St John the Baptist Ferntree Gully Newsletter

Tuesday May 10th 2022

Letter from the Acting Principal

Last week we had the opportunity to celebrate all of our beautiful mums at our Mother’s Day Afternoon Tea. Entertainment was provided by our very talented Prep students who were so excited to be performing in front of such a large crowd and sang with such gusto!  I would also like to thank our P & F Committee who ensured that your children had the opportunity to be able to independently choose a special gift.  Our Dads were invited to join in on our 'top secret’ mission and the response was overwhelming.  Thank you to everyone who helped to make this event such a wonderful one for our school community.

School Closure Day

Our next school closure day will be on Tuesday 24th May.  I have been in discussions with Camp Australia and they are investigating the option of providing a full day of care on this day.  I will provide confirmation and further details when they are available to me.

Introducing our Year 5/6 and 3/4 Staff

Some of our newer school families may not yet have had the opportunity to know all the members of our staff.  This week I would like to introduce our 5/6 and 3/4 teachers:

Kathryn Forbes - Year 5/6

St John the Baptist has been my home for 11 years now and what a home it is. The community spirit at St John the Baptist makes it such a rewarding place to work. I have been privileged enough to work across all levels in my time including being a PE specialist teacher and now currently working in 5/6. I have the opportunity to work within all classrooms as the Maths Leader which is truly rewarding. Outside of the classroom, my time is spent watching my 3 children explore every sport available to them. I love being a sports mum.

Tracey Ryan - Year 5/6

I love learning and I love teaching. Working as a Year 5/6 teacher at St John the Baptist enables me to contribute to the learning & development of the senior students in many ways. It is such a privilege to work with and watch them develop and flourish, as they prepare for their transition into secondary school. I feel very fortunate to be working in such a welcoming and caring community. I enjoy spending time with my four children and husband outside of school. I love walking and the outdoors.

Emily Johnston - Year 5/6

I love being a teacher and it is a blessing to work at a school where every individual is loved and valued. Year 5 and 6 are important times for our students and I am thrilled to be sharing in their journeys as they learn and grow. I chose teaching as a profession partly because my experiences at primary school were not happy, and it is my personal goal to make every student I encounter feel positive, successful and important. My faith is important to me and I think it is a privilege to walk alongside students as they explore their spiritual paths.

Susan Smith - Year 3/4

I have been working at St John the Baptist for many years and I believe our school community is a very special one indeed. During my time here I have taught in Year 1/2, Year 5/6 and currently am teaching in Year 3/4 . I feel privileged to be part of the process of each child’s learning journey. It is always a joy to watch our students mature and grow into confident, resilient and independent young people. I am very proud to be a member of our community here at St John’s.

Marialisa Mandarino - Year 3/4 / Italian Teacher / Religious Education Leader

I have the privilege of teaching in Year 3/4 and supporting children as they learn and grow. I am grateful for the collegial support I receive from my team and I welcome parent connections as we work together and continue on our children’s learning journey.

In addition to my role in Year 3/4, I am also the Italian Teacher. I feel very fortunate to share my knowledge of the Italian language and culture. As a first generation Australian, I value greatly the opportunity of learning a second language. I strive to develop in our students at St John the Baptist an appreciation of the diverse influences the Italian language, people, culture and history have had on modern Australia.

I am also our school’s Religious Education Leader which I truly love! I feel privileged to have the opportunity to guide our students and staff as they grow in faith. I particularly enjoy celebrating Masses and Sacraments with our children, families and wider parish community.When I am not at school, I assist at my local parish and at a local music theatre company with my family of three children who share my passion for all things that are music, dance and drama.

Gisella Koroknai - Year 3/4

I have been at St John the Baptist for 15 years and love the collaborative, caring environment here.  Our children are so excited to learn and watching their progress is so rewarding. I love the close contact with the parents as we work together to support the love of learning in eager little minds.

Sue Cahill - Year 3/4 / Performing Arts

I’ve been a part of St John’s Parish community, either as a teacher or Mum, since I moved into the Parish 33 years ago. Since that time, I’ve taught all year levels throughout the school and am currently teaching Year 3/4. It is a wonderful experience to work alongside our students as they develop their self confidence in becoming independent and self motivated learners.

In addition to my role in Year 3/4, I am also in charge of Performing Arts which has always been a passion of mine and I really enjoy assisting students to explore their own creative and expressive potential through Music, Drama and Dance. 

Our School Production is always a highlight on our School calendar!

Victorian School Nursing Program (Primary)

Keera Waterston, a Visiting Primary School Nurse from the Department of Education and Training, will be attending the school to conduct Prep/Foundation student health screening assessments and to see children in Years 1 - 6 as requested by teachers and parents/guardians (only with parental consent).

