St John the Baptist Ferntree Gully Newsletter

Tuesday April 30th 2024

Letter from the Principal, Kelli Johnston

Welcome to Week 3 of Term 2. Over the first three weeks of Term 2 as a school we have been introducing the St John the Baptist School expectations. The SJB School Expectations are being introduced as part of our Learning and Teaching Faith in Education curriculum.  

Each week for the first four weeks of the term students are being introduced to one of the SJB School Expectations. Students  have been participating in two lessons each week. One lesson is presented to students in a P-6 cross curriculum lesson and the second lesson is presented to students in their Year Levels.

To date students have been introduced to the SJB Overarching Statement, followed by the first 3 school expectations. Students will be introduced to the final expectation in Week 4.

Overarching Statement to SJB School Expectations

At St John the Baptist we believe in fostering respectful relationships, so that we are people of competence, conscience and compassion, made in the image and likeness of God.

Therefore at St John the Baptist:

  • We care for each other

  • We are responsible learners

  • We move and act safely

  • We look after property and the environment

Families will see, hear and gain understanding of consistent language and expectations being implemented across St John the Baptist.  We encourage families to use this same language as we work towards a whole school and community approach to Positive Behaviour for Learning.

Over the coming weeks we will share examples of the work undertaken in this area across the school. This is an exciting time for us as a school and community as we work together to embed the SJB school expectations.

Prep Level Mass - Change of date

This week’s Prep Level Mass has been moved to Thursday 9th May.  There will not be a parish mass this Thursday at 9:15am.  We have therefore moved the Prep Level Mass to Thursday 9th May.

School Uniform

As we now move into cooler weather we ask that all students transition to their winter uniform.

At the commencement of Week 4, Monday 6th May students are required to be in their winter uniform. 

ANZAC Day

On Wednesday 24th April despite the inclement weather we gathered as a community to remember all who have served in war and served so that we may enjoy freedom.  Our Social Justice Leaders Emily and Sam did an outstanding job of being flexible and leading SJB in our Prayer Service. 

We thank the Grimshaw Family for representing St John the Baptist School and Parish at the Quarry Park Dawn Service and for laying a wreath in memory of all who have served.

Lest We Forget

St John the Baptist Open Days for 2025 Prep Children

Throughout the term a number of school tours have been conducted for families seeking to enrol their children for the 2025 school year. The school open days have been well attended and therefore we are including a Saturday Open Morning. Dates for the Open Morning & Open Day are as outlined below:

Open Morning: Saturday 4th May - tours @ 9am, 9:45am & 10:30am

Open Day: Thursday 9th May - tours @ 9am, 10am, 4pm & 5pm

We ask families wishing to take a tour to please book at the office.

Families with siblings commencing school in 2025 are asked to submit enrolments as soon as possible to assist with confirmation of student numbers for 2025.

St John the Baptist PS Cross Country 2024 - Sports Report

We held our St John the Baptist School Cross Country on Monday 29th April. Congratulations to all runners who competed.

The students practised endurance running for a few weeks before the event during PE lessons and all students were able to run the distance without any stopping, so well done to everybody.

Thankyou to the parents who stood out on the course to assist our runners around the track. We could not have ran the event without you so thank you!!

We will present certificates to the top three placegetters from each race on Friday at this week’s assembly. The result of the House competition will also be revealed then. 

Congratulations to the students who have the opportunity to represent SJB at this year’s District Cross Country at Crystalbrook Park.

The First, Second and Third place getters - 

12/13 Boys12/13 Girls11 Boys11 Girls9/10 Boys9/10 Girls
NameNameNameNameNameName
Cooper KIsla SMax FScarlett H Ethan NNishala A 
Beau S Emily SJosh AEtta RJohan HJenna G
Marcus NZahra HZaylen L  Sophia A Charlie KAmelia R

John Mitchell

PE Teacher

Qustodio Digital Monitoring - Information Evening

At St John the Baptist School we are constantly monitoring the digital wellbeing and cyber safety of our students. We deliver learning experiences and utilise the most up to date resources at our disposal to educate and protect our students.

We are delighted now to be able to offer you a tool that can facilitate the protection and guidance of your children's online activities in the home. This tool comes in the form of an app named Qustodio.

Qustodio's mission states:

Our mission is to provide our schools with solutions to enable your parents, guardians and educators to create safe, positive digital environments where children thrive.

Qustodio allows parents and carers to:

- Filter and block content and apps. Create a safe space for their children to explore

- Set time limits. Avoid screen addiction and support better sleep and homework patterns

- Track calls & messages to monitor suspicious activity

- Have visibility on browsing history, social media, and screen time

- Track their child’s location. Receive alerts when they arrive or leave  saved places

- Get tailored reports and alerts for inappropriate content. Real-time alerts tell you if they are in trouble

Thanks to our partnership with Linewize, each family at St John The Baptist will have access to Qustodio to monitor two devices, and the option to sign up for a 30 day trial of Premium.

