Week 7 August 21st, 2023: Newsletter #26
- Acknowledgement of Country
- Week 7 Prayer
- From the Principal
- School Closure- Next Monday
- Important School reminders
- Book Week Dress Up Day- Wednesday!
- Learning Walk- this Friday
- Student News
- Specialist News
- Father's Day Breakfast- Friday 1st September
- Around our school- Week 6
- TheirCare
- Student Awards- Week 6
- Happy Birthday
- Parents and Friends Social Group News
- School Sponsorship
- Star of the Sea Bulletin
- Community Notices
- Upcoming Events
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 7 Prayer
From the Principal
Happy Monday everyone.
Welcome Back Ella & Thanks Grace! Excitedly we welcomed back Ella today, the staff were thrilled and the kids were pumped, we look forward to seeing some photos and hearing the stories of her travels over the next few weeks. With Ella's return we thank Grace Lucas for working in the 1/2 team. Grace has been amazing and we now look forward to her moving into the 3/4 classes in term 4.
Enterprise Bargaining Agreement: The new industrial agreement for school staff came into effect on Monday August 7th. This agreement has made some significant changes to teacher workload. In particular there is a new provision for teachers to be paid Time In Lieu for principal directed work outside of school hours e.g. disco, camps, parent teacher meetings etc. We are currently working with DOBCEL and our school Consultative Committee to work through how these changes will be implemented whilst maintaining our extra curricular activities within our current budget.
$5,000 Raffle: After its commencement in 2022, the P&F Social group will again be conducting a Major Raffle with this years prize being a $5000 voucher to spend at Warrnambool iTalk Travel & Cruise.
Each family is asked to buy/sell 5 tickets which are priced at $25 each. If you are unable to sell all or some of your tickets, please return them to school.
Tickets were sent home last Monday with the eldest child in each family.
First Communion: Special congratulations to Stella, Tilda, Charli and Indy on receiving the Sacrament of First Communion yesterday.
Enjoy your week, Ben
School Closure- Next Monday
Next Monday 28th August we have a School Closure Day. Staff are participating in Professional Development training on this day. For those requiring care for their children, TheirCare will be operating on this day. To make a booking please see below.
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
Book Week Dress Up Day- Wednesday!
Book Week is fast approaching! Students have been reading and working in class on a range of the new shortlisted books. The theme this year is Read, Grow, Inspire.
Our dress up day is this Wednesday the 23rd August with a parade at 9.00am in the Stadium- Parents are most welcome to attend.
Children can come dressed as any book character.
Learning Walk- this Friday
We have been receiving excellent feedback from parents that have particpipated in our Learning Walks. We encourage parents that have not yet done so to consider coming along. To RSVP please email Ben.
Student News
Connie in Foundation has a beautiful brand new baby sister Hattie and as you can see is absolutely smitten with her. She is three weeks old and doing really well.
Congratulations from all of us! It was so lovely to meet little Hattie, she is just gorgeous.
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
Specialist News
VISUAL ARTS
Over the last few weeks the students have been working hard to create a little gift for their dad/special person for Father's Day. The foundations created a background using marble painting, the grade 1/2s have been decorating frames, the 3/4s have been creating a portrait using plasticine and the 5/6s have designed and created a Lino cut print! These will be coming home just before Father's Day.
Phys. Ed
We have been having lots of fun in P.E lately.
We started the term with our basketball unit focusing on gameplay for our 3-6 students as they representing the school at Hooptime Basketball this term. The Junior students have also been doing basketball with a focus on skill development which they have shown significant improvement over the weeks. The 3-6 students were also lucky to participate in a hockey clinic run by Hockey Victoria where they developed their skills and knowledge of the game. It was great to see some students who play outside of school to help those who have never played before.
Grade 1/2 students have started a fitness unit, learning about what it means to be fit and healthy and how it improves our overall health. They have been loving doing so different fitness challenges and fitness circuits working our bodies and having fun while doing it.
The Foundation students have shown a lot of growth with their skills through the PMP fundamental movement skills; focusing on gross motor, fine motor, locomotor, balance and movement coordination through obstacle courses.
STEM
In our STEM Lab this week our middle & senior students have been introduced to Strawbees. Strawbees are a fantastic activity that foster creativity, engineering and design principles and really engage the sense of whimsy that students bring to such activities. When given time to explore and design freely we were delighted to see students working collaboratively to produce some wonderful creations ranging from umbrellas, rockets, towers, igloos to fashion items, all shapes and sizes!
Fashion design was also a theme in the junior STEM classes with students designing paper hats after reading the book Frank’s Red Hat ( from the 2023 CBCA shortlist Frank's Red Hat - Teaser ). In this story Frank the penguin is an inventor who is full of ideas. It opened up conversations about risk taking, creativity, difference and perseverance which are all qualities that we encourage & celebrate in STEM activities. If you are looking for ideas for bookweek students could parade their gorgeous hats by dressing up as Frank the penguin in our Book Parade on Wednesday. Enthusiasts could even add this penguin mask.
Father's Day Breakfast- Friday 1st September
Please complete the google form to RSVP to our Father's Day Breakfast. We would love to see as many Dad's and special people as we can! RSVP's close this Friday, 25th August.
Around our school- Week 6
TheirCare
To make a booking with TheirCare, our outside school hours care provider please click on the following link https://theircare.com.au/
Please select St. Johns Dennington as the booking location.
Student Awards- Week 6
Happy Birthday
A big Happy Birthday to Shona V, Hudson C, Ida O, Scout V, Alice D and Matthew H who celebrate their birthday this week. Best wishes to you, we hope you have a terrific day!
Parents and Friends Social Group News
Meeting
Our next meeting will be held this Tuesday 22nd August in the Gathering Space at 7.00pm.
Dennington's Day Out!
Our next meeting will be held on 13th September in the Gathering Space at 7.00pm.
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
Father's Day Stall
Wednesday Treats
This weeks treat is Pizza.
Tuesday volunteers 9.00am: Emily, Taliah, Kate, Rebecca and Kim.
Wednesday volunteers 12.00pm: Julia, Jo and Tanya.
Next weeks treat forms are sent home on Tuesday's and are due back by 3.00pm each Monday. No late orders can be accepted. If for some reason you do not receive a form, there are spare copies at the office that you can collect.
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:
Fish, Finigan, Finch-Uren and Fedley.
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
Tuesday 22nd August: Parents and Friend's Social Group Meeting at 7.00pm in the Gathering Space
Wednesday 23rd August: Book Week Dress up day, with parade at 9.00am in the Stadium
Friday 25th August: Learning Walk at 9.00am
Monday 28th August: School Closure Day
Wednesday 30th August: Father's Day Stall
Friday 1st September: Grades 5/6 Hooptime (permissions sent to students partcipating)
Friday 1st September: Father's Day Breakfast at 7.00am - 8.30am
Wednesday 6th September: St. John's Dance Concert- Dancing through the Decades at 6.30pm
Friday 8th September: Healthy Moves Display in the Stadium
Wednesday 13th September: DDO Meeting in the Gathering Space at 7.00pm
Wednesday 11th October: Gradparents & Special Friends Day