St John the Baptist Ferntree Gully Newsletter

Dear Families,

One of the most wonderful aspects of St John the Baptist School is the sense of community. The support, care and friendship our families provide to one another along with our school is truly special and something for all to be proud of.

We currently have a wonderful sense of community and social justice being demonstrated through Amelia B and Hannah B as they fill key ring orders while raising funds for Caritas. Last year with the support of their family the girls made scrunchies that were equally well supported. It is wonderful to see such a great sense of social justice in action.

Next weekend we have the SJB Family Camping Weekend at Warburton. At this time we understand there will be over 100 members of our community enjoying a weekend away together. We wish everyone a fabulous time away together.  A big thank you to the Davies, Amey & Brady families for their work in creating such an event

On the weekend we had many volunteers attend Saturday’s Working Bee to keep our Naturescape, grounds and school looking sensational.

We would like to thank the following families for their wonderful sense of community and support of St John’s;

Burns, Serrao, Mahoney, Hall, Dutton, Croning, Hendricks, D’Silva, Simmons, Fus & Vesey

We sincerely appreciate the time, expertise, generosity and wonderful sense of community that is continually demonstrated throughout SJB. Thank you.

Our thoughts and prayers are with Father Thomas and his family as they come to terms with the passing of their father, Kuruvila Kumbuckal. Father Thomas and his family are taking comfort in knowing that their dear father is resting peacefully with our Lord after a period of illness. Father Thomas has flown to India to be with his family at this most difficult time. May our prayers provide Father Thomas with strength and comfort throughout this time.

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.” 

On Saturday afternoon we were most fortunate to have a number of our community come together to provide their time to maintain our beautiful playground naturescape. We were then most fortunate to be joined by many families to maintain and care for other aspects of the playground.

Our focus for this day for the morning included:

We warmly invite all families to attend the Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS) Creative Arts Exhibition as part of Catholic Education Week.

This year’s exhibition celebrates the theme “Christ Beside Me: Walking in the Footsteps of Saint Patrick.” Students across the Archdiocese have explored ideas of faith, courage, community, and the presence of Christ in our everyday lives through their creative work.

Our school is proudly represented in this wonderful exhibition, with collaborative artworks from Years 1&2, 3&4, and 5&6, as well as Susie Dow, who graduated in 2025. These pieces were inspired by the natural beauty of the Dandenong Ranges and Ferntree Gully and were originally created for our school art show. It is exciting to see our students’ work included alongside over 500 artworks from more than 90 primary schools and 30 secondary colleges.

The exhibition officially opened on Sunday, 15 March and will remain on display until Saturday, 21 March.

We encourage all families to visit the exhibition and experience the incredible creativity and faith expressed through the artworks. It is a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the talents of our students and the wider Catholic school community.

We hope to see you there!

Families will have received an updated ICT User Agreement through nForma. We have re-released the user agreement due to technical difficulties with nForma as we introduced the platform.  We kindly request that all families respond to the nForma form by Thursday 26th March.

Janice

Last week the Dandenong Ranges Division Swimming event was held. Congratulations to all competitors.

Maya C and Amelia B finished third in their events just missing out on reaching Regional level.  Jenna G and Henry W were able to qualify in individual events and have gained entry to the Eastern Regional event to be held on March 31st at Aquanation Ringwood.

Joining them in the 12/13 Medley relay will be Olivia B and Charlie K. We wish them all the best.

We are excited to share that Barry Plant Boronia is once again running their Easter Colouring competition. This competition is open to children 12 years and under, with 3 prizes to be won that will be drawn out of a hat!

1st Prize: Nintendo Switch Lite

2nd Prize: $100 Toymate Voucher

3rd Prize: Easter Egg Hamper

The artwork can be dropped into our office at 69 Boronia Road, Boronia, via email or at any of our Open for Inspections. We also invite you to The Basin Music Festival (March 20th-22nd) where we will have a Barry Plant Marquee set up at The Basin Triangle with art tables dedicated to those who want to enter the Easter Colouring Competition.

Please find attached the Easter Colouring sheet

Good luck everyone!!

Wishing all our students and families a wonderful week.

Kelli Johnston

March

20th - Harmony Day celebration

20th - St Patrick’s Day Schools Mass

23rd - PSGs

25th - Sacrament of Reconciliation @ 5pm

25th - PSGs

26th - Open Day #3 - Tours @ 9am, 10am, 4pm & 5pm

27th - SJB Family Weekend away @ Warburton

27th - Assembly @ 2.45pm

27th - Halogen Leadership Day - School Captains

30th - PSGs

31st - Regional Swimming

April

1st - School Photos - Summer Uniform

1st - SAC Meeting

2nd - Holy Week Stations of the Cross

2nd - Easter Raffle draw

2nd - Term 1 concludes @ 2pm

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 March 20th

Belinda Davies

Katrina Horne

Friday March 27th 

Amy Chan

Kellie Brooks

Wednesday April 1st

Hot Cross Bun Day (no normal canteen) - helpers needed please

Friday April 3rd

Closed