Looking forward to seeing you all there,

Wayne Daniell

E-learning Leader

Prep Parent Information Evening

We warmly welcome our Prep families to join us for a Prep Information evening on Wednesday 8th May at 6:30pm in the Prep classrooms.  The session will run from 6:30-7:30pm.

Laura, Melissa and Shari will provide families with an understanding of a typical day in Prep, Learning and Teaching in Prep, how families can support their children at home and what being a parent helper looks like in a Prep classroom.

We hope our families are able to join us for an informative evening.

Selman Avenue Car Park

We ask that families keep the drop and go car park bays on the Selman Avenue car park clear for families to safely drop students and continue moving. Families wishing to come into school to drop their children off are asked to park in the designated angle parking bays.

Mother's Day - Afternoon Tea

We warmly welcome all SJB Mums to come together for afternoon tea followed by a special Mother’s Day family activity in classrooms.  Mums/Special friends are welcome to come together for a Mother’s Day afternoon tea in the hall on Friday May 10th from 2pm.  We ask our Mums to move to allocated classrooms for 2:45pm to complete a family Mother’s Day activity.

We look forward to celebrating our amazing Mums.

Mother's Day Stall and Bunnings Cake Stall

This year’s Mother’s Day stall will be held on Tuesday 7th May.    We thank our Mother's Day P&F team for all of their work in preparing a terrific Mother's Day stall.

Families may commence purchasing tokens in preparation for the Mother’s Day Stall. Please refer to the Mother’s Day flyers for further information.

The Parents and Friends Committee have been busy preparing this year’s Cake Stall at Bunnings Scoresby.  This year’s Cake Stall will be held on Saturday 11th May.  Families may donate baked cookies, slices or cakes to be sold at the stall on Saturday 11th May.  All baked goods are asked to have an outline of ingredients used and be wrapped on delivery.

There are a number of tasks to be completed in preparation for the Mother’s Day Stall and Cake Stall. Families can place their name on any of the lists attached through this link: https://signup.com/go/EzWzZTQ

Please deliver items whole (not cut/portioned) in labelled containers. We will portion and individually label to comply with Food Safety regulations

These forms have been sent home (more at the office)

STUCK FOR RECIPE IDEAS??!!

SCAN THE QR CODE for some easy recipe inspiration or bring along a family favourite!  

It doesn't have to be just cakes, slices, biscuits etc., you might have a wonderful recipe for jams/preserves!

Have a great week everyone.

Kelli Johnston

Term 2 Dates

May

2nd - Mater Christi & St Joseph's Taster Day - Year 4 students

2nd - Qustodio Parent Session - 7.00pm

3rd - Assembly - 1/2B presenting

4th - Open Day morning - 9.00am, 9.45am & 10.30am

7th - Mother's Day Stall

8th - Prep Information Evening

9th - Prep Level Mass at 9.15am (new date)

9th - Open Day - Tours 9.00am, 10.00am, 4.00pm & 5.00pm

10th - Mother's Day Afternoon Tea & activity at 2.00pm

12th - Mother's Day

15th - School Advisory Council

17th - Assembly 3/4SJ presenting

18th - Term 2 Working Bee

19th - Pentecost Sunday

24th - District Cross Country

27th - Reconciliation Week begins

27th - National Sorry Day Prayer Service at 9am - Year 5/6 (new date)

29th - Year 3/4 Level Mass

June

3rd - Parents & Friends Meeting

6th - St Joseph's Lighthouse Expo evening

7th - School Closure Day

7th - Feast of the Sacred Heart

10th - King's Birthday School Closure

14th - Assembly Year 5/6D

21st - Reports emailed to families

25th - Parent/Teacher/Student Interviews

26th - Parent/Teacher/Student Interviews

28th - St John the Baptist Feast Day celebrations

28th - Term 2 concludes @ 2.00pm

Second Hand Uniforms

Any donations of clean, official SJB uniform (without holes, stains or tears) can be left at the office at your convenience. Thank you to the many families who have supported the 2nd Hand Uniform shop so far this year with donations and purchases.

Janice S

Canteen News

Open on Wednesdays & Fridays


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.


Canteen Roster Term 2, 2024


Friday May 3rd

Adriana Ambler

Shamindri Aponso

Helper Needed Please


Friday May 10th

Emma Jenkins

Anna Kristof

Cassie Cronin


Friday, May 17th 

Melinda Price

Katrina Horne

Carrie Canton




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St John the Baptist Ferntree Gully