School Newsletter - Issue 1 - Friday, 16th February 2024
Principal's News
Dear Parents and Carers,
Welcome to Week 2, can you believe 3 weeks already! (sounds a bit weird considering our first week was called week ‘0’. We’re so happy with the start to the year and how happy the students have been. Kindergarten began seamlessly two weeks ago, and you would have thought they’d been here a year already.
Danny Casey (Director of Schools Broken Bay) Visit
Yesterday we were most fortunate to have Danny Casey (our Director of Schools) visit St John Fisher. We walked Danny around the school discussing teaching and learning, students’ data, gave a building project update, had morning tea with staff but most importantly, visited some classrooms. Danny, like all visitors to Tumbi, noticed the positive, happy and energetic environment that we are lucky enough to be in every day.
New Staff To St John Fisher
We have had a few new staff members join St John Fisher over the holiday break. I will send home an updated staff list next week but the following staff have recently joined us:
1/ School Counsellor – Liz Swadling (Tues – Thurs)
2/ School Counsellor - Christine Hain (Monday for Term 1)
3/ Diverse Learning – Isabel Wallace decided not to return to her substantive role. Mrs Courtenay Harrison has now joined our Diverse Learning Team and will be at Tumbi on Mondays and Fridays.
National Wellbeing Grant
Last year we applied for and were successful in receiving a National Wellbeing Grant. This grant is funded over a four year period and is aimed at providing extra resourcing towards wellbeing initiatives not already implemented. Examples of work in this area will be parent education sessions as well as new student initiatives. Mrs Kate Benton will lead this initiative in consultation with our school counsellors and Mrs Lawicki (who is our Pastoral Care and Wellbeing coordinator). Exciting times ahead in this area.
Siblings 2025 Interviews
Can you believe we are talking about this already!! Because this is always a very busy period, we will be conducting all sibling interviews for 2025 this term. We have set aside Thursday 4 April for this to happen. If you have a sibling to be enrolled at SJF in 2025, please submit your enrolment well before this date so we can then schedule interviews. We don’t want you to miss out so please consider filling in the paperwork soon. Links will be sent out early next week on Compass.
Meet the Teacher / Year-Based Parent Information Video
Thank you to all the Kindergarten, Year 1, 2 and 5 Parents who attended the ‘in person’ parent information sessions last Tuesday (Year 6 will be next Tuesday at 5:30pm in the Year 6 classrooms). Many thanks to the teaching teams for staying back.
For Years 3 and 4 you will have received a recorded message from the teachers so you can see them and know who is teaching your children. A term overview and class procedures document should also have arrived.
Goal Setting Meetings
Goal setting meetings will be conducted either over the phone or in person the week of Monday 11th March - Friday 15th March (Week 6). You will be able to book through Compass in a couple of weeks and instructions will be passed on through a Compass message.
Parent Volunteers Declaration
Volunteering at school is a great way to be involved in your child's education and an opportunity to get to know staff and meet other parents. Many of our events and excursions are not possible without the wonderful generosity of parents and carers, giving up their valuable time to assist.
Throughout the year, there are many different volunteering opportunities, either in the canteen, during excursions, sporting events, or supporting students’ learning in the classroom. Therefore, if you are interested in volunteering, please click on the link and complete the CSBB Contractor & Volunteer Engagement Form which is part of the Broken Bay Diocese’s Commitment to Safeguarding Children and Young People.
Please contact the School Office on 7256 2102 if you have any further questions regarding volunteering in our school.
All volunteers will be required to complete the Declaration for Volunteers form.
Any help would be greatly appreciated and welcomed.
Building Update
The fences are up, Year 5 have moved into the demountables and we are about set to begin. At this point in time, soft demolition of the Year 5 classrooms will begin next week before the major demolition to begin either late next week or early the following. Teachers are well aware and will accommodate all learning needs.
