Week 6 Term 4 2024

It's hard to believe that it is already Week 6, the term is zooming along. A big thank you to Sharon and Slava Grigoryan for their performance in early November. Many members of our community and beyond gathered together and enjoyed an unbelievable evening from two international super stars. Sharon and Slava donated their time and talent, with 100% of funds raised going towards our new challenging playground for older children. The evening raised just a little over $2500.00. We look forward to having the opportunity to be entertained and mesmorised by Sharon and Slava in the near future. 

Christmas Concert

We invite families to our annual Christmas Concert on Friday 29th November on our school oval. Gates will open at 5:00pm with a sausage sizzle operating, selling vegetarian and beef sausages, ice blocks, ice creams and soft drinks. A coffee van will be onsite selling coffee, tea and other beverages. The Parents and Friends will be selling raffle tickets prior to the raffle draw later in the night. They will also be selling Lucky Dips for the children for $2.00 each, please bring along all your loose change.  The concert will begin at 5:30pm with all classes currently working hard to polish their performance. Hopefully we have all been behaving so Father Christmas drops by to wish us all a Merry Christmas.

Pupil Free Days

Our last school day for 2024 is Wednesday 11th December. If you require care for children on Thursday 12th and Friday 13th December, please contact Mirella by email mirella.tsimikilis@sjb.catholic.edu.au to book your child.

Staffing 2025

I am thrilled to announce the teaching staff for 2025. We will be moving to straight year levels in Year 1 and 2 in 2025.

Reception                          Giovanna Burgess

                                           Rebecca Werner

Year 1                                 Amelia Le Duff and Nicole Puopolo

                                           Madeline Bellinger

Year 2                                 Charlie Willoughby         

                                            Kayla Harrison

Year 3-4                              Helena Pomeroy

                                            Sameera Sekhon

                                            Rosemarie Cavaleri

Year 5-6                               Marianne Pope and Dino Zandona

                                            Jessica Rushby

Little Boscos                        Jenna Weber

Physical Education               Dino Zandona and Mace Van Weenen

Japanese                              Matthew Scott

Performing Arts                     Matthew Scott

STEM                                   Nikki Hall

Semester Two Student Reports

Families have received correspondence explaining the process of setting up the SEQTA Engage App in readiness to receive your child’s Semester Two Student Report digitally. Please ensure you are set up and ready to go as reports are accessible at 3:00pm on Monday 9th December 2024. Dino is available to assist families in setting up the SEQTA Engage App before and after school next week. Please see Dino's session times in the side content SEQTA Engage advert.

Sacramental Program 2025 

The 2025 enrolment forms for the Sacraments of Reconciliation, Confirmation and First Holy Communion are now available from the Front Office or the Parish Office. This program is open to any child who is in Year 3 or above in 2024 and has been baptised Catholic. If you wish to enrol your child in the program, please complete an enrolment form that is available at the Parish Office or the SJB Front Office, including either a scanned copy or photo of your child’s baptism certificate attached and email these back to the parish: parish@brooklynparkrichmond.org.au. Hard copies of the form can be returned to the Front Office. Please return all forms by Friday the 13th of December 2024. 

Remembrance Day  

On the 11th of November, 1/2NA led a beautiful and respectful Remembrance Day Service in the courtyard. The children did an outstanding job, guiding our school community through this solemn occasion as we honoured and remembered those who have served and sacrificed for our country. 

Mission Day 

We are thrilled to announce that our recent Mission Day was a tremendous success, raising over $2,420.00 for St. Vincent de Paul! It was a day filled with excitement, creativity, and community spirit as our children came together to make a difference. The Year 5/6 children did a fantastic job designing and running ten unique stalls, offering everything from fun games and spooky thrills in the Haunted Terror to arts and crafts, and a delicious variety of sweet and savory treats. Their hard work and imagination made each stall a hit, and it was wonderful to see the school community come together to support such a worthy cause. Well done to the children for their dedication and creativity, and to all who helped make Mission Day a day to remember! 

Moore Street Christmas Hampers 

Thank you to those who have generously donated to the Moore Street Christmas Hampers. Please continue to bring in any non-perishable items such as tinned fruits, Christmas puddings and cakes, pasta and rice, nuts and dried fruit, shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrushes and soap (no conditioners or body wash please). These items can be taken to your child’s classroom (not the Front Office). Please give what you can to support needy people all over Adelaide.  

