Dear SJV Families,

As we near the end of the year I reflected on some of the many activities our wonderful staff provide for the children.

I thank the outstanding staff who have work effectively and purposefully with your children this year. Teachers, office and support staff have all combined well to keep the school running smoothly, with energetic and vibrant children spending their active hours here through the year. On your behalf I thank each of them for their efforts throughout the year. The staff here work well as a team, and I have been happy and proud to work with them this term.

It is a tremendous trust that parents place in the school when you send your children here. The partnership between school and parents has a telling impact on the quality of education of any school. I wish to take this opportunity to thank the many parents who continue to offer wonderful support to the school’s endeavours. There were so many parents who assisted in a variety of ways. We cannot operate without parental support - classroom helpers, Mothers’ Day and Fathers’ Day events, Walkathon, Community Council, assisting with excursions, supplying emergency meals, offering the hand of friendship to new parents, Orientation Days for Kinders, and not to mention the Fete. (What a great job by Lucy and team.) Even if you could not physically lend a hand this year, speaking positively about the school to others and especially to your children is invaluable. I personally thank you for your support of this amazing community.

I also thank the School Community Council. On behalf of all the parents, this group worked tirelessly and effectively all year.

Thank you. On behalf of Peter, Nina and the team, we look forward to working with you again next year.

2023 Staffing

We wish Mrs Sarah Emerson all the very best for 2023, as she prepares for the birth of her first child. We look forward to meeting the newest addition to the Emerson family early next year.

Teacher placements have been finalised (barring any last-minute changes). At this stage, our class teachers for 2023 are:

Teaching Staff

Kinder              – Mrs Karen Stilling

Year 1             – Mrs Laura Matchett (REC) and Mrs Kathy Monagle

Year 2             – Mr Wayne Young

Year 3/4          – Mrs Anna Kain and Mrs Liz Diskin

Year 3/4`         – Miss Ruth Blackwell

Year 5/6          – Mrs Leah Malpas and Mr Ben Lowe

Year 5/6          – Miss Nicola Perryman

Italian             – Mrs Kathy Monagle

The Arts          – Mrs Mary Dietz-Mullamphy

Library            – Mrs Janice Spackman

ICT                 – Mr Ben Lowe

 

Front Office

Mr Peter Rodda           – Principal

Mrs Nina De Rosa        – Assistant Principal / Classroom Support Teacher

Mrs Jeanette Simpson  – Front Office Manager

 

Classroom Support Staff

Mr Jess Gibson

Mrs Jenny Isbel

Mrs Trina Jelfs-Smith

Miss Keeley O’Neill

Mrs Jeanine O’Toole

Mr Anthony Scarfone

Canteen

Ms Mel Harding

Grounds

Mr John Doyle

Step-Up Day

Students will meet their teacher for 2023 on Tuesday afternoon (Tuesday 13 December). Please note that due to privacy considerations your child cannot be provided with a copy of their class list, nor can class lists be displayed.

Year 5/6 Camp

As this newsletter is published I am with the students and staff of Years 5/6, who are midway through their annual camp, at Boramabola outside Wagga Wagga, NSW. I thank the teachers for giving of their family time during this busy pre-Christmas period, and look forward to sharing tales of fun and adventure when we return tomorrow.

Semester Two Awards

Congratulations to the students who were presented an award at our Semester Two ceremony on Monday. We are proud of your efforts and achievements this year.

Semester Two Reports

Reports will be made available via Compass next Tuesday. It is important to remember that a school report is not the definitive measure of your child’s abilities. It is only one measure amid a wide range of opportunities, experiences and activities. Setting a pattern of constructive support should help make report time a productive and positive experience that will help your child make progress at school. A few tips:

• Find the positive aspects of the report and praise your child;
• Take into consideration that the A-E grading scale is very different to the one you would have experienced;
• Discuss what your child found difficult. Look at work habits, homework routines, diet, sleep patterns, etc; and
• Discuss how things could be improved. Offer some constructive/criticism and attainable goals for next year.

Special thanks to the teachers for the many unpaid hours of work outside school time that go into marking assessments, preparing, editing and finalising the written reports.

Classroom Contacts

A big thank you to our Classroom contacts for this year.  Having a parent contact a new family and welcome them into our SJV community is an amazing and awesome gesture to show the new family they are not alone and any time they're unsure of how things are done, they can feel relief to know that someone is always there to help out. Thank you for making our new families feel welcome, for organising parent play-dates and being there for families when they are in need.

School Fees

A reminder that school fees are now overdue, for those who are not on a regular direct debit with us I ask that you settle your account with us by Friday so that we are able to meet our budgetary commitments.

 

Leaving Early

If you are heading off on holidays before the end of the school year (Thursday 15 December), please let the Front Office and classroom teacher know.