Free Mulch
We had a few trees removed over the holidays due to poor health. We have a large pile of mulch from these trees near the first school entry gate. Please feel free to help yourselves if you would like any (this is good mulch, trust me)
Kind regards
Marcel Arendse
Principal
Assistant Principal's News
School Day Timetable
We continually research, review, and adapt to provide an evidence-based and professional teaching and learning culture. As a result, we are continuing Professional Learning Communities where staff will be analysing data, planning and delivering quality learning programs targeting all students' points of need. To best support this initiative the recess and lunch break times are as follows:
8:50 - 10:50 Morning Learning Block
10:50 - 11:30 Recess
11:30 - 1:30 Middle Learning Block
1:30 - 2:10 Lunch
2:10 - 3:15 Afternoon Learning Block
Naturally, the students are given regular opportunities to have a small break and drink water during the day.
Whilst I understand how hard it is to get any form of doctor or specialist appointment, we do ask that you try your best to make this outside of school hours so we can maximise all learning opportunities for the children.
Whole School Assemblies
This year at St John Fisher we will continue to hold our whole school assemblies each Friday, straight after the morning bell. Families are always more than welcome to join us during these assemblies which usually involve an Acknowledgement of Country, school prayer, national anthem, awards, special notices and the school song. These assemblies are usually led by our Year 6 leaders.
Our school awards will continue to be handed out during these whole school assemblies. On even weeks, teachers will hand out 2-3 class awards based on a child’s effort and positive behaviour in class. During odd week assemblies, Mr Arendse will hand out Growing in Faith and Knowledge awards to one person in each grade.
For families who are unable to attend these whole school assemblies they will be live streamed, and a recording will be sent out via Compass later that day.
School Assembly Link: St John Fisher Live Stream Link
Award Notifications
We like parents to be aware that their child is receiving an award to give them the best opportunity to join us during the assembly.
For the Growing in Faith and Knowledge awards, your child’s classroom teacher will ring you if your child will be receiving an award that Friday.
If your child is receiving a class award, you will receive an email from Compass informing you that your child will receive an award on Friday. We have asked teachers to have these notifications sent by Wednesday, lunchtime, to give parents an opportunity to attend the assembly if they are able.
It is always up to the parents whether they tell their child they are receiving an award or not, but a surprise for the children on the day is always nice. For this to work most effectively, please ensure your email address and phone number are up to date on Compass, and notifications are turned on.
Morning Drop off
Each morning, teacher supervision starts in the COLA at 8:20am. We have noticed that some cars are dropping children off as early as 8am. We ask parents to please not drop children off prior to 8:20am as there is no supervision in the COLA . The school bell rings for children to line up at 8:50am, so the children will have plenty of time to play before school with teacher supervision.
If you require care for your child either before or after school hours please contact our on site Out of School Hours Care (OSHC) on 0481 602 075.
Afternoon Pick Up
We would like to thank all families for your help and support with afternoon pick up this year. We are asking teachers to bring their children down to the COLA at 3:15pm, in order to maximise the teaching and learning time in the classrooms.
The school gates will be opened at 3pm to allow parents to drive in and park their cars. However, we ask parents who are using the drive through pick up to not arrive before 3:10pm as drive through will not begin until the classes have arrived at the COLA. We ask this to avoid the congestion on Hansen’s Rd. Cars that arrive for drive through early will be asked to park. Drive through pick up will close at 3:30pm, we do find that closer towards this time is less busy if that suits your pick up circumstances.
We know that our afternoon pick up can be difficult at times, but as a school community we want to maximise learning time and also provide a safe dismissal process. We thank you for your cooperation in supporting this.
Stephen Lynch
Assistant Principal
Class Merit Awards
Growing in Faith and Knowledge Awards
Religious Education Co-ordinator News
As we start our journey of Lent let us take time to reflect on what is good in our lives.
CC: www.sadlier.com
Ash Wednesday
On Wednesday we marked the start of Lent with a lovely liturgy led by our 
talented Year 6 Pastoral Care and Mission Team. They proved to show outstanding leadership and led us very prayerfully and reverently.
Reconciliation
Students in Year 4 and above who have made the sacrament of Confirmation, who would like to make the sacrament of Reconciliation, are asked to complete the online enrolment form attached.
There will be a parent information night at 7pm Monday 26th February St Cecilia’s Church and students at St John Fisher will make the sacrament here in the Mass Centre on Wednesday 27th March at 4pm.
In preparation for this sacrament, we ask that students attend weekend mass. During Mass on Sunday 3rd March at 5pm, candidates will be presented and acknowledged.
