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,

A reminder that students are to wear summer uniform during Term 4 and hats are compulsory. Students without hats will be required to play undercover.

Student Absences: Student absences should be submitted via PAM prior to 9am on the day of absence. 

Deputy Principal Position: I am pleased to announce the appointment of Mrs Jacki Taylor to the Deputy Principal position from the commencement of the 2023 school year. Jacki comes from St Patrick’s Pakenham where she has held a number of leadership roles including Deputy for this year.  We warmly welcome her to our St John’s community. 

Supporting our Parish: Our St John’s Parish is launching its ‘Plan Giving’ program.  (A letter from Fr Avinash is attached)  Although this letter is addressed to the Catholic families of our school, it is important for all families to remember that the land on which our playgrounds and building stand,  and we take advantage of today, were established and supported by the parishioners of the past. Therefore I ask if you are interested in helping the Parish, please consider the message of support within Fr Avinash’s  letter.

Foundation Orientation: This week we welcomed our 25 new Foundation children for 2023.  Already from their first visit, we can tell they are eager and excited to learn.  Their next visit is next Monday.  

SOCKTOBER: Kicking Goals for Good as we ‘Sock It To Poverty’ : Thank you for your generous support so far. Our ‘Crazy Sock Day’ was a great success with children really getting into the spirit of the day.  Watching the colourful legs at matching practice was a spectacle. 

‘Socktober’ runs until the end of the month, so there is still time to add your loose change to your Class’ Collection Sock.  Which class will have the longest stretched sock?  

Morning arrival time and teacher supervision:  Just a reminder that for their safety, students are not to arrive at school before 8:30am. Teachers have meetings prior to this and will begin supervised yard duty from 8:30. If students need to be at school earlier we have our OSHC program on site.

Adversely, students arriving after 9:00am, must be signed in at the office.

Canteen: Icy Poles (Zooper Dooper, Juicy & Lemonade) are now available over the counter for the first half of lunchtime. Price is 50 cents each, all other snacks must be ordered via lunchorders. 

Whole School Production: Madagascar Jr:  Thursday 27 October

A reminder to please ensure that you have read all the information provided carefully, this will help with the smooth running of both the daytime rehearsals and the night performances. 

A copy of this information can be downloaded below. 

Collection of students after the final performance - Full details of the collection process will be shared to all families early next week, please note general requirements for this in the attached information. 

Our performance of Madagascar Junior will be recorded by Quantem Multimedia - USB's (HD MP4 file) of the recorded show will be available for purchase via a link in Operoo, this will be provided to families today. Please note closing date for orders and expected delivery date. 

Regards 

Chris Dortmans, Principal

As we get closer to our Musical performance, Junior students are becoming more familiar with the movie ‘Madagascar’ and stepping up their practises for the show! Last week, classes had the opportunity to try on their costumes and perform as a whole school for the first time. We thoroughly enjoyed our experience with the Inquiry Incursion; Starlab. Students learnt about space in an immersive experience where we stepped into a dome and into space itself. Crazy Sock Day was another day of fun, in the classroom students engaged in Religious Education lessons that explored the purpose of Crazy Sock Day in raising money and awareness for The Catholic Mission who are currently using the money to assist children and communities in Ethiopia to become self-sufficient. We continue to learn about location language and directions in Maths and are continuing our spelling and reading learning by consolidating our knowledge of digraphs and other phonemes and graphemes in words we read.

We are all about Madagascar again this week with our Film Study to continue alongside rehearsals for our Musical. One of the elements of the Film Study is looking into the natural habitats of the plants and animals of Madagascar which leads us beautifully into our Inquiry based science learning, all about the habitats of living things.  In spelling and grammar lessons we are taking our knowledge of phonemes and graphemes and using them in the context of morphology (the study of words and their parts). In Maths, classes are working on a range of common number misconceptions. Catholic social teaching is the focus of our Religion lessons and we are very grateful for your support of Crazy Sock Day on Monday. 

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.