We respectfully acknowledge, and pay our respects to the Elders of the Kulin Nation, both past and present, as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which St John the Baptist Catholic Primary School is situated.

Dear Parents/Carers, 

Friends of St John’s (P&F) Meeting 1st December: Our final Friends of St John's meeting for 2022 is tomorrow, 5:30pm in the staffroom. This will be an opportunity to plan for 2023 events. We would love to see some new faces so please come along if you can.

Gr 6 Graduation Mass: Wednesday 7th December: Next Wednesday evening is our Graduation Mass, 7pm in the Church, followed by awards and presentations. We farewell our Grade 6 students, and wish them all the very best for Secondary School.

Colour Run: Friday 9th December: To celebrate the end of the year and to farewell our wonderful Grade 6’s, we are holding  a Colour Run on Friday 9 December. The children, in their grade levels, will run through an obstacle course where teachers will spray Indian Holu colour powder on the children’s clothing. (Please note: This is a student only event) 

(NB: This is not compulsory and children may opt for the NO colour run via the Operoo permission requested). 

Children participating are encouraged to wear eye protection (swimming goggles work well) and a white or light coloured t-shirt to show off the colours, fully enclosed shoes MUST be worn. 

The Hulu colour powder is non-toxic, non-flammable, skin safe, biodegradable and environmentally friendly,  made of cornstarch and food grade colours. An example can be watched:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyGDsS3DzWw&feature=emb_logo

Grade 6 Guard of Honour: 9th December: Traditionally we end this day with a whole school guard of honour for the Grade 6’s with parents in attendance – this will take place on the basketball court at approximately 3pm. If you wish to attend please gather outside the hall gate before this time, we will let everyone in just prior to the guard of honour commencing.  

Reports Home: Friday 9th December: Student Academic Reports will be posted on PAM next Friday. If you have any queries regarding your child’s report please make an appointment with your child’s teacher to discuss. 

Meet Your Teacher Morning: Monday 12th December - After recess students will find out who their 2023 teacher/s are and spend time with their classmates.

Staffing 2023

F/1: Miss Georgia Williamson.

F/1: Miss Chantelle Davies (3 days) Mrs Brooke Baker (2 days)

1/2: Mrs Olivia Dunkley

1/2: Mrs Bernadette Hance (3days)  Mrs Jacki Taylor (2 days)

3/4: Mrs Sarah Manelski (4 days) Mrs Bianca Deane (1 day )

3/4: Mrs Jacqui Dennis (3 days) Mrs Anna Hughes (2 Days)

4/5: Mrs Rhiannon McFarlane (3 days), Mrs Erin Bolton (2 days)

5/6: Mr Daniel Stark

5/6: Mrs Alycia Matthews (4 Days) Mrs Simone Vanderputt (1 day)

Leadership

Principal:  Mr Chris Dortmans

Deputy:    Mrs Jacki Taylor (Teaching and Learning)

Religion Leader:  Mrs Alycia Matthews

Learning Adjustment:  Miss Chantelle Davies

Leaders of learning:   Miss Georgia Williamson, Mrs Sarah Manelski, Mrs Rhiannon McFarlane

Physical Education: Mrs Jacqui Dennis      Italian: Mrs Simone Vanderputt   

Visual Arts: Mrs Rebecca Taylor      Performing Arts: Mrs Rhiannon McFarlane    Library Technician: Mrs Megan Briganti

Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM): Mrs Rebecca Taylor

Support Staff:

Mrs Wendy DeGroot                     Mrs Eileen Crowley                       Miss Melinda Hunt                 

Mrs Sharlyene McDonald             Mrs Melinda Neill                          Belinda Scamporlino

Mrs Megan Briganti                      Mrs Tamara Durrington                Mr Bill Van Diemen

Mrs Di O’Hehir                               Mrs Nancy Rintoule

School Fees: School fees are due to be paid in full by the end of the school year, statements will be sent via email tomorrow. Please contact Nancy at the office if you have any queries in regard to fee statements or need to make arrangements regarding any outstanding's. 

PAM (Parent Access Module) Update/Survey: Over the Christmas holidays your PAM account will be updated to provide better security and allow further functionality. This change will involve moving to a PAM account per parent rather than an account per family. To help us prepare for this change, please action the survey requested via PAM before Wednesday 7 December.  

Madagascar USB orders: We expect to receive USB's of our Musical, Madagascar Jr. early next week. These will be sent home to families who have ordered them as soon as they are received. 

Regards 

Chris Dortmans, Principal

As the end of the year approaches, Junior teachers prepare for reports by completing their end of year assessments. We also get ready for the end of the year by beginning our new Religion Unit on Advent. Exploring through scripture the story and important people of Christmas and the preparation for this celebration during the Advent Season. Junior students will identify Catholic and non-Catholic traditions for preparing during Advent and the ways that our families and the Catholic Church celebrate Christmas. Classrooms have set up their Advent Wreaths and will light the new candle for each week of Advent each day during prayer.

We wish the Grade 6 students a wonderful last week of school! Their Foundation Buddies will see them for a final goodbye during the week. It has been great to see their friendships blossom and the grade 6 students help to build confidence in our Foundation students this year.

The Grade 5/6  students have had a wonderful time on camp and are now settling into their final weeks at school. It is a very busy time of year for the Grade 6 students with transition days, end of year activities and of course Graduation so we are very proud of the way they are conducting themselves and hope they enjoy every minute of this exciting adventure!

We are continuing to work hard in the classroom right up until the end of the year, with Narrative writing a big focus in English and revision of the Four operations in maths lessons.

In Religion, our focus is Advent, we will create and share a class Jesse Tree in the countdown to Christmas. 

Congratulations on the amazing habitat dioramas that have been produced and presented over the past week or so. What amazingly clever and creative students we have!

Including the communities of:  St Joseph’s Iona,  St James Nar Nar Goon,  Holy Family Maryknoll,  St John’s Koo Wee Rup and St Mary’s, Lang Lang

Administrator:  Fr. Avinash  Ph: 03 5997 1510   Fax: 03 5997 2220 Mob: 0451 997 904

Baptism Enquiries: Carmelina De Cesari   Mob: 0401 911 092   carmelinadecesari@gmail.com

WEEKEND MASS TIMES: Masses have resumed in line with current guidelines. Please contact the Parish office on 5997 1510 for further confirmation of guidelines if required.