2023: Week 2, Term 1

Principal's Message

Dear JB Parents and Carers

Welcome to the beginning of the school year! It has been wonderful to observe the students as they settle into their learning. Thanks to the fabulous JB staff who have worked hard to ensure learning is the focus for our students. 

We offer a special welcome to our new members of staff: Ms Aguas (2 Ruby), Ms Lo (5 Emerald), Mrs Furia & Mrs Astudillo (EAL/D), Mrs Tibero (Diverse Learning), Ms Lainez Lozada (4Silver), Ms Morabito (Kinder Gold), Mrs Komadina (SMILe/Critical Thinking), Ms Tran (3 Silver), Ms Ferraro (1 Silver), Mrs Muratore (LSO), Ms Tsolomiti (LSO), and we welcome those members of staff returning after leave: Mrs Agostino (1 Silver), Mrs Knight (EAL/D), Mrs Ienna (4 Ruby) and Mrs Azzi. 

Thank you to all parents who attended Monday's Information Sessions. Prior to grade presentations, Mrs Tomic and I outlined our directions for 2023:

• learning experiences that engage students' unique skills and interests - Amadeus, Public Speaking, Drama, Critical Thinking
• the explicit teaching of critical thinking skills to facilitate deep learning
• opportunities to deepen religious knowledge and faith - 'Return to Parish' Project, Pope Francis Award

SCHOOL START TIMES

A reminder that school begins at 8.45am. The Gloucester St gates open at 8.00am where supervision is provided. The Mount St gates DO NOT OPEN until 8.20am and are UNSUPERVISED. We encourage families to drop off children at Gloucester St prior to 8.20am (if required) as a matter of safety. All gates (including Gloucester St) close at 8.45am. 

From Monday, parents will be required to drop off children at the school gates rather than enter the school. If parents have lunch orders to organise, you are permitted to enter through the top gate next to the canteen. If you use the canteen in the morning, it is important to remember that the carpark gates will close shortly after the 8.45am bell, and there will be no access to the carpark. 

Year 6 leaders and JB staff will be on hand on Monday to escort Kinder students up to their playground. There will be some adjusting as we move into this new transition, and we appreciate your support of the school rules. 

Thank you for your support. 

With my best wishes for the week ahead. 

Mr O'Connor  Principal

Assistant Principal News

Dear Parents, 

Welcome back to a new school year. The students have settled in so well to their new classrooms and are busy learning so many new and exciting things. 

Our new canteen is off to a great start and the children have loved the new healthy snacks. From time to time, our canteen may post photos of students with these snacks on their social media pages. If you would prefer your child not be published on the ‘Brookes Canteen’ social media, please let our office know as soon as possible. 

I will be holding Parent Volunteer Induction Meetings throughout Week 3 and 4 so that you are able to assist in classrooms as parent volunteers and attend carnivals/ excursions/ incursions as a parent helper with your child/ children. These meetings last approximately 30 minutes and are the only sessions being run this year. If you have attended in the past, that is no longer valid and you must attend again in each new calendar year. 

If you wish to volunteer as a parent helper in the classroom, you MUST have a valid WWCC, please bring this information along with you and register this online via this link. You must still attend a session with me in addition to completing this step. 

Parents who are volunteering for excursions/ incursions or sports carnivals only do not need a WWCC, they only need to attend one of the sessions below. 

Please meet on the top playground and attend ONE of these sessions: 

Tuesday 14th February 8:30am 

Thursday 16th February 3:10pm (Please note amended time)

Friday 17th February 8:30am 

Monday 20th February 5:30pm

School Photos will take place over two days:

Wednesday 15th February - K-Yr 4 & Sibling Photos

Monday 27th February - Yr 5 & 6, SRC and Sports Captains & Sibling Photos

Please ensure your children are in FULL SUMMER UNIFORM on both days. 

JOHN THE BAPTIST IS AN ALLERGY FRIENDLY SCHOOL

Anaphylaxis is a severe form of allergic reaction and is potentially life threatening. John the Baptist School has a number of children at the school with Anaphylaxis. Peanuts, nuts, eggs, milk, soy, sesame and shellfish are the foods that commonly trigger anaphylaxis. Even trace levels of these foods can cause anaphylactic reactions.

Reminder: We are a NUT free school, children will not be permitted to eat any products containing nuts. 

In order to support and protect children the school asks all children and parents not to bring Peanut Butter, Nutella or other nut products or foods containing any advertised nut derivatives to school. Do not send Nutella or peanut butter alternatives that indicate that they are nut free as it makes it difficult for staff to monitor.

