Our Vision and Mission

Vision

Love to Learn, Learn to Love
Learn to Live, Love to Live

Mission

At St. John’s Primary School we will:

* Foster faith and spiritual development through a strong Religious Education program.
* Provide high quality education addressing the individual learning styles and needs of every child.
* Nurture the ongoing development of relationships and community, within our school and beyond.
* Ensure that all community members have the wellbeing and safety of all children and young people at the forefront of all they do and every decision they make.

Working with Children & Volunteering

Parents and volunteers are encouraged to support St. John’s Primary School and our students by volunteering their time to help in classrooms, school events, excursions, canteen and various other times as invited by the school. In 2008, new State Legislation required volunteers working with children in Victoria to have a current Working with Children Check (WWWC).

If you would like to volunteer your time at St. John’s Primary School for any purpose/event, you will need a current Working with Children Check (WWCC), this is Victorian Government legislation.

Working With Children Check website

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August 25th 2025: Newsletter #27

Acknowledgement of Country

St. John’s school community respect and honour Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders as the traditional custodians of the land on which we learn, pray and grow. We acknowledge the stories, traditions and living cultures of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples on this land and commit to building a brighter future together, working together towards a reconciled Australia.

Prayer Week 6

From the Principal

Hello everyone, and welcome to a new week at St. John's!

How amazing was our concert last Monday- the dancers were on point, the costumes amazing, the venue superb and the energy levels were high, what a vibe! Our sincere thanks to Mrs Madden, Mrs Atwell and Miss Mugavin for their tireless hours of planning and instructing, to the students for their enthusiasm and the families for their support in ensuring our children starred. Our thanks also to Emmanuel College for allowing us to utilise the Emmanuel centre which is an outstanding venue.

Oval Development: As announced at the concert last Monday, DOBCEL has provided us with funding to construct an oval at the front of the school, with planning well underway already it is anticipated that the projected will be tendered before the end of the term with construction set to take place in term 4. We are excited to see this project commence which in turn will allow the building project to commence in 2026.

We are extremely grateful to DOBCEL for their support of this project and of our school.

First Communion: My congratulations to all children who received the Sacrament of First Communion over the weekend as part of the Star of the Sea Parish celebrations. These children will be presented with their certificates at assembly next week.

2025 Term 3 Assembly Roster:

Monday September 1st- Grade 5/6
Monday Sep 8th- Grade 1
Monday Sep 15th- Grade 2

Enjoy the week ahead, Ben.

Major Raffle

Thank you for supporting our Major Raffle! We’re thrilled to announce that thanks to the generous support of our school community, we raised just over $5,000. These funds will go directly towards the development of our school oval.

Congratulations to our lucky winners!

1st Prize, $4,000 worth of Goods & Services: Mia Yang
2nd Prize, $750 Coles Myer Gift Card: Mary Howley
3rd Prize: $250 Fuel Card (Donated by Matthews): Belinda Leone

FoodBank

At St. John’s, we are proud of our strong tradition of caring for one another. One way we do this is through our Food Bank initiative, where families volunteer to provide meals for others in our school community during times of need—whether it’s supporting someone through illness or offering comfort during a time of loss.

We’re currently inviting families who are willing to donate a meal—either homemade or store-bought to support this important initiative. These meals make a real difference to those receiving them.

If you are able to make a donation please contact our Pastoral care Leader Jasmine - jkoch@sjdennington.catholic.edu.au

Father's Day Breakfast

Our annual Father's Day breakfast is being held on Friday 5th September in the Stadium from 7.30am - 8.30am.

Breakfast will consist of egg and bacon rolls (and a coffee for the Dads/special person) Please click on the link below to indicate if you are able to attend. For catering purposes, please rsvp by this Thursday, 28th August.

We hope you are able to come along!

Father's Day Breakfast RSVP

Dental Van

The Teeth on Wheels dental van will be returning on Wednesday and Thursday this week to see any students who missed their appointments during their last visit.

If your child was scheduled but were not seen last time, they will be attended to during this catch up visit. If you have any questions please direct them to Teeth on Wheels - (03) 9338 1191.

St. John's Dance Concert

It was wonderful to see so many families in attendance. Thank you for making the evening such a vibrant and memorable celebration of dance and community!

