A message from Emily

Dear parents and carers,

What a busy and exciting fortnight it has been as a school community. We loved seeing everyone at the Family Chats and the Welcome Picnic. Thank you to all the families who joined us for the smoking ceremony at the Farm. It was a great experience and we thank you for respecting the sacredness of this ceremony. We also collected gold coin donations for pancakes to raise money to send to Turkey and Syria in support of those effected by the recent earthquakes. If you would like to contribute to this donation please send money to the office in a labelled envelope and we can add it to the $93 we raised on the night.

Yesterday we bused all the children to Our Lady's Church for our Ash Wednesday and Opening School Mass. After a little hiccup getting everyone to the Church, we had a wonderful celebration with Fr Rene where children sang beautifully, received ashes on our forehead and our prayer cloths for 2023 blessed. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent and we prepare for the Easter season. 

Tonight the families of children preparing for the Sacrament of Reconciliation will gather at Our Lady's parish hall for our Family Faith Night. We will also be joined by the families of children from Christ the King Primary School. This is important part of your child's preparation and we look forward to seeing you there.

Prep 2024 school tours began today. If you have a child due to begin Prep next year, we highly recommend that you pick up an enrolment form from the office so that we can ensure we hold a spot for your child.

Next week the 5/6 hub venture out to Camp Campaspe. Karen will be on camp with the the team Monday and Tuesday and I will be at camp Tuesday and Wednesday. I was lucky enough to do a site visit this week and I believe the children and staff are going to have a great three days. Families of children in 5/6 should have received and email and a SeeSaw post with information around what to pack and a little video with some slides that will help you prepare your child for this exciting adventure. If you have any questions about camp please email either Karen kdodemaide@sjfootscray.catholic.edu.au or Amy alittley@sjfootscray.catholic.edu.au

NAPLAN has been moved from May to 15 - 27 March as of this year for children in Yrs 3 and 5. On 13th February a letter was sent to families of children in these year levels sharing information about NAPLAN including dates. Families of children who may require adjustments, including extra time, will be contact by the school in coming weeks. If this is something you'd like to discuss please contact your child's educator or Shelly - sstuart@sjfootscray.catholic.edu.au There will be additional information sent home this week including the reissuing of the letter from last week.

I would also like to draw your attention to our Digital Safety and Wellbeing Parent Night we have booked for 27 April - 'Raising Kids in a Digital World 2023' . I highly recommend a parent from each family attending this workshop. A flyer was emailed out last week and it can also be found on the Family Engagement page of this newsletter. 

To finish, I would like to share a piece of writing created by Isla in Year 4. It is a great reminder for all of us and the expectations we put on ourselves. Thank you Isla for allowing me to share this with our community.

Looking forward to another exciting fortnight ahead at St John's,

Emily