St John the Baptist Ferntree Gully Newsletter

Yesterday we were most fortunate to be able to present our Year 6 leaders for 2023 with their Year 6 jackets and their badges.  It was wonderful to see many proud parents in the audience as their children were presented to the school community.

We look forward to working with our school leaders throughout the year and watching them shine in their roles.  On a personal note I look forward to getting to know our leaders and working with them as they provide strong models of leadership to all students in the school.

We warmly invite all families to join us for the Beginning of School Year Mass to be celebrated this Friday 10th February, at 11:00am. We look forward to attending mass as a school community to celebrate the beginning of the school year.

We ask families to please place the dates for this year’s Sacraments in your calendars. Sacraments are important milestones and celebrations in our students' faith journey.

A big congratulations to Ashan A on being selected for the U12 boys Victorian Cricket trials.  This is a terrific achievement.  We wish you all the best for your trials.

Congratulations to Lorelei, Ellie, Nishala, Gabby and Max who participated in the State Relay Championships on the weekend. They ran in various relay races and should be very proud of their amazing results.  Well done!

 A friendly reminder that the following Wednesdays are ‘Rest Days’ for our Preps. Wednesday 8th February and Wednesday 15th February.

Our Preps will commence full time at school from Monday 20th February

We look forward to welcoming families to the Meet and Greet sessions commencing this afternoon and tomorrow between 3:30-6:00 pm.  This is an opportunity for parents to meet with their child’s teacher to share insights into their child and commence our home/school partnership for the year. We highly recommend students attending the meet and greet as this is a great way to model open communication between home and school to students.  Additionally, it provides students with an opportunity and voice to communicate what they are hoping to achieve throughout their school year. Should there be information that parents wish to confidentially share with their child’s teacher, students can be asked to move away for the time required for this discussion or schedule another time to meet with your child’s teacher.

Parents are able to book their Meet and Greet time via our booking system SOBS - https://sobs.com.au/pt3/parent.php?schoolid=655

All Meet and Greet sessions will be held in the main school building. Mrs Kathryn Forbes and Mrs Tracey Ryan will be located in the meeting rooms on the left as families enter the main doors.

Swimming squad training commenced this Monday 6th February at St Joseph’s Secondary College.  It was terrific to see our students participating in the swimming squad and committed to their early morning training.  We thank our PE teacher Mr John Mitchell for his commitment to supporting our students.

We look forward to gathering as a school community for Twilight on the Green. This is a fun event for families to get together, get to know each other and enjoy a fun and relaxed evening.

Thank you to the Parents and Friends committee for all of their work in organising the eventing and to Bec and Simon Russell for providing the entertainment.

Please see the flyer below for further information.

Families will have noticed the set up of the temporary fencing on the school oval.  We are excited to announce that the landscaping project will commence this week.  This is an exciting time as we launch into the landscaping and building of a natural play space for our students.  No doubt there will be many curious students watching the works!! We ask families to please be patient with the slight reduction in the number of available parking spaces on the Selman Ave car park.

The Year 5/6 Camp to Camp Rumbug in Foster is fast approaching. Our Year 5/6 students will depart for camp on Monday 13th February and return to school on Wednesday 15th February.

We ask that families please respond promptly to camp correspondence to assist staff with planning and preparation.

We are looking forward to the days at camp with the students.  School camp is an opportunity to see students in an outdoors environment outside of the school setting. Camp is a fabulous opportunity for students to challenge themselves and try something new or different.

We thank Tracey Ryan, Emily Johnston, Kathryn Forbes, John Mitchell and Sue Davey for their care and support of the Year 5/6 students over the 3 days of camp.  We greatly appreciate their willingness to take time away from their families to attend camp. Thank you.

Wishing everyone a fabulous week ahead.  Surely summer cannot yet be done!!

Warm up those vocal chords, stretch those strumming fingers and pack that picnic basket! We are so excited for the first social event of the year, to welcome new families and meet with all our friends past.  Bec and Simon invite any musicians, singers and music lovers to join them on the Mics!  There will be lots of kids activities and chances to join in.  Lots of our teachers attend the night and we love seeing them dance and have a great time. The weather is looking just right! Dessert treats for all the kids.  Come along from 5pm, entry is $10 per family on the night.

We invite new members to come along to our first meeting on Monday 20th February.  Our meetings are attended by our Principal and Deputy Principal and together we build events that bring us together, engaging our school community, raising funds to provide resources for our children to enrich their play times.  Our upcoming meeting’s agenda topics will include:-

- Mother’s Day stall

- Easter raffle

- Hot cross bun drive

- FunRun

- Playground upgrades

- Sports Equipment

Our meetings, while productive are also fun and a wonderful way to give back to our school community, please come along, no obligation.

Skoolbag app is a simple and effective way to communicate school information with families.

As a school we will use the Skoolbag app to communicate reminders and events occurring throughout the school.

We ask that families install the Skoolbag app on their phones and then add St John the Baptist School. Information on how to add the Skoolbag app and St John the Baptist School can be found below.

Wishing all our students and families a wonderful year ahead at St John’s.

February

7th      Meet and Greet - 3:30-6:00pm

8th      Meet and Greet - 3:30-6:00pm

8th      Prep Rest Day

10th      Beginning of School Year Mass 11:00am

10th      Twilight on the Green 5:30pm

13th      Swimming Squad St Joseph’s Secondary College 8:00am - 9:00am

13th      Year 5/6 Camp Rumbug

15th      Year 5/6s return from camp

15th      Prep Rest Day

20th      Swimming Squad St Joseph’s Secondary College 8:00am - 9:00am

20th      Preps full time at school

20th      School Assembly - School Hall 2:30pm

21st      Shrove Tuesday

22nd      Ash Wednesday Mass 9:15am

24th      School Athletics Day - Knox Athletics Track

Please note the first day orders will be taken in the Canteen this year is Wednesday February 15th.  Orders can be placed via www.flexischools.com.au

Come along to the Mountain Gate Tennis Club Community Day on Sunday 12 February from 9am to 1pm at Reta Matthews Reserve, FTG. Lots of free activities on and off the courts including a small animal farm, jumping castle, face painting, serving speed radar, sausage sizzle, prizes and hourly give-aways. Meet our new coach James (0447 943 842), have a hit and watch our emergency services teams battle it out on court at 12pm. Any enquiries, contact Brendan on 0418 506 073.