Reconciliation Enrolment Form
Project Compassion
During Lent, we aim to support those less fortunate than ourselves. 
We do this by fundraising for Project Compassion. Coming home this week is a Project Compassion box and we ask students to do jobs around the house to help raise money. Check out the Project Compassion website for some more ideas and activities.
Project Compassion | Donate Now | Caritas Australia
A big Thank You to Adele Toomey who spent countless hours over the Christmas break painting resources to support the Religious Education Curriculum in Kindy to Year 2. Adele did a fantastic job and even made some of the characters look like family members (Very cute Archer) 
Pastoral Care and Wellbeing
As part of our journey to become a PBL School (Positive Behaviours for Learning), we are in the process of revising our school rules and behavioural expectations. Over the next few weeks, we will outline what this means for St John Fisher and how this data-informed approach supports students' positive behavioural choices and helps students develop social and emotional skills.
As part of this, we have a fortnightly focus on one behavioural expectation and this fortnight focus is: 
Urgent Health Care
For anyone who is looking for medical attention and cannot get in to see a doctor, there is a great facility that has now opened its doors at Long Jetty. Please see information below.
Luisa Lawicki
Religious Education Co-ordinator
Office News & Information
SCHOOL FEES
You will receive your 2024 School Fees invoice via email this week from Catholic Schools Broken Bay. The Tax Invoice shows 2024 School Fees and any outstanding balance. Please read the below Your Tax Invoice Explained.
Your Tax Invoice Explained CSBB.pdf
New BPay Reference
The preferred payment method is BPay using your new reference number on the Tax Invoice. Please note payments cannot be made over the phone.
Instalments
You can find your instalments on the second page of your Tax Invoice. The first instalment for 2024 School Fees is due on 21st February 2024.
For those families that have an alternative arrangement with the School Fee Liaison Team, you will receive another statement reflecting the arrangement in the coming weeks.
Should you have any questions relating to your fees please contact: -
Catholic Schools Broken Bay School Fees Liaison Team
Via email at schoolfees@dbb.catholic.edu.au or phone 02 7256 2888.
MEDICATION FORMS
If your child requires medication to be administered at school; antibiotics, paracetamol, Nurofen, etc, a Request to Administer Medication at School Form must be completed and signed by a parent and doctor.
NOTE: For school staff to administer any medication including ‘over-the-counter medication’, authorisation is required from a Prescribing Health Practitioner. This form will not be accepted by school staff unless it has been completed, signed, and stamped by the Prescribing Health Practitioner.
LEAVE FORMS
If your child/ren will be away from school for up to 9 school days due to travel, an email must be sent to your class teacher advising them of this absence. Parents should ensure an attendance entry in Compass has been made before this leave.
If your child/ren will be on leave due to travel for 10 school days or more, an Application for Extended Leave must be completed at least 2 weeks before travel. Please submit this form to the school office, upon approval by the school Principal, a certificate will be issued. This certificate must always be carried in person with you during your travel.
SECOND-HAND UNIFORMS
If any parents would like to donate to the school office any of the following uniform items, it would be much appreciated.
Size 4, 6, 8, and 10 school shorts, sports shorts and summer dresses
The Admin Team
Sports News
Congratulations!
SJF Cross Country will be on Friday 1st March starting at 9:00 am on the top oval. All welcome.
Good luck to all the students participating in the CCC swimming carnival on Monday.
Congratulations to three SJF students Gracie C, Isabelle S, and Eliana W 
who represented the Central Coast in the Under 9's Oz Tag winning team at the State Cup at Penrith.
Michael Pobjie
Sports Teacher
Parent Engagement Co-ordinator (PEC)
Catholic School Parents (CSP) Representative EOI
We are accepting expressions of interest from any parents interested in becoming one of our “Catholic School Parents” (CSP) representatives. This role involves working with the PEC to encourage parent engagement in our school and attending a Zoom meeting once per term to hear about what’s happening in all the diocesan schools. If you are interested or have any questions, please email kate.benton@dbb.catholic.edu.au
BB Catholic School Parents - Catholic Schools (csbb.catholic.edu.au)
SJF Advisory EOI
We are also taking expressions of interest for any parent interested in joining our SJF Advisory. I have linked below, the school webpage which outlines the role of the advisory and its current members. Please email kate.benton@dbb.catholic.edu.au if you are interested, or if you have any questions.
