February 17th, 2025: Newsletter #4

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. 

Week 4 Prayer

God who calls us to be the bearers of light and peace to those we meet each day, increase our sense of discipleship.

Help us to be secure in the knowledge that your love and forgiveness are boundless.

Give us your strength to respond fully to the work you have given us to do and our calling to be your witnesses in the world.

Amen

From the Principal

Hello everyone, welcome to another week at St John's.

Congratulations: We wish Miss Jordan Miller and Tom Mugavin a lifetime of love, health and happiness following their marriage last week. We are thrilled for them both as they embark on this wonderful new journey together.

Heartfelt congratulations to the Storer family on the arrival of little baby Rhea. May she bless you all with endless joy and happiness.

Attendance: As we commence the year I would like all families to understand the importance of prioritising attendance at school above many other things. Whilst we understand that at times, parents will go on holidays during school terms we are noticing a number of students are being withdrawn from school for non essential appointments. As staff, we ask all families to ensure that you are making attendance at school a high priority in order to ensure the best learning outcomes can be achieved for all children in our school. 

NAPLAN Assessments: In the middle of March our Gr 3 and Gr 5 students will sit the NAPLAN Assessments, a brochure explaining these assessments is featured below. Whilst NAPLAN often attracts a great deal of attention, it is one assessment amongst a myriad that we complete in order to support children's learning.

For some families, formal assessments such as NAPLAN may cause anxiety and other negative emotions. Families do have the capacity to withdraw their child from the NAPLAN assessments, if you feel inclined to do so then I encourage you to speak with your child's teacher. 

Enjoy the week ahead,  Ben.

Important Parent Documents

Featured below are two important documents which offer guidelines around how parents should communicate with the school and to who they should address their questions. The code of conduct is also an important document that also provides advice as to how parents should act in and around the school.

Unfortunately we are finding increased cases where parents/ guardians think it is acceptable to speak to a staff member or fellow parent in a derogatory or insulting manner and this is not something that I'm prepared to accept. 

I ask all families to ensure that they read through both documents. 

School Fees

School fee statements have been emailed out to families today. If you did not receive your statement please contact the office asap.

Please note discounts have not been applied yet for the Camps Sports Excursions Fund and School Savings Bonus, they will be applied once they have been received by the school.

Mobile Phones

Our school understands that some families require their child to have a mobile phone for communication and safety needs before and after school.  Students are not permitted to be in possession of their mobile phone at any time throughout the school day.

If your child is bringing a mobile phone to school it must be checked in at the office as soon as they arrive at school and it can be collected as they exit school in the afternoon. 

Families in this situation, can you please remind your child of this important school procedure. 

2026 Foundation Enrolments

Whilst it seems very early, we are inviting existing school families to commence the enrolment process for 2026 Foundation enrolments in order to ascertain how may spots we have available for new families as we expect enrolment demand to be high again. This can be done via the enrolment tab on our school website. 

2025 Sacramental Program

In 2025 the Star of the Sea Parish are offering families, who have baptised Catholic children to have their children receive Sacraments as relevant to the child's grade level. The program is very child centred, and provides all families with the opportunity to support the child as they receive the sacrament.  

As an initial registration point, we ask all families who wish for their child/ children to participate in the Sacramental program to register their interest by completing the registration form linked here:https://forms.gle/3JXvKKsmtcKgfEs38

The key dates for these sacraments in 2025 are: 

Reconciliation (Grade 6)

• February 18th- Parent information meeting, 7pm at St Joseph's Church (students and their parents).
• March 24th- Reconciliation Education Day at Emmanuel College (students only).
• 3rd April- Reconciliation celebration, 6pm (students and their families)

Confirmation (Grade 3)

• April 28th- Parent information meeting, 7pm at St Joseph's Church. 
• May 11th- Presentation of candidates at Mass.
• May 27th- Confirmation celebration 6pm

Eucharist (Grade 4)

• July 29th- Parent information meeting, 7pm at St Joseph's Church. 
• August 5th- Eucharist Formation Day (school supported)
• August 10th-Presentation of candidates at Mass
• August 24th- Celebration of First Eucharist 

If you have any questions or would like to chat about this further please contact Grace Lucas at school or send an email to glucas@sjdennington.catholic.edu.au

Learning and Teaching with Jan & Amy

This week we are introducing our Intervention Specialist teacher- Sarah Milroy. Sarah works with students from Grade 1 to 6 supporting them in EMU maths, boost maths, as well as literacy through the MacqLit program.

