nt

November 28, 2016 No. 34 COMING UP AT ST JOHN’S NOVEMBER

29 30

DECEMBER

1

Tuesday Parent Association AGM, 7.00pm Wednesday Debating Incursion, Session 1 - Year 5/6 Thursday

Special Food Day 2017 Prep Commitment Liturgy, 7.30pm Friday Visit to Local Library - Prep to Year 3, 1.00pm Sunday 2017 Prep Welcome Mass, 9.45am Monday School Assembly, 8.50am Tuesday Combined Parent Association & Education Board EOY Celebration, 7.00pm Wednesday Debating Incursion, Session 2 - Year 5/6 Carols on the Green, 6.00pm Tuesday 2017 Class Orientation Morning School Picnic at Halliday Park; Prep –6 Thursday Last Day of School 2016 (Free Dress) Thanksgiving Mass, 7.00pm

2 4 5 6 7 13 15

Click here to access St John’s Parish Newsletter

Dear Parents, Advent is the first season of the Church year where we prepare ourselves to celebrate the wonderful feast of Christmas. Come, Lord, and fill our hearts with Advent hope so that we may learn to cope with the delays and disappointments, we encounter with patience and wisdom. May a spirit of gratitude and humility guide us on our journey to your dwelling place, enabling us to endure, with joy, the costs of waiting for love, reconciliation and peace. We are so fortunate here at St John’s to have such wonderful parents who give of their time to support the school and our students in so many ways. Many of you supported at the fete last weekend and then again at the Bunnings Sausage sizzle on Saturday and the portrait fundraising on Sunday. Thank you! The sausage sizzle was a great success thanks to the Steve Gilbert and Kirsten Connelley for leading the team. Thanks also to Emma Kroezen for coordinating Vision Portraits. The PA have their AGM tomorrow night commencing at 7pm in the staffroom and I encourage you to attend if you can.

UNIFORM SHOP Open first Monday of each month 8.30 -9.00am Multi Purpose Room CO-ORDINATORS Kathleen Spicer

ST JOHN’S KID’S CLUB

PARISH CONTACTS:

“Before & After School Care”

PH: 9873 1341

PH: 0410 103 272

PARISH PRIEST Father Mark Reynolds

CO-ORDINATOR Krys Omanski

PH: 9873 1341

LUNCH ORDERS

PARISH SECRETARIES Mrs. Elisa Kelesidis Mrs. Martine Giles

SCHOOL OFFICE HOURS

Every Tuesday Lunchtime To order register online:

PASTORAL ASSOCIATES Mrs. Maree O’Keefe

PLAYGROUP

Monday -Friday, 8.30am –4.00pm

HOURS: 7.00 -8.30 am 3.20 –6.15 pm

www.flexischools.com.au

490 Whitehorse Road, Mitcham VIC 3132 Phone: 03 9874 1575 Fax: 03 9873 2099 Email: [email protected] Web: www.sjmitcham.catholic.edu.au

