2023: Week 6, Term 4

Principal's Message

REFLECTION - THIS SUNDAY'S GOSPEL

Through  this week's parable, we are invited to imagine a God who bestows gifts and talents on all of us. What matters is not what people’s talents are, but how they are used in the service of the kingdom. Jesus tells us that there can be no religion without risk, no religion without adventure, no religion without enterprise. Willingness to dare is an essential part of our faith. “Who dares wins!”

Our God gives us Gifts and Talents. He wants us to use them, not hide them. He would rather us try and fail, than not to try at all.  Let us use our gifts - be reckless for God, be extravagant for Him. Have we ever tried to laugh and shout loudly with God - not just at Him? Try it - it works.

“WELL DONE GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT.”

Lord, so many times when I pray I only say “I want!” I tend to forget about you when things are going well for me, it is only when some kind of crisis comes my way that I ask for your help. Help me to say “THANK YOU” everyday of my life. I thank you for making me and giving me beautiful things in your world. 

Remember a Smile or a Thank you are the greatest gifts we can receive. The future will depend on what we do in the present.

MOUNT ST MORNING DROP OFF - IMPORTANT MESSAGE

A reminder that no child should be dropped off at the main entrance to the school before 8am. Our school gates do not open until 8.20, and up to this time there is no supervision. 

Gloucester St gates, however, open at 8.00am and supervision is provided through to 8.20am. This is a safer option for your child. 

I was placed in the frightening situation on Tuesday morning where I arrived at the school carpark at 8.10am - I always arrive at school much earlier than this. While entering the carpark, I was forced to swerve around children who were playing running games that spilled out onto the road. There were handball games, eating, climbing on tables, and shouting. Children were even on the other side of the Church running down the grass. All of this was happening while 8.00am mass was being offered by Fr Ben! 

Our school goes above and beyond to provide supervision. We are not expected to supervise your children at the main entrance to the school when we already provide supervision on Gloucester St. From today, I began calling parents of students who are not demonstrating they can be safe in the morning without supervision. Those families will not be permitted on site until 8.20. 

Before school care is availbale here at JB for those who arrive early to school. 

LEAVING STUDENTS

As we are in our final term, we request any family that may be leaving JB at the end of the school year, to kindly advise the office at the earliest.  A Cessation of Enrolment form will be required to be completed and returned to the office urgently. Please call or email the office on info@jbbonnyrigg.catholic.edu.au to inform us if your family is in this position.

CLASS PLACEMENTS 2024

A reminder for parents who wish to make requests for class placements for 2024, please submit your request in writing and present to the office NO LATER THAN FRIDAY WEEK 6. 

Not all requests can be accepted. Merit will be provided to genuine concerns from parents in regards to their child's education. Only those who have submitted requests in writing will be considered. Thank you in advance. 

JB CAROLS EVENING - FRIDAY DECEMBER 1

A warm invitation is offered to all of our JB families to the combined John the Baptist Primary, Freeman Catholic College and John the Baptist Parish Carols evening on Friday December 1.

By this time the season of Advent will be upon us and the preparations for the birth of Christ will be with us all. Let's take the opporuntity to gather as a faith community and celebrate. All students K-6 will be involved in singing and performing. Rehearsals have already begun!

This year's Carols will be on the JB Playing Field, not Freeman. There will be no food trucks this year, however the JB Men's Group will still have a BBQ. Coffee vans and ice cream vans will also be onsite. We encourage families to bring their own dinner, a picnic rug, and your best singing voices. 

AMADEUS SHOWCASE PERFORMANCES

We have now almost completed our first year of Amadeus, and what a great journey it has been so far! I have noticed that students are really embracing their inner musician, and the sounds coming from our rooms each Monday (Years 3 & 4) and Friday (Years 5 & 6) have been amazing. 

DATES FOR OUR STUDENT SHOWCASE HAVE BEEN CHANGED. PLEASE NOTE: 

• all Year 3 & 4 students will perform on Monday Week 7, 2pm-3pm.
• Year 5 & 6 times will be confirmed soon

Both events will take place on the AMPITHEATRE. All parents are welcome to attend. 

Mr O'Connor  Principal

Assistant Principal News

Dear Parents, 

This past week has been an exciting time to celebrate the wonderful teaching and learning that takes place at JB. We have welcomed representatives from Sydney Catholic Schools who filmed instruction in several of our classrooms as they create a master series of effective teaching strategies for teachers throughout the system. It is an honour to have been able to take part in this and we look forward to sharing the final product once it is complete. 

Filming in progress...