School Athletics Carnival- next Monday!

NCCD Information Sheets

Each year we are required to collect information realting to students requiring adjustments to support their learning. The brochure below outlines this information and I encourage all families to read it. 

Opening the Doors Foundation

The Opening the Doors Foundation provides grants to families to assist with the extra costs incurred in the schooling of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander primary or secondary school students. The 2025 Grant Round is now open and closes on 14th March 2025.

Please note that due to a substantial increase in applications, the Foundation’s Trustees have had to modify the eligibility criteria. The updated criteria and guidelines are outlined on both the Opening the Doors Foundation website and the Opening the Doors Foundation Application. 

Phone: 1300 236 356     Email: applications@openingthedoors.org.au

CDFpay

We are now using CDFpay for all online ordering such as lunch orders, Wednesday Treats, various events and fundraising activities. CDFpay is an app that you download to your phone. 

• In the app store search for CDFpay
• Create a new account
• When searching for our school, start with our postcode of 3280 and our school will come up in the shortened list to select from
• You will need to add each of your children and select their 2025 classroom. Please make sure this is correct, as this is where the lunch order will be delivered to. 

If you need any assistance please contact the office but it is important to note that due to privacy restrictions associated to this app, we can not add students or amend your account for you in any way.

School Photos

Our annual school photos including sibling photos will be taken by Arthur Reed Photos on Tuesday 4th March.

Students are to wear their sports uniform on this day.

SchoolTV- Resilience

Resilience is one of those skills that all kids need and should have. It refers to their ability to cope and adapt in situations when confronted with challenges such as adversity, trauma, tragedy, or even stress. It is essential to their mental health and wellbeing as part of their journey to adulthood. It is a skill that can be learned from an early age through the support of an adult role model.

However, being resilient does not mean your child won't experience any difficulties, but it will better equip them to manage those situations. Over-protective parenting can be viewed as being unhelpful towards the building of resilience. Although this may be a natural instinct, potentially experiencing failure is all part of the process. Encouraging children to take healthy risks will help them trust their capacity to deal with uncomfortable situations and increase their capacity for courage.

In this edition of SchoolTV, parents will gain an understanding of how to support their child’s brave behaviour to help them adapt and build resilience.

Theircare

All bookings and questions regarding our outside school provider TheirCare, are to  be made directly to them on 1300 072 410.  Bookings can also be made at https://theircare.com.au/  and selecting St John's Dennington as the booking location.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to the following students who celebrated their birthday this week: Dylan Z, Sophie C, Sullivan G and Nala F. We hope you have a terrific day!

Student Awards

Around our School- Week 3

Prev

Showing images 1 - 8 of 32

Next

Parents and Friends Social Group

Our next meeting will be on Monday 24th March at 7.00pm in the Gathering Space. Everyone is welcome, we always look forward to seeing some new faces. Hope you can make it.

Dennington Dash

This year we are celebrating the Dennington Dash turning 10. Our organisers are busy behind the scenes getting ready for the event. Closer to the night will be looking for volunteers to help on the night.

Dennington Dash is a fun event for all. Come along for a 3km fun run/walk, you can go your hardest or just go for a stroll. There are some amazing prizes and spot prizes to be won. After the event, sit back and enjoy a BBQ tea.

Dennington Day Out

Please join us this Tuesday 18th February at 7.00pm in the Gathering Space for our first DDO meeting for the year. We welcome all current committee members and anyone looking to join our committee to come along. We hope to see you there.  

