St John the Baptist Catholic Primary School, Freshwater

On SATURDAY 14TH OCTOBER, come along to vote in our school hall. There will be yummy treats and a BBQ running, plus a 2nd hand book stall! (No Cash accepted)

with Evergreen Music Sydney Academy of Chess Eye Heart Science Code Camp TinkerTank Voyager Tennis Academy

The school holidays are flying!!! Are you starting to think about Term 4 and forgot to book your child's spot in one of our extra-curricular activities?

Places are still available across the activities, so please check out our website for all the information. All enquiries and bookings are to be made directly with the businesses themselves.
https://www.sjbfdbb.catholic.edu.au/school-community/extra-curricular-activities/

It is not too late to enrol at SJB for Kindergarten 2024, we still have some spots available. Please visit our website to register your interest https://www.sjbfdbb.catholic.edu.au/enrolment-contacts/enrolments/

💛World Teachers Day is coming up 💛
To show appreciation, SEA LIFE Sydney Aquarium, WILD LIFE Sydney Zoo, Madame Tussauds Sydney, Sydney Tower Eye and Illawarra Fly Treetop Adventure will be giving teachers and 4 guests an EXCLUSIVE promotion within the month of October! *
To celebrate all New South Wales teachers can redeem FREE admission to these attractions and bring up to 4 guests at 40% off each ticket!
This is online offer is EXLCUSIVELY for our teachers!

Thank you to all Teachers, 🥰

World Teacher Day is approaching in October and Merlin Teachers Club is joining in on the celebration!

ALL of our attractions across Australia and New Zealand are giving Teachers FREE* access within October! With a variety of promotions available for both Teachers and their guests, make sure to check out what EXCLUSIVE deals you can get at your local Merlin attraction!

https://linktr.ee/merlinteachersclub

*T&C's apply

Week 10 is Service Week... Take a look at the schedule of activities below and take time out to talk as a family to discuss the importance of service in the community...

We look forward to planting some trees on Monday in the school grounds, students are to wear sports uniforms and bring some gardening gloves.

On Wednesday we are supporting the awareness campaign 'Face It for Childhood Dementia'. People are being asked to post photos of their painted faces to social media on September 22, the world’s first Childhood Dementia Day, with the slogan: “Childhood dementia: it’s time to FACE it. Childhood dementia exists and we must act”. Our students are encouraged to wear masks or face paint/makeup on Wednesday to support this important day.

Finally on Friday we have our mate, Jack Berne (former SJB student) visiting to share his TED Talk about the charity Fiver for a Farmer that he started here at SJB. Share in the Sausage Sizzle Lunch, order today via Qkr.

Thanks in advance for your support during SJB Service Week.

On this 14th day of September, it is R U OK Day...

R U OK? is calling on all of us to let the people you care about know you're here, to really hear them.

By taking the time for an R U OK? conversation and genuinely listening with an open mind, we can all help the people in our world feel supported and connected.

SJB Whole School Family Mass is on this weekend, Saturday 16th September 5.00pm.
See you there! A special hour to be grateful for our wonderful community, and this weekend, a great opportunity to see our student's entries for the Catholic Schools Broken Bay Religious Art Prize, with this year's theme being Compassion. We had some amazing, creative and thoughtful entries this year, SJB families must be so proud!

CatholicCare have this 5-week online course coming up if you or someone you know may need some support... It is designed to assist parents to see separation through their children’s eyes and provides tips on how best to support children through separation. This is for parents residing right across the Diocese.
https://catholiccaredbb.org.au/family.../parenting-programs/

This term Year 5 students are working on the unit of study 'Factors that Shape Places' in Geography. To compliment this unit, students joined friends at St Kieran's in an excursion called 'Earth Keepers' at Manly Dam.

The students gathered at St Kieran's Catholic Primary School, Manly Vale for a yarning circle before walking to Manly Dam to engage in activities inspired by traditional Indigenous land management skills and techniques.

SJB Stage One students visit to the Botanical Gardens...

In Geography this semester, stage one students are learning about features of places and the connections people have with places. For this excursion, students explored the places they live in and belong to whilst observing and describing features of places.

Students explored the best of the natural and human features of the Botanic Gardens and used geographic information and tools to interpret the environment. Students participated in learning activities that observe the natural and human features of different parts of the garden on a guided discovery walk. They also created an ephemeral map to interpret the features they have observed. Our students loved participating in a storytelling experience that discussed how to care for the natural world.

