Week 9 September 4th 2023: Newsletter #28

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 9 Prayer

From the Principal

Happy Monday everyone. 

The School Day: with the introduction of the new 2022 CEMEA, I wanted to take this opportunity to inform you about some important aspects of/changes to the our supervision arrangements at the start and end of the school day. These changes have been carefully considered and are necessary due to various factors, including continuing to ensure the duty of care for our students and our staff.

The safety and wellbeing of our students have always been at the forefront of our mission and we are committed to maintaining a safe and secure environment for your children. Our staff members continue to provide supervision and support during school hours, ensuring that students receive the attention they deserve.

Our top priorities are ensuring the quality of education and maintaining a safe and nurturing environment for our students.  The global education landscape is evolving, and schools around the country face challenges that impact the availability of qualified teaching staff. To address these factors, we have made the following adjustments to our school operations:

• Supervision before and after school times:
  • Our school is open for students and families at 8.40am and closes at 3.40pm
  • Students should not arrive at school before this time or remain onsite after school closure
  • A number of students are arriving prior to 8.40am. This presents a risk to your child’s health and safety as scheduled supervision is not provided and our duty of care cannot be fulfilled prior to this time.
  • I draw your attention to the provision of before or afterschool care through Theircare if required
  • Alternatively, I would ask you to consider alternative solutions, such as working with others to discuss before-school support to ensure that you are not dropping students off prior to scheduled supervision commences. 
  • Children who are at school after 3.40pm will need to be collected from the school office.

• Classroom Access:
  • Students can access the classrooms at 8.40am. 
  • I also encourage parents to visit the classrooms, we no longer have Covid restrictions and the classrooms are fully accessible for parents to come and view what the children are learning about. 
  • If you would like to speak with your child’s classroom teacher formally about your child's learning then I encourage you to arrange a meeting with them at a time that is mutually agreeable.
    

We appreciate your understanding and ongoing support to ensure the safety and well-being of our whole school community.

Enjoy your week, Ben 

End of Year Arrangements

As we move to the end of Term 3, I wanted to advise you of some important date changes related to the the end of the school year so that you can plan ahead as needed. Please read the attached Warrnambool and District Catholic Schools Network letter.

In summary: end of 2023 School Year key dates as follows

• The last day of school for students in 2023 will be Friday December 15th. 
• Staff conclude on Monday December 18th.  This is a staff meeting day and no student supervision is available.   

Parent Participation Levy

The PPL is a key aspect of our parent and community engagement program. The PPL is outlined in its entirety in the attached document.  Please take the time to read this document as it is important you understand these guidelines.

There is a tile added to the schoolzine app where you will be able to record the activity and the number of hours you volunteered for. There is also a paper sign in sheet at the office.

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. 

We Are Hiring!

We're on the hunt for teachers and trainees! 

Hats

Advanced warning that hats will be required to be worn in Term 4 as per our sunsmart policy, so a good idea to hunt around for it now or purchase a new one from Lowes if need be. Students without a hat will play in the undercover area.

Dance Concert- Wednesday night!

We are all excited about our "Dancing through the Decades" concert this Wednesday 6th September in the Stadium.

The concert begins at 6.30pm sharp. Children are asked to be here by 6.10pm in their costumes. There are no tickets, just rollup and bring your dancing shoes as well. Looking forward to seeing everyone there!

Hands on Learning

Restorative Practices

Staff thoroughly enjoyed our studeent free day last Monday where facilitator Kristy Telford lead us through the science and philosophies behind Restorative Practices. 

It a highly beneficial day with many insights gathered by staff. 

Father's Day Breakfast

We held our annual Father's Day breakfast last Friday morning. It was great to have so many Dad's, Grandfathers and special friends join us. 

We hope you all had a great day yesterday and were treated well by the special little people in your lives!

Hooptime

Last Friday four Grade 5/6 teams participated in the Hooptime competition at the Arc. We were very proud of the way our students conducted themselves throughout the day- showing great enthusiasm and encouragement for their peers.

The All Star Girls & Boys teams both made the grand final while Miss Amity's mixed team won their grand final!

Around our school- Week 8

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Student Awards- Week 8

Happy Birthday

Special birthday wishes to Tilda C, Maddi H, Aggi K, Riley F, Teddy H and Ollie H who celebrate their birthday this week. We hope you have a terrific day!

Grandparent's Day

Please click this link to RSVP by Monday 9th October

Parents and Friends Social Group News

Meeting

Our next meeting will be held next term- Tuesday 3rd October 6.30pm at the Cally Hotel. An RSVP will be in the facebook group closer to the date.

Dennington's Day Out!

Would you like to be a part of the pop up shop section at DDO? 

Applications are now being processed and we would love to hear from you! Please send an email to ddo@sjdennington.catholic.edu.au for more information.

We have begun putting together prizes for the annual DDO Raffle. If you would like to donate or have suggestions of a business we could approach please get in contact with Kate Cuzens or email ddo@sjdennington.catholic.edu.au

Our next meeting will be held on 13th September 7.00pm in the Gathering Space.

$5,000 Major Raffle

5 tickets were sent home with each family for $25 each. Both sold and unsold are now due back so please send all money and tickets into school ASAP. 

If you require more tickets these are available at the office.  Tickets will also be available to purchase on the night with card facilities available.

Money raised will go towards a new playground for our ever growing school.

The winner of the $5,000 iTalk Travel & Cruise Voucher will be drawn at the school concert on September 6th. Good Luck to all who have entered!

Wednesday Treats

This weeks treat is Potato cakes.

Tuesday volunteers 9.00am: Emily, Tahlia, Elyse, Kate and Laura

Wednesday volunteers 12.00pm: Nicole, Helen and Jemma.

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:

Drew, Doyle, Doak and Demartin.

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

Could you make a difference to a young life?

Could this be what you are looking for? 

Foster carers come from all walks of life. They can be working, not working or retired; married or single; in same-sex relationships; and can own or rent their home. The most essential criteria are that they care, can provide a safe and nurturing home, and have room in their home to support a vulnerable child or sibling group.

If you would like to know more call MacKillop Family Services on 1300 791 677, visit www.mackillop.org.au/fostercare or ring Alana in our Warrnambool office on 5500 2000.

Please note new date for the Dennington Oval LINK Celebration

Upcoming Events

Wednesday 6th September: St. John's Dance Concert- Dancing through the Decades at 6.30pm and raffle draw

Friday 8th September: Healthy Moves Display in the Stadium

Wednesday 13th September: DDO Meeting in the Gathering Space at 7.00pm

Tuesday 3rd October: P & F Dinner Meeting at the Cally at 6.30pm

Wednesday 11th October: Grandparents & Special Friends Day

Monday 23rd October: School Closure Day

Sunday 12th November: DDO