St John's School Roma eNewsletter

Principal's Address

Mercy Shield

Over the past weekend, I spent a lot of time watching our students compete in the Mercy Shield for Rugby League and Netball. I was extremely impressed by the way our students engaged in the competition. The boys kept offering to play for other schools despite being exhausted to make sure there were enough players to field a full team. The girls played an incredibly physical and fast-paced game before the final, yet they still managed to back up and play outstandingly in the final game. I felt very proud of our students for their exceptional sportsmanship.

We owe a great debt of gratitude to the dedicated individuals who made the Mercy Shield a success. A special mention goes to Matt Creeley, Sophie Tilbury, Ross Penrose and Cassie Shields, along with all the coaches, referees and first aid officers. Their hard work and commitment were instrumental in the smooth running of the event.

Uniform Policy

We would like to draw your attention to the updated Uniform Policy. In response to students' requests and with the support of the School Advisory Council and the P&F, a small change has been made. Students are now permitted to wear a small (4 mm) pearl stud as part of their uniform.

From my perspective, it is important to listen to student voices, where we can, on issues that affect them directly. It’s one way to ensure the students feel valued and have a sense of belonging and ownership in their school.

Parent engagement charter

It was wonderful to see the lively and productive chats in parent-teacher interviews this week, as well as the relationships built between teachers and parents. We know that a student's education needs to be a three-way partnership between the student, teacher and parent to ensure the best outcome for our kids, and the interviews were evidence of this.

I’d ask that next time, if something comes up and you are no longer able to attend your booked interviews, you please contact the school to advise us. A number of people were unable to book an interview due to teachers being fully booked, only for there to be no-shows on the night.

Toowoomba Catholic Schools have published a Parent engagement charter, which you can see in this newsletter. It outlines the ways in which parents can contribute to the school via avenues such as our P&F, and communication norms that exist between our staff and parents. Outcomes for students are always better when respectful communication takes place between parents and teachers, remembering that we all want the best for our kids.

Parent access during the day

Our classrooms have a busy and structured schedule throughout the day. If you need to drop off any items for your student or access them in any way, please do so through the office. Any parent who is on-site after drop-off or before school pick-up must sign in through the office. Please do not go to the classrooms during the day.

I’d also ask parents not to enter the concourse between the Years One and Three classrooms after the first bell or before the final bell of the day. It’s a distraction to students engaging in lessons.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Senior students – carpark

A number of our senior students are now licensed drivers and are choosing to drive their cars to school. For the most part, they have been doing this well. However, it has been noted that some students arrive at school in their cars and stay there to socialise, listen to music, etc. Other students who have already arrived at school are then making their way over to their friends in cars and effectively leaving the school grounds. This stops now.

Students found to be remaining in their cars after arriving at school will lose the privilege of driving to school and parking in that area for a designated period of time. Please have a chat with your son/daughter about their responsibilities in driving to school.

Cheers,

Mark

Prep Art Show

Work Experience - Term One

During Week Ten of Term One and during the school holidays, we had a number of students participate in the School Based Work Experience program.

Thank you to our following Host employers for thesupport, time and Workplace Experience they offered to our students.

Bridget Bell (Yr10) Podiatry Point, Toowoomba (Podiatrist)

William Boughen (Yr9) DMAC Roma (Construction)

Gus Callow (Yr12) SW Air Conditioning and Refrigeration (Refrigeration Mechanic)

Marshall Colless (Yr9) Dores Elect-Air (Auto Electrician)

Micah Forrest (Yr10) Roma Family Dental (Dentistry)

Alex Hayward (Yr12) Robert Bird Group (Engineering)

Sam Jenkins (Yr10) Murray Builders (Builder)

Remi Neven (Yr9) St John's School (Teacher)

Samantha Norrman (Yr11) St John's School (Teacher)

Henry Pollock (Yr11) St John's School (Teacher)

Logan Schefe (Yr10) Hilton Plasterers (Plasterer)

Milly Van Huisstede (Yr11) DJJ Contracting (Mechanical)

Kiera Watkins (Yr11) Plush Diamond (Beauty Therapy)

Jake Williams (Yr11) Dores Elect-Air

Lachlan Anderson (Yr10) Michael Challenor Electrical (Electrician)

Lincoln Ogilvie (Yr11) Murray Builders (Builder)

Easter in the Country

This year saw an amazing turnout of students and staff for the annual Easter in the Country parade. The float theme 'We are better together’ was certainly represented. Being a visible presence in the Roma community is very important to the school and the students. I would like to extend a huge thank you to the parents who took time out of their Saturday to get their children to the parade. They looked great!

Mercy Sheild

Mercy Shield 2024

The Mercy Shield is a carnival hosted by St John’s in Roma. The carnival allows our Confraternity Shield and QISSN teams to get a taste of the level of competitiveness they will experience at their respective carnivals at the end of Term Two. It’s a great opportunity for the teams to play together and start to build team spirit. This year was the fourth year the carnival has occurred, with the following schools travelling out to participate:

St Joseph’s College, Toowoomba
Marist College, Emerald
Assumption College, Warwick
St Mary’s College, Toowoomba
St Mary’s College, Kingaroy

Confraternity Mercy Shield

The Confro team this year has a real mix of students from Years 10 - 12. The boys had a very successful campaign, competing against some very strong teams over the course of the three days. They started off the carnival with a convincing win against St Joey’s on the Friday afternoon. Saturday morning saw the St John’s boys go down in a tight finish to Marist College, before bouncing back to earn a gutsy win against Assumption College. The final game on Saturday resulted in a tough loss to a well drilled St Mary’s Toowoomba team. The boys finished off the carnival in another tight loss to the eventual winners of the Mercy Shield, Marist College, Emerald. The effort from our St John’s boys and the spirit in which they played their footy over the weekend are to be commended. They are excited about the opportunity to travel to Townsville at the end of the term and show the other schools that we can compete with the best schools in QLD.

QISSN Mercy Shield

The QISSN Team had a very successful weekend, playing each game to the best of their ability and seeing their hard work in the leadup to Mercy Shield pay off. The girls started the weekend strongly with an exciting win against Marist College, Emerald on the Friday afternoon. This was followed by another win against Assumption College, Warwick and St Mary’s, Kingaroy in the first two rounds on Saturday. On Saturday afternoon, the team played St Joseph’s, Toowoomba, resulting in a close loss but placing 2^nd on the ladder prior to the final rounds. Sunday morning saw the girls play Marist College, Emerald for the second time to make it into the Grand Final. Our team versed St Joseph’s, Toowoomba once again and played a brilliant game of netball, unfortunately resulting in a loss by 1 point and putting the team at 2^nd place overall for the carnival. To wrap up the wonderful weekend of netball, Joelee Ferguson was awarded ‘Most Valuable Player’ for the carnival. A big congratulations to our QISSN 1^st VII Team for their hardworking attitude, teamwork and positivity across the weekend. The girls are very much looking forward to being able to represent St John’s School once again at our upcoming QISSN Carnival hosted in Townsville in June.

Wednesday 8:00 - 10:30 am

Online:

https://theschoollocker.com.au/schools/st-johns-catholic-school

Newsletter - 26th April 2024