We thank you for your cooperation as we do our best to ensure every child is safe at school. 

School Open Days

We look forward to welcoming new families to our John the Baptist community. We will host two open days this years and warmly invite any new families to join us. 

• Monday 6 March, 5.30-6.30pm
• Thursday 9 March, 9.30-10.45am

You can register online via our school website https://jbbonnyrigg.syd.catholic.edu.au/enrolment/open-day-2023

We look forward to a wonderful partnership this year,

Natali Tomic  Assistant Principal

Facebook

Be sure to like our school Facebook Page - we will be regularly posting some of the exciting things taking place at JB. 

https://www.facebook.com/jbbonnyrigg

Family Educator News

Family Educator  Term 1 Week 2

Welcome back to 2023!

Remember to keep up to date with events and Masses on the school calendar or in our newsletter and make sure you come along to some of the Family Educator initiatives this year. It is wonderful to have parents and friends back onsite and involved in the community. 

Partnership between home, school and parish is key to the best outcome for our children.

There will be chances to volunteer in the classroom again, to come along and join in parent reflections and our first term will include a parent trip to Bringelly Stations of the Cross with neighbouring parishes. Date TBC- WATCH THIS SPACE- as they say!

If I can be of assistance in any way, please let me know either personally or via the school office.

 I also work closely with the parish and our Community Care Group so if you or anyone you know is in need (spiritually or otherwise) please reach out.

Mondays- from 8.45 am Coffee and SPaR (Stop, Pray and Reflect)

A chance to connect with other parents. We will be meeting in the demountable classroom beside the year 1 classrooms, starting after the day’s announcements with a short reflection. 

VALENTINES day SPaR  Monday 13th Feb- The theme is L-O-V-E!

COME along and share a cuppa and some sweet treats. 

This is a great forum to meet some other parents, and start the week off with a new perspective. All are welcome. 

Wednesdays- 9am-10am JB Juniors Playgroup for 0-5 years Starting 15th Feb

Meeting in the demountable classroom from 8.45am each Wednesday. Open to children 0-5 years of age- we  pray, sing, read, do a craft activity and play. Numbers are limited so please enrol!

(note: we will not meet on Ash Wednesday 22/2 this term)

Enrolments HERE

Kindergarten Families 

You are invited to come along to Parish Mass On Sunday 19th February at 10am!

Children will receive a blessing as they begin their school journey.

New beginnings…

“...Renew the thinking in your mind by the Spirit and clothe yourself with the new person created according to God’s image in justice and true holiness.” Ephesians 4:22-24

Our beautiful Catholic Faith is all about new beginnings, forgiveness and mercy. Let this year begin with a fresh start for all. Let our hearts and minds be opened, ready to be filled with the blessings and gifts of the Holy Spirit. May we find His message in the silence of our hearts and may we proclaim the Good News to all we encounter.

God bless.

Tina Dunn  Family Educator

Parish Matters- because it does!

Bulletins can be found here

Catechists Needed-

Do something of eternal significance- be a Catechist or helper! We invite you to join this ministry and our wonderful JB Catechist Team. Any enquiries please contact: Nina Laureti 0408 465 149 or Fr Dominic or Fr Ben.

Have you considered exploring your Faith a little more?

Father Ben is starting a group on Tuesdays- 9am and 7pm- Call the parish for more details.

Literacy News

Literacy Corner Term 1 Week 2 2023

Literacy Corner

Welcome back to another wonderful year of Reading and Learning at JB!  Reading begins at a very early age when children start to take notice of the print that surrounds them and the talk that includes them.  Children begin to engage with reading and writing experiences that attract their attention and interest before they go to school.  

Parents are a child’s first and most important teacher.  This is one of the many reasons why it is important to devote time to reading at home.  Research has shown that reading out loud with children every day has a significant impact on their reading progress.  Even when your child is a confident reader, it is still important to listen to them read out loud every day.  Here are some tips you can use at home to help with reading out loud:

• Read with expression: go ahead, use voices, make sound effects, make a fool of yourself!  Your child will love it!
• Read the pictures as well: point to the pictures and examine them further.  Relate these to your own world, for example, ‘Hey that looks just like your toy train!’.
• Find a comfortable spot: make sure you have a place to read that is free from distractions, this will help the enjoyment of the reading.
• Show lots of enthusiasm: being excited is infectious, if your child sees how excited you are to read, then chances are they will love it too!

Summer Reading Challenge

The Summer Reading Challenge has now closed.  All entries have been collected and judged.  Congratulations to all the students who entered and submitted so many amazing entries.  Class winners will be announced next week and major prize winners will be announced at the next assembly.  Many thanks for supporting this important initiative which ensures children are developing their love of reading.

