St John the Baptist Ferntree Gully Newsletter

On Thursday we gathered as a parish and school community for the celebration of the Eucharist in this new school year. It was wonderful to see parents and grandparents join us with the parish community to celebrate the Beginning of School Year Mass. Our focus and theme for 2026 is ‘Empowered to Thrive’. The theme of Empowered to Thrive was created in alignment with the MACS Vision for Instruction and Vision for Engagement as we focus on empowering students spiritually, socially, emotionally and academically.  As a school we are looking forward to a wonderful year ahead.

Our beginning of the year Mass was led by Father Peter Nguyen, our Assistant Parish Priest. It was wonderful for our students to meet Father Peter. We are most fortunate to have Father Thomas and Father Peter as our faith leaders. We look forward to them playing an active role in our community and nurturing our students' faith journey.

It was terrific to see our students participating actively in Mass and celebrating our faith.  From entering the church reverently, to reading and responding throughout the Mass, to receiving communion or a blessing to singing. All students should be enormously proud of the manner in which they presented themselves.  We especially thank our Year 6 students for their leadership and modelling demonstrated to their Prep buddies who attended their first School Mass. Our Beginning of School Year Mass is another example of the terrific start to our school year. We thank our REL Marialisa Mandarino for all of her work preparing the Mass and the staff for their work in preparing the students.

Over the weekend the Reconciliation candidates attended mass on either Saturday evening or Sunday morning with their families. It was wonderful to see our students share their commitment to preparing for their Reconciliation. Throughout the following weeks the students will continue to prepare to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

Last Wednesday SJB hosted the MACS Board of Directors AGM. The MACS Board took a tour of SJB, met with School Advisory Council members and the School Leadership team. Additionally, we presented to the Board the story of SJB, what sets us apart from other schools, our successes and challenges.  As a school we were provided with the opportunity to engage with the Board in matters relating to education. This was another terrific opportunity to share with MACS what makes SJB such a special place.

Tomorrow our Year 5/6 students leave for Portsea Camp. Our Year 5/6 students will enjoy the next 2 nights and 3 days at Portsea. Camp is a terrific opportunity to bond as a year level and get to know each other.

We are most fortunate as the weather is looking terrific for camp.  We wish everyone a fabulous time away.

We thank Miss Melissa Davey, Mrs Lisa Giulliano, Mrs Susan Smith, Mrs Brylie Johnson, Mr John Mitchell and Miss Elyse Harvie for their care and support of our students throughout the days at camp.

 A friendly reminder that the following Wednesdays are ‘Rest Days’ for our Preps.  Wednesday 18th February and Wednesday 25th February.

Our Preps will commence full time at school from Monday 2nd March.

Each year families receive an ICT User Agreement Policy to share with their children and complete together.  The purpose of this policy is to provide a shared understanding and agreement between home and school with the purpose of ensuring safe and responsible use of all forms of technology.

The 2025 ICT User Agreement is due to expire on Saturday 28th February. Families will receive the 2026 ICT User Agreement through Nforma in the week commencing Monday 16th February. We ask families to take time to read the agreement with their child/ren and complete the agreement by Friday 27th February. This will ensure that students have continued access to their devices for learning.

At SJB we pride ourselves on being a community that cares and supports each other. We ask that all families assist us with the SJB School Expectation of “Moving and Acting Safely” with following areas of safety at the beginning and end of each day.

• Students are to walk with an adult at all times when crossing the carpark to the oval for an after school play

• Students riding to and from school are to dismount bikes at any entry point to the school grounds and at all times walk their bikes through the school grounds

• Families wishing to leave cars to walk students in or collect students from the school grounds are required to park in the designated car park spaces in the middle of both the Forest Rd and Selman Ave car parks.

• Kiss and Go car parks strictly require drivers to remain in their cars to keep the car parks flowing.

We ask that families discuss the above at home and with extended family to ensure that safety of all continues to be a priority for our community.

Support for families experiencing financial hardship is available via the School Fees Concessional Program.

It is available to families that meet one of the following criteria:-

• Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander heritage
• Holders of Department of Human Services Health Care Card
• Holders of Department of Veteran Affairs Gold Card
• Holders of a Department of Home Affairs Proof of Identity Card (ImmiCard)
• Experiencing genuine financial hardship

If you believe you are eligible, please complete the form below or call into the office to obtain a copy.

Please return the completed form to the school office ASAP.

In 2026 the 2nd Hand Uniform Shop will be open on Tuesday afternoons, at the usual time of 2:45pm - 3:15pm. For families new to the school, the 2nd Hand Uniform Shop is located in the meeting room to the left of the Office. Thank you to the families who donated items at the end of last year to help re-stock the shelves. I will publish a stock list in the coming weeks. All items $5.00 - cash only.  

Janice

We ask families to please place the dates for this year’s Sacraments in your calendars. Sacraments are important milestones and celebrations in our students' faith journey.

Swimming squad training commenced last week at St Joseph’s Secondary College.  The dates for squad swimming are 24th February and the 3rd and 10th March from 7:45am - 8:30am. Additional dates may become available should student engagement remain high. Further information about squad swimming will be communicated by our PE teacher Mr John Mitchell.

