Week 8 June 12th, 2023: Newsletter #18

Acknowledgement of Country

St. John’s school community respect and honour Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders past, present and future. 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.

Week 8 Prayer

From the Principal

Hello everyone, welcome to another week of learning, living and loving at St. John's, hopefully this finds you all well after enjoying the long weekend. 

Semester 1 Academic Reports: On Monday June 19th all families will be able to access their child's Semester 1 report- this will be accessible through PAM- we expect them to be released at 2.30pm. 

The report is a formal summary of your child's academic progress and will complement the conversations had between teacher student and parents throughout this term. Should you have any questions regarding the report then please contact your child's teacher or the specialist subject teacher where relevant.  

Fr Bill Lowry: Over the next 2 weeks, Fr Bill Lowry will work with all classes in regards to the parts of the mass. These sessions aim to enhance our students understanding of the symbolism in the mass and how each part has a significant meaning. We look forward to these sessions with great interest. 

Sympathies: Our love and prayers are with Mrs Madden and her family after the passing of her brother Frank- may he rest in peace.

Enjoy your week, Ben.

St. John's Feast Day

The Feast Day of St. John the Baptist is held every year on June 24th, at St. John's we will celebrate this important day on Wednesday June 21st.

We have a day of fun planned which will feature the following events;

• 10.00am Mass- this will be held at St Pius X church, all families are welcome to attend. 
• Casual Clothes- we encourage children to wear the colours of their sporting house.
• Sausage sizzle for lunch- there is no charge for this and Gluten Free students will be accommodated. Children will still need their snacks etc. for 1st lunch.
• House activities will be condcuted with our school captains organising these. 

We are hopeful that 3-4 parents may be able to help cook the BBQ from 11.00am onwards for around 2 hours. If you are able to assist please email Ben. This time will count against your PPL hours. 

Breakfast Club - It's Back!!!

Our much loved Breakfast Club is back- Tuesday morning's in the Library!

It runs from 8.15am and students are to enter the building via the external Library door. 

Visual Arts

This term all students in Grade 5 and 6 are entering the Junior Warrnibald Prize - a portrait competition through the Warrnambool Art Gallery.  

The artists can submit a portrait of anyone in their lives who they look up to, and all the students are busy creating their artwork to enter early next term.  

Portraits will be exhibited at the Gallery between Saturday June 24 - Sunday July 23 2023. Junior Prize-winning works will be included in the Warrnibald Prize 2023 exhibition. So make sure you head along to the WAG and check out the wonderful artwork created by our senior students! 

A REMINDER TO ALL GRADE 5 & 6 STUDENTS:

All students will need to have a permission form completed.  Please return these to Mrs Milroy in the Art Room ASAP.  

Year 5/6 Division Winter Sports

Last Friday our Grade 5/6 Football and Netball teams competed in the Division Winter sports against other schools from the Southern Region. Both teams displayed great determination and drive with both teams winning two out of four games each. We are extremely proud of the way our students conducted themselves throughout the day and the sportsmanship they showed.

Student News

Brad and Chantelle have an adorable new baby brother ‘Cooper Anthony’ born on the 6th June. Four weeks early but weighs a healthy 7 pound 1. A very big congratulations to you all! 

Around our school - Week 7

Prev

Showing images 1 - 8 of 9

Next

NCCD

Important School reminders

Russell Street Crossing: If parents and children are needing to cross Russell Street then it must be done at the supervised pedestrian crossing. This is the only safe place to do.

Parking: Please refrain from parking in the designated disability car spaces in the carparks if you do not have a sticker displayed on your vehicle. It is important these spaces are reserved for families that need them.

We also ask that if you have to hop out of the car to assist your child into the car that you park your car and collect them rather than hold up the loop. 

Entering the School Buildings: All visitors during the school day must enter via the front office. This includes children late to school.

Student Messages: Please ensure change of pick up arrangement messages etc are received by the office ideally by 3.00pm and no later than 3.10pm to allow office staff adequate time to pass them on to students.

Student News: If you have some exciting news you would like to share with our school community we would love to hear about it. Please email admin@sjdennington.catholic.edu.au

Parent/School Communication: When contacting school staff please refer to our Communications Guidelines for the appropriate processes, this can be found under the forms and documents tab on our schoolzine app and in the Parent Information tab in PAM.

Parent Participation Levy: Please ensure you record the activity and the amount of hours you volunteered your time for on the following form - Parent Participation Levy Activity Record

2024 Foundation Enrolments - Closing this Friday.

Enrolments for 2024 Foundation students close on Friday 16th June at 4.00pm.  

Online Enrolments: All enrolments are now to be completed online and submitted electronically, we no longer offer hard copy enrolment forms. For this process, go to our school website and select the Enrolment Tab. 