We want to give a shout out to all our Early Childhood Educator Friends who deserve praise each and every day but particularly on this annual day of recognition! We cannot state highly enough how we value your roles in preparing young children for their education journeys, especially to our SJB Catholic Primary School!

Thank you to Harbord Kindergarten Only About Children Early Learning Little Zak's Academy Puddleduck School and Day-care Centre Albert Hall Pre-school The Learning Sanctuary Guardianeducation Little Scribblers Early Learning Centres
Explore & Develop Freshwater Paisley Park Early Learning Centres

Don't miss this opportunity to hear from Lael Stone- Author, TEDx speaker, Counsellor and Parenting Educator who specialises in navigating trauma and disconnection in families. This is our final Parenting Seminar for 2023 and is free of charge for current SJB families, details have been sent via Compass!

Spread the word! Public tickets are available to the wider community at a small cost, so please tell your friends and families. This is a fantastic opportunity to see Lael in person - tickets are available via Trybooking now.
www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1099699

Lael Stone-Raising Resilient and Compassionate Children St John the Baptist Primary School Freshwater invites you to our final Parent Seminar for 2023- Lael Stone- author, TEDx speaker, counsellor and parenting educator who specialises in navigating trauma and disconnection in families. Tips for parents and carers will include; - Guiding our children ...

Good luck to all our students performing in the Wakakirri dance festival Finals tonight ✨ You’ve Got This 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

National Child Protection Week is a great time to consider how we all play a part in creating a safe and supportive community for children and young people. At Catholic Schools Broken Bay we see safeguarding as a shared responsibility and commit to ensuring our schools are safe for students to grow and flourish.

Walter ❤️ Doing it for Dad ❤️

Father's Day Celebrations started early for SJB families when Dad's and special father figures were invited to come along for breakfast, a beautiful liturgy and to spend some time in the classrooms with the children. What a beautiful day! #sjbfreshie

Apply for an Active Kids voucher The NSW Government is helping kids get active with the Active Kids program. To use the voucher, find a registered activity provider and present your...

Congratulations to our St John the Baptist Sports Representatives at the recent Northern Beaches Catholic Schools Athletics Carnival held at the Sydney Academy of Sport Narrabeen.

Special mention to our qualifiers who will be competing in the Broken Bay Athletics Carnival to be held at the Academy of Sport this Wednesday 30th August...

Scarlett P - 800m 2nd 100m 3rd and Jnr Relay 2nd and 1500m invitation
Darcey H-800m 1st and 1500m invitation
Alexis T- 800m 1st, Long Jump 1st 1500m invitation and 2nd over all U12 Athlete
Grace C- 100m 3rd, Jnr Relay and 1500m invitation
Isabella Y - 100m 3rd and Long Jump 2nd
Grace T- High Jump 3rd and Jnr Relay
Ruby W- Jnr Relay
Noah M- Jnr Shot 3rd
Billie K- Jnr Shot put and Jnr Long Jump

We wish them every success for Wednesday.

How good is our BOOK FAIR in the SJB Library!! Thank you Mrs Martin - you’re a superstar. ⭐️ Parents, Make sure you come along and visit (bring your credit card)

Open times:
Thursday 8.15am to 8.40am
Thursday 3.05pm to 4.00pm
Friday 25th 8.15am to 8.45am
Monday 28th 8.15am to 8.45am

Our SJB Father's Day celebration is fast approaching! Thank you to the parent's who have already sent in photographs, if you have a photo you wish to include on the day- please send in by midday this Friday.

Also please don't forget to RSVP for Breakfast! The students are super excited to have their Dad or special Father Figure at school on Friday 1st September.

Please see Compass note for official invitation

National Book Week is coming up and the excitement is brewing . We will centre our learning on the theme of Read, Grow, Inspire, together with the exciting selection of the Children's Book Council of Australia shortlisted books for 2023. We look at and respond to the themes of these books, we consider the language used, and how the illustrator uses visual literacy to convey meaning. We can often link these themes and ideas to experiences in our own lives. After reading all the texts, students then vote for their own book of the year.

Several exciting events will take place during SJB’s Book Week including:

📘Author visits from Jacqueline Harvey and Oliver Phommavanah. Both Jacqueline and Oliver have had previous careers as teachers and are now two of the most popular children’s authors in Australia.

📘Perform Education will be presenting an interactive musical adventure, Way Too Cool! Way Too Cool! Incorporates a selection of characters from the CBCA shortlisted books and the theme, Read, Grow, Inspire.

