St John the Baptist Ferntree Gully Newsletter

Letter from the Principal

Tuesday May 18th 2021

Dear Families

Whilst many people talk about the difficulties that were experienced during 2020 as a result of COVID there were certainly some advantages that people also name. One of the standouts in education was parents engagement in their children’s learning. In education we talk about parent involvement in schools and parent engagement in their children’s learning. Both are important elements in the partnership between home and school. Parent involvement are things like attendance at working bees and school events such as Mother’s Day afternoon tea, school Masses, assemblies and countless other school events. Parent involvement in learning is helping out in classrooms, having regular learning conversations with teachers about your child’s learning, supporting children at home by encouraging regular reading habits and talking about what they are learning at school. Strong partnerships between home and school are essential to ensure that children reach their full potential. As a parent community you are fantastic in the value you place on each of your children's education. You encourage strong learning dispositions in your children, you are active in the school and work in genuine partnership with your children's teachers. As part of our commitment to continue to keep parents informed and engaged in their children's learning we have added some teaching videos on our school website. These videos capture our staff in action around various aspects of our child's learning journey. We also have included content from guest contributors on important topics such as mindfulness, guided meditations and sustainability to name a few. We invite you to come and take a look at www.sjferntreegully.catholic.edu.au. If you scroll to the bottom of the landing page you will be able to click directly into our upschool platform which is packed with educational resources, creative and fun activities, videos, articles, school updates and more. Upschool by St John the Baptist is designed to keep you engaged with our school and inspired to live, learn and play as a happy, mindful and sharing community.

We are adding new content weekly, so be sure to keep checking back in!

Working Bee

We had a cold and wet Saturday for our Term 2 working bee. That certainly didn’t dampen the spirits of our band of helpers. Thanks to our heroes of the day...our parents, children and staff who shared their time, skills and expertise. Well done to Phil for using the scissor lift to clean fans, vents and lights in our school hall, fix the boards on the roof and clean our entrance to the office area with Jason, to Chris for his steady hand and painting expertise, to Prevon for the use of his trusty drill and saw for the removal of old blinds, to Matt for taking one for the team as he got soaked guerneying cobwebbed areas of the school, for our wonderful gardeners Deborah, Katie, Hans, Zac, Candy, Mia, Mason, Lily and Bagus, to Raelene for her expertise in the use of a level to hang pictures in the office building and for making an emergency dash to K-Mart for more picture hook supplies and to Karen for cleaning out lockers and vacuuming our school hall. 

A warm sausage at the end of everyone's hard work was certainly much appreciated. 

A special thanks to our wonderful Deputy Principal Ursula who coordinated the day. 

District Cross Country

Congratulations to the following children who have been selected to represent our school at the District Cross Country Event this Friday 21st May. These children trialled for this event and should feel very proud to have been selected. We know you will compete in the spirit of good sportsmanship and give it your all. Well done and good luck for Friday to all competitors both at our school and the schools you will be competing against.

Lorelei, Marcus V, Shakira, Ben, Poppy, Joseph, Alxys, Marcus N, Millie, Ellie, Skyla, Emily, Ashan, Josh, Zaylen, Sam, Chelsea, Kahsha, Faustina, Riley, Logan, Cooper, Oscar, Dallas, Ethan, Lucas, Samuel, Isabelle, Michaela, Mia, Heath, Ryan, Daniel, Luca & Jack

National Sorry Day

Wednesday 26th May is the annual National Sorry Day of commemoration and remembrance of all those Aboriginal people who have been impacted by the government policies of forcible removal that have resulted in the stolen generations. We will commemorate this day with a prayer service at 10.20am in the school hall. The prayer service will be led by our Social Justice Leaders. All families are invited to join us for this important event. Students are invited to wear casual dress with a touch of red, yellow and black and make a gold coin donation.                                                

                                                                            

Running Club

Please note - there will be no running club this Friday, May 21st due to Cross Country.

Australian Early Development Census

Student Awards - Years Prep-4

Prep BK

Cillian McD - for his daily enthusiasm for learning and his use of many reading strategies. You are a star Cillian!

Keira D - for following directions promptly, participating actively in all class sessions and showing great progress with reading. You are a star, Keira!

Zoe v B - for following directions promptly, participating actively in all class sessions, and being a wonderful role model to your classmates. You are a star, Zoe!

William S - for demonstrating great thinking strategies in number and place value and for your beautiful manners. You are a star, William!

Prep M

Lacey H - for always offering to help others in their learning and for challenging herself.

Charlie P - for showing great whole body listening when learning on the floor and playing kindly.

Frankie S - for always showing whole body listening and challenging herself in maths.

Benji W - for including others on the playground.

Year 1/2BE

Olly P - for excellent work during writing sessions to develop detailed story beginnings. Keep up the great work!

