7 March 2023

 This three year strategic plan will focus on five key strategic pillars that will enable our RJ teams to effectuate the development of key areas within the School. It will guide our work as a learning community with a renewed hope in Christ as we courageously build on our reputable 25 year history.

Please see our RJ Strategic Plan launch video and e-book below.

Richard Johnson Anglican School Strategic Plan e-book

A couple of highlights this week: We are looking forward to our Marsden Park Community Connect evening tonight with special guests from the Anglican Schools Corporation, Mr Peter Fowler (CEO) and Mrs Merryn Clarksmith (Director of Education and Mission) joining us. Our hope is to address concerns and questions families may have in relation to the transition from campus to school in 2024.

We also can’t wait to host our Grandparents at our Grandparent Day events this week at both Marsden Park (Thursday) and Oakhurst (Friday). These days are always full of excitement for our students as they ‘show off’ their school to their dearly loved grandparents. 

Let’s continue to believe that our best days are still ahead of us!

God Bless

Mr Alan Dawson | Principal 

There are a number of things that I’ve been reflecting on and learning as I go, including the questions that come with being a new learner in an area, including:

1. How do you remember to bring your extra glasses case everywhere you go and isn’t that a pain?

2. How do you keep them clean? Aren’t they constantly dirty or smudged?

3. Do you have to constantly adjust them to keep them on the right part of your nose?

4. Isn’t it annoying having to switch between pairs for everyday use vs reading?

5. How do I drive with them on when the sun is really bright?

These are just a fraction of the considerations and adjustments that have had to be made in transitioning to wearing glasses full time. Whilst many of these things are frustrating or simply unknown, the benefit to my eyes and overall health vastly outweighs the impact of these frustrations. This has inspired me to consider this in a way that is akin to the learning journey our students go through.

Making Adjustments

Some of our students have been going through a big adjustment this term. Perhaps they’ve changed schools, started Year 7, moved into their senior years of school, or even simply started a new year level with the expectations increasing on them. Any change or adjustment requires resilience, one of the key aspects of RJ’s focus in taking on a Building Learning Power approach to learning. We need to ensure we are aware of the adjustments our students are making in order to support them. Such adjustments are likely to also require organisational skills to accompany them. Perhaps your student needs support in managing their organisation before they even consider meeting the new expectations that come with their change.

Being a rookie/Ask an expert and Learning Mode

One of our current foci in growing our students in being effective learners is helping them to understand the difference between Learning Mode and Performance mode. This helps students to appreciate there is a time to be curious, inquisitive, interrogate ideas and ask ‘just one more question’. For me, as I have begun my journey into wearing glasses, I’ve asked lots of people who wear glasses how they manage some of the things I raised above. This have given me the opportunity to learn from my peers before needing to ‘demonstrate mastery’ in wearing my glasses (as silly as this sounds). I have learned so much from others during this phase of learning and even learned that there are some things that even experienced wearers of glasses still struggle with. In the same way we want our students to do all this growing and learning in the classroom and in their lives. The classroom and a key part of growing up, is knowing what we don’t know. 

The journey ahead is not always linear and Performance Mode

On one of my first days wearing glasses I had a long day at work that ended with an opportunity to meet with parents in the evening. By the end of that day I actually felt a little dizzy whilst standing up. This doesn’t represent failure on my part, it was simply part of the adjustment process and moving towards mastery/competence. Students and learners of all shapes and sizes ought to move through the four stages of competence: Unconscious incompetence → Conscious incompetence → Conscious competence → Unconscious competence. Learning what you don’t know represents growth in learning (moving towards conscious incompetence), but the rich and exciting part of learning is moving towards conscious competence. Encourage your students to pursue growth and to seek to move towards understanding. They will have lumps and bumps along the way, but this doesn’t represent failure unless you refuse to keep growing. Ultimately as learners we are working towards demonstrations of understanding (e.g. assessment tasks), but we encourage our students to only switch into performance mode when it’s time to demonstrate mastery. All other moments are opportunities to grow and learn.

As we move into a time of the term where students are being expected to complete assignments and assessment tasks, they are being expected to go into performance mode, like an athlete, musician or dancer. However, like any learner, these performances should be opportunities for learning and growth from that moment forward. Celebrating successes, correcting errors and looking for opportunities to improve are all part of the journey. Perhaps you might even have the opportunity to consider learning through a new lens, in a new way (pun fully intended).

