Brewer’s website; this is the site that has the excellent information on setting up tech agreements. Jocelyn is a psychologist based in Sydney

 https://jocelynbrewer.com/explainer-family-technology-use-agreements/

Some further resources I think you may find helpful:

• Janell Burley-Hofmann’s book iRules (the original guide to tech-healthy families).
• Common Sense Media’s template – remember, this is simply a guide, you need to tailor this! https://www.commonsensemedia.org/sites/default/files/research/report/common_sense_family_media_agreement.pdf
• The Australian eSafety Commission’s Agreement for under 5-year-olds – it’s never too early to start these conversations.

Best regards, Greg

Mission @ St John's

Student Mission Team                                                                                                                                                                                        Last week the students voted in the following students to be the leaders of our Student Mission Team. Congratulations to all of the elected leaders. We will look forward to another fund raiser in week 10 of this term to raise money for the St Vincent De Paul Winter Appeal. We successfully raised $100 on our Winter Woollies Day. 

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