nt

I would like to take this opportunity to invite any parent who has supported the school this year either on the school board, parents’ association, uniform shop, book club or marathon club to drinks and nibbles on Tuesday 6 December at 7pm in the staffroom. This is an important way for me as principal to say thank you. We will also be hosting an afternoon tea for any parents who have helped in classrooms or on excursions/ incursions this year on Friday 9 December at 2:30pm in the staffroom. Please mark these dates in your diary. Staffing for 2017 The classroom teachers for 2017 are as follows: Prep - Naomi Curtis 1/2 - Bianca Martino 1/2 - Vicky Pejic 3/4 - Kellie Cumming 3/4 - Emma Buis 3/4 - Rebecca Fry 5/6 - Tom Jackson 5/6 - Monica O'Shannassy Some classroom teachers have additional leadership roles and at times need to be out of the classroom to fulfil these roles. We are still in the process of confirming these arrangements. End of Year Thanksgiving Mass Thursday 15 December will be the last day for students. At 7pm we have our Thanksgiving mass to acknowledge a wonderful year together. At the mass we also say farewell to our leaving families and staff. We have no school staff leaving at the end of this year. We will also take the opportunity at this mass to bless Fr Mark before he leaves. Our year 6 families are then invited to the Coghlan centre for a graduation celebration and supper. Special Assembly We will be having a special assembly on Wednesday 14 December at 10:30am to say farewell and thank you to Fr. Mark. It would be great if our school parents could attend also. Carols Night We look forward to seeing you all at our Christmas Carols night on Wednesday 7 December commencing at 6pm on the basketball court area. Board summary report The sixth Parish Education Board (PEB) meeting for 2016 was held on Tuesday, 25 October 2016. The following item was on the agenda: MASTER PLANNING Etch Architects are gathering information from the school community in relation to the school’s learning environment (internal and external spaces). Etch Architects have met with the students, teachers and board so that they can put a proposal forward for the Masterplan. The proposal is to be presented to the Catholic Education Commission of Victoria in March 2017. The board was grateful to have the opportunity to put forward suggestions for the Masterplan and fully supports this. Mr Andrew Puls Chairperson, SJM Parish Education Board Extra-curricular activities Last week our amazing school choir and Scottish dancers performed at the Box Hill town hall for Oxfam. They shone on stage representing our school with such pride. A big thank you to Penelope Lang and Mary Crossan for their leadership in this area. Please take the time to read all about the Badminton Program. The Prep to year 3 students will be attending the City of Whitehorse, Summer Reading Launch at 1.00pm on Friday. Thank you to our families who supported the Parish Family Mass and Year 5 level masses over the weekend. We are so fortunate here at St John’s to have such a vibrant parish. We look forward to seeing our new Prep parents on Thursday night at the Prep Commitment Liturgy. Have a great week Jacqui Marshall Principal

nt

Our Gospel Challenge this week is to: Live our lives respectfully and lookout for the needs of others (5/6RF) Yesterday was the first Sunday of Advent. Advent is a four week season of preparation for the coming of Christ at Christmas. The word “Advent” means coming. Advent takes up this theme in looking forward to the coming of Christ at Christmas. The first Sunday of Advent marks the beginning of the Church’s liturgical year. This is Year A of the Liturgical calendar during which the Lectionary readings come from predominantly from the Gospel of Matthew. All year levels have been exploring our faith stories as a part of their history unit of learning. This year we will continue to explore our faith stories throughout Advent We will use the Jesse Tree to do this. Jesse is the name of the man who was the father of King David. Long after Jesse’s death, the prophets foretold that one day a shoot would “sprout from the stump of Jesse,” and “from his roots a bud would blossom.” This shoot, this blossom, would be the Messiah, who would save his people from their sins. He would be a descendent of Jesse and the great King David, and on him would rest the Spirit of God. For a thousand years the people of Israel waited and hoped. Each day the students will learn about some of these people, about men and women who loved god so much that through them God was able to prepare the world for the Messiah. For each person, a symbol will be placed on the Jesse Tree in the office area. When the tree is filled with symbols, we know the time has come.

Maranatha Come Lord Jesus Be born in our hearts O Emmanuel God is with us Be born in our hearts

Come Redeemer Come O Prince of Peace Come Have a good week everyone Monica IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER: DECEMBER

1 4 15

Thursday 2017 Prep Parent Commitment Liturgy, 7.30pm Sunday 2017 Prep Welcome Mass, 9.45am Thursday 2017 Thanksgiving Mass, 7.00pm

KIDS’ CLUB NEWS Kids Club this Week Monday 28 November – Friday 2 December, 2016 Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Quoits Box Craft

