May 26th, 2025: Newsletter #16

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 6: The Season of Easter

The Season of Easter:

As we approach the 6th week of the Easter Season, we focus on the Apostles. Whilst no doubt they wwere filled with grief, still trying to understand the death of Jesus and his many conversations around this, they were also trying to trust what Jesus said to them when he told them that his death is actually a good thing. 

On a human level, it would have been quite hard for the Apostles to let go of their daily interactions with Jesus.  They certainly missed seeing Him with their eyes, touching Him and hearing Him.  But Jesus made it clear that even though He was leaving He would be with them always.  And He would also send the Holy Spirit upon them to lead them, give them courage, and teach them all truth.  They would now be His presence in the world by the power of the Holy Spirit.

As we get closer to the Feast of Pentecost, may we all start to look to the Spirit working inside us and how it influences our daily choices and interactions. 

From the Principal

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

3 Way Conversations: The dates for these important conversations for Parent, Teacher and Students have been set for Monday June 23rd and Tuesday June 24th from 2pm-5pm each day for F-4 and 12pm-5pm for 5/6. Bookings via PAM for these conversations will open next week.  

Term 3 Closure Day: On Monday August 4th we will hold a student free day. Staff will be working on DOBCEL's Fullness of Life for All document which outlines a scope and sequence for the teaching of Relationships and Sexuality and aligns itself with the 4R's program. Theircare will be open for bookings on this day for families that require care.

Term 2 Assembly Roster:

• Monday June 2nd- Foundation
• Monday June 16th- Leadership
• Monday June 23rd- Leadership

Enjoy the week ahead, Ben. 

Catholic Education Week

This week we celebrate Catholic Education Week in the Diocese of Ballarat with the theme: "May the God of hope fill you with joy and peace" (Romans 15:13). This beautiful scripture reminds us of the central role hope, joy, and peace play in our Catholic education.

During this week, we reflect on how our Catholic school community fosters an environment where students grow not only academically but spiritually. 

Catholic Education Week is a time to celebrate the strong connections between our students, staff, and families.

Together, we create a community of faith where the love of God inspires all that we do. Through prayer, reflection, and acts of service, we continue to embody the theme of this week by bringing joy and peace into our daily lives.

Welcome Fr Matt

As a school community we welcome Fr Matthew Restall to the South West Coast Star of the Sea parish.

Fr Matthew comes to us from the parish of Ballarat East and we look forward to his presence in our school and parish community. 

Unwell Children

As is the pattern for this time of year, we are experiencing a high volume of children who are unwell. Flu, colds, gastro, school sores all seem to be doing the rounds.

I fully appreciate the impact that this has on families and how it can mess with work schedules etc. however we are noticing a number of children who are returning to school when still unwell and when still infectious. 

I ask all families to be considerate when sending children back to school after illness, as if they return whilst still unwell, then place the other students and staff in a position to become unwell also.  

Breakfast Club- Not on this week!

As previously mentioned there will be no Breakfast Club tomorrow, it will resume as normal next week.

A reminder Breakfast club is open to all students across the school. It runs weekly on Tuesday mornings from 8.15am - 8.45am in the Library. 

2026 Foundation Enrolments

A reminder to all existing school families that if have you siblings who are entering primary school at St. John’s in 2026 please enrol as soon as convenient. As enrolments are open to the general public, we want to ensure that siblings of existing students are given first priority.

All of our enrolments are completed online, via the Enrolment/Apply now page on our schools website. 

You will need to make sure you have your child's documentation loaded onto your device, either by taking a photo or scanning and uploading.  

• Birth certificate
• Immunisation Statement
• Baptism certificates (if relevant)
• Any specialist reports

Hands on Learning

On Wednesday 14th May, our students took part in a memorable excursion to Loved and Shared, a local not-for-profit organisation that provides essential items to families and children in need. This experience was part of our ongoing Hands on Learning program, designed to connect classroom learning with the real world in meaningful and impactful ways.

