March 18th, 2024: Newsletter #7

Acknowledgement of Country

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

150th Anniversary Celebrations

Week 8 Prayer

What is Holy Week?

Holy Week is the week before Easter Sunday, beginning seven days before with Palm Sunday. It ends with Holy Saturday. Easter is not part of Holy Week, but rather the beginning of the Easter season of the Liturgical year.

Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday. On this day, we celebrate the triumphant entry of Our Lord, Jesus Christ, into Jerusalem, riding a donkey. On that day, the people laid palms before Him, a gesture reserved for triumphant leaders, we celebrate this at Palm Sunday Mass by distributing palms to those in attendance. The palms are blessed at Mass and people craft them into crosses. Eventually, these palms are returned to the Church where they are burned. Traditionally, their ashes are saved and distributed at next year's Ash Wednesday services.

Later, when Jesus entered the Temple, he angrily drove out the money changers who had turned the Temple court into a place of business instead of devotion. Once the court was cleared, Jesus began teaching the masses. Meanwhile, His enemies drew plans to kill Him.

The next major event in Holy Week is Holy Thursday. On this day, Jesus celebrated the Passover feast with the disciples. We know this feast as the Last Supper. This is the night He was betrayed by Judas and arrested.

The Last Supper is celebrated at every Mass, and especially on Holy Thursday. After supper, Jesus went to the Mount of Olives and prayed. Jesus was arrested on the night of Holy Thursday.

The next day is Good Friday, and on this day, we commemorate the trial, punishment, and crucifixion of Our Lord. On that morning, Jesus was brought before Annas, a powerful Jewish cleric who condemned Jesus for blasphemy. From there, Jesus was presented to Pilate for trial. Although Pilate found no guilt in Jesus, he agreed to have him crucified to appease the crowd of people and prevent a riot.

Christ was stripped, flogged, and crowned with thorns. He was then forced to carry His Cross to the place of His execution. There, He was nailed to the Cross between two thieves who were likewise crucified. Late that afternoon, seeking to ensure Christ's death, a Roman guard stabbed him in his side with a spear. When Jesus died, an earthquake is said to have occurred as well as a great darkness which covered the land. Suddenly, many people knew Jesus was the Son of God.

Jesus was taken and laid quickly in a borrowed tomb, in accord with Jewish law, which required the dead be buried by sundown before the Sabbath.

On Holy Saturday, there is no Mass. Parishes may hold services, but there is no distribution of Communion. On Holy Saturday, we remember that Jesus was descended into hell where He preached the Gospel to those who died before and opened the way to heaven for all those who were worthy.

This concludes Holy Week. The following day is Easter Sunday, the day on which it was discovered the Tomb was empty, and our Lord was resurrected, triumphing over death once and for all time.

From the Principal

Welcome to the 8th week of term.

Easter Liturgy: Our annual Easter Liturgy will take place next Thursday, March 28th starting at 12.30pm and will focus on the events of the Last Supper which took place on Holy Thursday. Community members are welcome to attend. 

End of Term Arrangements: Term 1 will conclude for all students at 2.20pm on Thursday March 28th. 

Network Japan Trip: The Warrnambool & District Network of Catholic Schools met last week and unfortunately have decided to cancel the 2024 Japan Trip for students. Principals have met to make a final decision about the trip, and have concluded that it is not viable, given the low uptake of students wishing to attend. This is very disappointing for those students and families  who had made the commitment and would no doubt have been excited for the trip. It is anticipated that we will try again in 2025, and hopefully see a large contingent interested in this terrific trip. We appreciate the interest that students and families have shown in the Japan Trip. 

We look forward to the week ahead, Ben.

Sacrament of Reconciliation

We ask that our school community prays for our students who are receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation tonight at St. Pius X Church.

The students participating are: Jasper F and Max H. 

Camps Sports and Excursion Fund (CSEF)/School Fees

There has been a government increase for families that  qualified for the CSEF 2024. 

Previously a valid concession entitled applicants to a payment of $125.00 per student.  This amount has increased to $150.00 per student.

