Welcome to Week 3 Term 2

May of course is the month of Mary, the mother of Jesus.  As such we often use this month to also remind ourselves how important our own mothers are.

Blessing for Mother’s Day

Loving God, as a mother gives life and nourishment to her children, so you give life and care for your Church. Bless these women, as we celebrate this day in their honour.

May they be strengthened as Christian mothers. Let the example of their faith and love shine forth.

Grant that we, their sons and daughters, may honour and appreciate them with a spirit of profound respect.

May the example of Mary, mother of Jesus, inspire them to live their vocation as Christian mothers and call their children to faith.

Guide and protect them in challenging times and help them to continue to trust in you all the days of their life.

Mother's Day Breakfast

Tomorrow we have an 8:15am start for our SJV Mums.  A Danish and a 'cuppa' with the children running off to play, who could ask for more.  A reminder that this is a Covid Safe Event so we need to social distance and use the check in App QR code which will be available at the canteen window.  Just a reminder if you are feeling unwell, please stay home, we will get your Danish to you!

Sport Flourishes at SJV – Netball and Calisthenics

It was wonderful to drop in to the Arawang Netball Courts on Saturday to cheer on our three SJV teams. 

A ‘shout-out’ for our junior team (pictured below) who played an exceptional game and came away with the points, possibly I believe, for the very first time.

All the games however, were hard fought and the resilience shown from our senior team who faced a team that looked twice their size was impressive indeed.

A special mention must also go out to Skye and Beatrix who are pictured below.  The girls went away for the NSW Calisthenics Championship and placed second overall in their duet.  What an amazing effort!

School Car Park

I would like to remind people to drive slowly in our school car park and to make sure that they walk children to the gate or across the bottom school crossing.  The line marking will occur in the next two weeks and a new crossing to an allocated position will be located near our double black gate. 

This extra crossing is to serve as a reminder that we need to drive slowly and drop off students in the correct positions.  Some parents have dropped children off near the basketball rings, obstructing traffic whilst at the same time dropping their child in a position that is unsafe.  If you are unsure of the procedure, please contact me.

Wednesday Math’s Club 

This is now open.  Year 5/6 students who would like some extra practice or children who would like to push themselves further are welcome.  Please meet Mr. Rodda in the Front Office foyer, every Wednesday at 8:30am sharp. 

School Survey – ‘Go Tell Them From Me’

A new school survey will be trialed this year and rolled out by CE.  This strategic move has been motivated by trialling a more targeted survey that will give schools even more information to serve their communities better.  There will be further information closer to the roll-out. 

Playgroup Reminder – Room Open Every Wednesday- Program runs in Odd School Weeks – 9:30-11am

A reminder to all families that our playgroup has begun and the children are having a ball.  I have pasted an email that I received after yesterday’s session.

I just wanted to say how excited and pleased we are to be back at playgroup.
Thank you to Mrs Jelfs-Smith for preparing the program and being so welcoming and to Mr Rodda and Mrs Reed for supporting the group.
My children and I really enjoyed this morning and are looking forward to it for the term ahead.

Semester 2 Reports and Parent Teacher Interviews

St John Vianney’s is scheduled to hold Parent Teacher Interviews in Week 6 of this term.  This is to ensure that all parents are aware of how their children are progressing and to discuss goals that you may have for your son or daughter.  An online booking form will be made available in Week 5 for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday interview sessions.  At this interview your child’s teacher will have a very good idea of your child’s strengths and weaknesses and how these will be reported on 3 weeks later.  It is very important that you take part in this process.

Below you will note a communique from CE informing our community that there has been a system change in the report format for Catholic Schools.  This format will be a grade only format with no comments and I have placed more information below.

Reporting - Semester 1 2021

The schools teaching team has begun the process of creating each child’s Semester 1 2021 report.

In Semester 1:

For Kindergarten students:

• Achievement in each subject will be reported using a four-point scale (Well Above Expectations, Above Expectations, Meeting Expectations and Working Towards Expectations).

For Year 1 to Year 6 students:

• Academic grades for each subject using a five-point scale from A-E will be reported using the Australian Curriculum Achievement Standards.

For all students:

• Strand Achievement will be reported in English, Mathematics, Humanities and Social Sciences, Health and Physical Education, and The Arts using a five-point scale (Excellent, High, Sound, Basic, Elementary).
• Engagement with Learning statements, which are taken directly from the Australian Curriculum, will provide specific information about your child’s Critical and Creative Thinking, and Personal and Social Responsibility, using a three-point scale (Beginning, Developing, Consistently).
• Individual student comments will not be used in the Semester 1 Reports.

The new approach to Academic Reporting is a developing process. Further work will be undertaken in the coming months to determine how progress and achievement is best reported based on what we know to be important information about a student’s learning and progress.

God bless you and your families

Peter Rodda

Principal