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

As with many industries across Australia at present, education is facing the ongoing challenge of staff shortages. 

It is not uncommon to have a movement of staff throughout the year, and for staff to require leave for various reasons. In previous years these positions have been successfully filled and leave easily covered, not so this year.

Added to this, there are staff needing to take leave as a result COVID related issues and with the growing shortages of replacement and/or relief teachers, we are faced with a daily challenge of providing coverage and on some occasions, classes have and will need to be split.

As you can appreciate this is a challenging time for all, and I thank the staff for their flexibility and dedication, and you the parents for your understanding and support.  We continually strive to provide the best learning opportunities and experiences for all students.

OSHC: We share the parents' frustration in how slowly the approval for Child Care Subsidy (CCS) to be granted by the governing authority. As paying full fees for Before and after school care is not an option for most families, Windermere, our new OSHC providers are kindly offering to charge 50% off their usual fees until this CCS approval is given. For Windermere, this means operating at a loss during this time. We truly appreciate this generous and supportive offer. This will commence next week until the end of term. Please contact Windermere directly for enrolment enquiries. 

Student Absences: As a school we are mandated by the Government to account for all of our students, every day by 9:30am. With this in mind we ask parents to note the following: 

• Student absences - please submit student absences via Skoolbag prior to 9am on the day of absence. 

• If you are unable to submit via Skoolbag please call the office to advise the student absence prior to 9am and follow this up with a Skoolbag submission later in the day (written notice of absences are required for all absences).  

• Students who are absent without notification will receive an SMS at approx 9:30am - please action this when received.  

• If no advice is received we are required to call you and/or your emergency contacts to ascertain the whereabouts and safety of your child. 

• If you are having trouble with getting your child to school please speak to your child’s teacher. 

Cross-country: Congratulations to students who participated in the District Cross Country recently, good luck to the following students who have qualified for Division Cross Country on 1 June: Melina Briganti, Annika Miller, Asha Kawalko, Lucy Banks, Corey Miller & Tony Butera. 

School Photos: Tuesday 31 May: All Students are required to wear full winter uniform (no sport uniform to be worn on this day).. Grade 6 students are asked to wear their grade 6 top with a jumper. Grade and individual photos will be taken from the beginning of the day, please ensure children are at school on time to avoid them missing their grade photo. Please see information below on regard to Photo Day requirements - this will also be shared in SeeSaw.

Friends of St John's Pie Drive: Our annual Pie Drive will commence this weekend with orders closing on Wednesday 8 June, orders are via CDFpay, see flyer below for full details. 

School Disco: Our school Disco will be held on Thursday 23 June from 4 - 6pm, tickets can be purchased via CDFpay, see flyer below for full details. 

New Building: Our new building is close to completion and we hope to be able to move classes in over the next 2 weeks. Once the temporary portables and toilets are removed, construction and landscaping of the outdoor learning spaces will commence. The teachers and children are growing with excitement.

Foundation Open Morning: On Tuesday, our Year 6 Leaders escorted prospective parents on tours around our school. Every single one of our visitors were extremely impressed with what we have to offer but especially impressed by the pride, enthusiasm and manners of their tour guides. As one mother stated, “This is how we want our daughter to be after 7 years of school”.  If you know of anyone else who would be looking at enrolling next year, please remind them to make contact with school.

Insight SRC Surveys: Thank you to the families who were randomly chosen to complete this year’s survey. It is now too late to complete the paper version however on-line survey are open until the end of the week. 

Lost Property: Currently there are a large number of items in lost property without names or names of students who are no longer at St Johns. If you are purchasing a uniform, whether new or secondhand, please ensure your child’s name is marked clearly on the garment (especially for jumpers). This allows us to return the item to your child quickly.

Congratulations to Brooke and Clint Baker on the safe arrival of Heath Alan Baker on Sunday 22nd May.

Regards 

Chris Dortmans, Principal

This coming fortnight has the Junior students very excited! Especially for our Foundation student’s it is their first off site excursion to our Whole School Swimming lessons. A reminder about Swimming to make sure your child is wearing their bathers to school underneath either their sports or full school uniform (Whichever is easier to dress and undress). Also remember to ensure that they bring a bag with a towel, underwear and any other swimming items they need such as goggles and caps.

In Junior learning, Foundation students are currently undergoing an inquiry project for Religion. They have investigated different celebrations that are held in the church and listened to music and Psalms from the bible that Catholics and all people can use to celebrate. Their next project is to create an instrument that they can use to play a song for an upcoming celebration in our school.

Grade 1/2 Students have started to delve into the history and geography of the local area of Koo Wee Rup and its surrounding suburbs. In their inquiry they will be using maps, written documents and local stories to answer their wondering questions and gather information about their community. As a part of that inquiry they will make connections to Aboriginal culture and history as a fundamental origin of the way our towns have been shaped.

Congratulations to our senior school students who have once again navigated a couple of very busy weeks! 

NAPLAN is now complete for the year and given it was our first year of online testing, everything ran very smoothly. We have also had students running District Cross Country with a handful of students successfully making it through to Division level! St John’s students showed great sportsmanship and resilience. 

Our grade 6 students were also lucky enough to attend the Road Safety Program and bring home a bag of goodies to share. This week is the beginning of our long-awaited swimming program which will run over the next fortnight. We are very fortunate to have so many engaging extra-curricular activities on offer.

In the classroom we will focus on Poetry in writing lessons, Fractions and Decimals in mathematics, Psalms in Religion and of course our very exciting family heritage projects in Inquiry. It has been very interesting to hear about the many varied stories of our ancestors and exploring our family trees. 

This week is National Reconciliation Week, a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia. Thanks to Mrs Hance for leading our Reconciliation Week Liturgy yesterday.

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.