Mr Scott Roby
Deputy Principal  

GRANDPARENTS’ DAY

The 2023 Oakhurst Primary Grandparents Day is on track to occur this Friday 10 March. If your child’s Grandparents have not yet RSVP’d – please send the form in by Wednesday. Also, a reminder that any student going home early with Grandparents must have returned the signed permission slip. We start at 9:30am in the Hall with a 12:30 finish. Morning tea provided.

GRIP LEADERSHIP DAY

This week, Mr Reed will accompany our Year 6 leaders to Olympic Park where they have the opportunity to join with other school leaders at the GRIP Leadership Day. This event will include keynote speakers, interactive activities, discussions, leadership games and entertainment. 

LITERACY EVENING

On Tuesday 14 March we will be holding our Literacy evening information session for parents with children in grades K-2. This event will be in the School Hall starting at 6:30pm. Please enter via the main gates on Hyatts Road.
The elements of literacy will be outlined along with teaching methods used at RJ and associated hints for parents to promote literacy development at home. A special thank you to Miss Ross, Mrs Pinney, Mrs Wells and Mrs Frakes for their input. This event is for parents only.

JUMP ROPE FOR HEART

Mr Mitchell has been busy organising our School’s Jump Rope For Heart program this term.  Video links from the Heart Foundation have been played for the students explaining how the money currently being raised will be used to assist medical advances into the field of heart disease – a major cause of death in Australia. Already over $2000 has been pledged from our RJ community. Our students have been practising and honing their skipping skills in PE lessons each week readying themselves for Jump Off Day in Week 10. The big question is, will the teachers maintain their crown and win the ‘Miss a Loop’ competition this year or will a student team take it out in 2023?!

WEARING JOGGERS AT SCHOOL

A reminder that students only wear joggers to School on their allocated Sport day (Years 3-6 Wednesday).  PE lessons with Mr Mitchell on other days throughout the week require joggers to be brought to School to get changed into, so school shoes are worn to and from School as normal. Black joggers cannot take the place of school shoes and uniform infringements will be sent home. 

EARLY ARRIVALS AT SCHOOL

A number of children are being dropped at School from 7:40am which is just too early.  From 7:45am Secondary teachers supervise students who must sit quietly in the Canteen area until 8:15am when the Primary morning duty teachers come out. Prior to this, students cannot play. A great time to drop your child at School is from 8:15am when the play areas are open and children do not have to sit and wait.

Years 1 & 2 SWIM FUN DAY

Our Stage 1 Swim Fun Day was held last week at The Little Fishes Swimming Centre in Oakhurst. The students were supervised in small groups while practising pre-swimming skills with noodles, kickboards and balls. A small water slide added to the fun. A special thank you to Mr Rees, Mrs Khawam, Mrs Lockman and Mrs Reid  for their wonderful assistance on the day.

KINDNESS & COMPASSION DAY 

On Friday 17 March we will be celebrating ‘ Kindness & Compassion Day’ and raising money for our Compassion sponsorship children in each Stage. We are asking Primary students to wear the colours of the rainbow – a different colour for each grade and bring in a gold coin for the mufti day. Kindness activities such as card writing and pavement chalk decorating will be held throughout the day.

K-red, Yr1–orange, Yr2–yellow, Yr3–green, Yr4–blue, Yr5–indigo, Yr6-violet

BUILDING CHARACTER IN YOUR CHILD

• TUESDAY  14 March
  Literacy Information Evening K-2
  Parents only
  School Hall 6:30pm
• WEDNESDAY  15 March – Wed 22 March
  NAPLAN
  Years 3 and 5
• TUESDAY 17 March
  Kindness & Compassion Day
  Dress in a rainbow colour mufti.
  Gold coin donation
• FRIDAY  28 March
  Bandaged Bear Day
  Students bring a bandaged toy and money for activities. 
  K-2 parents can join for morning tea picnic

Enjoy the rest of your week,

Mrs Karen Shannon-Duhigg
Head of Primary - Oakhurst

For myself, I constantly thank Mrs Green and her team for the amazing level of effort and professionalism they bring to RJ at Marsden Park. 

We particularly look forward to having our Grandparents come onsite and the blessing and joy that they bring to your children. We hope that our celebrations and performances give them a sense of just how important Grandparents are. 

