St John the Baptist Koo Wee Rup Newsletter

16 February 2022

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.

From the Principal

Principals Report

Dear Parents & Carers

Thank you for your continued support of arrangements implemented for the start of the year to meet COVID requirements. Some things to note: 

  • Please remember that all parents/carers are asked to wear a mask when on school grounds and not to enter the classrooms.

  • Signing in of late students/out of early students must be done through the office and your child will be sent from the classroom. 

  • All visitors must report to the office. 

  • If you have any queries please call Di or Nancy in the office. 

RAT kits for students/Testing & Isolation Requirements 

As you can appreciate, the health of our school community is our main concern.

Rapid Antigen Tests were sent home to all families yesterday, unfortunately we were only supplied one per child, as more are received these will be provided to families. 

I again ask that if children are unwell or show symptoms, you keep them home. Please refer to the information provided previously in relation to Close Contacts, Positive Cases and Isolation Protocols, as a reference point.

School Leadership Positions

Many of our grade 6 students are busy preparing speeches for the various leadership roles. We can be very proud of their commitment to this process and the willingness to take on leadership roles within our school. 

Swimming Trials

Our Swimming Trials are tomorrow (Thursday 17 February) for students in grade 3 -6 only, students will trial in class groups, please see Operoo for full details and times each grade will attend the pool. 

Application for Holidays During Term 

If you are wishing to take students on holidays during the school term we require that you submit an Application for Holidays during Term via the Skoolbag Eforms section in advance of your holiday. 

Change of details

Families wishing to change address, phone, email details etc please submit a Change Of Details form via the eForms section of Skoolbag. You must also amend these details in your Operoo account and your child's/children's Operoo profiles.

Medications required at school

Children sometimes need medication administered while at school (antibiotics, panadol etc), if this is the case please note the following: 

  • All medications must be provided to the office in their original packaging/box. 

  • All medications must be signed in by a parent or guardian at the office. 

  • If you are unable to attend the office to sign medication in please use the self service form in Operoo to provide the required information/permission. (Once signed in to Operoo go to top right corner, three grey lines, then select Form Library, Consent to Administer Medication for Student).

  • If your child requires regular ongoing medication whilst at school please contact the office to discuss. 

  • If you have any queries in relation to this please contact the office.

Enrolments for 2023

Enrolment packs for 2023 are now available, electronic copies can be downloaded from our website or can be emailed upon request, hard copies can be collected from the office or posted upon request. 

Enrolment interviews will be available from March with our Open Morning for perspective parents planned for early May. 

If you have any queries in relation to enrolments please contact the office. 

School Advisory Board

Our School Advisory Board meeting will be held via Zoom on Thursday 24th February at 6:00pm. The Diocese of Sale Catholic Education Limited (DOSCEL) advises a maximum of four parents to represent the parent body of the school. This year we require 2 parents to join the Advisory Board to replace outgoing members.

As an Advisory Board, we try to meet twice a term. Last year we discussed items such as; the new school building project, School Review and School Policies. If you or someone you know would like to join the school Advisory Board, nomination forms are available from the school office or on the Skoolbag App. Nominations must be returned to the school office no later than Wednesday 23rd February. If you would like further information regarding the purpose and responsibilities of the School Advisory Board please see myself.

Student Wellbeing Support Program 

We are pleased to introduce our Student Wellbeing Support Program.  The program has been designed specifically for St Johns by former School Counsellor, Paula Pearce.  Paula will continue in a mentoring role for our Wellbeing Support Group leader, Sharlyene McDonald, and will oversee the roll out of this program. Our Wellbeing Team are here to support students and families, if at any time you feel that support is needed please contact your childs teacher. All concerns are handled in the strictest of confidence.

Farewell Mass for Fr Peter

Families are invited to a farewell Mass for Fr Peter Kooloos on Sunday, February 20th 11:00am at St Joseph’s Iona.

The Parish Pastoral Council is looking for new members!

Can you spare 6 or 7 evenings per year to assist with pastoral planning of your Parish? Please contact Fr Avinash, or Anne Nunn (Parish Secretary)  kooweerup@cdsale.org.au if you are interested.

Regards 

Chris Dortmans, Principal

Junior News

The Junior Students have had a fantastic start to Term One! They have become comfortable with their daily routines and have been enjoying playing together, practising their WALK Expectations of Respect and Responsibility.

In Literacy students in Foundation have been engaging in activities based around letter identification and sounds. They have been learning good writing habits such as pencil grip and tracing letters. They have practised their name writing and starting a recount. In grade 1/2 students have explored the difference between graphemes and phonemes, practising their spelling using words with common sounds. They have written multi-sentence recounts about their weekends, placing events in chronological order.