Year 6 Graduation

The Year 6 students, supported by their parents and staff, will formally mark the end of their primary schooling next week. We congratulate all our Year 6 students on the successful completion of primary school and give them our blessings as they progress on to the next stage of their journey. We thank Laura Matchett, Anna Kain, Kathy Monagle and Nina De Rosa for all their organisation of the ceremony.

School resumes in 2023 on Tuesday 31^st January, for all students.

To all the families who are ending their association with St John Vianney. Thank you for your dedication to our school and for assisting to making SJV the wonderful place it is. Best wishes in the future.

As we travel the season of Advent and prepare for Christmas, I encourage you to remember in prayer those families associated with the school who have lost loved ones during the year and those who have experienced serious illness in their families.

To each and every member of our St John Vianney family, may your Christmas be blessed and truly enriched by the presence of Jesus and his Blessed Mother.

Merry Christmas.

It was once said…

“We consider Christmas as the encounter, the great encounter, the historical encounter, the decisive encounter, between God and mankind. Let us all rejoice.” ~Pope Paul VI

Blessings to you and your family.

Matt Egan-Richards

Principal (Acting)

Community Council Report

As the year is drawing to a close, the School Community Council is saying farewell to Chair, Troy McDonald, Secretary, Helen Maxted, and Council member, Lucie Walker and Yash McCann. All four have provided years of service to the school and Council, and we sincerely thank them for all their efforts.

This means that the Council has several vacancies.

Being on the Community Council is a great way to volunteer with the school outside of school hours. There are two meetings a term, in Weeks 3 and 8, held on Monday nights at 6.00pm for about 1 – 1 ½ hours.

The Chair and Secretary positions will be determined at the first meeting of 2023. Joining the Council does not mean you have to volunteer for one of these specific roles.

The Community Council is also looking for volunteers for sub-committees, including the Fete Committee.

The Fete is our school’s major fundraiser each year and so filling all the fete committee positions ensures that not only is the workload evenly distributed across numerous people, it also puts us in a really good position to run a fun and successful fete.

If you are interested in volunteering for, or want more information about any of these positions, please contact Matt Egan-Richards (Acting Principal), or the outgoing Chair, Troy McDonald.

ELC NEWS

Happy Birthday to Finn B and Luca F

Portfolio and reports

ELC portfolios and reports will be sent home this week. We hope you enjoy reflecting on the year and all of your child’s learning journey achievements. Traditionally the ELC does not do end of year parent teacher interviews. If you would like to catch up and discuss your child’s progress, please contact your teacher to organise a day/time.

ELC – Yr 2 Nativity Musical Tickets

There will be two performances of our Christmas show, Tuesday December 13 (Stingray Day) and Wednesday December 14 (Lobster Day) at 2pm – 2:45pm. Children are asked to wear Christmas themes/colours. The Turtles class will perform in both shows. Seats are limited so please use the link below to book up to 4 tickets per family.  All St Jude’s primary students will see the Nativity at a dress rehearsal on Monday 12^th December. As such, you do not need to allocate a ticket to siblings at St Jude’s. 

https://www.trybooking.com/CENAQ

Last Day of Term – Thursday 15 December

The last day of term is Thursday 15 December. Friday 16December is a pupil free day and no fees will be applied for this day.  If you child will not be attending on the last day/s of school you will not be entitled to CCS on those days and full fees will be charged.  Please let the ELC office know as soon as possible if your child will not be attending on their last day/s.

 

 

What's coming up and when:

Term 1

Week 1 Notes

Week 2 Notes

Week 3 Notes

Week 4 Notes

Week 5 Notes

Week 6 Notes

Week 7 Notes

Week 8 Notes

SJV Tuckshop is open Wednesday & Friday.  Orders can be made online via Qkr!  A copy of the Menu and Qkr! instructions can be found on the Tuckshop Webpage.

TUCKSHOP ROSTER

Friday 9th December 

Deb and Dani

Wednesday 14th December
Last canteen day for the term 

Jen

weeks_7_10_Term_4_Canteen_volunteer_roster_2022_002_.pdf

Please remember to bring your WWVP- (Working with Vulnerable People) card with you.

You can apply for the card via Access Canberra:  https://www.accesscanberra.act.gov.au/s/article/working-with-vulnerable-people-wwvp-registration-tab-how-to-apply 

A new WINTER Canteen Menu is available here and on our website.   Term 2 & 3                2022 Winter Tuckshop Menu  

Term 1 & 4 The Summer Tuckshop Menu kicks in. 2022_Summer_Tuckshop_Menu.pdf

Please contact the Front Office or Mel or simply fill in the Canteen Volunteer Note  to let us know you are able to help and when. 

Mel Harding

Canteen Manager

melanie.harding@cg.catholic.edu.au 

Best day ever @ the SJV fete!

Mega cash raffle:

.  The Raffle will be drawn Tuesday 13th December at 2pm.  It would be fantastic if every family could sell at least one book. To ensure all sold tickets are entered in the drawer, please return all sold and unsold tickets and payment (cash or Qkr) to the front office tomorrow.