Learning Support Update 

As the School continues to grow, the needs of individual students are also increasing.  We are so blessed to have a great Learning Support team and they are Mrs Tammy Holder, Miss Whitney Kuiper, Mrs Laura Krajc, Miss Bronte McElera and Mr Malcom McLeod, most of whom are part-time. Mrs Deidre Jackson and Mrs Ruth Hill are full-time in Pre-K.  

The Learning Support team’s role is to assist students with a disability and those who may have learning difficulties or delays. We work collaboratively with teachers, parents, and external specialists to write and implement Individual Learning Plans and Positive Behaviour Support Plans.  

We conduct various testing such as reading, mathematics and spelling throughout the year and for new students, as well as assist teachers with their testing and assessments. We also make visuals, social stories and other resources for both students and teachers. 

We collate evidence for the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data (NCCD) for students with Disability as we provide adjustments for individual students. While we accommodate individual student needs, Learning Support does not usually provide one-to-one support for students. Learning Support staff are timetabled into different classes to support students in various subjects, such as English-Initialit, Mathematics, Spelling, Reading, and Writing. In class, support includes small group withdrawal or in-class activities.  

Learning Support staff also provide support in extra-curricular events throughout the year such as excursions, swimming carnivals, athletics carnivals, swim school and school events.  

We are excited to see the growth of individual students in their learning journey with the assistance of Learning Support.  

Mrs Joey Green
Primary Learning Support Leader

Grandparents Day – 9 March  

This is a reminder to all families that we will be running a Grandparents Day event this week. This is an opportunity for Grandparents to come onsite, visit classrooms and have morning tea. 

A reminder that Grandparents’ visits are also occurring for the Pre-K program on Tuesday 7 March and Wednesday 8 March in the afternoons. Details of the events for the 2, 3 and 5-day program have been sent home by the classroom teachers.  

Years K-2 Water Fun Day 

Students in Years K-2 participated in conjunction with Oakhurst students at the learn to swim centre Little Fishes on Wednesday 1 March. Kindergarten had a wonderful time staying at school and participating in several activities across the morning. Years 1 and 2 enjoyed time in the pool at Little Fishes engaging in learn-to-swim activities, using a range of floatation devices and one particular favourite activity was the water slide. In term 4, we will be following up this day with a more concentrated learn to swim program.

NAPLAN Dates  

Primary students in Years 3 and 5 will participate in NAPLAN Online testing in March (dates outlined below). Students do not need to be computer experts to take the NAPLAN test online. Making sure students have computer skills is part of our school curriculum, and our teachers will ensure your child is familiar with the online format.  

Marsden Park Campus NAPLAN Online testing dates are:  

•Wednesday 15 March – Writing 

•Friday 17 March – Reading 

•Monday 20 March – Conventions of Language 

•Wednesday 22 March - Numeracy 

Term 1 Events

Please see an overview of Term 1 events below. Dates will be confirmed in the note to families across the course of the Term.

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Housekeeping  

• Contact Details: From time to time, phone and contact details can change. If that is the case, please contact the school if you changed any contact details i.e. mobile numbers, email addresses or home addresses, please contact the school via email on [email protected] or the Parent Portal. 
• Absences: please email the absences email address:  [email protected] or SMS 0438 657 339 
• Student Medication: Students are not to have any form of mediation in their school bags be it anti-histamine, Panadol, ointments etc. Only Asthma Puffers and diabetic medication are the exception. All other medication is to be brought to the office for safe keeping and a permission form filled in which can be found on our website under resources.   
• After school care arrangements: If you have arranged after school care, please remind your child before dropping them to school. Please call the office to ensure the message is not missed in an emergency.  
• Please remember that the carpark is now rear to curb only. Please drive safely due to the high volumes of children walk through the area.  

Mr Luke Sale
Head of Primary - Marsden Park

It has been with great excitement and enthusiasm that all our year 1 students have had weekly classroom violin lessons since the commencement of the year. RJ Music Staff member, Mrs Dimity Statheos and our String tutor Mrs Rebecca Caffyn, supported by each Year 1 classroom teacher, have guided our students through the first steps of playing a violin. 

As a curriculum program initiative, each student has been issued with a violin and have had lessons on how to take their violins carefully out of the case, how to hold the violin, how to rest the violin when they are not playing, and students have started to play their first pieces. This is an exciting initiative for RJ, based on the overwhelming educational research which supports the tremendous benefits for our youngest students to commence music lessons at the very earliest age.

