St John the Baptist Ferntree Gully Newsletter

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 have a number of lovely parents who have most generously offered to create beautiful handmade gifts for this year’s Mother’s Day Stall. It is wonderful to see families share their talents for all to enjoy.

In another example of community and social justice we have some amazing students propose making scrunchies to sell for $2 and donate their profits to Caritas Australia.

We had many terrific 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, Raydan, Ulrich Field, Whitely, Serrao, Davies, Wearne, Heidenrijk, Maratu, Stokes, Bonner, Gabbett, Dalton, Mahoney, Fairbrother and van Bergeijk.

We sincerely appreciate your time, expertise, generosity and wonderful sense of community that you continue to bring to SJB. Thank you.

On Saturday morning we were most fortunate to have a number of our community come together to provide their time to maintain our beautiful playground naturescape.  Over the last week Richard Bellemo and his team at Bellemo Landscapes carried out repairs and maintenance to the ferns and sandpit area. 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:

• Spreading mulch in the playground
• Spreading new stones along the dry creek bed
• Oiling the wooden playground equipment
• Weeding the tyre/slide areas and along the creek bed
• Trimming some lower branches on the trees  (small branches)
• Removing the ivy off the fence near Selman Ave

Congratulations to Ella O'C in Year 5 for her community participation. Ella recently performed at the St Patrick’s Day Festival in St Kilda, as well as a local nursing home providing entertainment for a variety of community members

Great job Ella, you are a star!!

We were thrilled to be able to present Joseph W with the Knox Council Hobson Citizen Award at Friday’s assembly.

Joseph was nominated for this award in 2024 for his inclusiveness, kindness, helpfulness and sense of community that he consistently demonstrated to all. Throughout his time at SJB Joseph was exemplary in his modelling and enacting of the SJB School Expectations.

Congratulations Joseph you are most worthy of receiving this award.

Exciting times as we prepare for the SJB 2025 Athletics Day.

This year’s Athletics Day will be held at Bill Stewart Athletics Track in Burwood due to work being undertaken at the Knox Athletics Track. The venue for this year’s Athletics Day is outlined below

Where: Bill Stewart Reserve,  330  Burwood Highway, Burwood East, 3151

Time: Year 3-6 students 9:45am - 2:145pm

           Prep - Year 2 students 10:30am - 12:45pm

• Announcement of house places will take place on return to SJB.

Students are encouraged to join in the excitement of the day.  Students may dress in the colour of their house, wear ribbons, nails, coloured zinc or hair, we ask families that this is done prior to arriving at school, (the school toilets are not an area for coloured zinc or hairspray). House posters may be created & brought along for team spirit and cheering.  These are the responsibility of students.  (Coloured streamers are not to brought as these create a significant & time consuming mess to clean up at the end of the day.)

Please complete the Operoo permission form ASAP - thank you.

On Thursday 6th March we were fortunate once again to have Carley McGauran share her expertise with us. We thank all families who attended Carley’s session. It is always great to hear from our community their experiences when we provide such events.

“I always enjoy Carley's sessions, and always come away feeling like I just need to be a calm presence in my kids' lives, and even get some tips for myself in managing big feelings.

I think it's a great reminder about how they process emotions differently, and I could honestly listen to her talk all day!” - SJB parent

Yesterday ten SJB students competed in the Division Swimming Carnival at Croydon Pool. Congratulations to all students for giving their very best at the swimming carnival.  We couldn’t be more proud of you.

Congratulations to the following students: Sophia A, Olivia B, Mya, Ruby, Jenna, Scarlett, Amelia, Anneliese, Thaaruni and Henry W.

Well done to the students through to regionals (see report below). 

Congratulations to our individual swimmers Henry W ( 1st Freestyle 12/13 boys and 3rd in Backstroke), Sophia A (2nd Backstroke 12/13 Girls)  and Jenna G (1st. 11 girls Butterfly and Freestyle). These students will now compete at the REGIONAL Swim event on this Friday 21st at Aquanation in Ringwood. We wish them every success!

John Mitchell

This year we will celebrate Harmony Day with a prayer service to be led by the Year 1/2 level.  Students may wear a touch of orange on this day in celebration and recognition of Harmony Day. This may be an orange ribbon, clothing or socks.  Students are to wear their school uniform with the option of wearing orange. This is not a free dress day.

A HUGE thank you to everyone who came out today to help continue building our school chicken coop! Your hard word and dedication are truly appreciated, and we couldn't have made this progress with you.  The chicken run is almost completely predator proof and we are beginning to put the final touches on the coop itself including nesting boxes.

We are so very close now - and we'd love your help to finish the project next Tuesday March 25th from 9.00-11.00am. No experience needed - just a willingness to pitch in!

We're almost there!

Christian der Kinderen

Sustainability Leader

Students from Year 3 and 4 went on a walk through the local area as part of their inquiry program studying Civics and Citizenship. 

The aims of the activity were for students to look for places in the community where there are issues regarding waste management, access (including for people with disabilities) or maintenance. They will be using this information to investigate what the council is providing and what could be improved.

After the ongoing success of the SJB Dads and Kids camping weekend each year our terrific P & F have secured a SJB family weekend at Warburton Holiday Park. Warburton Holiday Park provides a variety of camping options to suit all families. Please see the flyer for details for the family weekend.  When booking, families are asked to mention they are part of the SJB Family Weekend. This will assist the park team with an understanding of the size of the group to expect. Families can check out the Warburton Holiday Park at: https://warburtonholidaypark.com.au/ 

Bookings can be made at: https://bookings12.rmscloud.com/Search/Index/8802/1/?Y=1

We wish all participating families a wonderful weekend away.

Last week our Year 3 and 5 students undertook the Writing and Reading NAPLAN tasks. It was terrific to see our students take this in their stride. This week our Year 3 and Year 5 students will participate in the Conventions of Language and Mathematics NAPLAN tasks. 

Congratulations to all on giving each task their best effort.

It’s time to get creative and enter an Easter colouring competition. There are great prizes to be won.

This competition is open to children 12 years and under, with 3 prizes to be won that will be drawn out of a hat!

WINNING PRIZES:

1st Prize: 12-month Zoos Victoria Adult Membership (Kids under 16 from same household join free with an adult membership)

2nd Prize: 2x Child Luna Park Melbourne Entry with Unlimited Ride Pass

3rd Prize: $50 Timezone voucher

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 21st-23rd) 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 sheets (there are two options!).

The competition closes on Tuesday 15th of April and the winners will be announced on the day at our Barry Plant Boronia office on our social media.

If you have any questions or queries, feel free to contact us.

Good luck everyone!!

Wishing all our students and families a wonderful week.

Kelli Johnston

March

21st - Regional Swimming

21st - Harmony Day

21st - St Patrick’s Day  Schools Mass

24th - SJB Athletics Day

25th - Open Day No. 3

26th - Sacrament of Reconciliation - 5.00pm

26th - School Advisory Council Meeting at 7.00pm

April

3rd - SJB School Photos

4th - Holy Week Prayer Services

4th - Term 1 concludes at 2.00pm

21st - Easter Monday

22nd - Term 2 commences

24th - Review Day 1

24th - ANZAC Day Prayer Service - 10.40am

25th - ANZAC Day - School Closed

28th - P&F Meeting at 7.00pm

30th - First Eucharist Family Evening - 7.00pm

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.

Friday March 21st

Kellie Brooks

Amy Chan

Lauren Wearne

Friday March 28th

Brianna Paxton

Cassie Croning

Claire Lewis

Friday April 4th

Carrie Canton

Melinda Price

Katrina Horne