If you have any videos of the dances we would love to see them! Please email them through to Jan or Amy- jmadden@sjdennington.catholic.edu.au or aatwell@sjdennington.catholic.edu.au

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Grade 5/6

Science in the Senior School

Last week in Gr 5/6 students were learning about light and how it travels through different materials. Did you know that light travels in a vacuum at 300,000 kilometres per second? Light travels more slowly through water, at 225,000 kilometres per second.

We looked at how light travels through different liquids like water and cooking oil to investigate how objects change when we look at them in liquid. We found that light travels slower through the cooking oil and the ruler appeared at a steeper angle than when it was just in water.

Maybe you could try this at home with a ruler or different objects! Check out the video below.

How does light bend?

Literacy in the Senior School

Last week the Gr 5/6 students made the most of the beautiful weather and spent time outside drawing while Miss P read The boy who harnessed the wind, our current focus in Literacy.

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind is an inspiring true story about William Kamkwamba, a young boy from Malawi who uses his curiosity and determination to build a windmill and bring electricity to his village during a time of drought and hardship.

Camp Program- Year 1 and 2

Last week, our Year 1 and Year 2 students enjoyed their camp experience. Year 1 students had an extended day, staying back until 7:00pm while Year 2 students experienced the excitement of an overnight stay.

These opportunities allow children to build positive connections with their peers beyond regular school hours. Camp activities are designed not only to strengthen existing friendships, but also to encourage students to mix with a range of classmates, helping to expand their social circles and develop important social skills.

Students participated in a variety of engaging activities that supported teamwork, confidence and creativity all while having a whole lot of fun!

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Confidence and motivation

Confidence and motivation are two critical ingredients for young people's success. Supporting your child to help nurture these qualities allows them to believe in their abilities and navigate life's challenges with resilience and a positive outlook.

Here is the link to your Special Report- School TV

Student Representative Council

This semester at St. John’s we have initiated a Student Representative Council (SRC).

Student voice is very important in our school as it allows students of all ages to have an impact and suggest ways to make our school an even better place to be.

The process for election involved students talking to their classes about why they would be excellent in the role and how they might lead positive change. Congratulations to all students who were confident to speak to their class and to those who were elected by their peers, recognised for their leadership qualities.

Our first meeting was held last week and the ideas that have already been put forward demonstrate the students’ passion for creating a more inclusive environment, improving break times for all students and considering needs beyond our school through acts of social justice. Their suggestions will be followed up with school leadership in the coming weeks and they will communicate with the whole school at upcoming assemblies. Stay tuned!

Let’s start meeting our reps…

This week, we would like to introduce Niamh and Skylar from Year Three and Zach and Teddy from Year Five. They shared with us their motivation for being a member of the SRC. Niamh said she likes making people happy and Skylar shared that she wanted to help make the school a better place and make everyone feel welcome. Teddy says he likes giving other people a voice while Zach identified that he likes helping people and he felt SRC was a great way to do this.

We are excited to have Niamh, Skylar, Zach and Teddy on board this semester. Next week we will meet our representatives from years one, two and four.

Uniform Focus for the Week- Jackets

We are pleased to inform families that our new soft shell jackets have arrived at Lowes and are now available to purchase.

These jackets have been added to the uniform for those students who may wish to wear a coat on cold and wet days. Whilst they will stop a fair degree of rain, they are not a rain coat.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to the following students who celebrate their birthday this week: Jaylah D, Matthew H, Amarni S, Xander A, Zahli C and Marlie H. We hope you have a fantastic day!

Student News

In June, Ida and Ella proudly represented their club, DNA Hip Hop, Fitness and Aerobics, at the FISAF State Championships held at Caulfield Grammar School in Wheelers Hill and were crowned State Champions! Picture below.

They now head to the National Championships on the Gold Coast this week to compete. Wishing you both the very best of luck!

Around our School- Term 3 Week 5

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Parents and Friend's Social Group

Our next meeting is being held this Wednesday 27th August at 7.00pm in the Gathering Space. All welcome!

Dennington Day Out

Dennington Day Out 2025 is less than 100 days away. Behind the scenes the team is busy preparing for another awesome jam packed day. Its not too late to jump on board and help.