Under the Enrolment Tab you will notice Apply Now - select this and away you go. A tip with this one is do not use a phone or ipad to complete the form, any laptop or desktop computer will work best 

You will also need to make sure you have your child's birth, immunisation, baptism certificates and any specialist reports loaded onto your device, either by taking a photo or scanning and uploading as you will be required to upload this documentation. Should you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact the office. 

Covid 19 Management

 It is recommended that rapid antigen tests (RATs) are used by students and staff if they:

• • have symptoms of COVID-19 infection, no matter how mild
  • are a household or close contact of someone who has COVID-19
  • are a social contact of someone who has COVID-19.
• The Department of Health recommends that all Victorians report their positive RAT result via the online form or by calling 1800 675 398.
• Principals are no longer required to inform their school community of a positive case associated with the school.
• Staff or students who are positive are strongly recommended to stay home and isolate for a minimum of five days.
• Symptomatic students or staff should not attend school, even if failing to test positive on a RAT or PCR.

Close Contacts: Children who are household clsoe contacts can continue to attend school provided they are symtopm free and test negative daily. This should occur while household members are in isolation. 

Masks: Staff and students who wish to wear a mask will continue to be supported to do so. Masks are available from the administration office for anyone wishing to obtain one. Any staff or students who are  close contacts are recommended to wear a  mask indoors.

RAT Kits: RATs are available for all Victorians from council sites. Individuals can obtain two free packs (10 tests) for themselves and two free packs (10 tests) for each household member. People with disability and their carers can get up to four free packs (20 tests) in line with existing RAT distribution for people with disability. The RATs are available at the Civic Centre (25 Liebig Street) and the Archie Graham Community Centre (118 Timor Street). We also have RAT tests available from the front office.

Medically At Risk Students: Students who have chronic health conditions, especially affecting the respiratory system ie Asthma, must have up to date health support plans. Families who are unsure about the status of their child’s plan should make contact with teh school administration office.

General Illnesses: As we approach the winter months we encourage all families to be cautious when sending children to school who are still symptomatic with contagious diseases such as cold, flu etc.

TheirCare

Student Awards - Week 7

Parents and Friends Social Group News

Meeting

Our next meeting will be held tonight Tuesday 13th June at 7.00pm in the Gathering Space where we will discuss fundraising ideas for next term. We would love to see more new faces come along!

EFT Payments 

When making payment into the P & F account, please ensure you put your surname and a brief description in the reference ie 'Jones Wednesday Treats'

Pie Drive

Pie drive forms must be handed in today by the end of the day. It is important that any payments into the bank account is set at only 1 transaction per order form with the reference of the students name and pie drive. Please do not hand out bank details to multiple family members. Keeping it at 1 transaction per order form makes it a lot easier for our treasurer to balance. Thank you for your cooperation with this.

Wednesday Treats

This week's treat is hot chips.

Wednesday helpers: 12.00pm - 1.30pm  Jo and Nicole

This is our last Wednesday treat for the term.  A huge thank you to our Wednesday Treat coodinator Emily and all of our parents who voluneered their time ordering, counting, preparing and distributing the treats to the students. If you are interested in assisting next Term please complete the volunteer form that was sent home last week. Its a great way to assist at school and meet others at the same time. Volunteering will count towards your Participation Levv points.

Dennington's Day Out!

This year’s ‘Dennington’s Day Out’ will be held on Sunday 12th November.  For further information, or to discuss the Corporate Sponsorship packages below, please contact ddo@sjdennington.catholic.edu.au 

The next meeting will be held on next Wednesday 31st May in the gathering space at 7pm. Come along to be part of Planning our HUGE annual event!

Student Disco  

The student disco is this Friday. If you have not registered your children yet please do so asap.

Below is a link to the student disco. Don’t forget to send the money into school in an envelope labelled Disco or deposit into the P & F bank account with the description of your child’s name and disco.

                   Cake Raffle

Each week on a Friday, families are rostered on to bring in a cake which will then be raffled and drawn out at Assembly. All funds raised throughout the year will be donated to the Good Friday Appeal the following year.

All students will have the opportunity to buy a raffle ticket for 20c each Friday. The Johnnies will come around to the classrooms during the day to write out tickets and collect money. 

The following families are rostered on this week:

Lenehan, Leggett. Lane and Lamb.

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

A big thank you to Fry Painting, O'Brien Electrical Warrnambool, Brownies Shed, Tubbie & Rayz Indoor Batting house and Carry On Travel who sponsor our school!

Star of the Sea Bulletin

Sunday Mass is held at 10.00am 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

Upcoming Events

Tonight- Tuesday 13th June: Parents and Friends Social Group Meeting at 7.00pm in the Gathering Space.

Friday 16th June: Student Disco

Monday 19th June: Student Reports released

Friday 23rd June: End of Term 2. School concludes at 2.30pm.