📘The Scholastic Book Fair will be open at various times throughout the week and times have been shared via Compass and the Newsletter;

📘The Annual Book Parade will take place on Thursday 24th August at 8:45am. What will be the most popular dress-up this year at SJB?

Our very own Mini Matilda - Billie K (Year 5) at NSWPSSA Girls Soccer in Nelson Bay representing Polding.....Games Tuesday - Friday! ⚽️GOOD LUCK BILLIE⚽️

Go the Matilda’s 💚💛
From all your SJB Super fans ⚽️

To celebrate the beginning of Science Week, our SJB Year Two students conducted an experiment on how to make ice cream 🍦And judging by the photo, it was delicious 😋

The school theme for National Science Week in 2023 is Innovation: Powering Future Industries. The theme incorporates the advancement in technology in all industries, especially using artificial intelligence (AI).

The curriculum focus of the theme is on:

Science as a Human Endeavour
Chemical Sciences
Physical Sciences
Earth and Space Sciences, and
Biological Sciences.

Watch out for more exciting Science celebrations this week !

It is “Schoolies Week” at St John the Baptist this week and that means we have our special pre-schooler friends visiting to get a taste of school life as they approach the big milestone in their lives - starting school.

They have been on classroom tours and to the Library, completed a science experiment with help from Year 4 students plus of course some time for outdoor play.

There are two more Schoolies sessions this week so please contact us if you would like to join a tour. All welcome !!

Congratulations to our SJB Finalists in Public Speaking. Colby W, Yr 6 and Nate R, Yr 3 represented St John the Baptist, Freshwater at the recent Bear Pit Public Speaking Competition hosted by James Griffin MP Parliament of NSW.

This annual event is highly regarded and in it's 14th year, Colby and Nate were outstanding with their speeches! The competition was tough, and they did our school and CSBB proud. Congratulations to the Winners and all who participated, we are truly grateful for the experience.

Thank you , our super SJB parents who support these events and the staff for coaching and guiding our students.

Students at SJB wore green and gold today in support of the CommBank Matildas 💚💛Students and staff embraced the theme in their jerseys, green and gold m***i or coloured accessories! Let’s go Matildas!

🥈NEWS JUST IN 🥈Congratulations to Hannah L winning a Silver medal at SSA Hockey and the Coaches Award! An amazing achievement- we are super proud of you Hannah and thank you for being a superstar of SJB Representative Sport

Congratulations and Good Luck to our Year 6 SJB Sports Representative, Hannah L, at the National Hockey Championships in Tasmania this week. You are a true champion in our SJB community, a great role model for your younger friends and you are bound for more success with your determination and talent. Go NSW #14

Today SJB students participated in the Keolis Downer Northern Beaches BUS SAFETY SCHOOL ROAD SHOW. This program aims to increase confidence for students, promote safe practices on and around public transport and encourage uptake of public transport as an easy travel option.

We invited our local pre-school friends from Explore & Develop Freshwater to join in this fun and engaging presentation, and they even caught the bus to our school! What an exciting day!

Make sure you ask your children what they learnt today from this presentation, topics included:

- Using public transport in the local area;
- Safe practices before, during, and after travelling on public transport;
- School Opal passes and fares, including when, how and why we use them;
- Environmental benefits of buses and public transport.

At Catholic Schools Broken Bay we value connections and as part of the Futures Project for the Southern Peninsula Precinct it was awesome to see Stage 3 students from our school join with St Cecilia's Catholic Primary School Balgowlah in a STEM day ran by CODE4FUN Sydney Programming School. Click through for more photos 📷

SJB's Stage 3 Coding Day with St Cecilia's Balgowlah SJB Freshwater Stage 3 students join St Cecilia's, Balgowlah for a STEM Connection Day with CODE4FUN as part of the Southern Peninsula Precinct's Stage 3 Hub.

Our SJB Kindergarten students have made it to their 100 day mark of their first school year and it was iceblocks and fairy bread to celebrate 🎉 A big thank you to the best Kindergarten Teacher ever - Mrs Conlon 🤎💛🤎💛

Catholic Schools Broken Bay Manly Freshwater Parish

Visits from our local pre-school centres are always welcome here at SJB. It is always wonderful to see the eyes of children open wide to absorb new surroundings and new people.

At the end of Term 2, Teachers and pre-schoolers from Only About Children (OAC), Freshwater walked to our school for an excursion with our Year 6 Leaders, joining in some learning activities, reading, fun games and outdoor play.

Our students show amazing maturity and are very caring toward their young friends and are most proud to show off their school. Thank you for visiting us Only About Children Early Learning Freshwater, we look forward to your next visit.