As we approach the end of the school year, it is important that we remind the students to be 3 things - that is, to be Safe, Respectful and Responsible. We encourage you to use these 3 expectations at home also when discussing behaviours with your children. 

Entering Absences into Compass 

A reminder for all parents to please enter any absence into compass as soon as possible. It is important to maintain accurate and up to date records for our students. 

Facebook & Instagram 

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

https://www.facebook.com/jbbonnyrigg

https://www.instagram.com/johnthebaptistbonnyrigg/ 

With thanks, 

Mrs Natali Tomic 

Assistant Principal 

Religion News

SACRAMENTAL DATES AND DETAILS FOR 2024

Reconciliation and Communion Sacrament program 2024

Enrolment for the Sacrament Program for Reconciliation and Communion in 2024 is now open. Children who have been Baptised and are now in Year 4 or above in 2024 are welcome to enrol.

 LESSONS INFORMATION

Reconciliation Lessons – 4 weeks in Term 1 2024 (1hr each week held in Church). Lessons end in March.

Communion Lessons – 4 weeks in Term 2 2024 (1hr each week held in Church). Lessons end in June.

Enrolment information on 6 February 2024 at 7pm. Parents can select their lesson times in early February 2024. To enrol complete the form by visiting  https://www.trybooking.com/CNAHI

If you have any questions call Tamara, Parish Sacrament Coordinator, 0424 166 248.

Thank you.

God Bless. 

Mrs Jansen  Religious Education Coordinator

Family Educator News

Family Educator  Term4  Week 6

Remember to keep checking the COMPASS Calendar for Masses and events so you don’t miss out on anything! 

CATCH UP CUPPA!

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

SPaR is a great way to start the week- Monday mornings in the demountable classroom on the top playground. We have a VERY short reflection (under ten minutes) followed by coffee and conversation- we have the coffee machine on and ready to go early!

Come along and bring a friend.

Wednesdays- 9am-10am JB Juniors Playgroup for 0-5 years

Playgroup is on each Wednesday, first thing in the morning after the bell goes! I look forward to seeing you all!. Prayer, Play, Story and Craft! Fun!!

 Open to those children aged 0-6 years. 

Wednesday 22nd November- Christ the King- come and make a crown!

Christmas Appeal 2023- Vinnies and Local families in need

You will have already received a note detailing our Christmas appeal this year. 

Rather than a cash donation we are asking for particular items to make up stationery packs for children. This will assist families in challenging times with the back to school costs in the New year. Other food items on the list will be made into snack packs for the Liverpool Night Patrol and some items used as stock for the pantry at the Mount Pritchard Vinnies offices. Many families find it difficult to keep up the food to teenagers and children over the holidays!

We thank you for your generosity and please remember, this is only if you are ABLE to assist us. 

The items donated will be taken up during the offertory at the End of Year Thanksgiving Mass, so please ensure all items are in by Tuesday 5th December. This Mass is also a wonderful opportunity to offer our thanks to God for the many blessings in our own lives, which mean we are able to help others less fortunate.

MOVIE NIGHT- Journey to Bethlehem-  Send in PAYMENT as soon as possible please.

Watch out for any COMPASS updates!

This movie  tells the story that is the REAL reason for the season!! Mary and Joseph and a little baby on a journey that will change HISTORY!

Thank you to the MANY people who have placed their names down on the booking list AND the subsequent waiting list. I am trying to ensure we can have two theatres- trust the JB Crowd to book out not ONE but TWO theatres!

Remember to send your payment as SOON as possible as we will need to make payment to HOYTS to secure the bookings. It is going to be a WONDERFUL family night that will set the tone for the ADVENT season which is almost upon us!

Tina Dunn  Family Educator

Parish Matters- because it does! 

Church Bulletins can be found here

Calling parents of Years 4,5,6,7!!! Please consider if you are able to help the parish-

Jordan youth group needs some new parents to take on the role and spend some time encouraging our Youth once a month. You may have one or several children in the age group so why not share your faith in a  fun way and spend some valuable time with them!?

JORDAN YOUTH GROUP

Years 5 & 6 Primary School students & Year 7 High School students are welcome to join the Jordan Youth Group at John the Baptist Parish hall. Our aim is to encourage young people within our community to come together to engage, learn, pray, and become involved in spiritual life and explore our Catholic faith. 

Our next meeting is Saturday, 18th November.

 Location: John the Baptist Parish Hall Time: 3.00pm-5.00pm Cost: Free Afternoon tea will be provided. 