SJF Advisory - St John Fisher Tumbi Umbi (sjfdbb.catholic.edu.au)
If you have any items you would like discussed at the advisory meeting, please feel free to send them to the above email address. Our first meeting is set for Thursday 22nd February 2024.
“Just One Thing”
You will have noticed a compass note this week from me entailing lots of parent-specific engagement and involvement opportunities. It may seem like a lot, but please remember we are a small but mighty community. If we all do “Just One Thing”, together we will achieve everything. (See flyer below)
“Little Fisher’s” Playgroup
This term we will have 2 playgroup opportunities for your little ones. We invite siblings, friends, families, and community members to attend. The playgroup is for non-school aged children. Our first session will run next Tuesday 20th February in the main school hall. Our second session is going to be a beautiful “Little Fisher’s” Children’s Liturgy on Sunday 24th March, at 5 pm in the SJF Mass Centre. The children will attend children’s liturgy with myself and our teachers to do some lovely activities and the parents are invited to join Fr for mass and enjoy a well-earned moment of peace and mindfulness. (See flyer below)
Wyong Parish Family Picnic
Please feel free to bring your families and come along to our Parish Family Picnic!
Sunday 25th February, 10:30 am on the field behind St Cecilia’s Church at Wyong. For more info, contact gabbi.scherer@bbcatholic.org.au
Support our Parish - Parish Giving
You may not be aware that our diocese, Broken Bay, has an app with lots of fantastic resources, including information on mass services, catholic care, and our parish giving program.
An important way of contributing to our parish and being part of the community is our “Planned Giving Program”. It is a simple way to help build our St John Fisher Church of Wyong Parish. Donating, even as little as $1 every week makes a huge difference to our Parish, which is fully funded by our parishioners. Have a look at the following link for more information and see the flyer below.
https://brokenbay.goodgiving.com.au
Kate Benton
Parent Engagement Co-ordinator
Canteen News
Hello and welcome back to everyone.
It’s been great seeing old faces from last year and some new faces in the canteen this year.
I enjoyed my first year in the canteen and loved having so many volunteers and meeting new people. The students were amazing and loved seeing so many smiling faces throughout the year. The canteen has become a lovely community to be involved with, so thank you.
Canteen Update;-
Please ensure this has been completed!
QKR IMPORTANT PROCESS TO COMPLETE before you start ordering for 2024 - Parents and carers are required to update EACH child into their new classes for 2024 on the QKr app. This is a very important step as it will ensure your child’s lunch order will be delivered into the correct 2024 class basket.
Step 1. GO into the QKr App
Step 2. Select Profile
Step 3. Select the Child/ren (you will need to change each child)
Step 4. Select the “year” AND “2024 class” (both of these need to be changed otherwise it will default to Kindy.
Please make sure you complete this step. It is crucial to ensure your child/children are in the correct class on Qkr and receive their orders. We have had a few Children looking for their orders at lunchtime because the wrong class is listed.
QKr Stock availability- Please take note that when you are ordering for your child/children on the QKr app and you do not see an item available, this will be because of one of the following reasons:
- Stock limits have been exhausted for that day. (Daily limits have reached capacity for that item for that day – Due to fridge, freezer, and oven space, there is only a certain amount of products that the canteen can store safely and produce on any given day)
-The supplier is out of stock so I do not have that item. (The Supplier is out of stock so I have not received item/s from the Supplier, Unfortunately, at times, I do not know until the order arrives what is “in” or “out” of stock from the supplier (even when listed as in stock) – only then can I update the stock numbers in QKr.
- No volunteers are available for the day. Volunteers are sick or can not make it in so stock limits have been reduced or exhausted for that day. (please note, that I try my best to source replacement volunteers for the day, and closing QKr is my absolute last resort)
- Stock Recount will be redone in QKr at the end of every Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday and updated for the following day/week, ready for ordering.
Price Increases. – Last year there was no increase in food prices on the menu, unfortunately, due to the continued increase of supplier costs over the year, there has been an increase in the prices on our menu. The increase has been kept to a minimum and in some instances no increase at all.