In the week ahead Year 1 students will be taking their instruments home for the first time. Lesson material has been posted on See Saw to give parents lots of information with short video demonstrations so that you can best support your child. As this is a curriculum program home learning is an important part of student success. Each week your child will be given specific home learning activities to revise lesson material and practice in anticipation for the next class lesson, facilitating progress as they learn this wonderful new musical skill. We are looking forward in great anticipation to the year ahead for all our Year 1 students, culminating in an end of year String Concert to take place in Term 4 at each Campus.

Mrs Inés Marrable
Director of Performing Arts K-12

Students had a wonderful time developing their swimming skills through games and different activities. Our RJ Oakhurst students paddled,  kicked, bobbed, floated and splashed the entire time! The highlight was definitely the water slide, which caused squeals of delight to echo around the room!

A huge thank you to Miss Stephens, who ran the event so wonderfully, as well as to the incredible Mr Mitchell, Mrs Girgis, Miss Stokes, Mrs Foxall, Miss Foster, Mr Robertson and Mrs Arundel, who helped ensure that our students had a wonderful time. 

We would love to honour the commitment, enthusiasm and generosity of our parent helpers, who stayed in the water the whole time running our activities. Thank you so much to Mr Rees, Mrs Lockman, Ms Reid and Mrs Khawam – we could not have run this event without you!

Mrs Rebecca Frakes
Stage 1 Leader

There are also many excursions and incursions taking place and the Secondary Musical is only weeks away from opening night. Stage 6 Masterclasses in the SLC on Wednesday afternoons continue to grow in popularity with our students, with the highlight possibly being the Pizza and Study night coming up in Week 8. 

We also look back at all the events that have taken place in the last two weeks - Year 7 Camp, which was a great success - the RJ Community Connect night, which was a great opportunity for parents and staff to meet and talk all things RJ. We 'badged' the newly appointed 2023 Student Forum leaders during the Secondary Assembly and also recognised students who placed in the top of their events at the Secondary Swimming Carnival.

Reflecting on the start of the year in Secondary a few reminders might be helpful:

• With the exception of Tuesday, Secondary students are to wear normal school uniform to school and get changed for PDHPE practical lessons during the lesson time. Students may only wear sports uniform home if they have a PDHPE practical lesson in Period 6.
• Any Secondary student who arrives after 8:30am must sign in late at student reception and parents are required to provide a reason where relevant - similar to being absent from school.
• Both students and parents are encouraged to check both emails and broadcasts to keep on top of upcoming events. 
• Parents need to use the app to provide permission for events, with Stage 6 Masterclasses are an example.

As we continue our journey in learning about learning via Building Learning Power at RJ it has been pleasing to see students and staff increasing in their conversations in the following areas: "What to do when you do not know what to do", being in the "Learning Pit", learning from mistakes, being in "Learning Mode and Performance Mode". We will continue to add to these conversations throughout the year as we continue to focus on and build learning 'muscles'.

During the most recent Secondary assembly I reminded students that making mistakes is  part of the learning in the classroom. I challenged students in relation to their behaviour, reminding them that they need to learn from their mistakes rather than repeating the same unhelpful or inappropriate choices. I shared my disappointment that some students struggle in this area of learning, resulting in the need to revisit similar follow up and consequences rather than improvement or change in behaviour. As we continue to focus on learning I do hope students come to apply learning from mistakes in the context of academic understanding as well as their behaviour.

Finally, it is always pleasing to see students being acknowledged for their service to the school community via service credits and service awards presented during Secondary assemblies. It is a reflection of the challenge given in 1 Peter 4:9-10 where we are challenged to be hospitable to one another without complaining and to use our gifts to server others. This is an aspect of the RJ community that we will always acknowledge when seen in our students.

Mr Brad Maxwell
Head of Secondary

Along with serving in this way, the students have the opportunity to help the Primary students to have a wonderful time, develop their leadership skills while supporting the teachers on the camp. Particularly exciting this year has been the opportunity for Secondary Students to attend both the Oakhurst Campus and Marsden Park Campus Stage 3 Camps, which were held at Teen Ranch. It was very encouraging to see so many students applying to be student leaders on the camp. They submitted very well-presented applications followed by interviews during which the students were able to back up their application very articulately.