Cake Raffle

Each week on a Monday, families are rostered on to bring in a cake which will then be raffled and drawn out at assembly. Please download the roster below.

All funds raised throughout the year will be donated to various charities. Please drop your store purchased cake into the office with your family name written on top.  If there is no assembly on your rostered day due to a school closure or event, please drop your cake in the week after.

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 for:

Monday 24th February: No assembly due to the School Athletics Carnival. Families rostered on this day have been split below.

Monday 3rd March: Black, Blain, Boreham, Brown, Brunton, Bubb-Dempster, Burchell, Burchell and Bushell.

Monday 10th March: No assembly this week due to the public holiday.

Monday 17th March: Boyle, Bridgman, Brooks, Byrne, Cahill, Cain, Dwyer, Cameron and Campbell.

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 and Carry on travel 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/ 

Emmanuel College Opening Evening

Community Notices

Live Your Best Life in Love... A Marriage Encounter weekend is for you…

Every married couple deserves this very special weekend. Time-out to nurture your most precious relationship away from daily distractions. The two of you will come away from your weekend feeling more deeply connected    and with tools to help keep the passion alive.

No group sharing required. The weekend is based around Catholic values. Couples of all faiths are welcome.

Please check our website for more details and to book your special weekend.  Our next weekend is: 25-27 April 2025 at St Paul's Retreat Centre, Wantirna South.  Starts Friday evening at 7pm and finishes Sunday afternoon around 4:30pm

Information/Bookings: Phone Mercy & James 0409 183 678    Email: vicbookings@wwme.org.au   Website: wwme.org.au

Questacon Science Circus

Join the Questacon Science Circus for a FREE pop-up science centre experience like no other! Filled with over 30 hands-on exhibits and spectacular science shows, the Science Circus pop-up is a fantastic STEM day out for the whole family!

Event Details:  Saturday 22 February 2025, 10.00am – 4.00pm  Warrnambool Showgrounds - Wannon Function Centre 331 Koroit St, Warrnambool VIC 3280 

To stagger the entry of our visitors, tickets can be booked every 30 minutes for entry until one hour before the event ends. You’re welcome to stay as long as you like, but most people spend 1-2 hours at our pop-up.  
Important Info: 

This is a FREE event, but bookings are essential. Suitable for all ages and families. Children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult at all times.   To protect our venue’s floor, please wear non-marking shoes (e.g. no stiletto heels).  Contact ScienceCircus@Questacon.edu.au of 0466 922 801 for enquiries. 

Upcoming Events

Tuesday 18th February: Reconciliation Parent Meeting 

Tuesday February 18th: Dennington's Day Out Meeting at 7.00pm in the Gathering Space.

Monday 24th February: Whole School Athletics Carnival at Brauerander Park

Friday 28th February: Dennington Dash at 5.15pm

Tuesday 4th March: Shrove Tuesday

Tuesday 4th March: School Photo Day

Tuesday 4th March: Structured literacy parent information session at 2.30pm in the Gathering Space 

Wednesday 5th March: Ash Wednesday                                   

Monday, 10th March: Labour Day Public Holiday

Tuesday 18th March: Lions Eye Health Program (Gr. F, 3, 6)

Monday 24th March: Reconciliation Formation Day - Emmanuel College

Monday 24th March: Parents and Friends meeting at 7.00pm in the Gathering Space

Saturday 29th March:  Parents and Friends social lawn bowls at 6:30pm

Thursday 3rd April: Reconciliation Sacrament

Friday 4th April: Last Day of Term 1

Monday 21st April: Easter Monday Public Holiday

Tuesday 22nd April: First Day of Term 2

Thursday 24th April: Closure Day - Southern Zone Collaboration Day (DOBCEL determined date)

Friday 25th April: ANZAC Day Public Holiday

Monday 28th April: Confirmation Parent Meeting (7.00pm St Joseph's Church)

Thursday 1st May: May Races Public Holiday