Information Newsletter January 25th 2024: Newsletter #1
Welcome Back!
We look forward to seeing our students on Tuesday 30th January at 8.55am!! We hope families had a lovely relaxing break and are ready to tackle Term 1 and the busyness it brings!
To welcome our families, new and existing, the P & F have organised morning tea and the coffee van Tuesday morning in front of the Stadium, after school drop off. We would love to see you there.
Parents/Guardians of Foundation students and new students to the school are then invited to lunch at Rafferty's on Tuesday at 12.00pm. If you are able to attend please RSVP via the post in the Facebook Community page or email parents@sjdennington.catholic.edu.au Younger siblings are welcome to come along.
Beginning of 2024 arrangements and reminders
Foundation students do not attend school on Wednesday 31st January and all Wednesdays in February.
All students must wear a hat when they are outside as per our sunsmart policy. School hats along with our uniform provision are available to purchase from Lowes at Gateway Plaza.
Assembly's have moved to Monday's at 2.30pm in the Stadium. Our first assembly will be held on Monday 5th February.
On Wednesday 7th February we will hold our Opening School Mass at St. Pius Church at 10.00am. All students will attend and families are invited to come along. Foundation students do not attend school on this day but are very welcome to join in.
As in previous years, Grades 3 - 6 will continue to have specialist classes on Thursday whilst Foundation - Gr 2 have their specialist classes on Friday's. Students are to wear their sports uniform on their specialist day.
Lunch orders are available to purchase from the Dennington Store on Tuesdays and Fridays. Students can drop their orders into the office the day before or directly to the store. Orders must be written on a brown paper bag with your child's name and order clearly written on the front with the money inside. Lunch orders will commence on Tuesday 6th February. An updated price list will be available in the next newsletter.
Our much loved Breakfast Club will continue this year and will run weekly on a Tuesday morning from 8.15am - 8.45am in the Library. Breakfast Club is a great opportunity for students to catch over whilst enjoying some delicious toast or cereal. Breakfast Club will commence on Tuesday 20th February.
Each week on a Monday, families are rostered on to bring in a cake which will then be raffled and drawn out at Assembly. Students of families rostered on will be called to the front to draw the raffle ticket. Cakes are to be dropped into the office with your child's name written on the top. Cake raffle will commence at our first assembly on Monday 5th February. Families rostered on that day are Serra, DeBono, Fechete and Van Der Heyden. A complete roster will be available in our next newsletter.
A reminder to our existing families and to let our new familes know, we have two loops for pick up and drop off. Students with surnames ending in A-J are to use the Russell Street Loop and students with surnames ending in K-Z are to use the Coghlans Road Loop. The loops are designed for a quick drop off and pick up, if your child requires assistance getting in and out of the car, please park in the car park.
School Communication Channels
Newsletter: Our newsletter is published weekly on Mondays and is distributed directly to all families via schoolzine and email. The newsletter carries the bulk of our news and information about what is happening at St. John’s. It is the main way parents/guardians can be informed about coming events, student and teacher achievements. It is important for all families to read the newsletter each week. Our next newsletter will be published on Monday 5th February.
Schoolzine App: This App is the simplest way to receive short messages, reminders, or emergency information direct to your mobile phone. The Schoolzine App can be downloaded free from either Apple App Store or Google Play and then once installed, search for ‘St. John’s’ Primary School Dennington’.
Facebook: Facebook allows us to share many of the wonderful stories about what’s happening at our school including individual and team achievements.
As a parent/guardian, we encourage you to also join our closed Facebook community - St John's Dennington School Community. This page is for reminders and notices. If you have a direct question that requires an answer from staff please email your child's teacher or call the office on 5562 5362 rather than posting in this group.
Email: Parents are welcome to email staff with questions or to request a time to meet. Please note that staff will only respond in school hours. Staff emails consist of first inital and surname@sjdennington.catholic.edu.au eg Jan Madden - jmadden@sjdennington.catholic.edu.au
Our communication guidelines are available to view under the Useful Information Tab in the schoolzine app. A summary is also pinned in our closed Facebook community page.
PAM Requests/Medical Profile
A reminder to log into PAM and sign off on your CONNECT requests. These requests reset on January 22nd and do so every 12 months. Please take the time to read them thoroughly as when you sign off on them, you are agreeing to the terms and conditions of each request.
It is also a good opportunity for you to review your child's medical profile and update if neccessary. We can't reiterate enough how important it is for us to have this correct information at hand.
If your child has Asthma, we require an Asthma Action plan every 12 months signed by a doctor. We also require a spacer and ventolin to be stored in our sick bay.
Classroom Information Sessions
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/
Parents & Friends Social Group
Upcoming Events
Tuesday 30th January: F-6 Classes Commence @ 8.55am and welcome morning tea for all families. Lunch at Rafferty's for Foundation families and new families at 12.00pm.
Tuesday 6th February: Classroom Information Sessions- see flyer for times.
Wednesday 7th February: Opening School Mass at St Pius at 10.00am.
Thursday 8th February: Family Picnic Night.
Tuesday 13th February: Shrove Tuesday.
Tuesday 20th February: Wine Cheese and Chat night.
Friday 15th March: Dennington Dash.
Tuesday 19th March: P & F AGM and first meeting.