ENewsletter

Tuesday February 18th 2025

Letter from the Principal, Kelli Johnston

Dear Families,

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 many parents and grandparents join us with the parish community to celebrate the Beginning of School Year Mass. Our focus and theme for 2025 is ‘Hope filled Community’. The theme of Hope filled Community was created in alignment with this year’s Jubilee year from the motto of the Jubilee, Pilgrims of Hope.

Deacon Peter highlighted in his Homily the importance of listening, kindness, friendship and looking after each other. He discussed when we listen to each other we seek to understand. In showing kindness we recognise that we are all human and making mistakes is part of being human. Deacon Peter discussed the importance of friendship and the sense of feeling like something is missing. A new school year, new classes, classmates and teacher/s brings both excitement and nerves. The year provides the opportunity to connect with familiar friends, as well as opportunities to make new friendships and extend social networks. We look forward to all the opportunities that a new year brings. A year of Hope for wonderful things ahead.

Our students once again were simply outstanding at Mass. 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.

We thank Father Thomas and Deacon Peter for such a warm welcome. We are most fortunate to have Father Thomas and Deacon Peter as our faith leaders at SJB. We have great ‘hope’ that in 2025 we will continue to build on our Parish and School connections.

Year 5/6 Camp

Yesterday our Year 5/6 students left for PGL Campaspe Downs camp in Tylden. There was much excitement amongst our students as they look forward to three wonderful days away. Camp is a terrific opportunity to bond as a year level and get to know each other.

We thank Mr Wayne Daniell, Mrs Lisa Giuliano, Mrs Franca Paduano, Mrs Sue Cahill, Miss Sophie Ryan and Miss Danielle Cooke for their care and support of our students throughout the days at camp.

This year we are most fortunate to have lovely weather to enjoy the days at camp.

Prep Information Evening

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 25th February @ 7pm

Where: Prep classrooms

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

Prep Rest Days

Prep rest days: A friendly reminder that the following Wednesdays are ‘Rest Days’ for our Preps. Wednesday 19th February and Wednesday 26th February.

Our Preps will commence full time at school from Monday 3rd March.

Open Days for 2026 Prep Children

St John the Baptist Open Days for 2026 Prep Children

Let your neighbours, friends and relatives know St John’s School Open Days are set for March and May.

School Open Days will be held on:

Thursday 6th March

Wednesday 12th March

Tuesday 25th March

Thursday 1st May

Alternatively families can book tours by phoning the office, through the school website or the QR Code. Every day is Open Day at St John the Baptist School!! Please come and see us in action.

We request that parents already with children in the school enrol as early as possible.

School Advisory Council

The St John the Baptist School Advisory Council (SAC) will meet throughout 2025 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 full SAC with parent representation across school year levels.

We thank the following members of the SJB community for their input and reflections on a number of aspects across the school. Raelene Portbury (Chairperson), Danial Dalton, Chris Conway, Chris Guinane, Katrina Horne, Andrea Haley, Nelson Serrao, Matthew Cann, Cameron Burns, Tim Grimshaw, Lionel Croning, Chris Price and Richard van Bergeijk.

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 2025 school year.

19th February

26th March

14th May

30th July

3rd September

22nd October

25th November - SAC & P & F Thank you dinner

Choir Club is starting up soon!

When: Starting Monday 24th February

Who: Offered to Year 3-6 students

Where: Art room

Time: First break

We will have lots of fun singing contemporary songs, learning to use our voices correctly, practising great team work and preparing for performances.

Commitment will be necessary every Monday. You are welcome to come along for a couple of weeks to see if you like it before committing.

Hope to see many of you there!

Mrs Russell (Etta and Pippy’s Mum)

School Closure Days 2025

To assist families with planning throughout the year we ask families to please place in their calendars the following School Closure Days for the 2025 school year.

Friday 7th March

Friday 6th June

Monday 18th August

Monday 3rd November

Monday 17th November

Congratulations

Congratulations to Eliza (3/4KS) who has a brand new baby brother, Leo Gabriel Hyndman! He was born healthy and happy on Friday 7/2/25, weighing 3.37kgs. Mum and baby are both doing well!

Parish Car Park - Family & Student Safety

We cannot emphasise strongly enough for families to please respect that the Parish Car Park on Forest Road is not a drop off and pick up zone for school families. We are most concerned about the safety of our community after recent near misses where cars have not only used the car park but have also driven in quite quickly. For the safety of all in our community please use Kiss & Go or park on either Forest Road or Selman Avenue and walk into school.

Students who are walking or riding are asked to walk along the Church entry side of the Church building rather than through the Parish car park to ensure the safety of all.

Kiss and Go

It is great to see ‘Kiss & Go’ working well on our return to school. Given the smooth nature of ‘Kiss & Go’ we returned to a 3:15pm finish as of yesterday.

A friendly reminder to all users of ‘Kiss & Go’ that to ensure the smooth operation of after school pick that it is a left turn only onto Forest Road.

Sacramental Calendar 2025

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.

Sacrament

Important Dates

Reconciliation

Year 3 students only

Family Evening - 20th February 7-8pm

Commitment Mass - Attend 1 mass over the weekend Saturday 22nd at 6pm or Sunday 23rd February at either 9am or 11am

Sacrament of First Reconciliation - Wednesday 26th March 5pm

First Eucharist

Year 4 students

only

Family Evening - Wednesday 30th April 7-8pm

Commitment Mass - Saturday 3rd at 6pm or Sunday 4th May at either 9am or 11am

First Eucharist Reflection Day 16th June

Sacrament of First Eucharist Sunday 22nd June at 11am

Are you eligible to receive the Camps, Sports and Excursion Fund/School Fee Concessional Program?

CSEF (Camps, Sports & Excursions Fund)

Do you hold a Services Australia Health Care Card/Concession Card, or are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander? Then you may be elibible to receive the SESF and/or School Fees Concessional Program.

Please complete the attached forms and return to the school office ASAP, along with a copy of your current Centrelink Pension Concession Card.

If you received the CSEF last year, and are still eligible, you do not need to complete a new form.

CSEF Application Form

Download

School Fee Concessional Program

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 a Department of Human Services Health Care Card

· Holders of a Department of Veterans Affairs Gold Card

· Holders of a Department of Home Affairs Proof of Identity Card (ImmiCard)

· Refugees, where the child has attended a school within Australia for less than five years

· 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.

School Fees Concessional Program Form

Download

Second Hand Uniforms

The Second Hand Uniform Shop will be open on Wednesday afternoons from 2:45pm. Families may purchase second hand items for $5 per item.

Families donating items are asked to ensure that items are delivered washed and good condition.

Inquiries in regards to second hand items may be sent to

uniform@sjferntreegully.catholic.edu.au

SJB Curriculum

As a school we have spent time analysing our student data from our student learning interviews in conjunction with additional student data. Our aim is to identify areas of strength in our curriculum practice and areas for further focus, along with celebrating student growth and identifying students who may need some additional support in their Literacy & Numeracy. We are extremely fortunate to have the expertise of Ursula DeCorrado, Franca Paduano, Laura Bulmer and Chris Barcham providing additional targeted explicit teaching in the areas of Literacy and Numeracy.

As a team student data is continually analysed with staff with a further critical lens put on identifying students who require additional support. Once areas of need are identified selected students will enter into sprints of additional explicit teaching to support them in their area of need.

At all times we will be working in alignment with the MACS Vision for Instruction to achieve the goals of Equity and Excellence for all students.

SJB Recess Clubs

We are most fortunate to be able to offer a variety of additional recess options for students. We are excited to be offering the following options for students to participate in at recess times:

Monday: Year 3-6 Choir - First Recess with Bec Russell - commencing Week 5

Tuesday: Year 3/4 Performing Arts Club - First Recess with Izzy, Flynn & Mrs Cahill

Gardening Club - Second Recess with Benji, Sophia & Mr de Kinderen

Wednesday: Chess Club First Recess for registered players

Thursday: First Recess - Smile & Play Club - P-2 or Calm Connect Club - Yrs 3-6 with

SRC Leaders & Ms Lynch

We look forward to seeing our students enjoy participating in these additional recess options and we thank all students and staff for offering to lead these sessions.

Inform & Empower

We look forward to continuing to educate our students as responsible digital citizens who continue to develop their skills in being cyber safe. Over the coming weeks our students will participate in their sessions with the team from Inform & Empower. Families will find the focus of each of these sessions outlined below. For further information families may choose to head to the Inform and Empower website.

SJB Prep Welcome Mass

Each year our Prep families are invited by the SJB Parish to attend a mass to welcome our Preps and families to SJB. We warmly invite our Prep families to join us at Mass on Sunday 2nd March @ 11am.

After Mass our SJB Family and Friends Group would like to invite our Prep families to morning tea, games, craft and catch up.

Child Safe Practices - Working with Children Checks

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.

Wishing all our students and families a wonderful week.

Kelli Johnston

Term 1 Dates

February

19th - Year 5/6 Campers return from Campaspe Downs

19th - Prep Rest Day

19th - Swimming Squad St Joseph’s Secondary College 7:45am - 8:30am

19th - Year 1/2 Inform & Empower Cyber safety session

19th - School Advisory Council Meeting @ 7pm

20th - First Reconciliation Family Evening @ 7:00pm

22nd - First Reconciliation Commitment Mass @ 6pm

23rd - First Reconciliation Commitment Mass@ 9am or 11am

25th - Prep Information Evening @7pm

26th - Prep Rest Day

26th - Swimming Squad St Joseph’s Secondary College 7:45am - 8:30am

28th - District Swimming

March

3rd - Halogen Leadership Day - School Captains

4th - Shrove Tuesday

5th - 9 :15am Ash Wednesday Mass - Lent Begins

6th - International Women's Day Breakfast @ Mater Christi

6th - Emmaus College Principal visit to SJB - Year 4 & 5 students

6th - Open Day No. 1

7th - School Closure Day

10th - Labour Day - School Closed

12th - Open Day No. 2

12th - Tuck shop commences for 2025

12th - NAPLAN commences

12th - Division Swimming

15th - Working Bee 1.30-4.00pm - Amended Date

17th - P & F Meeting - SJB Staffroom at 7pm

21st - Regional Swimming

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

Uniform Shop

The 2nd Hand Uniform Shop is open Wednesdays 2:45 - 3:15pm. Please bring cash when visiting in case you find what you need. Below is a current stocklist as of 12th Feb - a tick indicates there was at least one of that item in the cupboard. Donations of official SJB uniform, in good condition, can be left at the office when convenient.

Canteen News

Open on Wednesdays & Fridays

Please note - There will be a later start to the Canteen in 2025 - First day will be Wednesday March 12th

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.

St John the Baptist Ferntree Gully Newsletter