December 2nd 2024: Newsletter #38

Acknowledgement of Country

St. John’s school community respect and honour Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders past and present. 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 9 Prayer

From the Principals

Welcome everyone to Week 9. Congratulations to Jyda and Jaylah on the arrival of their brother. Such an exciting time to welcome this bundle of joy. 

This week our Year 5 and 6 children head off to Melbourne to camp. They are travelling by train and have 3 action packed days ahead. Thank you again goes to all the staff for their time and energy in planning and attending this camp.

This Friday evening the Foundation to Year 4 children are invited to sing at Carols by the Merri. The St. John's children will be performing at 6.30pm. We hope to see many families there.

Next Tuesday is our Orientation Day. Please ensure you read further down the newsletter the "End of year arrangements" section so that you are clear about the procedure.

We would like to announce that our S.T.E.M teacher for 2025 is Samantha Lane.

We hope you all have a peaceful and happy week.

Jan and Amy

School Fees

With less than three weeks remaining of the 2024 school year we take this opportunity to remind families of the importance of finalising their School Fee commitments. Please feel free to contact the office should you wish to regarding outstanding amounts.

2025 School Fee Structure

At our recent School Advisory Council meeting we settled on the following fee structure for 2025. 

• Student Levy  $150
• Family fee  $1090
• Building Levy  $240
• Gr 5/6 Camp $350
• Gr 3/4 Camp  $200
• Gr F-4 Swimming $100
• Gr 5/6 Surf Awareness  $100
• Participation Levy  $200

Our fees only make up the difference between the Government (Federal and State) funding we receive and the amount the Government determines as the cost of educating a Primary student. Fees do not mean that we have extra money in our budget to expend on additional resources.

The Family Fee Assistance scheme will be available again in 2025. Families who qualify for the scheme will pay $520 per annum for primary school tuition fees. The discounted fee covers tuition and capital fees only. It does not cover additional charges such as camps, student fees, and excursions.

End of Year arrangements

As we near the end of Term 4 there are a few whole school notices to be aware of.

Orientation Day - Tuesday 10th Decmeber. On this day students will spend the day in their 2025 homerooms. You will recieve notice via email of your child's new homeroom and teacher the day prior.

Lunch orders - will finish up on Friday 13th December for the year. We look forward to working with Morriss Road Takeaway again in 2025.

Academic reports - Will be released on Friday 13th December via PAM.

Assembly - There will be no assembly on Monday 16th December, due to our final assembly being held on Wednesday. Families that are on cake raffle for 16th December are invited to bring a cake on Monday 9th December, see P & F section.

End of Year Mass/Final Assembly - Wednesday 18th December. Families are invited to our end of year Mass at St. Pius X Church at 10.00am (All students will attend and will travel by bus) and our final assembly which will be held at 2.00pm in the Stadium. 

Last day of school - Wednesday 18th December at the usual finishing time of 3.20pm.

Parent/Guardian Facebook page - Once school has finished for the year, we will be going through the removal process of families in the group that have concluded their time with us. This is not personal (we will miss you all!!) we just need to make sure we have the right audience for our messages. Also, just a reminder this group is for parents and guardians only.

CONNECT requests - Each year, families are required to sign off documention in CONNECT which is in PAM. These documents- Acceptable Use and Cyber Safety agreement, Local Excursion permission, Media permission, Parent Participation Levy and Parent/Guardian Code of Conduct will be reset at the end of this year and you will be required to go in to PAM from Friday 3rd January to accept them for the 2025 school year. The new DOBCEL enrolment agreement will also be added to the suite of documents. These requests need to be completed by the commencement of Term 1, Wednesday 29th January.

Opening the Doors Foundation

The 2025 Student Grant Round opened on 8th November 2024 and closes on 14th March 2025. Please click the link below to read the eligibilty criteria.

Breakfast Club- Last day tomorrow

Tomorrow is our last Breakfast club for the year. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Jasmine and her team of helpers for all of the hard work and organisation that it takes running this program that has allowed children to catch up over a healthy meal to start the day.  

Special thanks also goes to our generous sponsors Fonterra and Foodshare.  We look forward to Breakfast club continuing in 2025!

Carols by the Merri

The annual Carols by the Merri is being held this Friday 6th December at the G. G. Payne reserve on the Esplanade in Dennington overlooking the Merri.  It is a great occasion supported by our school and a wonderful opportunity for us to gather with our community.

