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February 27, 2017 No. 4

PARISH CONTACTS:

PH: 9873 1341

PARISH PRIEST Father Dispin John

PARISH SECRETARIES Mrs. Elisa Kelesidis Mrs. Martine Giles

PASTORAL ASSOCIATES Mrs. Maree O’Keefe

UNIFORM SHOP Open first Monday of each month 8.30 -9.00am Multi Purpose Room

CO-ORDINATOR Kathleen Spicer

LUNCH ORDERS

Every Tuesday Lunchtime To order register online: www.flexischools.com.au

CAMP AUSTRALIA

Before & After School Care 1300 105 343

CO-ORDINATOR Cherry Manapol HOURS: 7.00 -8.30 am 3.20 –6.15 pm SCHOOL OFFICE HOURS

Monday -Friday, 8.30am –4.00pm

490 Whitehorse Road, Mitcham VIC 3132 Phone: 03 9874 1575 Fax: 03 9873 2099

Email: principal@sjmitcham.catholic.edu.au Web: www.sjmitcham.catholic.edu.au

COMING UP AT ST JOHN’S

FEBRUARY 27 Monday Camp Meeting—Year 5/6 Parents at SJV Community Centre, 7.30pm Preps Commence Fulltime School this Week: Monday-Friday, 9.45am-3.20pm 28 Tuesday Burning of the Palms, 9.15am Prep 2017 Information Night, 7.00pm MARCH 1 Wednesday Ash Wednesday Mass, 10.00am 6 Monday School Assembly, 8.50am 7 Tuesday Education Board Meeting, 7.00pm 8 Wednesday PA Meeting, 7.00pm 9 Thursday First Eucharist Parent Information Evening, 7.30pm

Click here to access St John’s Parish Newsletter

Dear Parents, We were very fortunate with the weather last Monday and had a very successful twilight sports. It was great to see the students participate with enthusiasm and belief in themselves. Thank you to Tom Jackson for coor-dinating the night and all our parents and grandparents for their help at different events. Some of our sports leaders have written more about the night further in the newsletter.

Thanks to our families who attended Parish family mass yesterday. As usual the singing was beautiful by our combined school choir and the students always enjoy being part of the mass St John’s Parish Feb Feast What a great night is was on Friday as we gathered and enjoyed food from around the world. This is the sec-ond time this event has been held and is organized by the Parish Leadership Team who give so much of their time to support our parish. I would like to thank the following families for their help in the set up and to those who cooked up a storm. Elliott family, Chan/Greenwood family, Natoli/Clifford family, Boyd family and Laffin family. It was great to see many of our families and staff there enjoying the night.

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Year 5/6 Parent camp meeting Looking forward to seeing you at St James school at 7:30pm tonight to discuss our senior school camping program. The school is located on 51 Centre Road Vermont. Our Year 6 camp is coming up later this term 14 – 17 March and our Year 5 camp is early term 2, 26 - 27 April. Prep 2017 Parent Information evening We welcome all our prep parents to this meeting on Tuesday night at 7pm. The meeting will be held in the prep classroom. Assembly – 6 March 2017 At next week’s assembly we will be presenting the Future Leaders badges to the following students: Prep - Lachie and Milla 1/2 – Arnold, Declan, Mia and Bartek 3/4 - Patrick, Maeve, Will T, Erin, Liam and Natasha 5/6 – Molly B, Olivia, Molly P and Jacob Education Board Meeting The Board will have its first meeting next Tuesday 7 March commencing at 7pm. At this meeting Etch ar-chitects will present stage 1 of the Master Plan for both internal and external works. We are looking for a couple of new parents to join the St John’s School Board this year. If you are interest-ed please contact Jacqui Marshall – principal@sjmitcham.catholic.edu.au The board plays an advisory role and the purposes of the Board are as follows: Act as a forum for discussion on matters concerning education in the Parish Primary School; Provide a link between the Parish Priest, Principal, teachers and parishioners in relation to the provision of Catholic education in the parish community Promote community development by fostering a strong interrelationship between parish and parish primary School, secondary colleges and pre-schools. Working Bee We will be having our first working bee for the year on Friday 17 March from 4:30pm – 6pm. If you can attend please complete the slip in the newsletter. 2018 Open mornings and Information night We are currently advertising our Open Days and Information Night. The flyers have arrived so thank you to those parents who have already offered to do letterbox drops. I would still appreciate more helpers so please pop in and let me know if you can assist. If you have a child who is starting prep in 2018 please pop into the school to get an enrolment form. Have a great week Jacqui Marshall Principal