If you have already handed in your 2024 application the increase will automatically apply. if you are yet to do so, please complete the CSEF form and send a copy of your concession card in by 25th April.

School fee statements have been emailed out to families today. If you did not receive your statement please contact the office. Please note discounts have not been applied yet, they will be applied once the CSEF payments have been received by the school.

School Photos

Our annual school photos are now ready to order. Our photographers- Arthur Reed Photos uses an online ordering system where you can view your photos prior to ordering. 

On photo day all students received a flyer which includes a code unique to them. You will require this 2024 code to register online and view your photos.

If you have already registered, you will receive an email or SMS from Arthur Reed Photos with a link to view your photos. If you have not yet registered, please go to order.arphotos.com.au and enter your code to complete your order.

Please note that you will need to register online with your 2024 photo code to gain access to this year’s images.

All photo packages will be sent directly to your nominated address, so please ensure that you enter the correct details and nominated shipping address upon checkout.

If you have misplaced your registration code or if you require any assistance ordering your photos, please contact Arthur Reed Photos directly on 5243 4390 (option 1) or email customerservice@arphotos.com.au

NAPLAN

The NAPLAN testing window has begun and operates from Wednesday 13th March to Monday 25th March. Over this time our Year 3 and Year 5 students have completed Writing & Reading assessments and this week will complete  Language Conventions (Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation) and Numeracy tests.  The information gained from these tests is used by our school to help us identify priorities for our school improvement plan. We also use it along with our school based assessments to help identify next areas of learning for children and cohorts.

Project Compassion- Time to return boxes

As we've written about previously, Caritas is one of the Catholic Church's charities and throught the Season Of Lent, it operates Project Compassion which is its main fundraiser for the year.

We are now asking all families who are able to, to return your project compasion boxes to school where they will be collected and any funds raised will be provided to Caritas. Boxes can be returned to the classroom of the eldest child in the family and I ask that you write your family name on it as well. These boxes will form part of our easter liturgy next week. 

Learning Walks

This year at St. John's there have been several changes to how Maths and Literacy are taught. We would love to invite you to attend a learning walk to see these changes in action and witness the students engaged in their learning.

This morning we held the Maths learning Walk, thank you to the parents who came along to this very informative session.

Learning Walk - Literacy: Thursday 21st March at 9.00am. Our Literacy Learning Walk will take you through our Grade Foundation-2 classrooms and chat about why we have made some changes in our Literacy teaching. 

For any questions or to let us know you'll be coming along, please email Ben - principal@sjdennington.catholic.edu.au   

Earth Hour

Next Wednesday, 20th March, we will be acknowledging Earth Hour by cleaning up  rubbish in our school area (F-2), the Dennington Rec Reserve (Gr 3/4) and the Gr 5/6 children will be cleaning up Payne Reserve at 2.00pm for 15 minutes. This initiative is part of our FIRE Carrier Program - Sustainability and part of the Catholic Social Teachings "Care for our common home and Stewardship"

ECO STEWARDSHIP

What does it mean to be a Steward of the Earth? Stewardship is a theological belief that humans are responsible for the world, and should take care of it. Eco Stewardship explores the interaction between ecological values, such as sustainability, while dealing with man's relationship to land, animals and the plants which grow upon it.

Why we are Incorporating Eco Stewardship (stewards of creation) to the (FIRE) carrier project.  Friends Igniting Reconciliation through Education.

Ecological and Custodian Stewardship - The Spirituality of Aboriginal people remains constant through the connection between the land and nature, and Aboriginal identity and the Dreaming. It is argued that ecological renewal and sustainability depends upon spiritual awareness and an attitude of responsibility. This must include the recognition of creation as sacred and behaviours that honour that sacredness.  The message of Eco Stewardship aligns with the Aboriginal ‘way of knowing’ the world in relationship to the land. The earth is the central spiritual context, an attitude and ‘way of being’ in the world, rooted in land and embedded in place. Recognizing cultural perspectives and demonstrating awareness through looking after and caring for country sends a strong message.  

National Ride2School Day- This Friday

Ride2School Day is a special day held in Australia each year to promote and develop physical activity in children. The idea of the day is that children ride, walk, scoot or skate, all or part of the way to school. 