VOLUNTEERS - are an integral part of the smooth running of our canteen to provide food safely and on time. WE NEED MORE VOLUNTEERS!
If you would like to volunteer in our canteen this year and meet some wonderful people in our community, please contact me at helen.taufel@dbb.catholic.edu.au I will be happy to pass on the relevant information required to volunteer in our canteen and would love to have you on board. If you are new to the school this year or have been here a while, it is a great way to meet new friends and the kids love having, Mum, Dad or grandparents in the canteen.
All are welcome. So many volunteers had a great time in the canteen last year.
St John Fisher Canteen Facebook Page -If you have a child at the school and you would like to join the canteen Facebook page, please feel free to do so. The page name is SJF Canteen. This page will be used for many reasons this year. Some examples are - QKr information and how-to's. What's going on in the canteen? Volunteer information and more.
WHAT'S NEW THIS TERM – A trial of the following items for term One. The success of these items will be reassessed throughout the term to gauge whether they will continue.
Chicken Burgers and Cheese Burgers will now have a salad option available. Available from $4.00
Vegetarian Burger – A vegetable patty on a roll with your choice of salad and sauces. Available from $4.00
Birthday ice block baskets - will be available from week 4. A basket with up to 24 Quelch ice blocks in a decorated birthday basket to help celebrate your child’s birthday with their classmates. Available from $15.00 (an option to add more ice blocks will be available -up to 6)
As I am unsure of how these will go logistically, the following guidelines will be in place;
- Currently, there will only be 4 baskets available per day.
- The class teacher and canteen staff will liaise to make sure of the time that the child will collect the basket, to ensure it is the best time of day to suit the Teacher and Class
- The birthday child is to collect the basket from the canteen at an agreed time with the teacher/canteen Staff
- The birthday child is to return the basket to ensure available for the next day/child.
- If the Birthday Basket is unavailable on QKr at the time of order, then it is because they have sold out or the Ice Blocks are unavailable.
- The basket and all decorative items on the basket, belong to the canteen.
We will gauge how these baskets go and reassess them throughout the term.
Canteen Easter Raffle
Purchase a “LUNCH” order between the 1st of March and the 22nd of March, and you will automatically go into the draw to win an Easter Prize.
Lunch Order = 1 entry into the draw
Lunch to be ordered between 1-22 March 2024
The raffle will be drawn on Wednesday 27th March 2024, winners will be notified.
Pick up prizes on the 27th and 28th of March.
Winners will be listed on the SJF Canteen's Facebook Page
If there are changes to any of the above, the school community will be advised.
Thanking you and looking forward to another fun-filled year in the canteen.
Helen Taufel
Canteen Manager
Flyers
Looking for a fun team activity for your child!? Girls & Boys 4yo & up Excellent opportunities in the 13-16s tooRegistrations are NOW OPEN for the
Berkeley Vale Panthers Rugby League Club.Here is the link: playrugbyleague.com Want more info: Call/Text Matt on 0402236560Email: juniors@bvpanthers.comMatt Roberts JPPresident
Berkeley Vale Rugby League & Sports Club
Upcoming Events
| TERM 1 | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
| Week 3 | 19th February | 20th February | 21st February | 22nd February | 23rd February |
| Week 4 | 26th February | 27th February | 28th February | 29th February | 1st March |
| Week 5 | 4th March | 5th March | 6th March | 7th March | 8th March |
| Week 6 | 11th March | 12th March Goal Setting Evening | 13th March | 14th March SJF Open Day Morning Session | 15th March |
| Week 7 | 18th March | 19th March St Josephs Day | 20st March | 21st March | 22nd March Big Arvo 5:00 pm |
| Week 8 | 25th March | 26th March | 27th March Easter Hat Parade Reconciliation | 28th March | 29th March
|
| Week 9 | 1st April | 2nd April | 3rd April | 4th April | 5th April |
| Week 10 | 8th April | 9th April | 10th April | 11th April | 12th April |
| TERM 2 | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
| Week 1 | 29th April | 30th April Advisory Meeting | 1st May | 2nd May | 3rd May |
| Week 2 | 6th May | 7th May | 8th May | 9th May | 10th May Mother's Day Breakfast |