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IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER:

MARCH 1 Wednesday Ash WednesdayMass, 10.00am 9 Thursday First Eucharist parent Evening, 7.30pm 17 Friday Catholic Education WeekMass - St Patrick’s Cathedral (Selected Year 5 Students and Mrs Marshall Attending) 18 Saturday First Eucharist Mass Book & Commitment Mass, 6.00pm 19 Sunday First Eucharist Mass Book & Commitment Mass, 9.45am 21 Tuesday Harmony Day 23 Thursday Celebration of First Reconciliation, 7.30pm 26 Sunday Parish Family Mass, 9.45am 29 Wednesday Parish Penitential Celebration, 7.30pm 30 Thursday Celebration of First Reconciliation, 730pm

Our Gospel Challenge this week is: To not worry. God is here to support us. 3/4KC Do not worry about tomorrow. Jesus wants us to be happy and we can only be happy now. The past is gone, the future has not yet come, the present moment is the only time we have for living and loving. It was aware-ness of this which prompted the great spiritual writer Jean-Pierre de Caussade to develop the profound aware-ness of “the sacrament of the present moment”. Every moment is charged with God’s grace. (GPBS 2017) Ash Wednesday Parents and family members are always welcome to attend parish/school masses on feast days and special cel-ebrations, such as Ash Wednesday which is this coming Wednesday 1st March. Mass will be celebrated at 10am in St John’s Church. Please come and join us. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, a time during which we are invited to reflect on our lives and prepare for Easter and the coming of the risen Jesus into our world. Traditionally, there are three ways we can participate in this season of preparation and conversion: through prayer, fasting and giving alms. Today we are encouraged to have a change of heart during the Lenten season by trying to do something extra for others. Each year in Lent, Caritas Australia launches Project Compassion, its annual fundraising and awareness-raising appeal. We will be supporting Project Compassion this year and will be holding a fundraising event on 21st March as a part of Harmony Day. The theme of this years appeal is “Love Your Neighbour.” Project Compas-sion demonstrates how love for our neighbours can transform lives. Each week of Lent students will be exploring stories from people in the Philip-pines, Timor Leste, Indigenous Australia, Vietnam and Fiji. In January Pe-nelope Lang traveled to the Philippines with Caritas Australia and was humbled and inspired by what she experienced. Have an enjoyable week, Monica

BABY NEWS

COATES FAMILY Congratulations to the Coates family on the safe arrival of their baby daughter, Mackenzie, last Sunday, a baby sister for Harrison, 1/2BM and Kirralee. O’KEEFE FAMILY We also congratulate Maree O’Keefe, our Parish Pastoral Associate, and her husband Shane on be-coming grandparents for the first time last week, a baby boy, Lenny.

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UNIFORM SHOP

If you have ordered uniform from the Uniform Shop and haven’t collected it, please check at the office to see if your order is ready for pickup. Some items have been sitting in the office for quite a while and if they are not collected soon they will be returned to the Uniform Shop.

BIRTHDAYS

This week we congratulate Amity Carter, Anthony and Thomas Kelly, Marco Vincitorio and Joshua Boyd.

We hope you all have a “Happy Day!”

STUDENT VERIFICATION REPORTS

Student Verification Reports (yellow in colour) went home with each student in the second week of term and need to be returned to the school office. It is important that the school has accurate and updat-ed contact and medical details on file in case of an emergency. If you haven’t already done so, could you please return the form with any necessary changes to the school office. Thank you!

Twilight Sports 2017

Congratulations to all the students that participated in our Twilight Sports Athletics Carnival last Monday, 20 February.

We would like to give a big “THANK YOU” to the parents, family members and staff for their tremendous help on the night. A special thanks to Mr Jackson who helped organise the event as it would not have hap-pened without you.

Well done to Durkin (Red team) for coming first, Lyons (Green Team) who came 2nd, Coghlan (Gold team) who came 3rd and to Dillion (Blue team) who came 4th.

Well done also to Megan Smith and George Molnar who came first in the year 6, 400m champions race.

