St John the Baptist Ferntree Gully Newsletter

Last week  was an exciting time at St John the Baptist as we introduced our Year 6 Leaders to our school community. The children were presented with their Year 6 badge, their leadership badge and their Year 6 bomber jacket. Our Year 6s have had a great start to the school year and have been excellent examples to all the younger students in our school particularly their Prep buddies. Luckily the weather cooled off a bit in the earlier part of last week so our Year 6s could comfortably wear their bomber jackets proudly without feeling too hot!

Congratulations to the following children who will lead our community in 2020…

School Captains

Angus P

Carmel R

Finn H

Eliane P

SRC Leaders

Ben D

Madeleine W

Arts Leaders

Ryan J

Eva S

Sam A

Social Justice Leaders

Sam A 

Ben T

Sports Leaders

Kane D (Blue)

Charli M (Blue)

Jamie R (Blue) 

Lachlan L (Red)

Ben T (Red) 

Kate E (Green)

Jordan H (Green)

Finn S (Yellow)

Carmi M (Yellow)

E-Learning Leaders

Braedyn H

Jamie R 

Sustainability Leaders

Ellika D

Mikayla O

Nathan H

Ava L

Casey K

Imogen C

Our Year 5/6 children and their teachers will be heading to Campaspe Downs in Kyneton from tomorrow Wednesday 12th February - Friday 14th February. We wish all our campers a happy and safe camp experience. Thankyou to Sue Cahill, Tracey Ryan, Stephanie Gorman and Julie Gellie who will be taking time away from their own families to attend the camp. I am lucky enough to be heading up to camp on Wednesday and staying overnight. I’ll return to school Thursday afternoon. It’s a great opportunity to share in a wonderful experience with the children and get to know them in a different context. 

Our school open day will take place on Wednesday 11th March from 8.00am-5.00pm. A hard copy note has come home today inviting parents to help out on the day with  school tours. Please invite any friends, family or neighbours who have a child eligible to start school in 2021 to come along and see our wonderful school in action. 

We already have children enrolled for Prep 2021. If you have a child who is eligible to start Prep in 2021 please make contact with the school office to complete an enrolment form. As an existing family with siblings in the school you are our first priority for enrolment. It is important that we know our incoming Prep siblings so we know how many places we can offer to new families. Offers for placements for Prep for 2021 will go out by the end of Term 1, 2020. 

Attendance Guidelines for Victorian Schools now state: ‘schools must advise parents/guardians of unexplained absences on the same day, as soon as practicable.’ As a result of these guidelines I would like to remind parents that if your child is absent from school you need to advise us of their absence either via a phone call to the school office or via our skoolbag app. We will place a phone call to any families where we have an unexplained absence for their child. 

Do you have a valid means-tested concession card or are a temporary foster parent, then you may be eligible for CSEF. Please read the attached 'Information for Parents' sheet and if eligible download the form below and return to the school office.

School Sport Victoria will once again be offering the opportunity for students with emerging talent to register to trial for School Sport Victoria State Teams in 2020.

Registration to trial are now open and remain open until Sunday March 1st 2020 for Boys Australian Football, Netball, Boys Basketball, Girls Basketball and Boys Football (Soccer).

Registration to trial for most SSV 12 Years and Under Team Vic teams to compete in School Sport Australian Championships is done through an online process managed by School Sport Victoria.

To be eligible, children registering to trial must be turning 10, 11 or 12 years of age in 2020.

Please be aware of the following:

• Students and families must consult with their Principal to ensure they have the skill level to trial and represent their school at a national championship level.

Registration forms can be obtain on the School Sport website - www.ssv.vic.edu.au 

Any further enquiries can be directed to Mrs Tracey Ryan.

Helpers Needed Please - if any parents are able to assist with covering library books, please contact Julie Gellie.  A set of books and contact can be taken home to cover and then returned to the library/office when complete.

A huge thank you to all the families who came along to Twilight On The Green last Friday! It was a cracking night with around 50 families in attendance! Thanks to our fabulous band Bec & Simon Russell and DJ Archie McK for spinning the decks between sets.Thank you to our sponsor The Club Hotel who gifted our lucky door prize, a $50 dinner voucher, won by the Lankester family! We raised just shy of $500! A great start to the year.

 We have secured a date for our Bunnings BBQ fundraiser - Saturday February 29th.  If you are able to assist, please complete the volunteer form below.