Term 4 Week 2
From the Principal
Staffing News
I am thrilled to share that Mrs Annika Rooke, Year 2 Blue class teacher and her husband, Dan are expecting their third child in April 2025! Please join us in congratulating them on this wonderful news. We look forward to celebrating the new addition to their family!
I am pleased to announce that Val Hassett has accepted a teaching position at St John the Baptist for 2025. We look forward to continuing our work with Val.
Additionally, we are excited to welcome Conor Murphy, who will be joining us as a classroom teacher in 2025. Conor comes to us from St Joseph's, Merriwa, and has received high praise for his teaching abilities.
2025 Class Placement
We are coming close to the stage where class placements for 2025 are being considered. To commence the process, we are seeking input from any parent regarding an educational consideration for their child’s class placement. At this stage no commitment has been made regarding teacher placements for grade levels in 2025. This is an opportunity to have input into the ideal learning environment for your child – not selecting your child’s teacher or choosing friends in their class. Please note, requests only wishing to select a friend or teacher for a particular class will be discarded.
Letters and emails to be delivered to our maj-admin@mn.catholic.edu.au with the subject ATTN: Stacey Whiting. Please ensure all requests are received by Friday 8th November 2024.
Term Overviews
Each term, class teachers share a curriculum overview to keep families informed about the upcoming learning content, including any planned excursions or incursions. We encourage you to review this overview to support your child’s learning journey. If you haven’t received your copy yet, please reach out to your class teacher for another copy.
Fortnightly Frames - Around St John the Baptist
This week we welcomed our 2025 Kindergarten class.
Our year 5 students were so excited to meet their Kindergaten buddies!
Fr George led a Pet blessing to recognise the feast Day of St Francis of Assisi. It was a wonderful opportunity to meet the pets of the Chisholm region!
Our Vocal and Dance Ensemble visited the Maitland Town Hall in preparation for our whole school musical. It is going to be an amazing night! Have you got your tickets yet?
Gabby, Phoebe and Vera have spent the year writing scripts which were performed by ASPIRE drama students on Thursday night. The girls directed these performances even being guest performers for each other. Congratulations girls!
Crazy socks hit SJB this week! Thank you for your support of Socktober this week. All money raised will be sent to Catholic Mission to assist those in need around the world.
Assistant Principal News
At St John the Baptist, our Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL) framework provides clear guidance on expected behaviours, aligned with our 4 Dominican Pillars:
- Service (Be Respectful)
- Community (Be Responsible)
- Study (Be a Learner)
- Prayer (Be like Jesus)
Every fortnight, we focus on one pillar, with our current focus on Service: Care for the Environment. Specific lessons have been taught to demonstrate how students can care for our environment in different areas of the school. This week, students have been rewarded with “Gotchas” for showing positive actions that help protect and care for our environment. In my role, I support students when they face challenges or make choices that don't align with our expectations. Using our PBL framework, we reflect on the behaviour and identify which expectation needs focus. We emphasize that making mistakes is part of being human, but what matters is the effort to restore relationships, make amends, learn, and grow to prevent repeating those mistakes. I want to express my gratitude to parents and carers for your ongoing support, especially when navigating difficult situations together. We understand it can be challenging when your child has made a mistake, but by working in partnership, we achieve the best outcomes for our students.
Thank you for trusting in our school's expectations and processes.
Uniform Reminder
As a reminder, all students should now be in full summer uniform. Please ensure that hair accessories are in school colours (navy or white) sport socks are white, and that sports shoes are predominantly white. Thank you for your cooperation in maintaining our uniform standards.
Socktober
Thank you for supporting Socktober by raising $362 for children in Mongolia. SJB students wore their crazy socks and had a penalty shoot out using the Socktober balls made by our Mini Vinnies leaders. SJB's donation will help provide vulnerable children in Mongolia with warm clothes, stationery items for learning and better access to education.
World Teachers Day -25th October
A prayer for World Teacher’s Day
God of Love, Thank you for every teacher who notices a child’s special gift. Thank you for teachers who are listeners and gentle guides. Thank you for teachers who expect much and love enough to demand more. Thank you for the special teacher each one of us remembers.
God of Mercy, Sustain teachers who give everything they have. Strengthen teachers who assume the blame for so many problems beyond their control. Help exhausted teachers rest.
God of Strength, Encourage teachers to care and inspire them to nourish. Motivate teachers to keep on learning for the fun of it and to make learning enjoyable for children.
We wonder at teachers who know how to quiet a class of five year olds or help fourth graders be empathetic. We admire teachers who enjoy middle school writers, or teach physics or math of history. Bless the people who are expected to accomplish these miracles and who know how to comfort children when miracles don’t happen.
God of Justice, help and support teachers in their special calling, wherever they teach and whatever obstacles they must face. We pray these things in the name of our great teacher, Jesus Christ.
Amen.
– Prayer from the National Catholic Education Association
Author Visit - Sami Bayly
On Friday 27/09, our school had the incredible privilege of hosting award-winning author and illustrator, Sami Bayly, best known for her series on Australia's unique and unusual animals. Sami shared her passion for the natural world with our students, encouraging them to appreciate the beauty of creatures often overlooked. Our students were thrilled to ask her questions, and here are a few quotes from some of them:
"I really loved that she took the time to be here" - Geronimo, 3B
"I liked the way she explained the animals and how she liked the smelly and gross ones" - Leo, 3B
"I really enjoyed meeting Sami, it was a wonderful and fun workshop. I never even knew there was a Giant Millipede!" - Lana, 6W
"Her drawing tutorial was excellent and she shared fun facts with us!" - Phoebe, 6W
"We got to see the Encyclopedia of Extinct Animals, It was awesome" - Arlow, 6B
We are incredibly grateful to Sami Bayly for sharing her time and wisdom with us. It was a visit that truly inspired both students and teachers alike, and we look forward to seeing the creative ways our students will continue to engage with the world around them!
Green Team News
Earlier this year, our school was successful in receiving a Woolworths Junior Landcare Grant.
The Grade 3 and 4 Green Team members have used these funds to initiate and maintain two main sustainability projects:
- Recycling of empty drink items brought from home or bought at school (e.g. water, poppers, juice, milk)
- Establishing a new butterfly garden that even has a bird bath in it.
Thank you to Woolworths for their support. A thank you also to the Grade 3 and 4 Green Team students who are hardworking and freely give of their lunch time once-twice a week and to Mrs Baker for your help and guidance.
Every little sustainable thing we all do makes such a big difference for our planet!
As sponsors of National Tree Day, Toyota Maitland staff visited our school recently and donated several native plants and shrubs. The Green Team members were very busy planting these and enjoyed the experience.
Thank you to Maitland Toyota for the donations of hats, gloves, shirts and plants to our school and for working towards a greener future!
Class Awards Week 1 & 2
Congratulations to our class award winners for Week 1 & 2!
Kindergarten - Margot D, Austin L, Austyn G, William M, Harper M
Year 1 - Eli F, Annie M, Darcy M, Jude S, Ella A, Rohan C, Charli C, Lincoln W
Year 2 - Nash H, Dakota R, Grayson P, Logan B, Narliah B, Cleo L, Alice Y
Year 3 - Oliver B, Vander W, Phoebe F, Kaylani D, Gage A, Lawson MJ, Lochlan M, Jacob P
Year 4 - Alfie B, Tallulah B, Ivy W, Pennie V, Hudson M, Elliot P
Year 5 - Zavier N, River C, Maeve E, Caleb C
Year 6 - Billi A, Scarlett C, Ben C, Emma L, Elektra O, Miley D, Rosie P, Lincoln G