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, 

It was wonderful to see so many families enjoying Grandparents Day recently after a two year hiatus from this event. The church was full and we were all inspired by the heartfelt reflection given by Billy Neill and his Grandfather Michael. Our visitors enjoyed morning tea, special activities in the classroom followed by our marching display and novelty events. Congratulations to Cremin (Red) house for winning the marching. 

In the week following Grandparents Day we were able to complete our running events and tally the points, Congratulations to our overall winners Scott (Green) House. 

As part of our ongoing safety improvements our new entry configuration ensures that visitors report to the office upon arrival.  This allows us to account for all people onsite during the school day and ensures the safety of our students and staff.

A reminder that parents wanting to access the school grounds prior to pick up are welcome from 3pm onwards, prior to 3pm the grounds are often used by classes and it is not appropriate to have visitors onsite. 

Remembrance Day: On Friday 11 November, the Grade 6 students were lucky enough to attend the Remembrance Day ceremony in Koo Wee Rup, while the Grade 5 students led a reflective ceremony here at school for the rest of the students.  The students should be congratulated on the respectful way they participated in the ceremony.  

A special CONGRATULATIONS goes to Ryan Fraser for receiving the Remembrance Day award for St John’s. Ryan consistently demonstrates the qualities of mateship, service, courage and sacrifice.

Tinnies for Vinnies: The ‘St Vinnies Christmas Appeal’  has been organised by the school’s Social Justice Leaders as we move towards Christmas. The school community is focusing on collecting Christmas festive foods and items to help local families and people in need this Christmas. The food we collect will be given to the St Vincent DePaul Society to be made into hampers and distributed to local families. We thank you for your support. Please see the flyer below for more information. 

Cybersafety: is ensuring that all people are safe and responsible while using Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). Technology is much more accessible and students are spending more time online. There are a number of issues that students need to be aware of when online. They should be made aware of personal details online, password protection, cyber bullying etc.

There are a number of resources available online to help students understand the importance of being safe. You may want to go through these with your child as well. Click on the various links below to go to the websites/video clips that look at different Cybersafety issues.

eSafety – Parents  https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents

Parents are sometimes unsure of where to start when it comes to parental controls and what information they need to know about. The safety commissioner has an excellent website with easy to read information.

eSafety -  Key issues  https://www.esafety.gov.au/key-issues/esafety-guide

Learn about the latest games, apps and social media, including how to protect your information and report harmful content

 NetSmartzKids - For Early Year Students  http://www.netsmartzkids.org

This website contains ebooks on online safety. This is a great website for Junior Primary students. There are games, videos and YouTube clips. One particular video is Bad Netiquette, which focuses on knowing the rules online, passwords and viruses. More information is available online.

5/6 Camp: A reminder that I will be on camp with our Grade 5 & 6 students next Wednesday to Friday. 

Regards 

Chris Dortmans, Principal

In the senior classrooms we will continue our focus on narrative writing, looking at all the elements of great storytelling. Our Book Study has concluded and like any time you finish a good book, it feels a little sad for our novels to be over, we just want the story to continue forever! However we have enjoyed studying the vocabulary and meaning behind the texts as well as practising our reading fluency. 

In maths, our Place Value groups are back into the swing again after missing a couple of Friday sessions, these intensive groups are really paying off as we are now seeing in our assessment data. The end of the year is a perfect chance to revise concepts learned throughout the year so classrooms may be covering varying topics in the coming weeks.

In Religion, we enjoyed having Julia from the Salvation Army come and speak to us about the charity work they do and how this relates to the catholic social teachings, we will soon begin our Advent topic. 

The grade 5/6s are excitedly preparing for camp next week (finally - yay!) All the information is on Operoo but please feel free to contact your child’s teacher with any questions. 

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.