Week 7 Term 3

School Vision Statement: To change the world through our faith in Jesus who is our light.
Phone: 6882 2677 or 6882 2653
Email: stjohnsprimarydubbo@bth.catholic.edu.au                    
Principal: Mr. Anthony O’Leary
School Manager/Priest: Father Greg Kennedy           
P&F Meetings: 2nd & 7th Tuesday each term

Parents/guardians-Please note that photographs of students may be used in publication. Please advise the School Office if you do not approve of your child’s photo being used.

WEEK 7
Wednesday 4th September - Cultural dance group Masonic Village Visit                                                Friday 6th September - Year 1 Retreat Day

WEEK 8
Wednesday 11th September -Year 5 Gold Masonic Village Visit                                                              Thursday 12th September - Debating SJP vs St Laurence's at SJP                                                                  Friday 13th September - RUOK Day Family Picnic 1.30pm - 2.00pm, Bring a picnic to have with your children.

WEEK 9
Monday 16th September - Staff Retreat (Pupil Free Day)

Welcome to Week 7
I trust that all of our Dad’s enjoyed their Father’s Day yesterday. It was wonderful to see so many families enjoy the Liturgy and Pizza lunch last Friday. A special thanks to the P&F for all of their hard work with the day and also for organising the gifts at the stall.

Being Week 7, the next P&F meeting will be held tomorrow, commencing at 6.30pm. The P&F are a very dedicated team and each meeting is a friendly and connecting way for parents to have a voice. You will be made to feel very welcome. There are a number of fun events coming up including a Trivia night and the colour explosion in Term 4. Come along and see how your contribution can make these events even better.

Uniform
We have begun the transition to our Summer uniform (sports each day) from this week, Week 7. This means that from Tuesday the 3rd students may wear either the Winter uniform (formal) or the sports uniform. All students will transition to the sports summer uniform from Tuesday 24th of September.

Meeting For Mass
This coming Sunday is a very special day for SJP. Our school will be taking on many of the special community parts of the Mass. Our choir will be singing, staff are Lectors and Eucharistic Ministers and most importantly, we are all invited to Mass to celebrate and hear the Word.

‘The Meet for Mass’ has been a wonderful experience and initiative, and this is an expansion of that welcome to all of our grades and families. St Brigid’s Parish is a very welcoming Parish and Church and you do not need to be Catholic to attend Mass. All are welcome and this Sunday we would like to see you and your family join us for the SJP School community Mass day. Mass commences at 9.00am.

Upcoming Staff Retreat
In Week 9, Monday 16th September, our staff, along with the staff of St Michael’s Dunedoo, will be coming together for our annual Religious Education Retreat Day. This day is a pupil free day.

We will be spending the day learning from Rev Dr Elio Capra. Reverend Dr Elio Capra SDB is a lecturer at Catholic Theological College and is a member of the Department of Systematic Theology and the Department of Pastoral and General Studies. He lectures in Liturgy and Sacramental Theology. Father Elio has a passion for teaching about Art in relation to our faith. 

Child Safe Standards
The Child Safe Standards recommended by the Royal Commission provide a framework for making organisations safer for children. Based on extensive research and consultation, the Standards provide tangible guidance for organisations to create cultures, adopt strategies and act to put the interests of children first, to keep them safe from harm. 

Standard 8: Physical and online environments minimise the opportunity for abuse or other kinds of harm to occur. This standard aims to identify and minimise risks to children in physical and online environments at school.  This standard is necessary because safe physical environments play a significant role in reducing opportunities for abuse to occur. 

We aim to prioritise this standard for child safety in what we say and do:

• Leaders set expectations about behavioural standards for staff interacting with children in physical and online environments. 
• Risk assessment and management plans identify risks to child safety in physical and online environments and how these will be managed.
• Children are provided information about online safety and regularly encouraged to tell staff about negative experiences. 
• Staff and parents are provided with information about risks in the online environment. 

Indicators of success for this standard include: 

• Opportunities to harm children are reduced or removed.
• Children engage in creative and safe activities.
• Children speak up about risks in the online environment.
• Children’s privacy is balanced with the need to keep them safe. 

If we are addressing this standard successfully, we would expect our children to say: 

• I can talk to someone I trust about anything I have seen or done online.

As parents, you can access the cyber safe resources by visiting https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents 

Australian Teacher Aide Appreciation Week is this week and the week is a great opportunity to celebrate the fantastic work our Education Support Staff do every day. They are a vital part of our team and we greatly appreciate the essential support they provide in educational environments.

At SJP we are blessed to have a team of highly motivated, qualified and passionate educators who support the students and teachers. Thank you Mrs Montague, Mr Thomas, Mrs Campbell, Mrs Bonnington, Miss Foley, Mrs Hawkins, Mrs Honeysett, Miss Isbester, Mrs Lakhani, Mrs Peiris and Miss Rousell. Thank you one and all.

Gospel and Reflection: Mark 7:1-8 That Which Defiles            7 The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus 2 and saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. 3 (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. 4 When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.[a]) 5 So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with defiled hands?”6 He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: “‘These people honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’[b] 8 You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.”

Family Connection                                                                                                                                          Children have learned the importance of following rules. Like the Pharisees in today’s Gospel, they often bring to our attention the infractions of others. Even parents sometimes get caught off guard by their children’s observations: “Why don’t you have to go to bed at 8:00?” or “But I saw you eat a cupcake before breakfast once.” Our rules for our children are not arbitrary. We establish and enforce family rules with the intention of helping our children grow to be healthy and mature adults. We foster this maturity when we also initiate conversations with our children about the purposes behind family rules and teach them the essential values that rules help us observe.

