St John the Baptist Ferntree Gully Newsletter

We have achieved so much and over the final two weeks there is still more to come!!

• Sacrament of Reconciliation Year 3/4 students

• Holy Week liturgies

• Athletics Day

• Hot Cross Bun collection

• Easter Raffle

• Easter Bonnet Parade

Due to weather and hopefully 3rd time lucky the Athletics Day will now be held on the last day of term. A friendly reminder that school finishes at 2:30pm Thursday 6th April.

Congratulations to our students that won through to the Eastern Metro Regional Swimming Carnival held last Thursday at Aquanation in Ringwood. The Eastern Metro and the Southern Metro are considered the strongest regions for swimming in the State and for us to have two of our relay teams the 9/10 Boys Freestyle relay and Girls Medley team along with individual Archer C in the 9/10 breaststroke reach this level is an achievement we can be proud of. 

The 9/10 boys relay team (Henry W, Archer C, Aiden A and Patrick C) came 6th in their heat for 14th of 16 overall and were able to better their time. The Girls medley team (Ria G, Sophie A, Ruby L and Jenna G) came 14th out of 16. Archer improved his time in the individual Breaststroke event coming in 16th overall.

All students that represented St John’s are to be congratulated, along with their parents that supported them in transporting and attending the early morning practise sessions and to the District, Division and Regional swimming events for 2023. 

Thank you too to Leisa, Ellie, Teneille and Jamieson from Aquatic Achievers Swimming School for coaching us. I would like to give thanks to the support shown from Mrs Ursula DeCorrado and  Mrs Kelli Johnston in being positive advocates for our swimming group this year. I look forward to seeing more of our students having a go at trialling for our swim squad- building on the results of 2023, into 2024.

 John Mitchell 

PE and Sport Coordinator 

After monitoring the weather last Friday we were required to make a decision about Athletics Day.  Athletics Day has now been rescheduled for the last day of term, Thursday 6th April.  Let’s hope and pray that 3rd time lucky goes our way!

Families wishing to take their children home from the track are asked to complete the permission form that went home on Friday.  We request that families return the forms as soon as possible to assist the planning of buses.

The Holy Week Liturgies were scheduled for Thursday 6th April. Due to the rescheduling of Athletics Day the Holy Week Liturgies will now be held on Wednesday 5th April.  There will be 3 sessions in which the classes will be distributed across to allow each class to participate in a Holy Week Liturgy.

On Saturday 1st April the St John the Baptist School Hall will be a polling venue for the Aston by-election. The Parents and Friends Committee are busy preparing a Sausage Sizzle and Cake Stall as fundraising events on the day.  We encourage families to support the Parents and Friends Committee in any way possible.

Last Tuesday and Wednesday Jo Stoica, Kathryn Forbes, Ursula De Corrado and myself participated in two days of Professional Learning with a number of MACS Schools working on how to use data to inform and direct school improvement outcomes. The day was led by Bradley Geise an international educational consultant who specialises in using Data for Continuous School Improvement.  

The two days were most informative and productive.  As members of the School Improvement Team the two days provided us with an opportunity to learn and plan for implementation of our learning with the staff with a focus on school improvement. We look forward to working with the staff and sharing the learning together.

I thank Kathryn, Jo and Ursula for their professionalism and teamwork throughout the two days.

Throughout the last two weeks our Year 3 and Year 5 students have participated in NAPLAN assessments. The students were fabulous in how they went about participating in the assessments and are to be congratulated for the manner in which they approached the assessments.

At this stage NAPLAN results are due to be available in July. We will share results with families once they have arrived.

As we approach the end of the term families will receive communication from Jo Stoica - Learning Diversity Leader, in relation to making time for a PSG meeting.  PSGs are an opportunity to review and reflect on the goals set in student Personalised Learning Plans for the term, to celebrate student growth and set goals for Term 2.

At St John the Baptist School we strongly value the partnerships developed at PSG Meetings dedicating time and the release of teachers through CRT employment to run such meetings.

We thank everyone involved for their commitment and partnership in supporting our students in their learning journeys.

ANZAC Day is an important day in Australia’s calendar. ANZAC Day is the national day of commemoration of Australia and New Zealand for victims of war and for recognition of the role of their armed forces. It marks the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War. ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps.

We have been fortunate to have been invited by the Ferntree Gully Rotary Club to join the Dawn Service.  Please see the invite below from the Rotary Club.

On behalf of the Rotary Club of Ferntree Gully and FTG CFA we would like to invite all students, parents, teachers and friends to the Anzac  Dawn Service. If anyone would like to lay a wreath, if you could kindly let me know by Tuesday 18th April. We look forward to seeing our community come together on  this special  occasion.

Kind Regards

Christine Anderson

Any families who will be attending the dawn service could I please ask you to make contact with me. It would be lovely if as a school we could be present with the community and present a wreath at the service.  Please note the date of April 18th as the date of informing the Rotary Club that we will be in attendance.

The following items have been delivered by Boronia RSL and are available to purchase in the lead up to ANZAC Day.

Badges - $2.00 & $5.00

Wrist Band - $3.00

Key Ring - $4.00

Bag Tag - $4.00

Pen - $5.00

Would you like to know more about how to help your child/ren with their reading and writing development? Are you interested in being a classroom helper?

We warmly welcome all parents to join one of the Literacy information/parent helper sessions.

Session 1: 9:00am

Session 2: 2:15pm

Further information from Jo Stoica will be shared at the commencement of Term 2.

The donations that have landed in the office are truly fantastic, last donations can be delivered to the office by Wednesday 29th this week.  The prizes will be created after this and will post pics once they are done. Ticket stubs and money must be returned by Monday April 3rd to the office ready for the draw on Wednesday April 5th at dismissal. Father Thomas will be drawing the prizes at the end of the day in the undercover area in front of the office.

Wednesday 29th March-  Last day for Easter raffle donations

Friday 31st March-  Cake Stall items delivered at drop off

Saturday April 1st-  Election BBQ

Sunday April 2nd-  Final orders for Hot Cross Buns

Monday April 3rd-  All raffle ticket stubs and money returned

Wednesday 5th April-  Easter raffle draw and Hot Cross Buns delivered

Wednesday April 26th-  P&F meeting 7pm staff room

March

30th    Sacrament of Reconciliation

April

2nd     Daylight Savings Finishes

3rd    Assembly 3/4G

5th     Holy Week Prayer Service

6th     Athletics Day

6th    Term 1 concludes at 2.30pm

24th     School Closure Day - Faith in Education Focus

25th     ANZAC Day - School Closure

26th     Term 2 commences

26th     P&F Meeting at 7.00pm

May

1st    Inform and Empower Year 1/2 Online lesson

2nd     School Photos - Full Winter Uniform

2nd     Inform and Empower Year 3/4 Online lesson

4th     Parent Information & Helper session - 9.00am & 2.15pm

5th     First Friday Mass

8th     Inform and Empower Year 5/6 Online lesson

8th     Assembly 3/4D

9th    Mother's Day Stall

10th    First Eucharist Family Evening

14th     Mother's Day

17th     School Advisory Council Meeting

20th    Working Bee

Canteen orders can be placed via www.flexischools.com.au

Orders must be placed no later than 7.30am on the Wednesday or Friday.

If you are able assist on Hot Cross Bun Day, please contact Tracey Walker on 0408 101 100.

Click here for the full school holiday program