St John the Baptist Ferntree Gully Newsletter

As we approach the end of the first semester we look forward to sharing and celebrating the growth and progress of all students.  We are enormously proud of all the work and efforts of our students throughout the semester.  Our students have thoroughly enjoyed engaging in all aspects of their learning.  It is wonderful to see their faces light up when sharing their learning and successes. Congratulations to all students on their outstanding efforts throughout the semester.

We thank the wonderful staff of St John the Baptist for their passion, dedication, teamwork and commitment to planning high quality learning and teaching with our students at the forefront.  We are most fortunate to have such a hardworking team of educators.  The staff have dedicated many hours and a great deal of work writing reports throughout the term. We hope that our families look forward to reading their child/ren’s achievements in their Semester One reports.

We thank all families for submitting their enrolment forms for the 2025 school year. This is an exciting time for families as we start preparations for welcoming our new preps throughout Semester Two. 

Letters of acceptance have now been sent to all families who have enrolled their child for the 2025 school year. We ask families to return their acceptance offers by Wednesday June 26th, 2024. This will allow us to start forward planning early in Term 3.

We ask any families who have not yet submitted their enrolment forms to do so as soon as possible as places are limited.

We ask families to please mark in their calendars that school will conclude at 2:00pm on Friday 28th June. 

Please refer below to an update to families in regards to the distribution of Semester 1 School Reports.  School Report details will be sent to the email address that you have provided to the school.

The Semester 1, 2024 reports will be distributed on Friday 21st June via email.  Student reports are one of the valuable links between school and home to allow you to gain an insight of how your child is progressing with their learning at St John the Baptist.

In the event that you do not receive your child’s school report please email: 

Wayne Daniell ICT Leader - wdaniell@sjferntreegully.catholic.edu.au

Kelli Johnston Principal - kjohnston@sjferntreegully.catholic.edu.au 

Parent/teacher/student interviews will be held on Tuesday 25th June and Wednesday 26th June.  We encourage all students to attend interviews with their families. The focus of interviews is to celebrate the hard work students have undertaken throughout the semester, as well as the growth they have made as a result of their hard work. Families are now able to book their interview times through SOBS using the following link:

SOBS Parent/Teacher/Student Interviews Link

Interviews will be held on: 

     Tuesday 25th June 2:30-6:00pm

     Wednesday 26th June 3:30-5:30pm

On Tuesday 25th June there is an optional early finish with interviews commencing at 2:30pm. Where possible we encourage families to collect their children early.

A friendly reminder that if you have a PSG for your child that this includes your Parent/Teacher Interview. Families who attend a PSG do not book an additional Parent/Teacher Interview. 

An enormous thank you to the terrific team of families for all of your work at Friday’s Working Bee. The team of parents shared their many skills and talents to complete a wide variety of jobs at SJB. From moving the Art room, weeding, gardening, hanging pictures, numerous handy jobs across the school, clearing the shipping container and more. 

Thank you to everyone for your generous support and great sense of community.  We are incredibly fortunate at SJB to have so many families offering their time, skills and expertise. 

We thank the following families for all of their work and support:

Heywood, Dow, Mills, Gaunt, Price, Davies, Thorn, Weir

Due to all jobs being completed we will not require an additional Working Bee on Saturday 22nd June.  

We would also like to thank Andrew Davies for our Fire Extinguisher lesson today.

As we come to the end of another busy term we have the opportunity to celebrate the Feast of St John the Baptist. The Feast Day of Saint John the Baptist is June 24th.  As a school we will celebrate the Feast of our Patron Saint on the last day of term. We have a wonderful day planned for all. 

Please see the outline of the day below:

Families please note: Given that there is a change to timetabling for the day we ask that all students bring the morning tea for first break.  There will be a special lunch in the Canteen on the last day of term, however please be aware that students will receive their orders at 12:00pm. Further information is outlined below in the newsletter.  Lunch orders for the last day of term need to be finalised by Friday 21st June to allow for planning and catering (this is in place of normal canteen).

Please be advised that all Beleza Retail Stores will be closed for the first week of the Term 2 school holidays. Stores will close at 2pm on Friday 28th of June and will resume standard trading hours from Monday 8th of July.

Wishing everyone a great week ahead.

Kelli Johnston

The Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge is now open and St John the Baptist Primary is excited to be participating. 

The Challenge is open to all Victorian children from birth to Year 10 in recognition of the importance of reading for literacy development. It is not a competition; but a personal challenge for children to read a set number of books by 6 September 2024.

Children from Prep to Year 2 are encouraged to read or ‘experience’ 30 books with their parents and teachers. Children from Year 3 to Year 10 are challenged to read 15 books.

The Premiers Reading Challenge platform which parents use to record the books their child/ren have read offers a range of exciting features including:

• access to a library catalogue (including book images and blurbs)

• a modern user-friendly interface

• rewarding students with badges as challenge milestones are achieved

• the option for students to mark books as a favourite, give them a star rating or complete a book review

All children who meet the Challenge will receive a certificate of achievement signed by the Victorian Premier and former Premiers.

To read the Premier’s letter to parents, view the booklist and for more information about the Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge, visit: https://www.vic.gov.au/premiers-reading-challenge 

If you would like your child/ren to take part in the Premier’s Reading challenge please let Ursula know via email and I will register them and forward you your login details.

udecorrado@sjferntreegully.catholic.edu.au

Once you receive your login details you will be able to enter the books your child has read on the portal.

Please contact me if you have any questions or wonderings.

Ursula DeCorrado

June

21st - Reports emailed to families

21st - Assembly Year 5/6D

25th - Parent/Teacher/Student Interviews - 2.30-6.00pm

26th - Parent/Teacher/Student Interviews - 3.30-5.30pm

28th - St John the Baptist Feast Day celebrations

28th - Term 2 concludes @ 2.00pm

July

15th - Term 3 commences

17th - Emmaus School Production - Year 4 & 5 students

24th - Confirmation Family Evening

26th - School Assembly - 1/2D

27th - Confirmation Commitment Masses

28th - Confirmation Commitment Masses

31st - School Advisory Council - 2:00pm

August

1st - Year 5/6 Level Mass

1st - Mater Christi & St Joseph's Production

The 2nd Hand Uniform Shop will be closed on Tuesday 25th June, due to the early school finish for Parent Teacher Interviews.

Canteen orders can be placed via http://www.flexischools.com.au

Orders must be placed no later than 7.30am on the Wednesday or Friday.