Our staff have thoroughly enjoyed reconnecting with families and the opportunity to get to know our students more through our Meet and Greet sessions. The Meet and Greet sessions are an opportunity for students, parents and staff to build positive relationships setting students up for a successful year ahead.

We thank all families for recognising the value of these sessions and making time to meet with staff. We greatly appreciate our home school partnerships.

Our Preps have commenced school brilliantly. It is terrific to see them settle so well. To provide families with an insight into daily life in a Prep classroom and an insight into Learning and Teaching in Prep, we would like to invite you to an Information Evening. Please see the following information:

Prep Information Evening

                                   When: Tuesday 24th February @ 7pm

                                   Where: Prep classrooms

• Should you require child supervision please email Kelli at kjohnston@sjferntreegully.catholic.edu.au

We look forward to Carley McGauran sharing her expertise as a mother and psychologist in the area of ‘Big Feelings’. Carley shares practical tips and advice on how to nurture and support children with their feelings. We invite families to join this session with Carley. Carley has a wonderful way of normalising everyday circumstances that parents navigate and providing tips and suggestions for our toolkit as parents.

We hope you are able to make the evening.

Your registration link to share with parents: 

https://event.webinarjam.com/z3w5x/register/n1qlpa2r

We are always excited to hear from our previous SJB students and we thoroughly enjoy them returning to visit us. It is wonderful to see our 2025 School Captains, Patrick and Aiden and SRC Leader, Benji transition to secondary school.

We wish all of our 2025 Year 6’s a fabulous start to their next chapter at secondary school.

Best wishes everyone.

The St John the Baptist School Advisory Council (SAC) will meet throughout 2026 to reflect on and gain feedback on a number aspects of SJB school.  We look forward to working in partnership with the SAC members to reflect and discuss important aspects of St John the Baptist. We have been most fortunate to have a SAC with parent representation across school year levels. Should you be interested in being a member of the School Advisory Council please email Kelli Johnston. kjohnston@sjferntreegully.catholic.edu.au

School Advisory Council evenings are scheduled for Wednesday evenings commencing at 7:00pm in the St John the Baptist staffroom.  The following dates below outline the SAC meetings for the 2026 school year.

25th February

1st April

22nd July

2nd September

21st October

24th November - SAC & P & F Thank you dinner

Please note the change of date for the first SAC meeting date due to school camp.

St John’s School is committed to providing a child safe environment and takes active steps to ensure any person authorised to conduct ‘child connected works’ does not pose a risk to their safety or welfare. To achieve this, the school implements screening processes, including Working With Children Checks (WWCC), to assess and verify their suitability. 

St John’s School ensures that non-teaching staff, contractors, volunteers and visitors are of suitable character and do not have a relevant criminal record that poses an unjustifiable risk to children. 

Teaching Staff & Casual Relief Teachers who are registered with the Victorian Institute of Teaching (VIT) undergo criminal record checks via their annual registration.

Volunteering to Assist with School Programs- WWCC

Parents would be aware that to assist with any of our school programs that all volunteers, parents/guardians/family members are required to have a current Working With Children Check on our school records.

Please refer to the following site for details on accessing a WWCC.

Family members are to provide a copy of the WWCC to the school office. 

Knox Youth Services together with Maroondah, Yarra Ranges and Boroondara Youth Services have some upcoming webinars on understanding ADHD and supporting children with anxiety. Please see the attached flyers for more information. 

Wishing all our students and families a wonderful week.

Kelli Johnston

February

18th - Ash Wednesday - Lent begins

18th - Ash Wednesday Mass - 9:15am

18th - Prep Rest Day

18th - Year 5/6 Camp to Portsea

20th - Year 5/6 Camp returns from Portsea

24th - Swimming Squad St Joseph’s Secondary College 7:45am - 8:30am

24th - Prep Information Evening

25th - School Advisory Council Meeting - change of date

25th - Prep Rest Day

25th - Year 5/6 Excursion to ACMI

27th - District Swimming

March

2nd - Preps commence Fulltime 

3rd - Swimming Squad St Joseph’s Secondary College 7:45am - 8:30am (Year 3-6)

3rd - Carley McGauran Managing Big Feelings online session @ 7:30pm

6th - School Closure Day

9th - Labour Day - School Closed

10th - Swimming Squad St Joseph’s Secondary College 7:45am - 8:30am (Year 3-6)

10th - Division Swimming

11th - Open Day #1 - Tours @ 9am, 10am, 4pm & 5pm

11th - NAPLAN commences

12th - Division Swimming

14th - Term 1 Working Bee

16th - P & F Meeting -  SJB Staffroom at 7pm

17th - Open Day #2 - Tours @ 9am, 10am, 4pm & 5pm

19th - MACS School Advisory Council dinner

20th - Harmony Day celebration

20th - St Patrick’s Day Schools Mass

27th - SJB Family Weekend away @ Warburton

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

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

Friday February 20th

Belinda Davies

Anna Kristof

Cassy Croning

Friday February 27th 

Carrie Canton

Katrina Horne

Mel Price

Friday March 6th

Nelson Serrao

Cassie Croning