Streets & Alleys Marble Run

Air Hockey Shaun The Sheep

Basketball Summer Fun Craft

Xmas Celebrity Head Decorate Xmas Tree

For bookings and enquiries please call Krys Omanski on 0410 103 272 or Email [email protected]

nt

BADMINTON COACHING Over the past three weeks here at St John’s grade 3-6 students have been learning badminton. Our school was very lucky to have a coach come and teach us skills. Her name is Lenny, Lenny has represented Australia and Indonesia in badminton. We have been learning skills such as backhand, forehand and overhead shots. She started us off with a warm-up then we got into some rallies. We think the whole school has learnt a lot and improved over the three weeks. We are very thankful to Lenny and appreciate her coming to St John's and educating us on some of the basics needed to play badminton. Our school now has six new portable badminton nets, brand new racquets and shuttlecocks so we can keep learning and playing badminton in the future! Three cheers for Lenny! -Jade and Sally

2016 OXFAM CONCERT

Above and Below: St John’s School Choir at the Oxfam concert last week, performing on stage at the Box Hill Town Hall. Right: St John’s Scottish Dancers performing at the Oxfam Concert and smiling for the camera before their performance.

nt FROM YOUR PARENTS ASSOCIATION- Do we have news for you? Read on! Do you have news for us? Tell us on [email protected] or like us on Facebook at “St John’s Parish Primary Mitcham” Parents Association AGM- Tuesday 29th November from 7-9pm in the staffroom We’re looking forward to celebrating a wonderful year tomorrow night at the AGM- it’s not too late to come along and add your special talent to this group of wonderful parents. Bunnings BBQ- THANKS We had a wonderful and very successful BBQ at Bunnings Nunawading on Saturday. Huge thanks go to Steve Gilbert and Kirsten Connelley for leading the team of exper t cooker s, ser ver s, seller s and spr uiker sJamin Crawley, Andrew Puls, Sovan La, Steve Willis, Warren Butterworth, Chris Swaine, Matthew Stutchbury, Shane Laffin, Marcus Gill, Anthony Elliott, Glenn Kroezen, Steve Tully, Mark Rodstrom and Brendan Wallis- Go St J ohn’s Dads!! Our heartfelt thanks go to our major sponsors Barry Plant Blackburn, through Monica Deehan (Milla prep 2017), for their generous donation of $350 towards our costs. Vision Portraits- THANKS Thank you so much to Emma Kroezen who coordinated this final fundraiser for 2016. There were lots of laughs as 24 St John’s families, past and present, enjoyed a fun photo session. Cadbury Factory Shop Visit- Friday 2/12 at 9:30am Don’t forget our Chocolate factory visit at Cadbury Factory Shop at 323-351 Canterbury Rd, Ringwood. The visit is open to 25 people only and starts at 9:30am sharp. Closed toe, flat shoes are mandatory for safety. For more information email [email protected] or register your interest at the office.

BIRTHDAYS Congratulations to Annie Lafferty, Jeremy Sniegowski and Mansahib Signh who celebrated their birthday last week. We hope you all had a “Happy Day!”

MARATHON CLUB Marathon Club is on this Tuesday and Thursday morning, weather permitting. A message will be posted on the School App should it be necessary to cancel due to poor weather. Congratulations to the students that clocked up their100kms milestone this year. Well Done! ITALIAN PHRASE OF THE WEEK

Che caldo oggi!

(Kay kul-doh ohggee)

It’s so hot today!

SCHOOL BANKING CDF School Banking will continue until the last Wednesday of school, Wednesday 14 December. Thank you to Gabby Bourke who volunteers each week to provide this service for St John’s parents and students.

Please remember to like our Facebook page St John’s Parish Primary School Mitcham to stay up to date with upcoming events Newsletter 28/11/2016

CYBER SAFETY SURVEY Following on from last week and the parent Cyber Survey response please find information regarding YouTube, following in this weeks newsletter. It is important that parents are aware that both Snapchat and Instagram users should be aged 13 years and over. The eSmart team will continue to provide more information in the coming weeks about cyber safety.

nt