St John the Baptist Ferntree Gully Newsletter

Dear Families,

This Thursday 30th October we will join the SJB Parish community for Mass at 9:15am to celebrate All Saints Day.  We warmly welcome all families to join us at Mass.

The feast of All Saints is an opportunity for us to gather together to remember and give thanks for all saints. It is an opportunity for us to reflect and give thanks for all we can learn from saints.

Today we rejoice in the holy men and women of every time and place.

May the prayers of saints be an example of holy living,

Turning our thoughts to the service of God and neighbour.

The work of your hands is shown in your saints,

The beauty of your truth is reflected in their faith.

May we who aspire to have part in their joy

Be filled with the Spirit that blessed their lives,

So that having shared their faith on earth

We may also know their peace in your kingdom.

On Saturday we held the final SJB Working Bee for the year.  We were most fortunate to be supported by a number of families assisting with maintenance and gardening jobs around the school. A number of jobs from mulching, pruning, weeding, welding, hanging picture frames and more were completed by our terrific team.

Our sincere thanks to the following families for your work and support at Saturday’s Working Bee: Brady, Burns, Dow, Gabbett, Mahady, Martinez, Mahoney, Parsons, Wearne/Mills. Your ongoing support and work is enormously appreciated.

We look forward to welcoming our 2026 Prep families and students as they start their journey with us at St John the Baptist. The Prep Information Evening will take place in the hall this Wednesday October 29th at 7.00pm.

As we settle back into the car park routines with the building program now complete, we thank families for their support in returning to the use of these car parks as they were previously used. Families are asked to please be aware of the following when parking on either Forest Road or Selman Ave.

Forest Road Car Park: If the Kiss & Go area is full with cars, families are asked to drive in and park in the designated parking bays rather than queueing out on Forest Road. 

Selman Ave: The three car parks near the maintenance shed are Kiss and Go car parks. Parents are to remain in their cars when parking in these designated bays to ensure traffic is able to continue to flow on this side of the car park.

Families are asked to please note that when turning out of both Forest Road and Selman Ave cars are required to turn left.

Congratulations to all students who participated in the Regional Athletics Day on Thursday 23rd October. We are enormously proud of all students for the exemplary sportsmanship and manner in which they present themselves throughout the day.  Congratulations to all for your outstanding participation. 

The eSafety Commissioner has released resources to support educators, parents and young people to become informed and prepare for the social media age restrictions, coming into effect on 10 December 2025.

The Australian Government is protecting young Australians at a critical stage of their development, through world-first social media age restrictions. Find out what this means for you as parent, carer and family. The e-safety website is a comprehensive site for families and education professionals to access information.

https://www.esafety.gov.au/about-us/industry-regulation/social-media-age-restrictions-hub

As part of ensuring our students are equipped to be digitally responsible citizens all students continue to participate in their termly Inform and Empower sessions, as well as students being supported through Linewize digital monitoring.

Families will additionally receive information in the near future regarding Smart Watches. The school has worked closely with the School Advisory Council to create a policy in relation to the wearing of Smart Watches.  This policy aligns with the feeder Catholic Secondary Colleges to ensure consistency across both primary and secondary environments. Families will receive this information via Operoo in the coming days. We ask families to be informed of the Smart Watch Policy at SJB.

This Wednesday our Year 5/6 cricket team will represent SJB in Division Cricket Round Robin.

We wish all students a wonderful day of competition and know that they will represent SJB in an exemplary manner. Making it through to Division is a wonderful achievement. We are so proud of each of you.

Two weeks ago, our Grade 5/6 students showcased their creativity and environmental awareness by designing original memes to celebrate World Habitat Day. This special day highlights the importance of protecting natural habitats and the plants and animals that call them home.

Students explored different environmental issues, from deforestation and pollution to endangered species, and transformed their ideas into fun and thought-provoking memes. The results were both clever and educational, showing how art and humor can inspire people to care for our planet.

We are excited to share that several student memes were selected by our SRC leaders to feature in this week’s school newsletter! Well done to Sarah, Amelia, Harry, Susie and Judd. Check out their memes in the images below.

Congratulations to all the students for their creativity and commitment to environmental stewardship. Your work reminds us that even small actions and ideas can make a big difference for our world.