We will have staff at the Dennington Store in Drummond Street this Friday 22nd March at 8.10am for a 8.20am departure to school if your child would like to meet there. We would love to see a big group take part!

Wellbeing

Puzzles - If you have any puzzles in good condition that you no longer use we would happily take them off your hands! These will be used at our Wellbeing Day.  Please drop into the office. Thank you!

At St John's we are now able to offer parents and caregivers a free wellbeing tool called School TV.  

Because parenting doesn’t come with instructions, SchoolTV is a wellbeing resource that can support you in the challenges relating to modern-day parenting.

This award-winning resource helps build relationships, foster connections, enable understanding and break down barriers to navigate a pathway towards better mental health and wellbeing for young people. It can assist in starting conversations on topics that are sometimes awkward or difficult to tackle.

We encourage you to have a look at this great resource that has a wealth of information delivered in different formats such as short videos, articles, and links to podcasts.   As always please reach out to us if you have any questions or concerns about your child's wellbeing.

An example of some of the topics available are listed below.

School TV Link

Around our School- Week 7

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Student Awards

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to Finnley C and Mitchell P who celebrate their birthday this week, we hope you have a terrific day!

Parents & Friends Social Group

Our AGM is being held tomorrow, Tuesday 19th March with all positions needing to be filled. The AGM will take place at 9.00am. Our first general meeting will then take place that night at 7.00pm in the Library.

This group organises all fundraising and social events for the school community and is made up of a variety of parents. This variety helps us to provide feedback to the Principal regarding a range of topics from school uniforms to play equipment. 

It is always great to see new faces and I would encourage all families to try and get along to a meeting throughout the year. The group meets monthly and it is a great opportunity to have a say on things happening in your child's school.

At the AGM we’ll be hoping to fill the following roles;

President (Currently held by Malynda De Bono) Vice President (Currently held by Amber Serra & Ali Fechete)  Secretary (Currently held by Jen Milne) Treasurer 

Nominations for these positions will be taken at the AGM. Should you have any queries regarding these positions then please feel free to speak with the incumbent person or if you would like a role description then please speak with Ben van de Camp.

Dennington Dash

Thank you to everybody who volunteered their time at the Dennington Dash last Friday night.  The event was a great success! Thank you to Danielle and Kate for all of their planning to ensure the night ran smoothly.

Head to the Denningotn Dash Facebook page and check out more photos of the night!

Dennington's Day Out

This year's Dennington's Day Out will be held on Sunday 10th November. Our DDO committee has now finalised  the new look 2024 Corporate Sponsorship Proposal. We are now inviting any existing or new school family businesses to consider sponsoring our major school fundraiser for the year. For further information or to discuss the corporate sponsorship packages below please contact ddo@sjdennington.catholic.edu.au

We thank you in advance for your consideration & support.

Emily McGennan & Rebecca Bagg

Easter Raffle

Raffle tickets have been sent home with each family today. Tickets are $2 each. Tickets are due back Monday 25th March. The raffle will be drawn on Thursday 28th March (last day of Term 1)

We kindly ask that each family donates an Easter related item for the prizes. These can be taken directly to the office. 

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 each Monday 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 next week- Monday 25th March:

Chapman (Brax), Chapman (Maleah), Chisnall, Clark (Raph), Clark (Finnley).

Please drop your (store purchased) cake into the front 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 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/ 

Community Notices

Upcoming Events

Monday 18th March: Sacrament of Reconciliation, St Pius X Church at 6.00pm.

Tuesday 19th March: P&F Social Group AGM at 9.00am and first meeting at 7.00pm in the Library.

Thursday 21st March: Literacy Learning walk at 9.00am.

Monday 25th March: District Athletics at BrauerAnder Park.

Tuesday 26th March: Student wellbeing day (dress in casual clothes).

Wednesday 27th March: DDO Dinner Meeting at the Cally Hotel.

Thursday 28th March: Easter Liturgy at 12.30pm.

Thursday 28th March: Last day of Term 1, finishing time 2.20pm.