As you gather as a family, list some of your most important family rules. Together, try to write a single, positive statement that captures the essential value behind your family rules. In today’s Gospel, we hear Jesus criticize the Pharisees for making their rules about ritual purity equal to the commandments of God’s Law. Read today’s Gospel, Mark 7:1-8,14-15,21-23. When we remember the essential element behind our rules, we see that our rules help us be the good people that Jesus wants us to be. Conclude in prayer together that we may always honour God’s Law in our words and deeds. 

God bless and have a wonderful week                                                                                                  Anthony O’Leary

Students receiving their First Holy Communion:                                                                SJP would like to congratulate the following students from Year 3 who have recently made, or will be making their First Holy Communion this coming Sunday. We trust that these students truly appreciate the blessing it is to receive the Eucharist with the school or parish community, and acknowledge the Body of Christ as an opportunity to nourish their faith.

Evie, Sonny, Jobe, Sarah, Bella, Savi, Charlie, William, Marshall, Jacob, Lexie, Harrison, Harper, Ryan, Hadley, Josiah, Alfie, Benjamin, William, Jazmin, Carter, Paislee, Isabelle, Cash and Oliver.

St. John’s Primary Mass
This coming Sunday 8th September, St John’s Primary School will coordinate St. Brigid’s 9am Mass. Our staff will carry out many of the roles throughout the Mass: Eucharistic Ministers, Commentators, Readers, Choir, Accompanist etc. This Mass is also the designated Mass for SJP students from Year 3 who will receive the Eucharist for the first time - a very special occasion for these students. This is also the Mass we have selected for our Term 3 Meeting 4 Mass. Students have all received a Meeting 4 Mass invite from class teachers over the last week. We trust our SJP community understands the importance of this occasion and take up the invitation to attend Mass with us. We hope to see many families there!

Masonic Village Visit
This coming Wednesday, the residents from the Masonic Village will be treated to a performance by our Cultural Dance Group. As SJP have seen the talents of this group on display, we know the residents are in for a treat! This will be a lovely outing for our Cultural Dance Group and we look forward to hearing about their visit.

Year 1 Student Retreat Day
This coming Friday, Year 1 students will attend their first school based student retreat day. The theme for Year 1’s retreat is God’s Amazing World. We know Year 1 will appreciate spending time together at the retreat, developing a deeper understanding of God’s creation and how it is our responsibility to look after the world in which we live and to care for the people who we share it with. Year 1 parents, please keep an eye out for communication from teachers about this upcoming day.

Teacher Aide Appreciation Day
This Thursday, SJP staff will show our appreciation of our Teacher Aides by hosting a morning tea for them. Our Aide staff are an integral part of the running of our school, often providing small group interventions while also assisting teachers through classroom support, and all offered through an approach of compassion and care. We are incredibly grateful for all they do for the staff and students of our school.

Mass at St. Brigid’s Church: Saturday - 6:00pm, Sunday - 9:00am and Sunday - 6:00pm

Parishioners, please note: evening Masses have now returned to 6pm at St. Brigid’s Church.

Enjoy your week!                                                                                                                                                Paula Clifford                                                                                                                                                      Religious Education Coordinator

SPB4L                                                                                                                                                        Our SPB4L focus this fortnight is ‘moving safely around the playground’. Below are some ways as a school we can demonstrate safe behaviours on the playground: 

• Walking on paved/concrete surfaces
• Walking between areas to get to another play area
• Watching where we are walking to reduce bumping into someone

Breakfast Club                                                                                                                        Breakfast Club is now available at school between 8.20 - 8.40am Monday - Friday. Breakfast club will offer the following

• A slice of toast with either vegemite or jam and a milo for $1
• Extra slice of toast is 50c

As this is a wellbeing initiative there is no provision for the use of Flexischools to order. This is a cash only purchase.

Kindness Challenge                                                                                                                We also started a ‘21 Day Kindness Challenge’ on Friday which aims to promote kind interactions between students. Each morning, students will find out the new challenge for the day. Our challenges for the past week have been: 

1. High five a friend
2. Play with someone new at break time
3. Help a classmate
4. Make someone laugh
5. Leave your classroom tidy at the end of the day

Important Wellbeing Dates for Term 3                                                                                     * R U Ok Day? - Students can wear a yellow accessory/ies to raise awareness. Families are warmly invited to bring a picnic recess to have with their child on this day. The picnic will be held from 1.30 - 2.00. This will be held on 13th September (Friday Week 8). 

* Life Ed Van (Healthy Harold) will be visiting in Week 9. Students from Kindergarten - Year 4 will be attending at various times on either the Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday.

Library                                                                                                                                                            Special thanks to our Year 5 Library assistants who have given up their lunch times to assist in the library! The girls are doing an amazing job.

Students are now able to borrow. We are happy to begin borrowing again!                  Sadly, there are still quite a few library books that have not been returned. I encourage ALL students (with some help from their families) to check their homes and cars for any overdue library books. They are easy to recognise, they have a St John’s barcode and are stamped with the school stamp. All overdue books are warmly welcomed back!

 Library Times                                                                                                                                             Even Weeks Monday: 3G, Tuesday: 1G, 5G,2G, Wednesday: 4G, KB, 6G.

 Odd Weeks:  Monday: 4B, 5B, Tuesday, 1B, 3B 2B, Wednesday: KG, 6B.