The purpose of the visit is to provide all Victorian school entry aged children with the opportunity to have a health screening assessment, to link children, families and schools to services available in the community, and to provide information and advice about children's health and wellbeing.

Parents/guardians are invited to contact the Visiting Primary School Nurse if there are any issues they wish to discuss; Keera's contact number is below.

Parents/guardians of students in Years 1-6, who request for their child to undertake a health screening assessment by the Visiting Primary School Nurse, must complete a Primary School Nursing Program Student Referral form which is available from the school office. The completed Student Referral Form must be returned to the school office for collection by the Visiting Primary School Nurse.

All parents of a Prep/Foundation student have been given a School Nursing Program 2022 Questionnaire today to complete and return to school no later that Friday May 20th, 2022.

Keera Waterston - 0455 099 461

Production Update

DATE: Friday 2nd September 

VENUE: George Wood Performing Arts Centre, Ringwood     

Rehearsals have begun with our cast of excited, energetic 5/6s. 

All other classes have learnt the Opening song and are enthusiastically starting to learn the choreography for their class item in their weekly lessons.

Costumes are being organised for each class and a note for any items required to be purchased or brought from home will be sent out in the next few weeks, e.g. a white T Shirt. If you’re free to assist our team of sewers, please let me know.

If you could please check your dress up box for any bright, colourful wigs, astronaut outfits, a Darth Vader costume or small fluoro flares, and let me know if you have any we could borrow, I’d appreciate it.

Stay tuned for further updates.

Sue Cahill

Term 2 School Fees

Term 2 fee statements have been sent home today to families.  If you have not yet paid the Term 1 instalment of $503, please include this in your Term 2 payment. Only families with a debit balance will receive a statement.

Running Club

A reminder that Running Club is back, running every Wednesday at 8am.

If your child is interested in representing St John the Baptist at the District Cross Country Carnival they will need to attend Running Club on the 11th and 18th of  May to participate in the team trials. 

All students are invited to attend Running Club; however, junior students (P - 2) must be accompanied by a parent. All students (P - 6) must bring a completed permission slip (see the attached document) before being allowed to attend any sessions.

During Running Club, students will use the bike/walk path that leads to Kings Park in Upper Ferntree Gully.  In the case of inclement weather, fitness work and exercises will be held in the school hall.

If you have any questions about Running Club please contact Tess Farry. 

Running Club Permission Form

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Knox City Council - Workshops

Parents and Friends of St John the Baptist School

Mother's Day Stall

Fantastic effort on the Mother’s Day stall - some very happy Mums on Sunday. Thank you to Nathalie Santilli, Katie Lind and Candice Flanderka-Pereira for organising, purchasing and the set up of the stall.

Thank you to our lovely Dads - Simon, Ronan, Lionel, Zed, Badri and Tom who sold all the goodies to our kids - So wonderful!

Election Day Polling Booth - Sausage Sizzle

We are looking for some volunteers for our Election Day sausage sizzle, keep your eyes peeled for volunteer slips home this week.  We are running a BBQ from 10am-2pm on Election Day outside the school hall.

If you can cover a 2hr shift on May 21st please let us know.  All funds raised will go towards some play enriching projects for our children.

Rainbow Fun Run

Our school fun run on June 3rd will have a colourful rainbow theme with an exciting obstacle course.  We would love all parents, grandparents and families to come along on the day and cheer our kids on.

We are also looking for Marshalls on the day to help set up our course and support the children as they tackle the obstacles. Fundraising profile information will be sent home tomorrow!

Fundraising Thank You!

Thank you to all your fundraising contributions during our Easter celebrations we have managed to fund some new sports equipment for playtimes which our PE teacher Tess Farry has ordered. Tess and the sports leaders came up with a list of popular items together that they think all the children will love!

P&F Meeting

Thank you to all who came to the P&F meeting last night, lots of great ideas and suggestions and some exciting outcomes for our children.  Please come along to our next meeting if you would like to help us support our school community.  All ideas and possibilities are discussed and the planning and execution of our events and projects is a collaborative and fun process.

The Entertainment App is Back!!!

Click here to access our School Link

Canteen News

Canteen Helpers Roster



Wednesday May 11th

Claire Lewis

Friday May 13th

Rients Huitema

Laura Langmead

Another helper needed please.

If you can help, call Tracey on

0408 101 100



Wednesday May 18th

Roslyn Davies

Friday May 20th

CANTEEN CLOSED


Updated Canteen Price List 2022

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Uniform Shop News

Community Notices

St John the Baptist Ferntree Gully