Finally, congratulations to all sports captains and year 5/6 stu-

dents for leading your houses with such enthusiasm on the

night and we look forward to another great evening next year!

By Megan, Elena and Anabelle

Italian Phrase of the Week

Week 4: Alla porta (Ah-la portah)

At the door

HEAD LICE

There have been several cases of head lice reported in the school and we ask that parents please check their child’s/children’s head and where necessary treat them promptly before returning to school . All live lice must be removed before students return to school. Thank you for your co-operation.

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Self Awareness

As we continue this term to explore and develop our Self Awareness, we will be focussing on -

Identifying and naming how I feel.

At St John’s we Respect Ourselves, Respect Others and Respect Property

Have a wonderful week, Beth Johnson

Student Wellbeing Leader

See you tomorrow morning for

Marathon Club

Tuesday and Thursday Mornings

Years 3-6 students 7.45am

Breakfast supplied afterwards $5.00 per term

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In ICT we have been learning about digital citizenship. We started the lesson by completing a digital citizenship test which was about what to do and what not to do online. We had to highlight what we thought was right and we talked about what the correct answer would be. Some statements we had to answer were:

I should stop and THINK before sharing things about myself online: a. Not at all – thinking takes too much time! b. Sometimes, but only if I think I’ll get in trouble. c. Always, because the information I share is never private online. d. Sometimes, because privacy is only important sometimes. I try to be positive and helpful online: a. Always – it’s important to treat others well online. b. Yes, being positive is a good habit to get into. c. Yes, even though I sometimes have to think carefully to make sure I say the right thing. d. All of the above. We also watched a video called Are you a Digital Citizen? and spoke about digital footprints.

We then discussed what we would want people to know about us in an online world and what we wouldn’t want people to know. These are our ideas: In an online world what do you want people to know about you?

First name Hobbies That you play soccer Talents What do you not want people to know about you? (private information)

Login or passwords Information about your parents Where you live What school go to Sporting club names By Chloe, David and Jade.

Please scan this QR Code with a QR reader app to watch the video.

Sports I play Nickname Favourite things, a book or movie etc Pets

Full name

Email

Information about your friends or family

DOB

Phone numbers

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Learning and Teaching

eLearning at St. John’s

The New Digital Technologies Curriculum

Recently, there has been an increasing amount of media coverage about STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) and the role of digital technologies in schools. This has come about as more and more research has been put forward that the children of today need to know how computers ‘think’ and how to program technology, so they can meet current and future needs. This year all Victorian Government and Catholic Schools will be following the new Digital Technolo-gies curriculum, which is different to the ICT curriculum we have taught in the past. ICT has now become a ‘general capability’ and will be embedded into different learning areas where teachers will support students to investigate, communicate and create with ICT. Digital Technologies will be taught as a stand alone subject, but some concepts of this curriculum can be integrated into differ-ent subjects. For example, data collection can be taught in Mathematics. There are three core strands of the Digital Technologies curriculum (Digital Systems, Data and In-formation, Creating Digital Solutions) which aligns very closely with STEM concepts. Your child may focus on one of these strands this year and develop their understanding of the other strands in the following year. This new curriculum will develop student’s thinking skills and will encourage them to wonder “What would happen if I…?” “Why do things currently work this way?” and “What would hap-pen if this part of it changed?” They will take part in activities which will allow them to: Recognise and explore patterns and sequences Problem solve and use algorithms Develop understanding and skills in computational thinking Understand different digital systems eg. binary codes Develop collaboration and effective communication skills

#codingforkids

You may have heard you child begin to talk about coding. Coding is a part of the Digital Technologies curric-ulum and can be described as:

The language of the computer

A set of instructions a computer can understand

Programming- involving problem solving, making decisions and sequencing

An online and offline experience

A collaborative experience

Developing students understanding of the digital world

An opportunity to create future ready kids! This year, coding will be supported by a number of apps, web programs and robotics such as spheros and bee bots. Some of these resources your child will use are listed below. Please click on the link and it will direct you to the resource.