During the visit, students helped sort donated items and learned how the organisation supports the community. They asked great questions and showed kindness, curiosity, and a strong sense of teamwork.

This experience helped students understand the importance of giving back and working together to help others. We’re very proud of how they represented our school and thankful to Loved and Shared for welcoming us and sharing their important work.

Foodbank & Support Options

At St. John’s, we are proud of our strong tradition of caring for one another. One way we do this is through our Food Bank initiative, where families volunteer to provide meals for others in our school community during times of need—whether it’s  supporting someone through illness or offering comfort during a time of loss.

We’re currently inviting families who are willing to donate a meal—either homemade or store-bought to support this important initiative. These meals make a real difference to those receiving them. If you are able to make a donation please contact our Pastoral care Leader Jasmine - jkoch@sjdennington.catholic.edu.au

If you and your family are experiencing hardship or a difficult time, along with supplying you a meal, there are also other support services available that Jasmine can assist you with. Please do not hesitate to reach out to her. 

We are also aware of two organisations where support can be provided also; 

• 'Fitted for Work' is a place in Melbourne that helps people get brand new clothes if they are trying to get a job or struggling. 
• Ask Izzy https://askizzy.org.au/ is a website that then links users to many groups that provide support in various manners, including housing and food.

Photographs/Videos- Friendly reminder

As we come together to celebrate and support our children at various school events, we kindly remind all parents and carers of the importance of respecting the privacy of all students in our community.

Please do not take photos or videos of other children and staff during school activities or events without the explicit permission of their parents or guardians or the staff member. Additionally, we ask that you do not share images or videos containing other students on social media or public platforms without consent.

This is in line with our school’s Parent code of conduct and child safeguarding policies and our commitment to providing a safe and respectful environment for all.

St. John's Dance Concert

We’re thrilled to announce this year’s school dance performance, and it’s going to be truly magical! The students and maybe some surprise performers are getting ready to light up the stage!

This is a whole-school event where everyone gets involved, and families are warmly invited to come enjoy the show.

More details will be shared soon, including costume information and location- but for now, mark your calendars and get ready for a night of wonder and fun with our school community!

St. John's Helpdesk

Wellbeing

Happiness & Gratitude

Happiness is a term that captures a huge variety of positive emotions such as humour, serenity, optimism, joy, pride, inspiration, love and hope. Happiness means different things, to different people and is essential to your understanding of emotional literacy. Throughout history, philosophers, religious writers and poets have pondered on the meaning of happiness and how it might be achieved. In the last few decades, scientists and psychologists have researched this further by studying a field of science called positive psychology.

The result of this research suggests there is a strong correlation between gratitude and greater happiness. Practising gratitude helps you shift your focus to positive memories or experiences, noticing the good in your life. Over time, this will re-wire your brain to create new neural pathways, increase your state of happiness and overall wellbeing.

In this edition of SchoolTV, parents and care-givers will learn how to achieve happiness and the benefits of practising gratitude.

The Action for Happiness Calendar below is 'Joyful June', beginning on 1st June. It suggests small actions to boost levels of positive emotion. The experience of positive emotion enhances wellbeing, it makes us more creative, resilient and open minded.

Student Awards- Term 2, Week 6, 26th May 2025

Miss Buwalda - Grace R for an excellent effort when sounding out and blending unknown words during reading! Great job, Gracie! 

Miss Dwyer - Koda S for working hard during small group reading sessions and making some wonderful progress when decoding and blending words. Keep up your amazing effort, Koda!

Mrs Archbold- Azalea W for the focus she has demonstrated towards her learning this week. Keep it up! 

Miss Kissick - Sommer D for working hard in practising her handwriting. Keep up the great effort Sommer!

Miss Lucas - Laney O for always looking for a challenge in her learning and always showing the 5Ls.

Mr Hynes - Polly Mc for excellent effort completing her narrative writing piece. Fantastic effort!

