Term 2, Week 2 2023

Dear Families

The Leadership Team
Todd LaForgia, Jo Livingstone, Amanda Razon & Michael Cimarosti

Reconciliation
The children who are receiving their Sacrament of Reconciliation had a practise session with Fr Denis last Thursday. There will be a liturgy and the children will receive their first Reconciliation on Thursday 11^th May at 7pm in the church.

Term 2 Masses
This term the children will be attending Mass with their buddy classes on Wednesday mornings at 9:30am. Class teachers will communicate when their class has been allocated to participate in Mass during a particular week. Parents and family members are more than welcome to attend when their child’s class is rostered on.

Mother’s Day Liturgy
Wishing all mothers, a Happy Mother’s Day!

In celebration of Mother’s Day, there will be liturgy for all mothers in Week 3, Monday 15^th May at 2:30pm. The service will be held at the church, and all are welcome to join us in this celebration.

Dear Lord,

Thank you for gift of all mothers;

For the heart of love they have for us,

For the pillar of strength they give to us,

For the wisdom and counsel they provide us and

For the warmth and comfort they bring to our families.

O Lord, we ask you to watch over and bless our mothers,

Protect them and keep them in your loving embrace.

We ask this through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Amen

Supporting Our Parish
We are calling on any family members of our school community who have skills to support the maintenance of the school & parish grounds. We are asking for the skills of those people who are willing to be called upon if the need arises and are available when that need arises.

Below is a list of some of the trades which the parish may require from time to time and if one of those or more, match your skill set, the parish would be very grateful to include you in our “skills register”. The list is not thorough, but it is a start.

If you are prepared to offer your skills if needed and keep this great parish outreaching and helping the community as much as we possibly can, the parish would love to hear from you.

To register interest or if you have any questions, please email plymptonparish@stjohnpl.catholic.edu.au or call 8293 6600

Amanda Razon
APRIM

We will be holding a Mother's Day Liturgy on Monday 15th May at 2.30pm.  We would love all the Mum's to join us in John the Baptist Church.

                               Our Prayers are with those who have recently lost loved ones.

                                                            May God keep them close.

To the Family of  Luke, James and William Dimech (Past Scholars) for the loss of their Mother, Helen.  Helen was also the God Mother of James H in REC DC.

                 To the Goyal Family (Rohin 4PR & Jay REC B) for the loss of their grandmother.

                           To the Calesso family (Lachlan 2T) for the loss of his grandfather.

                                                 "Eternal Rest grant unto them O Lord,
                                                and let perpetual light shine upon them,
                                                             May they rest in peace."

Catholic Education Week is being celebrated in Catholic schools throughout South Australia from 15 – 21 May 2023.

This week is an opportunity to reflect on and share all the things that we love about St John the Baptist Catholic School and what makes our community special. 

Join us on social media this week in sharing Facebook post about the reasons you love our school and being a part of our community, using the hashtag #LoveMyCatholicSchool.

Statement of Accounts
A Statement of Accounts will be sent home with in the next two weeks, please ensure your current method of payment will see your account paid in full by 24th November, unless previously arranged.  If you have changed your address, please advise the office as soon as possible on info@stjohnpl.catholic.edu.au

School Card
Please follow the link below to apply for the 2023 School Card Scheme. Once we have received the eligibility report from School Card the remission will be applied to your account.

The School Card scheme provides low-income families attending a non-government school with financial assistance for school fees (materials and services charges). 

Eligibility 

School Card is available to: 

• families with children aged four years and over who attend a school full-time 
• independent full-time students studying year 10, 11 or 12 

• adult re-entry students undertaking subjects to complete their SAC 

https://www.sa.gov.au/topics/education-and-learning/financial-help-scholarships-and-grants/school-card-scheme 

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any queries regarding the above.

Change of Circumstance
We ask those families whose circumstances may have changed or are experiencing difficulties to please contact Todd LaForgia or myself at your earliest convenience via email: pmarks@stjohnpl.catholic.edu.au

Pam Marks 
Bursar/Finance Officer 

Please be reminded to put in your diaries,  Friday 9th June Pupil Free Day for Staff Development.

Term 2 and 3 sport has begun for basketball and netball.  We have 6 basketball teams and 2 netball teams. 

St John’s have 6 soccer teams competing this season and soccer will commence on Saturday 27^th May.  We are also joining with another few schools to enter an Aussie Rules football team. 

We are very thankful to the coaches who volunteer their time to coordinate and coach teams. 

Congratulations to the 15 students who represented our school at the Airport/Western SAPSASA Cross Country Day on Tuesday 9^th May.  A great achievement to run the 2km or 3km course.

