OUR CATHOLIC IDENTITY
St John the Baptist Catholic Primary School is a part of the Catholic Education family within the Diocese of Rockhampton.
As a school community, through our words and actions, we strive to give witness to the defining features of a Catholic School:
- Have a clear Catholic identity
- Be open and accessible to all who seek our values
- Offer a relevant and holistic curriculum of quality teaching and learning
- Be a community of care
- Develop inclusive partnerships within a community of faith
St John the Baptist is a Catholic Primary School where everything we do reflects Gospel values. As adults, staff and parents, we need to model the Gospel values for the young people within our community and invite all to live these values.
Our school has thrived under the guidance of the Marist priests, who play a major role in our school’s spiritual life. Characteristics of our patron saint, St John the Baptist are reflected in the statements “Preparing the Way” and “True Before God, True Before All.” Our school strives to prepare our students for the life ahead of them spiritually, academically and socially, just as St John the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus.
LITURGIES
PRAYER
REACHOUT GROUP
OUR PATRON SAINT
Liturgies
- Multiple opportunities are provided throughout the year for teachers to prepare and celebrate Liturgies of the Eucharist and the Word both in the church and at school.
- Prep to Year 2 classes celebrate Liturgies of the Word while Years 3 to 6 classes, celebrate Liturgies of the Eucharist.
- All combined year levels organise one liturgy a year at the Star of the Sea church.
- All classes organise and celebrate one liturgy at school per year
- We seek to ensure all students have experiences of Church even though we are removed from the Church building location.
Liturgies of the Eucharist are celebrated for the following special days
- Beginning of the Year
- End of the Year
- Ash Wednesday
- 24 July – the birth of St John the Baptist
- Week 3 Term 3 Catholic Education Week
- 15 August - Assumption of Mary
- 12 September – The Holy Name of Mary
Liturgies of the Word are celebrated for the following special days
- ANZAC Day
- Stations of the Cross in the last week of Term 1
- NAIDOC Week
- Sorry Day
Whole School and Class Prayer
Prayer is seen as a vital and worthwhile component of life at our school. Staff prayer and class prayer is experienced in a variety of modes each day. As a whole school, we start each day on parade or in our classroom with our School Prayer and all classes end their day in the classroom with a prayer. Students also pray prior to each lunch break to give thanks for their food and all those who contributed to the making of their food and at midday, all classes pause to pray the ‘Hail Mary’ (Prep - Year 2) or 'The Angelus' (Year3 - Year 6). Prayer also forms a part of the Religious Education curriculum and prayer services are often held within the teaching of Religion in classrooms. Students experience a variety of prayer modes and in different contexts to facilitate meaningful prayer with our God. Our St John the Baptist Prayer Book lists the prayers our students formally learn as part of the Religious Education Curriculum (prayer booklet) Our prayer sessions, often end with the words “St John the Baptist, pray for us. Our Lady Star of the Sea, pray for us” to remind us of our patron saint and Mary, both of whom we seek to emulate and follow their message in our daily lives.
Staff Prayer
Staff pray together at our 8.20am meetings each Monday and at the commencement of all staff meetings with rostered staff members organising these prayers. Special intentions are included in our Staff Prayer and our Weekly Staff Update.
Aim:
The aim of this group is to show the love of Jesus, and do the work of Mary quietly in the background, through random acts of kindness to assist others in need in our school community.
Motto:
“Love one another as I have loved you”
Purpose:
This band of volunteers, comprised of members of our school community, (and sometimes some who have left the school community but wish to remain in the group) will seek to support any members of our school community who need help in some form for a period of time while being sensitive to their needs e.g. one parent in hospital, a hospitalised child. At times, this group may support others by providing a cooked meal for the family or providing comfort over a shared cup of tea. This group will rely on other community members informing them of a family or person who may need support. Sensitive personal details relating to family situations are not shared with group members. All support given will be offered on behalf of the St John’s School community. The group does not become involved in separation or divorce cases as we do not want to be seen to take sides in these cases.
St John the Baptist was a Jewish prophet who preached of the imminent coming of the Messiah. He had a following of disciples and baptised people as a sign of them renouncing their sins and turning back to a God.
John was born in Judea to elderly parents, Elizabeth (who was Mary’s cousin) and Zechariah. a priest. Scripture records Elizabeth as saying the child within her womb jumped for joy when Mary, who was with child (Jesus) greeted Elizabeth on hearing of Elizabeth's miraculous pregnancy. John's role was to tell people of the coming of Jesus and he called for people to amend their ways. H used the waters of the Jordan to baptise people.
John lived a simple life but many were drawn to hear what John had to say and many followed him. Jesus came and John immediately recognized him as the Messiah, the one who will baptise with the Holy Spirit. John baptised Jesus and directed his followers to follow Jesus, as he was the one they had been waiting for.
John the Baptist was beheaded at the hand of King Herod.
John was a courageous man, willing to speak out against the unholy and unjust living practices of those times. He was the last great prophet before Jesus started his ministry.