The following meetings have been set

Tuesday 2nd September 7.00pm
Tuesday 7th October 7.00pm
Tuesday 21st October 7.00pm
Tuesday 28th October 7.00pm
Thursday 6th November 7.00pm

Do you have a child that might be interested in holding a mini entrepreneurs stall at this years DDO? Make sure you are following the Dennington Day Out Facebook page for the expressions of interest google form.

Dennington Day Out Sponsorship Proposal for 2025 is now available if you or someone you know is interested in sponsoring this years event please contact ddo@sjdennington.catholic.edu.au

Father's Day Stall

The Father's Day Stall is now live on CDF Pay. Please make payment by 8.00am on Tuesday 2nd September. You can upload up to $10 per child.

Bunnings BBQ & Cake Stall

Our school is hosting a fundraising Bunnings BBQ and cake stall on Saturday 13th September and we are looking for volunteers to assist with both stalls. All time will go towards your participation levy. Please click on the link below if you are able to assist.

We will be calling out for cake stall donations closer to the date. Thank you!

Volunteer Form

Wednesday Treats

This weeks treat is Hot dogs in bread. Orders close tomorrow Tuesday 26th August at 8:30am.

Hot dogs are $2.50 each. Gluten Free also available for $2.50. Drinks $2.00 each

Roster:

Tuesday 26th August - Laura, Alisha & Emily

Wednesday 27th August - Elyse, Bianca & Jess W

Next weeks treat is on Wednesday 3rd September will be Pizza. Orders will open on Wednesday 27th August and close on Tuesday 2nd September at 8.30am.

Roster:

Tuesday 2nd September - Melissa, Laura & Jennifer M

Wednesday 3rd September - Olivia, Melanie & Tess

Please remember Orders are required to be placed online via the CDFpay app. Each Wednesday the order for the following week will be uploaded to the app. Orders will close at 8:30am each Tuesday so please make sure you get your orders in on time as we can not accept late orders or cash this year.

Should you have any questions please feel free to contact Emily McGennan or the front office.

Cake Raffle

Each Assembly we draw a cake raffle for students. The money raised goes to Our noimiated charity, Backpacks Beds.

School families have been assigned a week to bring in a cake. There is no obligation or pressure for you to do so, it is only if you wish to. If you have been assigned a week that is unsuitable and you would like to bring a cake in another week, please contact the office and an alternate date will be arranged.

If you choose to, please drop your store purchased cake into the office with your family name written on top.

All students will have the opportunity to buy a raffle ticket for 20c with a limit of five tickets per student. The Johnnies will make a P.A announcement at first lunch, calling all students who wish to purchase a ticket, to the Library.

The following families are rostered on for Monday September 1st:

Moore, Moran, Moulden, Mugavin, Murphy, Osborne, Page, Palmer, Parker and Paton.

School Sponsorship

Would you like to advertise your business in our school newsletter? Businesses can advertise for only $100 a year and will have a business card sized listing in every school newsletter.

A big thank you to O'Brien Electrical & Plumbing, Fry Painting, Carry on travel, King Cole Fruit Supply, Total Landscapes and Design and Hiensch Haulage that sponsor our school!

Please contact parents@sjdennington.catholic.edu.au for more information.

Star of the Sea Bulletin

Sunday Mass is held at 9.00am at St. Pius X Church. School families are always welcome.

The Parish office can be contacted on 5562 2231 and this weekends bulletin is featured below. Other information and contact details can be found on the Star of the Sea South West Coast website: https://www.ballarat.catholic.org.au/parish/southwestcoast/

Community Notices

Do you or someone you know need some help to apply for the Victorian Government’s $100 Power Saving Bonus ?

Your local Neighbourhood House can help with the online application.

Please contact Jill for an appointment 0418 944 276

This round of savings is for concession card holders only and will run until March 2026.

Upcoming Events

Wednesday 27th August: P & F Meeting at 7.00pm in the Gathering Space

Tuesday 2nd September: DDO Meeting at 7.00pm in the Gathering Space

Wednesday 3rd September: Father's Day Stall

Friday 5th September: Father's Day Breakfast in the Stadium 7.30pm - 8.30pm

Saturday 13th September: Bunnings BBQ/Bake Stall

17 Sep	Footy & Netball Gala Day All day

19 Sep	Term 3 Concludes All day

6 Oct	Term 4 Commences All day

7 Oct	DDO Meeting 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM