St John the Baptist Ferntree Gully Newsletter

What a wonderful evening was had by all at Friday’s annual Twilight on the Green event. We were blessed with lovely weather and conditions.  It was terrific to see such a great attendance of SJB families. The annual Twilight on the Green event is a terrific opportunity for our community to come together as families and a community to enjoy each other’s company. To see parents, grandparents, past students and toddlers with our current students was truly wonderful.

We thank the Parent and Friends Committee for their work that went into preparing such a welcoming and wonderful event for the St John’s school community. A special thank you to Andrew Davies, Victoria & Toby Barrett, Ben Amey, Kelly Brady, Lionel Croning for all of their planning and preparation for the evening.

Families and students were once again able to enjoy the coffee van, icy poles and Kelly Sports as part of the evening.  It was great to see everyone enjoy a fun evening of community engagement.

Thank you to everyone for once again creating such a lovely sense of community at SJB at this year’s Twilight on the Green . 

This year St John the Baptist is most fortunate to have been selected to host the MACS Board of Directors AGM. The MACS Board takes the opportunity to tour schools to gain a first hand insight into our schools to understand the needs and workings of schools across regions.

Throughout the day the Board members will take a tour of St John the Baptist School, meet with the school leaders and School Advisory Council members and gain an insight into our wonderful school.

We look forward to welcoming the directors to St John the Baptist School and proudly sharing and celebrating our wonderful school and community. 

On Friday our Year 6 leaders led their first assembly for the year, as well as receiving their commemorative jackets and badges. Our students are to be congratulated on the manner in which they led the assembly and presented themselves to the SJB community.

Next week our Year 6 Captains will be welcoming the MACS Directors to SJB and opening the MACS Board of Directors AGM meeting with Prayer and Recognition of Country.

 A friendly reminder that the following Wednesdays are ‘Rest Days’ for our Preps. Wednesday 4th February, Wednesday 11th February, Wednesday 18th February and Wednesday 25th February.

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

Prep families are asked to book their child in for a learning interview on one of the rest days via the School Interviews platform.

These can be booked via this link - https://www.schoolinterviews.com.au/code/nfhsx

Our school does not ban certain types of foods (e.g., nuts) as it is not practicable to do so and is not a strategy recommended by the Department of Education (DE) or the Royal Children’s Hospital as it can create complacency amongst staff and students, and it cannot eliminate the presence of all allergens.

However, we avoid the use of nut-based products in all school activities, and request that families do not send those items to school if possible. 

Please find below a link to our school policy:  Anaphylaxis Policy

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.

We warmly invite all families to join us for the Beginning of School Year mass to be celebrated on Thursday 12th February, at 9:15am. The Beginning of School Year mass is a wonderful opportunity to come together as a community of faith to commence a new year. 

Over the holiday period Operoo closed its application.  As a school we are most fortunate to have nForma offer an application with very similar functionality.  We ask that all families install the nForma app to receive permission forms and communication in the same format that Operoo previously shared. 

Moving to nForma is supporting the school to streamline applications and provide a central portal. SJB now uses nForma for reporting, first aid, the roll, communication, permission forms and more.

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.

One of our school chickens has gone broody and is currently enjoying some quiet time away from the rest of the flock. A big thank you to the Burns family, who are kindly looking after her until she’s ready to rejoin the other chickens at school.

In the meantime, our hens are still busy laying, and fresh eggs are available for purchase. Eggs are $4 for half a dozen and can be bought through the usual school channels.

Thank you for supporting our school chickens and our sustainability efforts!

Swimming squad training commenced today at St Joseph’s Secondary College.  The dates for squad swimming are Tuesday 17th, 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 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

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

10th - Term 1 Level Newsletters shared with families

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

10th - Meet & Greet Meetings - 3:30 - 6:00pm

11th - MACS Board of Directors AGM at SJB

11th-  Prep Rest Day

11th - Meet and Greet - 3:30-5:30pm

12th - Beginning of School Year Mass - 9:15am

12th - Reconciliation Family Evening - 7pm

14th - First Reconciliation Commitment Mass

15th - First Reconciliation Commitment Mass

17th - Swimming Squad St Joseph’s Secondary College 7:45am - 8:30am (Year 3-6)

17th - Shrove Tuesday

18th - Ash Wednesday - Lent begins

18th - Ash Wednesday Mass - 9:15am

18th - Prep Rest Day

18th - Year 5/6 Camp to Portsea

18th - School Advisory Council Meeting

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 13th

Amy Chan

Kellie Brooks

Friday February 20th

Belinda Davies

Anna Kristof

Cassy Croning

Friday February 27th 

Carrie Canton

Katrina Horne

Mel Price