Year 6 Graduation Liturgy and Ceremony

Please join us for the Year 6 Graduation Liturgy and Ceremony on Wednesday 11th December, from 5:30pm - 6:30pm, in the St John Bosco Hall. This special event will celebrate the achievements and growth of our Year 6 students as they prepare for the next chapter of their journey. We look forward to honouring our graduates and sharing this memorable occasion with our school community. Congratulations to the Class of 2024! 

Advent 

Beginning on December 1, we enter the season of Advent, a special time in the Christian calendar. Advent, which begins four Sundays before Christmas, marks the start of the Church’s liturgical year and is a season of joyful anticipation and preparation for the celebration of the birth of Jesus. The word “Advent” comes from the Latin word adventus, meaning “coming” or “arrival.” During this time, Christians focus on preparing their hearts and minds for the coming of Christ. It’s a time of hope, waiting, and reflection, as we look forward to both the celebration of Jesus’ birth and His promised return. Traditionally, we observe Advent with the lighting of the Advent wreath. Each week, we light a new candle, symbolising hope, peace, joy, and love—reminders of the light that Jesus brings into the world. It’s a time for us to think about the ways we can be a light to others, showing kindness, generosity, and love to those around us. Advent is a wonderful opportunity to slow down amidst the busyness of December and focus on the true meaning of Christmas. Let us use this time to prepare our hearts to welcome Jesus with joy and gratitude. 

Final call for those wanting to apply for 2024 School Card. Cut off for electronic application is Friday 23rd November.  If you miss this date it can be submitted manually providing documentation is completed by Wednesday 27th November and handed to the school office.

In Year 3/4 we have had a busy and exciting term so far! Students have been busy engaging in hands-on learning activities that combine creativity, collaboration, and skill development. Here are two exciting highlights:

Writing and Testing Procedures

In Literacy, we are exploring the genre of procedural writing by creating step-by-step instructions for making fairy bread. This activity helped students focus on clarity, sequencing, and using action verbs. The highlight was testing their written procedures to see if they could successfully create fairy bread! This fun and delicious exercise reinforced the importance of precise communication, while sparking some giggles when the children discovered some missing steps or unclear instructions.

Fractions Learning

In Mathematics, we’ve been diving deeper into fractions and representing them in creative ways. Students designed fractions posters to show their understanding of concepts such as: fractions as an equal part, representing fractions, equivalent fractions, and fractions on a number line. These posters not only consolidated their learning but also made our classroom walls come alive with colourful evidence of their progress!

I am so proud of the enthusiasm and teamwork shown by all students during these activities!

On Friday 15th November the SJB Year 5/6 cohort hosted the school’s annual Mission Day. This is always an event that is much looked forward to by the school community and this year’s senior students did a wonderful job in organising, setting up and facilitating the day.

Mission Day works to raise money for St Vincent de Paul through a variety of stalls that are thoughtfully planned and held by our Year 5/6 students. The planning and preparation of these stalls happens in small groups, where the students work together as a team to organise their products, prepare advertisements, and promote their stall. All this hard work also engages the students in the Economics and Business standard in the Australian Curriculum.

There was great variety in the stalls presented this year, including handmade jewellery, water games, a haunted house and a range of cultural foods.

Mission Day 2024 was a huge success, with all stalls combined raising an amazing total of $2,420.20. The students are all so proud of their efforts and achievements and are also very grateful for the support of their peers, teachers and the SJB community.

I enjoyed working with my friends on something that we are all interested in. - Odelinda

I liked being able to serve people our product and see them enjoy our cooking. - Dean S

I enjoyed working on our advertisements and seeing them on our school pages for everyone to see. - Lilly

I had a lot of fun serving our food and having people tell us how delicious it was! - Angelo

25 children attended the Children's University Graduation at Bonython Hall in Adelaide. Thank you to Louise Marshall for leading this program and providing our children with this great opportunity.

Library borrowing has now ceased for the year. 

Please assist your child/ren in locating any library books they still have at home and return them back to the library.

All library books need to be returned to the library by Friday 29th November.

Thanking you in advance for supporting and maintaining our school library collection.

Julie Graney

Your are invited to attend the presentation of the Premier's Reading Challenge Medals. It will be held in the school hall at 2:00pm on Monday 25th November.