Let’s continue to celebrate and protect the amazing habitats that sustain life on Earth!

We're excited to announce that our Annual VIP Sale will be running again soon for 2025!

 The sale will be running from Saturday 22nd of November to Saturday 29th of November at our Boronia store. Families can receive 20% off Beleza-branded items during this sale period, so it's a great opportunity for families to prepare for the 2026 school year and save on some of those back-to-school costs.

Our wonderful P & F have been busy organising a fun family evening of bowls at the Upwey Bowling Club. We warmly welcome all families to join in a fun night of barefoot bowls. Family evenings are a great opportunity to socialise and meet families across the school as well support businesses in the local area.

Families wishing to attend the Family Bowls evening arr now able to make payment through Flexischools.

Please see the flyer below for details. Happy bowling everyone!!

Online Music Solutions will be a new music provider for St John the Baptist Primary School, bringing instrumental lessons.  Instrumental  lessons can be booked directly with Online Music Solutions and lessons are able to be delivered individually or in small groups.

 Online Music Solutions has been providing high-quality music programs in Melbourne schools since 1987. The program at St John the Baptist will be led by Justin Forster and Lynne McKelvie, both highly experienced teachers with over 20 years of working with primary-aged students. Together, they are passionate about making music engaging, fun, and rewarding for every child.

 To celebrate, there will be a music demonstration at a school assembly on Friday, 7 November, followed by an after-school “instrument discovery” session. Families are warmly invited to stay, meet the teachers, ask questions, and even try out a variety of instruments.

 Regular lessons will begin Term 1, 2026, offering keyboard, guitar, ukulele, violin, drums, saxophone, clarinet, flute, and trumpet for students from Prep to Year 6. These lessons will occur on a Tuesday afternoon.  (more details, including cost are outlined below)

 The Online Music Solutions team looks forward to being part of the St John’s community and sharing the joy of music with all students!

Wishing everyone a fantastic week.

Kelli Johnston

October

29th - Prep 2026 Information Evening @7PM

29th - Fire Education Session - Year 1/2

30th - All Saints Day Mass - 9.15am

31st - World Teacher's Day

November

3rd - School Closure Day - Assessment & Reporting

4th - Melbourne Cup Day - School Closed

6th - Prep 2026 Transition Session No. 1 - 9am - 10.30am

6th - Year 3/4 Level Mass - 9.15am

7th - Assembly - 2.30pm

10th - Prep - Year 2 Swimming

11th - Remembrance Day (Prayer Service)

13th - Prep - Year 2 Swimming

14th - Assembly Prep BA presenting @ 2.45pm

17th - School Closure Day

20th - Prep 2026 Transition Session No. 3

24th - Prep - Year 2 Swimming

25th - SAC and P and F Thank you evening

26th - Official School Building Opening

28th - Assembly @ 2:45pm 1/2HS presenting

December

1st - Prep - Year 2 Swimming

4th - SJB Carols Evening @ 7pm

6th - Gilwell Park Dad's & Kids Camping Weekend

8th - Prep - Year 2 Swimming

9th - Reports emailed to families

9th - Year 3-6 Swimming Carnival

9th - Year 3-6 FTG Library Performance @ 6pm

11th - Year 6 Graduation Mass

15th - Year 6 Fun Day

16th - End of Year Assembly

16th - Last day of 2025 school year concludes at 3.15pm

If you have any Size 4 or 6 uniform items, in good condition, that you no longer need, we'd love to receive them at the 2nd Hand Uniform Shop. We will be setting up a stall for the 2026 Prep families at one of the upcoming transition sessions and it would be great to have a range of items for them to purchase .Donations can be left at the office at a time that is convenient for you.

The 2nd Hand Uniform Shop is open Wednesdays 2:45 - 3:15pm. Cash sales only. Thank you to the families who have recently donated some items. Clean, offical SJB uniform donations are always gratefully received and can be left at the office when convenient to you. 

Janice

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 October 31st

Katrina Horne

Rients Huitema

 Friday November 7th

Cassy Croning

Nelson Serrao

Claire Lewis

Friday November 14th 

Troy and/or Anna Kristof

Lauren Wearne