Early Bird Reading

Our EBR program was a huge success last year and has officially begun again in 2023.    EBR runs every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday morning from 8:20am in the JB Library.   Feel free to encourage your child to drop in and catch the ‘Reading Bug’ with us!

Teresa Wojtowicz &  Francine Bushby  Literacy Coordinators

Numarcy News

Welcome to 2023!

Congratulations to Year 3 and Year 5 who have eagerly begun preparing themselves for the upcoming NAPLAN. Students have returned to school ready to learn and begun developing their problem solving skills. Look at these Year 3 learners go

A reminder to Year 3 and Year 5 to access the Maths @ JB site for extra questions and resources to help prepare yourself at home. 

The Numerical Acumen Semester 1 Challenge will begin shortly for Years 3 to 6. Please ensure you have signed up to Numerical Acumen and to practise your quick recall of facts so you are ready for the challenge. 

Michael Hobson & Daniella Kokkinis  Mathematics Coordinators

Sports News

Conference Sports Trials

In Term 1 we have students participating in the soccer and netball Conference 4 sports trials.

Football (Soccer) Trials- Wednesday 15 February

Goodluck- Christian Jedinak, Gianluca Liberatore, Kristian Komadina, Antoni Curjak, Andre Lalic, Talia Cavicchia, Martina Brcic, Giulietta Nemet, Saviola Rofael and Santana Rodi.

Netball Trials- Wednesday 1st March

All the best Alyssa Cabrera.

Mark Taylor Shield 

We invite the students in Years 4, 5 and 6 to participate in this inter school cricket challenge.  If your child is interested in participating in this cricket challenge, look out for the upcoming Compass alerts.

After school sports programs 

We have secured funding for Term 1 2023. We are now finalising details so look out for Compass alerts.

Primary Athletics Carnival 

This will take place for the students in Years 3-6 on Monday 24th April 2023.

Infants Athletics Day

This event will take place on Friday 31st March for the students in Kinder, Year 1 and Year 2. 

Cluster Swimming Championships

We wish the following students the best of luck as they compete in the Conference 4 Swimming Trials on Thursday 2nd March 2023.   Good luck Audrey Alcantara, Renata Giuliani-Bruno, Amelia Hughes, Allegra Lentini, Melanie Romero, Alana Tripodina, Zane Borg, Luca De Boucherville, Marc De Boucherville, Joseph Gabara, Giuseppe Gauci, Tobias Romero, Daine Trajcevski and Kosta Triantafillou!

We look forward to a sport-filled year in 2023. 

Frances Oliverio  Sports Coordinator

Notes from the Office

IMPORTANT REMINDERS

Parents, as we warmly welcome you and your child/ren back for a new year, a gentle reminder regarding the importance of informing our school of any changes that may have occurred during the holiday break to your family’s personal details such as an address, mobile numbers, emails, emergency contacts, etc. For your convenience, these details may be updated via the Personal Details Form available on your Compass Favourites links.

Of equal importance and in the best interests of your child/ren, we ask if there has been a new event or update in relation to your child’s health, once again, we ask this information be provided at the earliest. A Student Health Information Form is also available on your Compass Favourites link, to assist you in this process.

SCHOOL FEES

Your 2023 school fee statements will be emailed to you soon. It would be appreciated if your payments are made by the scheduled dates as listed on your statement.

Payments can be made by CompassPay, BPay, Cash, Eftpos or Centrepay.

Your co-operation is greatly appreciated!

CLOTHING POOL 

Parents, should you wish to make a purchase of good quality second-hand clothing at any time, a reminder you may do so via your Compass Favourites link via the Clothing Pool Order Form.

VISA STUDENTS 

For our families from overseas, it is important that the school has details of your current residency status.  Please be sure to provide us with your new visa grant notice or Australian Citizenship documents if:

• There has been a change in your visa subclass or expiry date, or
• If you previously had a visa but have now become an Australian Citizen

CENSUS DAY & ADDRESS DATA COLLECTION

From time to time, we are required to provide student details and background data to Government agencies, particularly during Census time. Our school will be undertaking these processes during February and March. For more information regarding this, please refer to the Australian Government Collection Notice below, in addition to the SCS Privacy Policy and Standard Collection Notice

Parents are not required to do anything for these collections, however, it is important that your personal records are up to date, as mentioned in the important reminders above.

School Photographs

School Crossing Supervisor

Awards

Congratulations to the following students on achieving their badges:

Dates to Remember