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Blockly - Games

Scratch

Tynker

Code Combat

Coding Game

I am hoping to run a number of parent information afternoon sessions throughout the year, so you can develop more of an understanding about what your child is learning. If there is something spe-cific you as a parent would like to learn in regards to ICT, Digital Technologies or GAFE (Google Apps for Education) please complete this short Google Form below. https://goo.gl/mEOK0a

If you have any questions about the new Digital Technologies curriculum, please do not hesitate to make a time to speak to me. bmartino@sjmitcham.catholic.edu.au

Bianca Martino eLearning/Learning and Teaching Leader

Code School

Code Club Australia

Hopscotch

Bee-Bot

Daisy the Dinosaur

Parents are invited to subscribe to the Victorian Catholic Schools Parent Body newsletter or provide VCSPB with feedback on State advocacy issues via the subscribe or feedback button on the news-letter or send an email to: secretary@vcspb.catholic.edu.au.

Visit the link below to view your newsletter: http://vcspb.schoolzineplus.com/newsletter/26248

Regards,

Rachel Saliba Executive Officer - Victorian Catholic Schools Parent Body PO Box 3, East Melbourne Victoria 8002 Ph: 03 9267 0458

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In his homily this weekend, we heard Dispin say that in life we are so busy that it is hard to find time for others; he continued to comment that we are not here on earth by chance but for a purpose: and this purpose- connection and community- was really in evidence at Feb Feast. An event like this does not just happen and huge thanks go to the small band of school families who had a hand in what was a fabulous celebration. For their muscle and willingness to get stuck into the heavy business of set up and pack-up- Courtney Laffin, Anthony Chan, Ange Natoli, Ben Boyd and the super -kids Gracie Laffin, MJ and Christine Clifford, Alex Chan, Eva Johnson, David and Patrick El-liott. And to the stall holders who delighted the 200-strong crowd with their skills, particularly Peri and Ange Natoli, Melissa Greenwood and Sophie Chan. St John’s is a richer place for your generosity of spirit.

Rhyannon Elliott

HELP! OLD SHEETS AND USED ENVELOPES NEEDED!

The PA is seeking donations of old white sheets (that you are happy to give away and not get back) and used

envelopes. If you can help, please drop items at the office.

St John’s Parents’ Association warmly invite you to

SUNDAY 26th MARCH AFTER 9.45AM FAMILY MASS

Don’t miss this great opportunity to catch up with old fr iends and make new

ones as your team (3-6 people including at least one adult) solves clues and

travels the world in a race to glory and some great prizes.

Cost: $5 entry per team

Sausages and drinks $1 each

11AM SAUSAGE SIZZLE & PASSPORT COLLECTION

12PM THE RACE BEGINS

2PM PRIZES

Register your team at the office by Friday 17th March

For more info speak to Rhyannon El l iot t (David 5/6TJ, Patr ick 3/4EB) or contact the PA on

yourpa.sjm@gmail.com

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St John’s Parents’ Association warmly invites you to

The Term 1 Dads’ Dinner

Friday 3rd March 7pm Start the weekend off with old and new friends at

Piyada Thai Restaurant 580 Whitehorse Rd, Mitcham

For details or to register your interest please contact Steve Gilbert (Jessica 3/4RF, Lucas PrepNC)

on steve@clbis.com.au or 0417 119 078 by Wednesday 1st March

or email yourpa.sjm@gmail.com

EASTER RAFFLE St John’s Parents’ Association

Easter Raffle tickets are coming home this week. There are some great and unique prizes this year

Tickets

$1 each or 15 for $10

Prizes First: Chocolate hamper valued at $150.00

Second: Gourmet hamper valued at $120.00 Third: 2017 Entertainment Book + bonus chocs val-

ued at $90.00

Drawn Friday 31 March (last day of term)

WORKING BEE

Dear Parents, Our first school working bee for the year will be on this Friday 17 March, 2017 from 4.30 to 6.00pm. Helpers are needed to assist with weeding, cleaning drains and mulching garden beds. Please bring any gardening tools that might be useful. Don’t forget that attendance at one working bee during the year entitles each family to a once yearly, $50.00 re-bate on your maintenance levy as well as benefitting the school community. If you are able to attend please return the reply slip below to the school office by Wednesday 15 March I look forward to seeing you there, Jacqui Marshall Principal

……………………………………………………………

WORKING BEE RETURN SLIP

Return this slip to the school office by Wednesday 15 March, 2017

The ____________________________ family will be attending the St John’s working bee on Friday 17 March, 2017