Jai PW - for excellent progress with your reading to identify sight words and sound out unknown words. Keep up the great work!

Jasmine R - for excellent work in writing to add detail to your stories and for drawing on your sound knowledge to spell words. Keep up the great work!

Mason P - for excellent progress in Guided Reading sessions to answer questions about the text and make connections to real life experiences.

Year 1/2BR

Aiden A - for working so diligently during writing time. Your use of adjectives, alliteration and transition words is pleasing to see in your narratives. You have such a strength in your creative writing. Keep building upon your narrative knowledge, I LOVE reading your stories.

Arthur B - for your excellent persistence in writing. I have seen improvement in your conjunctions and adjectives allowing you to create some wonderful narratives during writing time. I am very proud of your hard work. Keep it up.

Atisha W - for your excellent work with your writing. I have been so impressed with how much detail you have been putting into your work showing your deep understanding of colourful semantics. I am so proud of the work you are producing, keep up the fantastic work. Well done Atisha.

Vincent F - for your excellent persistence and improvement in your writing. You have done such a wonderful job listening to the sounds in words and I am very proud of how you now "have a go" before asking the teacher for help. I have seen a lot of improvement in your stories as you are beginning to develop your characters and adjectives. Well done Vincent.

Year 1/2S

Olivia H - for your fantastic detail in your forest story. You have been working hard to include adjectives in your writing when describing characters and settings. You are showing such improvement in your writing. Well done Olivia!

Charlie K - for your hard work and determination to complete your writing. You have been working hard to have a go completing your writing and sounding out words independently. You worked so hard on your story to include adjectives and talking marks. Well done Charlie!

Judd P - for your hard work in mathematics! It has been amazing to watch you try new strategies when solving addition and subtraction problems. You  have demonstrated determination to persevere through more challenging problems. Well done Judd!

Year 3/4FM

Marcus N - for a positive attitude to learning. You are working so hard in every lesson each day. Your smile towards your achievements is exciting to watch. Keep asking questions and growing Marcus, well done.

Ria G - for learning so much about yourself and knowing what to do to move your learning to the next level. You are achieving great things in Year 4 Ria, keep up the hard work.

Niamh NiC - for taking time for yourself when faced with a challenge and deciding where to go next. You are working so hard in identifying the appropriate tool to use at the appropriate time. Keep working hard Niamh.

Josh B - for your high level of interaction during Maths lessons. You share your knowledge with care and build upon others' thinking. Keep thinking hard when faced with a challenge, you are achieving great results Josh.

Year 3/4SK

Ember H - for great listening and for writing a creative sensory poem about marshmallows.

William P - for showing resilience when his feelings were hurt, and for always being respectful to others.

Jillian R - for her amazing kindness to others, and her hard-working attitude in every aspect of learning.

Violet G - For using personification well in her beautiful sensory poem, and for consistently completing tasks promptly and to a high standard.

Diary Dates


Week 5May
Fri 21stDistrict Cross Country


Week 6May
Wed 26th 

National Sorry Day Prayer Service 10.20am

Casual Dress Day - a touch of red, yellow and black

Gold coin donation


Week 7June
Tues June 1stDivision Cross Country

School Advisory Council at 7.30pm
Wed 2ndDistrict Winter Sports
Fri 4th 3/4 Level & First Friday Mass at 11.00am



Canteen News

Canteen Helpers Roster


Wednesday May 19th

Raelene Portbury

Friday May 21st

Kim Nanscawen

Nathalie Santilli

Margaret Golding


Wednesday May 26th 

Natalie Conway

Friday May 28th 

Michelle Neve

Di Thomas

Anna Mazzone



Parents & Friends News

Term 2 Dates for the Diary

Wednesday May 26th - Casual Dress Day (Sorry Day theme) - gold coin donation

Wednesday June 2nd - P&F Meeting

Thursday June 24th - Fun Run

Fun Run

Our school Fun Run fundraiser has been launched!

Head over to schoolfunrun.com.au to sign up and create profiles.  LOTS of cool prizes on offer!

Which house will raise the most $ and take home the Fun Run Trophy?

Which class will raise the most $, earning themselves a casual dress day in Term 3?

Bunnings BBQ - School Holidays

We may have the opportunity of hosting another Bunnings (Scoresby) BBQ during the next school holidays. Tentative dates are Thursday 1st or Thursday 8th July.

We'll be looking for volunteers closer to the time but, more importantly, someone to champion it and lead the organising.

If you are willing and able to do this, please get in touch asap via the office or directly to parentsandfriends@sjferntreegully.catholic.edu.au

Please join the SJB Parents & Friends Facebook page -

SJB P&F Facebook Link

or search 'SJB Parish Primary School'

Parish News

Open after weekend masses

Community Notices

Learn more about the Lantern Festival

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P&F Sponsors

St John the Baptist Ferntree Gully