Dear Families,

To kick off Catholic Education Week at St John's, our Environmental Leaders, Leanne Johansen and myself celebrated a liturgy, including the reading from John's Gospel, 'The Vine and the Branches.' Catholic Education South Australia celebrated Catholic Education Week from to 3rd to the 9th May 2021.

Our Catholic Education Week celebrations continued by inviting our parents and school community into our classrooms for an Open Morning. This was followed by a whole school Catholic Education Week Mass with Fr Josy.

On Monday 24 May, Leanne Johansen, myself and some of our Year 6 leaders attended the South Australian Mass for the Bicentenary of Catholic Education in Australia, celebrating 200 years at St Francis Xavier’s Cathedral. This was a beautiful Mass, celebrated by Archbishop Patrick O’Regan and an excellent opportunity for Leanne and myself to spend some time with our school leaders.

On Wednesday 2 June, the 2020 / 2021 Sacramental students from St John the Apostle and All Saints Catholic School met at St Luke’s Parish for the first Confirmation Preparation Session.

Later that week, we had a lovely session in the Chapel with just the St John’s Sacramental students and myself. It was really nice to work with the children again, the same way we did for the Reconciliation Preparation Sessions in Term 4 last year.

On Wednesday 29 June, the Sacramental Children celebrated their Confirmation with Archbishop Patrick O’Regan at St Luke’s Church. This was a beautiful liturgy and we are very proud of our Sacramental Program students for completing their Confirmation and will celebrate their First Holy Communion, late in Term 3.

On Friday 2 July, our Environmental Leaders walked down to Christies Beach to plant over 2000 plants in the sand dunes. They were led by Jeremy Gramp from Green Adelaide (previously known as NRM Education) and the Onkaparinga Council. This is an area that St John the Apostle students can care for and visit on our beautiful coast line.

Jamie Mulcahy

APRIM (Assistant Principal Identity and Missions)

The Reception Unit has had yet another jam packed, exciting Term 2 full of learning and different experiences. We have had an overall theme of ‘Transport’ this term incorporating lots of inquiry-based learning opportunities and discovery. This has linked in nicely with our excursions where we have then been able to use some of the transport we have been investigating.

In week 4, we jumped in a bus headed for Kuitpo Forest for Nature Play          Day!This day was full of mud, gum boots, sticks, clay, feathers, wild life, exploring and anything we could get our hands on to create natural sculptures. It was very exciting for the Receptions as they were free to roam the forest to discover what incredible features it has to offer.

Week 5 was Swimming Week, and what a blast we all had! We learnt lots of new skills in the water, made stronger friendships and had a lot of fun                     . We did lots of diving under water, floating, swimming through underwater hoops, learning to safety enter the pool, retrieving toys from the bottom of the pool, wearing life jackets and more!  Although it was an exhausting week, we had the most amazing time creating lots of memories.

When we have had some spare time, we have also been working towards our Story Book themed Art Show. 

This semester we have been focusing on water and sustainability in our HASS and Science topics. We visited the Marine Discovery Centre on Wednesday 2nd June to learn even more ways to take care with water and care for our coastline.

We had a wonderful time at Kuitpo Forest growing in our social skills, using our imagination and getting back to nature. In fitness we continue to develop our co-ordination and use the getting key as a unit.

  In Maths we have been improving our skills with skip counting, addition and place value. We       have learnt about Australian money and its value.

We have been developing our skills to tell o’clock and half past times on analogue and digital clocks. 

So far this term the 2/3's have been busy with lots of different activities and events at school. We celebrated Catholic Education week with an open morning where parents could come and see their children in action. The following week saw all the year 3's complete NAPLAN both on the computers and written. We ventured to Kuitpo forest via buses on a whole school excursion to celebrate Nature Play Day 2021 and what a great day we had with perfect weather. On the 23rd May we celebrated family Mass at St Luke's and it was so lovely to see many families  attend. Swimming week was a great success visiting Noarlunga Leisure Centre in week 5 with varying year levels going. We did some great research and project creations around Geography with the year 2's focusing on the continents and year 3's on the states and territories of Australia. We had a visit from the Cardijn College music department and they wowed us with their talents. Term 2 has proven to be a very busy term and we look forward to term 3.

The year 4 students have been very active this term. Swimming in week 5 and the last couple of lacrosse sessions in week 6. All students thoroughly enjoyed it. In maths we have been learning about time and continuing with our times tables revision. In English we have been writing our narratives. In HASS we have been doing Civics and Citizenship, currently working on projects about the local council and what it offers us. In Science we are working on a year 3 topic that wasn’t covered last year due to Covid. It is about the earth, sun and moon. We have also been enjoying art this term, in particular our Robyn Mead water colour paintings that are on display in the front office.

The Year 5/6's have enjoyed a busy term in the senior unit. The students finally completed making their own magazine. They had a variety of tasks throughout the term related to           

their topic, and compiled all their learning into one finished magazine. The students will be sharing their magazine with the Year 4 students. We have finished our class text 'The boy at the back of the class' and students  are    now story boarding their 'movie' trailer for

the text. In math's the Year 5/6's have recently completed their design of a floor plan, before using their area and perimeter learning to calculate the total measurements of their house. In Civics  and Citizenship, the senior unit held their first election role playing Australia's preferential system. The winner is the new caretaker of our class 'pet' who will be named using the first past the post system this week. On Monday we attended our first  Lacrosse carnival at West Beach. The students had a fantastic time, using their skills learnt during PE lessons in participating in multiple games against other schools on the day.

The boy’s knockout soccer competition was held , they unfortunately lost their final match during a penalty shootout, and do not progress to the next round. The girl's knockout netball team played at All Saints.

Calling all Mum's, Dad's, Grandma's and Granddad's

We are looking for a banking voulnteer.

Can you volunteer? We need your help with the School Banking program!

Our students really enjoy participating in the Commonwealth Bank School Banking program and to keep this program running at St John the Apostle we need your help.

The program requires a volunteer School Banking Co-ordinator to facilitate the banking and distribution of School Banking rewards. The School Banking is processed at the same time each week and will only take a small amount of your time .The Commonwealth Bank will provide support in how to run the program. Your help with the program will greatly benefit students as they practice saving skills and also help our school with fundraising.

As part of volunteering you are eligible to receive a Certificate of Attainment that details the activities that you are involved in. For example: cash handling, program facilitation, account reconciliation and more.

School Banking day is currently TUESDAY, but this day can be changed if it’s not suitable for you.

If you are interested in volunteering for this great program, please contact the front office on 8382 2064 or info@stjohns.catholic.edu.au