In Week 3, six Year 9 students and six Year 10 students attended the Oakhurst Stage 3 Camp to Teen Ranch. The Secondary Student leaders were:

Year 9 
Zander V, Mark H, Brodie O, Sirat K, Natalie N, Isabel P 

Year 10
Jonathon T, Sam D, Yavisht B, Lynette D, Heidi F, Grace M

Last week, two Year 9 students and two Year 10 students attended the Marsden Park Campus Stage 3 Camp, also at Teen Ranch.

Year 9   
Shreesh R and Riley O

Year 10 
Siana W and Addison K

All the students selected thoroughly enjoyed their time with the Primary students, developing their leadership skills while supporting the teachers and helping the students have a great time. The primary staff spoke very highly of the students’ attitude, effort, behaviour and the many positive contributions that they made while on the camps. The students are to be congratulated on their terrific efforts during the camp. 

They, along with all the applicants, are encouraged to continue to look for opportunities to serve others at our School and to further develop their leadership skills. 

My thanks to all the Year 9 and Year 10 students who applied for the camp, their parents for allowing them this opportunity and the Primary teachers from Oakhurst and Marsden Park for their guidance of the secondary students during the trip. 

Stewart Rowe
Director of Service Learning/Ministry

The Day Camp, for students in K-6, is organised by CRU – A Christian organisation that works in many Independent Schools, along with Oakhurst Anglican Church and the School. The Camp runs in the third week of the July School Holidays from Monday July 17 – Friday July 21. 

Each year Secondary students from Year 9-12 provide wonderful support as Assistant Leaders during the week. In the past, we have had a great group of Secondary Students helping on the camp, who have helped run many activities on the camp. Assistant Leaders are expected to be available for the whole week (Monday 17 – Friday 21 July 2022) from 7.30am - 6.30pm, although there can be adjustments made to this arrangement in extenuating circumstances. Although the Camp has a strong Christian emphasis, all interested students, irrespective of their faith and belief are encouraged to apply, as long they support the ethos of the camp. 

If you have a child in Years 9-12, please encourage them to consider applying to be an Assistant Leader. Expressions of Interest notes are available through the Broadcasts or from Secondary Student Reception. The due date for the forms to be returned is Friday 17 March. Please return all notes by then. 

If your child has any further questions, please contact Miss Mahaffey.

More information about CRU Blast Day Camp for the Primary students will be distributed early in Term 2.

Stewart Rowe
Director of Service Learning/Ministry

Jump Rope for Heart

It has been lovely to see the students pounding the pavement with skipping ropes in Term One. Our students have already raised over $3800 which is fantastic and will greatly benefit the Heart Foundation.

https://www.jumprope.org.au/fundraisers/richardjohnsonanglicanschool 

Swimming Safety Talk

Last week, our Oakhurst students enjoyed a talk from the Royal Life Saving Society regarding water safety. Our Year 6 Leaders were also able to undertake a mini CPR course. I would encourage all students to undertake swimming lessons if they haven’t already done so to build confidence in the water.

Marsden Park will have their Royal Life Saving Swimming Safety talk at the end of this month.

Mr Gavin Mitchell
Primary Sports Leader

If you haven’t already, you might like to join your fellow parents in the relevant Year Group Facebook pages.

Links are below:

Oakhurst 2023

Kinder - www.facebook.com/groups/1277455589755812 

Year 1 - www.facebook.com/groups/1552909711750566/ 

Year 2 - www.facebook.com/groups/189558569615974/ 

Year 3 - www.facebook.com/groups/168824368158294/ 

Year 4 - www.facebook.com/groups/730865297623328/ 

Year 5 - www.facebook.com/groups/2886300181607815/ 

Year 6 - www.facebook.com/groups/2814133732135861/ 

Year 7 – www.facebook.com/groups/2954299434808467/ 

Year 8 – www.facebook.com/groups/2814840822104199/ 

Year 9 – www.facebook.com/groups/455036309188388/ 

Year 10 – www.facebook.com/groups/2879163515737748/ 

(Year 11 & 12 Facebook pages not available.) 

Marsden Park 2023

Pre-K - www.facebook.com/groups/839736360773290 

Kinder - www.facebook.com/groups/659496148544754/ 

Year 1- www.facebook.com/groups/122419356450279/ 

Year 2 - www.facebook.com/groups/477459589928008/ 

Year 3 - www.facebook.com/groups/265809718262016/ 

Year 4 - www.facebook.com/groups/722240865159618/ 

Year 5 - www.facebook.com/groups/563502541288744/ 

Year 6 - www.facebook.com/groups/3641487719276945/