St John the Baptist Ferntree Gully Newsletter

We welcome all members of the school community to join us for assembly at 2:10pm Wednesday 13th December to celebrate the many wonderful contributions generously made by Mrs Deborah Butler and Mrs Kathryn Forbes. Deborah and Kathryn are both much loved members of the SJB community who we farewell at the end of the 2023 school year. We invite our school community to join us in celebrating Deborah and Kathryn’s contributions and in saying farewell.

In 2024 SJB will be commencing a Second Hand Uniform Shop. We thank Janice Stiglich (Amelia & Hannah Burns Mum) for her work in co-ordinating the Second Hand Uniform Shop.

The Second Hand Uniform Shop will open at 2:45pm every Tuesday for families to purchase 2nd hand uniform items. Additionally families will be able to email the Second Hand Uniform Shop at

uniform@sjferntreegully.catholic.edu.au to request items. 

To promote a sense of community, sustainability and an opportunity to support each other, all items will be sold at $5.00 each.

When contributing items to the Second Hand Uniform Shop, families are requested to ensure all items are St John the Baptist formal uniform items, washed and clean, provide items that are free from holes and in a condition that they would dress their children in. Families may drop their items into the office. Items will be collected and then placed in the uniform shop.  

We would like to take a big thank you to Fleur Dow for her role as SJB Uniform Officer. SJB has been most fortunate to have you supporting our families and community in purchasing uniforms. Your dedicated community service is most greatly appreciated.

Exciting times ahead as students prepare to meet their classmates and teachers for the 2024 school year.  Where possible we will have new staff available to meet their classes.  We ask families to understand that this may not always be possible due to the nature of busy times in all schools at this time of year.

The ‘Move Up’ days for this year will be Wednesday 13th December 9:15am and Friday 15th December for Morning Tea. We have made a separate time for Mrs Amanda Heidenrijk to meet her class on Thursday 14th December at 2:00pm. Due to school events occurring in Amanda’s current context she will meet her students on Thursday instead of Wednesday.

Thank you to families that have paid or are continuing to pay their school fees.  Term four is almost over and we would appreciate the finalising of any outstanding monies.

Please contact the Office if you are unable to finalise your fee account to discuss options available to help you meet your fee commitment.

office@sjferntreegully.catholic.edu.au or 9758 1013.

A big congratulations to Thanushri S on receiving your Super Speak Achievement Award.

This award is presented to students who have completed 2.5 years of Public Speaking & Communication Skills training at Super Speak (equivalent to 100 hours) and presented 15 formal solo speeches.

This year’s St John the Baptist Carols evening was a wonderful community celebration.

The church was filled with SJB family and community members as we came together to celebrate.  The sense of community, joy, Christmas spirit and generosity was clearly evident throughout the evening.

Each year the community supports the St Vincent de Paul Society through the most generous donations of gift vouchers and cash to assist those in their time of need.  We were particularly overwhelmed by the outstanding generosity of the community, as this year we presented Mr Peter Finn from SJB St Vincent de Paul Society with $1400 in vouchers and cash. At a time when the cost of living is high for families, we are filled with gratitude at the generosity of our community. 

Events such as our Carols evening can only occur with a great deal of work and support both behind the scenes in the lead up to the night and with great teamwork on the night. I would like to thank Father Thomas and Sue Nichols for their support, the amazing SJB staff and the Parents and Friends Committee, along with numerous volunteers who all came together to create such a memorable evening for all.

Thank you to everyone for all that you contributed in creating such a wonderful event.

Digital Wellbeing and Cyber Safety are important for all families in today’s world. Today’s children are born into a world of digital devices where screen time and internet are part of their day to day life. Home/school partnerships in raising digitally responsible and healthy children is one key element in today’s schools.

We are most fortunate to have Marty McGauran from Inform and Empower presenting a session to our parent community on how to nurture your child/ren’s digital wellbeing and how to be cyber safe.  We encourage all parents to attend this important and valuable evening.

We thank Bec and Simon Russell for their willingness to once again share their expertise with the SJB community for the annual Twilight on the Green. The 2024 Twilight on the Green will be held on Friday 9th February on the oval.  Families may bring picnics, snacks or take away to have for dinner on the oval. To ensure a Child Safe environment this is strictly an alcohol free event.

Time: 5:30pm

Cost: $10 per family

It is difficult to believe that we have come to the end of the 2023 school year. In what has been a busy year there is much to reflect upon, celebrate and be grateful for. In Term 4 alone there were a number of events. Some Term 4 highlights include:

• Prep 2024 Transition sessions

• Regional Athletics

• P-2 Swimming each week

• Year 3-6 Swimming Carnival

• Remembrance Day Prayer Service

• Year 5 leadership speeches - 2024 Captains announced

• Year 6 Graduation

• Semester 2 Reports

• Thanksgiving Mass

• Carols

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the SJB staff for their dedication, passion and work throughout the year.  We are extremely fortunate to have such a committed and dedicated team who work tirelessly for the betterment of our students and school. Our wonderful team of teachers, learning support staff, administration staff, maintenance and canteen staff are always seeking to do and be their best for our school and students.  My sincere thanks to all of our staff for their contributions throughout the year.

Thank you to our amazing SJB community for your warm welcome this year. As the new principal to SJB I have felt most welcomed by the community.  It has been an absolute joy getting to know and work with many of our families throughout the year. I look forward to getting to know everyone in the community further throughout 2024.

To our VIPs (our students) thank you for all of your hard work throughout the year, for taking on new learning opportunities and challenges, for learning to make new friendships, for supporting each other and for the joy you bring to us all each and every day by being your amazing selves. We are so very blessed to have such terrific students. We hope that you are proud of all that you have achieved this year. We wish our graduating Year 6 students all the very best as you step into your next chapter at secondary school. To our Prep - Year 5 students we look forward to seeing all that you achieve in 2024 and beyond.

Wishing everyone in our SJB community all the very best for a wonderful Christmas. May you all enjoy your Christmas celebrations and festivities with family and friends. We wish all those heading away over the Christmas and January period safe travels. We look forward to seeing everyone return for 2024 refreshed and ready for another terrific year. 

Kelli Johnston

Swimming - February 16th 2024

Cross Country - District - May 24th 2024

Athletics - District - September 4th 2024

Winter Sports - Netball - June 7th 2024

Summer Sports - October 9th 2024

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 is now closed for the rest of the year.