Our last meeting for the year will be Saturday 9th December. If you have any further queries or would like to volunteer your time and assist with the Jordan Youth group, please contact Tina Dunn on 0439 492 920 or Silvana Scamardella on 0417 197 357.

Literacy News

Literacy Corner Week 6 Term 4 2023

Helping your child learn to read is one of the most important ways that you can support his or her education.  Studies show that parental involvement is key to student success.  Children who read outside of school as well as in school, are much more likely to succeed.  

When listening to your child read, one of the most common questions is around correcting mistakes.  Children will often make an error and keep reading without realising it.  It is important to wait for the child to finish the sentence or the page and then go back to discuss the error.  Here are some tips to try using at home:

• If the mistake makes sense, as in a misreading of ‘home’ for ‘house’, let them finish the sentence and then go back and ask “What word is that?”
• If the mistake does not make sense, lead the child to correct the mistake by allowing time for them to re-read the sentence and try to fix it themselves.
• Another useful strategy to use is the parent re reading the sentence WITH the mistake, while the child follows along and listens to hear the error or notice the error in the text.
• If the meaning is still not clear, look at the word and find familiar sounds such as ‘s’ at the beginning and ‘ing’ at the end.  See if your child can see any smaller words in the word or cover up parts of the word to help them notice some letter patterns.
• Finally, don’t give in every time they stop and appeal to you to just tell them the word.  It is important that we practise using our ‘fix up’ strategies that will help children become more confident fluent readers.  Some of the ‘fix up’ strategies we use at school include: re-read, read ahead, stop and think, find out the meaning of unknown words and so on.

The next newsletter will give further details on our upcoming Summer Reading Challenge Competition.  There will be lots of exciting prizes to be won with class winners and overall champions.  

READ! READ! READ!

Teresa Wojtowicz & Francine Bushby  Literacy Coordinators 

Canteen News

Please contact the school office 9823 5042 for any communication with the Canteen. 

The canteen are NO LONGER using a mobile telephone number.  Please ONLY contact the school office for contact with the canteen.  Do not contact ANY mobile telephone number previously provided.

Amadeus Reminder

Please remind your children to bring their instruments on their specified day. 

Many children are leaving their instruments at home.

Unfortunately, moving forward we will no longer be able to accept forgotten instruments for students on their Amadeus Day. 

Reminder Amadeus Classes

Mondays: Year 3 & Year 4 
Friday: Year 5 & Year 6

Thank you for your understanding.

Lost Property and School Uniforms

Dear Parents,

We have numerous items of clothing collected everyday, they are placed in our lost property basket in the office.  Each day, all labelled items are returned to the child's classroom.  Items which  which are unlabelled go to the clothing pool.  

Please ensure you re-label any clothing your child is able to remove at school as markings can fade over time.  

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.

Alternatively, you can call the office and place an order via telephone, email info@jbbonnyrigg.catholic.edu.au or complete the form below and return it to the office with your child. 

Please ensure ALL of your children's items are labelled including drink bottles, lunch boxes and containers as we have numerous lost property items collected everyday which remain unclaimed and ultimately have to be thrown away. 

Thank you.

The Administration Team

Notes from the Office

YEAR 6 STUDENTS LEAVING SYDNEY CATHOLIC SCHOOLS

Parents of Year 6 students who will be attending a non-Catholic School High School will need to download all school reports from Compass (for your records) as these will no longer be available to you after 15 December 2023.  These student's google drive will also no longer be accessible and if your child has anything they would like to keep from their google drive please store in another personal location.

APPLICATIONS FOR EXTENDED LEAVE – TRAVEL

Parents, kindly note Sydney Catholic Schools has updated the Application for Extended Leave requirement to now 5 days or more, which supersedes the previous 10 days or more policy. Any families planning or considering family travel for 5 school days or more must apply with an Application for Extended Leave – Travel, 4 weeks in advance of your child/ren’s intended leave wherever possible. This application must also be accompanied by copies of travel documentation, if applicable. 

Application forms are available from the office. For your convenience, please feel free to call or email us on info@jbbonnyrigg.catholic.edu.au and we will be happy to send this home with your eldest child.

We thank you for your co-operation with this process when making travel plans with your child/ren. 

IMPORTANT REMINDERS

Parents, a gentle reminder regarding the importance of informing our school of any changes that may occur 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

The end of year is approaching!  Please note all school fees need to be finalised by 28 November 2023 (unless you have a payment plan agreement with the school).

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

Your co-operation is greatly appreciated!

School Student Travel

Please see below information from Transport NSW in relation to school student travel.

Awards

Congratulations to the following students on achieving their badges:

Dates to Remember