Miss Ryan - Evie S for trying her best and developing a range of addition and subtraction strategies during maths.

Mr Harrington - Ava S for doing such an amazing job with her compound sentences during writing last week.

Miss Kelly - Lysander L for giving everything a go during Literacy last week, keep it up!

Miss Moloney - Bradly S for being willing to share his ideas in class and contribute to class discussion.

Mrs Mugavin -  Evelyn Z for always being a super kind, caring and considerate member of the Grade 4 team. You’re a real leader, well done.

Miss P -  5/6 Camp - No Award

 Mr McInerney - 5/6 Camp - No Award

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to the following students who celebrate their birthday this week: Xavier K, Thomas N, Harley J, Frankie G and Joey R.

Best wishes, we hope you have a terrific fun filled day!

Around our School- Week 5

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Parents and Friend's Social Group

Join us this Wednesday at 7.00pm for our Parents and Friends meeting in the Gathering Space. All welcome.

Disco

Save the date- Friday 13th June!!!

We are looking for volunteers to help on the night. If you would like to volunteer please fill out the google form.

All volunteered time will count towards your participation points. Please note you will need a valid working with children to help on the night.

More information about the Disco will be sent out this week. Keep your eyes peeled!

Dennington Day Out

Join us for dinner at the Cally for our next Dennington Day Out meeting on Tuesday 17th June at 6.30pm.

Do you have a child that might be interested in holding a mini entrepreneurs stall at this years DDO? Make sure your following the Dennington Day Out Facebook page for the expressions of interest google form that will be posted in the coming weeks. 

Dennington Day Out Sponsorship Proposal for 2025 is now available if you or someone you know is interested in sponsoring this years event please contact ddo@sjdennington.catholic.edu.au

Wednesday Treats

This weeks treat is “Hot dogs”  - Orders close tomorrow morning, Tuesday 27th May at 8.30am.

Roster: Tuesday 27th - Melissa C, Laura M & Kiri M

Wednesday 28th - Theresa G, Hayley M & Sarah M

Next weeks treat (Wednesday 4th June) is Hot Chips $2.50 each, Gluten Free is also available for $2.50 each. 

$2.00 each - Apple Juice, Orange Juice, Chocolate Milk & Strawberry Milk.

Orders for next week will be open on CDF Pay this Wednesday 21st and will close Tuesday 27th at 8:30am

Please remember:  This year there will be no paper order forms going home; orders are required to be placed online via the CDFpay app. Each Wednesday the order for the following week will be uploaded to the app.

Orders will close at 8:30am each Tuesday so please make sure you get your orders in on time as we can not accept late orders or cash this year.

Should you have any questions please feel free to contact Taliah Gleeson, Emily McGennan or the front office.

Cake Raffle

Each week at Assembly we draw a cake raffle for students. The money raised goes to various charities like Royal Childrens Hospital in Melbourne.

School families have been assigned a week to bring in a cake. There is no obligation or pressure for you to do so, it is only if you wish to. If you have been assigned a week that is unsuitable and you would like to bring a cake in another week, please contact the office and an alternate date will be arranged.

If you choose to, please drop your store purchased cake into the office with your family name written on top. 

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 on for Monday 2nd June:

Harden, Harrington, Harris, Hazeldine and Hiensch.

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, Carry on travel, King Cole Fruit Supply, Total Landscapes and Design and Hiensch Haulage 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/ 

Community Notices

Upcoming Events

Monday 26h May - Wednesday 28th May: Grade 5/6 Camp 

Tuesday 27th May: Sacrament of Confirmation

Wednesday 28th May: Parents and Friends meeting at 7.00pm Gathering Space

Friday 6th June: Merri Hopkens Winter Sports at the Dennington Oval for Grade 5/6 (More details soon)

Monday 9th June: Kings Birthday Public Holiday

Tuesday 17th June: DDO Meeting at The Cally Hotel at 6.30pm

Monday 4th August: School Closure Day