The Topic of number and Shape have been introduced to students so far this term in Mathematics. Foundation students are learning to recognise and draw 2D shapes, count and recognise numbers to 10 and make numbers using different materials. Grade 1/2 students have practised recognising and describing features of 2D shapes, investigated counting patterns of 2’s, 5’s and 10’s and used materials such as MAB blocks to build numbers to 100.

Middle/Senior News

We have all settledl back into the school routine and it’s lovely to see our senior students enjoying each other’s company and getting along well.

This week, those students who have nominated themselves for a leadership position will be delivering their speeches to our senior cohort. All grade 3 - 6 students will get to vote for School Captains and their respective House Captains on Friday. We see all of our senior students as leaders and role-models to the younger children at St John’s, regardless of whether they hold a specific position or not. 

Thursday is the District Swimming trials, please remember your swimming gear if you are wanting to participate!

In the classroom, all grades continue working on Recount Writing (including biographies and autobiographies), Soundwaves, with a focus on linking phonemes and graphemes and reading skills. In Maths we continue our learning in Place Value and Shape. In Religion we are exploring ‘The Beatitudes’ and applying them to modern life.

A big thank you to all parents for working with us and helping to settle the children back to school so well. We are aware that we have not been able to connect via parent/teacher interviews in the way we all would have liked at the beginning of the year so until that is possible, we again remind you to contact us via email if you have any questions.

Religion

This week we invite all parents of children ready to make their Sacrament of Reconciliation, Eucharist or Confirmation this year, to a welcome and Information evening via Zoom on Thursday 17th February at 7pm.

A Zoom link will be sent to families in Year 3 and 6 on Thursday. We hope you can make this very important meeting to support the Faith Development of your children. See you online!

The building project has made significant progress in recent weeks with the outer shell of the building taking shape. We are looking forward to completion of this project and our senior students being able to enjoy the new facilities. See photos below.

Dates

February
Thu 17 - Swimming Trials (Gr 3-6 only)
Thu 17 - Sacramental Information Evening, 7pm (Parents only via Zoom)
Wed 23  - Foundation Students Rest Day 
Thu 24 - District Swimming (Qualified Competitors only) 
Sun 27 - Sacrament of Reconciliation, Commitment Mass 9:30am (St Johns Church) 
Mon 28 - Parent Teacher Interviews (Details to come)
March
Tue 1 - Parent Teacher Interviews (Details to come) 
Wed 2 - Foundation Students Rest Day 
Thu 3 - Reconciliation Parent/Child Workshop, 7:00pm in the Hall
Wed 9 - Foundation Students Rest Day 
Wed 9 - Division Swimming (Qualified Competitors only) 
Fri 11 - House Swimming Sports (Grades 1-6 only) 
Mon 14 - Labour Day Public Holiday
Tue 15  - Foundation students commence full time 
Thu 24 - Sacrament of Reconciliation, 7pm (St Johns Church) 

Uniform Shop

The Uniform Shop is open for online ordering only at present, if placing an order it will be sent home with your child on the afternoon of the next uniform shop day.  

Uniform shop days are Monday & Thursday , orders must be placed by 2pm on these days. 

If you need to exchange an item please e-mail details of your requirements to Belinda at uniform@stjohnskwr.catholic.edu.au with details and return the item via the office (please ensure it is unwashed with tags still attached) and your name is attached to the item returned. Exchanges will be processed on the next uniform shop day. 

For Uniform ordering through CDF pay—Visit https://stjohnskwr.cdfpay.org.au  or scan QR Code. (Guidelines for setting up your CDFpay account can also be found on Skoolbag).

As we are a ‘Sun Smart School’ we also require the children to wear a school hat from September to April with the ‘No Hat-No Play’ policy strictly enforced during 1st and 4th terms.

School uniform guidelines are available in the Parent Information section of Skoolbag, on our website or a hard copy can be obtained from the office. 

Birthdays - 10 to 23 Feb - Joshua Cabay, Piper Thorp, Charli Hands, Charli Banks, Sebastian Mulhall, Taylor Walker, Melina Briganti, Maliyah Costa, Beau Stivey

Koo Wee Rup Catholic Parishes in Partnership

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. 

St Joseph's, Iona - Sunday 11am Holy Family, Maryknoll - 2nd Sunday, 8am 
St James, Nar Nar Goon - Saturday 6pmSt John's, Koo Wee Rup - Sunday 9:30am
St Mary's, Lang Lang - 3rd Sunday, 8am