• Thomas McD
• Archie H
• Rocco G
• Alexandra P
• Alice L
• Henry S
• Gisele G
• Rowan A
• Breanna K
• Inara N
• Dane M
• Archer C
• Amali F
• Riley O’B
• James R

Last Friday the Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 classes had a great opportunity to further their soccer skills by attending a soccer clinic run by Adrian and Raj from Simply Sports.  The children were able to learn new soccer skills through playing fun games. 

Term 2 Sport Carnivals

SACPSSA Lacrosse Carnival - Tuesday 30^th May (Week 5)

SACPSSA Netball Carnival - Monday 3rd July (Week 10)  **Please note change of date**

Mary Murray
Co-curricular Sport Co-ordinator
sport@stjohnpl.catholic.edu.au

Happy Families Founder, Dr Justin Coulson's goal for parents, teachers, and those who work with children is to see them for the precious humans they are; to connect with them in meaningful ways; and to guide those children to become strong, caring, whole adults.

The Happy Families website covers a range of topics including: 

• Resilience in Children 
• Parenting teenagers
• Family relationships
• Children and Discipline
• Happier homes
• Neurodiversity in children

Over the past decade Dr Coulson has helped innumerable families with his 6 books about raising children, his hundreds of media appearances (including all of Australia’s major news outlets, and even the Washington Post and the New York Times), and two viral videos that have been viewed a combined 80 million times!

Justin earned his PhD in Psychology from the University of Wollongong. He and his wife Kylie have been married since the late 1990’s and are the parents of 6 daughters.

You can find a wealth of information at https://www.happyfamilies.com.au/

Sarah Byrnes
School Counsellor

Mother's Day Stall

We are holding our annual Mother's Day Stall on Friday 12th May.  

Please see flyer for further details.

All orders for both recess and lunch are to be ordered via our Qkr! app.   

Canteen orders close each canteen day (Monday, Wednesday & Friday) at 9.00am.

Healthy Canteen (Tuesday & Thursday) orders close on Mondays at 12pm.

Canteen Roster

Term 2

Friday 12th May - Jo & Jo Rowett

Monday 15th May - Julie

Tuesday 16th May - Jo

Wednesday 17th May - Julie

Thursday 18th May - Jo 

Friday 19th May - Jo & Victoria Thurston

Monday 22nd May - Julie

Tuesday 23rd May - Jo

Wednesday 24th May - Julie

Thursday 25th May - Jo

Friday 26th May - Jo & Stacey Arnold

Julie Henschke & Jo Fitzgerald

St John the Baptist School provides a safe environment for all while valuing the partnership between school and home.

As a Catholic community, we welcome and value volunteers. To be able to volunteer, and/or attend at other times throughout the school year, we ask that you hold a current Catholic Police Check (parents/caregivers attending excursions, reading in class, helping in class, attending community events), a current Responding to Risks of Harm, Abuse and Neglect in Education and Care for Volunteers certificate, have completed the volunteers application package and your COVID vaccination certificate.

A Catholic Police Check for volunteers is free for our current parents and caregivers. Application Forms are available in our school office.

This process ensures we maintain a child safe environment. To avoid disappointment, we encourage you to apply for a Catholic Police Check through the school office as soon as possible.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at the school office on 8218 3300 or email Francis Schulz on fschulz@stjohnpl.catholic.edu.au .

Hamra Library currently offer the following drop-in activities:

• A monthly writers' group (4:30-5:30pm every second Wednesday of the month)
• A monthly book club with no set text, just a place to come and talk about books! (4:30-5:30pm last Wednesday of every month)
• Homework club for all-ages study assistance every Monday during term, 4pm-6pm.
• 24/7 access to Studiosity for additional support if they have a West Torrens library card!
• The Australian Refugee Association offers homework support to students from refugee backgrounds who have been in Australia for 5 years or less every Thursday of term - 4pm-6pm
• Lego Club (every 2^nd Monday during term time, 3:30-5pm)
• "Sign Squad" for 12-25 year olds to learn Auslan from a Deaf tutor (Friday 5-6pm in weeks 1, 4, and 8 of each term)

None of these activities require bookings but further information is available via the Hamra Library website on the Activities and Events webpage:

https://www.westtorrens.sa.gov.au/Hamra-Centre-Library/Activities-and-event

The links and information that are being provided as a convenience and for informational purposes only.  They do not constitute an endorsement or an approval by St John the Baptist Catholic School of any of the products, services or opinions of the corporation or organisation or individual.  St John the Baptist Catholic School bears no responsibility for the accuracy legality or contact of the external site or for that of subsequent links.  Contact the external site for answers to questions regarding its content.