Students in Grades F-4 have been rehearsing carols and are invited to sing them on stage with their year levels- please wear something Christmassy!  We will have staff members waiting by the stage on the night to assist. We will be performing at 6.30pm. If children could be there by 6.20pm ready to go on stage. We ask that toddlers stay with their families while the children perform.

Hands on Learning

Last week all Gr 4 and 5 families received an email about Hands on Learning 2025. 

Don't forget the applications for Semester One 2025 Hands on Learning groups close THIS Thursday 5th December. Please click on this link to apply.

Applicants will be notified of the outcome on Wednesday 11th December. Thank you.

Wellbeing

School Camp

School camps are an important step in helping your child build independence, but for some kids and their parents, this potentially positive experience can be riddled with anxiety. Thankfully strategies can resolve some of the most common concerns around sleeping away from home or without the comfort of family.

Normalise that some anxiety is okay. It is always important to acknowledge that all feelings we experience are normal and part of our body looking after us. Holding onto anxious feelings is not helpful in the long term.  Help your child to recognise when they don’t feel good and to challenge an unhelpful feeling with a helpful thought saying to themselves, for instance, “I’m feeling nervous, but I know I’ll have a great time with my friends on camp”.

Are you yourself as a parent anxious? (You are not alone if you are!) In preparation, it is important to check how you are feeling. What are you worried about as a parent? How are you addressing these concerns? In these times, if you are worried this can heighten anxiety in your child, who could interpret camp as something to be concerned about. It is important to manage your own anxiety first!

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.

Theircare also run a number of holiday programs which they are now taking bookings for. Please note these programs are not run here on site at St John's. 

Happy Birthday

Special wishes to Savanna M, Sophie P and Scarlett R who celebrate their birthday this week! We hope you have a fantastic day celebrating!

Student Awards

Student News

Archie headed to Melbourne on the weekend to see Kid Laroi! He had the best time grooving away at the concert. How fun! Lucky you Archie.

Around our School- Week 8

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Parents & Friend's Social Group

Our final meeting for the year will be Thursday 12th December at the Cally Hotel from 6:30pm, all welcome. Please RSVP by 10th December to Emily McGennan.

Carols by the Merri

The annual Carols by the Merri will be held THIS Friday 6th December. Our last fundraiser for the year. We are looking for families to donate slices for the night to be sold at our food stall. This is also the last opportunity for anyone needing to tick some participation points off for the year. Please see flyer below for details.

We are 2 volunteers short for the night, If you are able to help we are looking for helpers for 6.00-7.00pm and 7.00-8.00pm. Please contact Alyce Atkins. 

Thank you to those families that are helping on the night and that have offered to make slices. If they could be dropped to school on Friday by 9.00am that would be great. 

Family BBQ

The P & F committee are supplying a BBQ for all of our school families on Tuesday 10th December from 5.30pm to say thank you for supporting all of the fundraisers throughout the year. New families for 2025 are also welcome. Please RSVP your order by Tuesday 3rd December.  Please note the online form on the parent Facebook page has gluten free options listed, if you are returning the hardcopy form and require gluten free please write this on the form.

Christmas Raffle

This year we are holding the annual Christmas raffle and doing it a little differently!

We are looking for families to donate a Christmas item towards the raffle and instead of families selling raffle tickets this year we will be putting each student into the draw for their chance to win. 

Donations can be dropped to the office from now until 17th December. 

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. 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 next Wednesday 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 9th December.

Watson, Welman, White and Wilson.

Wines, Yang, Young and Zhang.

There will be no assembly on Monday 16th December and no cake raffle at the final assembly on Wednesday 18th December.

Please drop your store purchased cake into the office with your child's name written on top.

School Sponsorship

A big thank you to O'Brien's Electrical, Joinery by Jarrod, Fry Painting and Carry on Travel who sponsor our school!

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.

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

Wednesday 4th - Friday 6th December: Grade 5/6 Camp

Friday 6th December: Carols by the Merri- students arrive by 6.20pm.

Tuesday 10th December: Orientation Day

Tuesday 10th December: Family BBQ at school from 5.00pm

Thursday 12th December: Parents & Friends Social Group Meeting at 6.30pm at The Cally

Friday 13th December: Academic Reports released.

Wednesday 18th December: Last day of Term 4 - school concludes at 3.20pm

Wednesday 29th January: Start of Term 1 2025 for all students (no country buses running on this day)

Thursday 30th January: Country buses resume