Without confidence and love, there can be no true education. If you want to be loved, you

must love yourselves, and make your children feel that you love them” St John Bosco

Our prep 2021 children attended the last of their small transition sessions today. These children are looking very ready for school despite the interruption to their Kinder year. Next Thursday they will have their first whole class experience when they join with the whole school as we spend an hour with our 2021 class group.

On Monday Daniel Parnis the Deputy Principal/Well being leader at St Martin De Porres passed away suddenly. Daniel had a heart attack 8 days prior and unfortunately his brain was robbed of oxygen for over half an hour. He died peacefully after his life support was turned off. Daniel was a lovely man. He will be greatly missed by his family and school community. We ask you to keep these groups in your prayers.

The Grade 6 children are having a ball in the new Gaga pit. Once again we thank the Parents and Friends for their assistance with the construction of this piece of equipment.

Tomorrow we will still be having a virtual School Assembly. The video will be posted prior to 3 pm.

Next week I will distribute my Christmas cards to all families. Inside these cards will be a copy of all the Mass times for our Christmas/New year liturgies. Please make sure you retain these as there is no Christmas without Christ in it!

Second Sunday of Advent Year B Mk 1:1-8 Make straight the paths of the Lord God's Word Making a List, Checking it Twice A major theme of the Scripture readings is ‘A call for change.’ The first reading is a great comfort to people who suffer oppression in exile. It sounds like a newspaper vendor crying out, ‘Extra! Extra! Read all about it!’ The prophet’s message – to prepare a way for the Lord – strongly suggests that something new is about to begin, that a great change is going to take place. The images of God, for whom the way is to be prepared, are contrasting ones – a powerful God with strong arms, but also a gentle comforter who speaks tenderly and holds lambs in those arms. The psalm celebrates the kindness of God who comes with peace and justice for those who hear and fear God. The psalm captures both the frustration and the hope of God’s people. They are hopeful that God will bring justice and peace, yet impatient at having to wait for that to happen.

The Second Letter of Peter echoes Isaiah’s announcement that the Lord is coming and that a radical change will take place. The change will result in a new heaven and a new earth. Likewise, the people who await the Lord’s coming must change – repent and try to live without stain or defilement, and at peace in the Lord’s sight. Waiting in this manner is not a waste of time. God will decide when all is ready for the Lord’s Second Coming, and people can use the time to make things right between themselves and God. The first words of the Gospel of Mark are from the Isaiah passage for this Sunday. These words are used to introduce John the Baptist, who was sent to prepare the way for the coming of Jesus. John sees repentance and the forgiveness of sins as the way to wait and get ready for the coming of Jesus. He baptises those who believe him, as a sign of a new birth coming in Jesus. John‘s call – the call of Advent – is a call to change, a call to conversion, a call to wait patiently and confidently for the coming of the Lord.

St John Bosco’s School NEWSLETTER

St John Bosco's School is committed to the safety and wellbeing of all students and young people www.sjbniddrie.catholic.edu.au E: principal@sjbniddrie.catholic.edu.au T: 9337 2314

Edition 38 3 DEC 2020

Fri 4 Dec School Closure Day, 2021 Planning Day Mon 7 Dec P&F Student/ Staff Pie Lunch Thurs 10 Dec Whole School Orientation to 2021 class Fri 11 Dec Swimming Carnival Mon 14 Dec Year 6 Graduation Day Tue 15 Dec Last day 2020, 12.30pm Dismissal

Mon 1 Feb First day for students 2021 Wed24-Fri 26 Feb Year 5 & 6 Camp Mon 8 Mar Labour Day Sat 13 Mar First Communion Year 5, 6pm Wed 17 Mar Enrolment Information Day-Prep 2022 Sat 20 Mar First Communion Year 5, 6pm Thurs 1 Apr Last Day Term 1, 1pm dismissal Fri 2 Apr Good Friday Mon 19 Apr First Day Term 2 Fri 21 May School Closure Day Sat 29 May First Communion Year 4, 6pm Sat 5 Jun First Communion Year 4, 6pm Mon 14 Jun Queens Birthday Fri 25 June Last Day Term 2, 1pm dismissal Mon 12 Jul First Day Term 3 Sat 7 Aug Confirmation Year 6, 12.30 &3pm Wed 1 Sept Reconciliation Year 3 Fri 17 Sep Last Day Term 3, 1pm dismissal Mon 1 Nov School Closure Day – Report Writing Tues 2 Nov Melbourne Cup Thu 25 Fri 26 Nov School Closure Days Mon 13 Dec Year 6 Graduation Tues 14 Dec Last Day of School, 12.30pm dismissal

Confirmation 2020 We continue to prepare for the Sacrament of Confirmation on Wednesday 9th December. Bishop Terry will celebrate the Liturgy with us at 10am, Midday and 2:30 pm. Thank you to everyone who is working together to make this happen.

Sacramental Dates 2021 Some important dates for the following students and families. Further information regarding the Sacraments and Parent information nights will follow early in term 1.

Many thanks to those who have already donated so

generously to the St Vincent de Paul Christmas

Appeal.

The Mini Vinnie’s would like to remind you that the

Christmas hampers will be prepared next week and all

donations will be accepted up until Wednesday, 9th

December.

Please be mindful that the food donations have a

Christmas theme as suggested below.

Congratulations to both Sophie Vidot & Elijah Khoury for their achievement in winning the ATOM Groundswell Short Film Competition. This is an award that was sponsored by the Australian Teachers of Media (ATOM) and Jamie Durie OBE Sophie took out first place in the Senior Primary Section and Elijah took out first place in the Junior Primary Section. Well done to both of you, a fantastic and well deserved result. Saint John Bosco’s was also well represented in this competition as all other finalists in both sections were from SJB. Congratulations to Natalia Di Carlo, Alex Mlikota, Daniel Bukovinszky in the senior section and Oliver Molloy, Max Maiorana and Scarlett Najdovski in the junior section. You all produced amazing short films, well done!

Congratulations to Fr Nhan Le who has been appointed as our Parish Priest. We are blessed to have Fr Nhan, together with our priest in residence Fr Thomas Toretkiu, leading our faith community. We keep Fr Nhan in our prayers as he leads SJB, along with our sister parish St Martin De Porres. It is an immense job and he appreciates all the support from his parishioners.

Congratulations to Fr Clement Baffoe who was ordained on Saturday. His time as Deacon was quite challenging during the pandemic, however he was able to connect with parishioners through online masses and particularly with his beautiful homilies. We wish him all the very best as he goes to his new post in Townsville in January. Father Clement will say his first mass at SJB on Sunday 13th December. If you wish to attend this celebration, which will be followed by coffee and cake outside the church, please use the following link. https://www.trybooking.com/BNJPT We are limited to a maximum of 150 people, so bookings are essential.

A special thank you to all the families who continued to contribute or began to contribute to Thanksgiving program during the lockdown periods. It has kept our parish afloat during a time when the Church was unable to open its doors. Your contributions have really made a difference!

A Christmas card with Christmas Mass times will be sent home to your family in the next week or so. We are hoping the 150 maximum will lift with the next announcement from the Victorian Government. The PSSC would like to take this opportunity to wish you all the very best for Christmas. We look forward to hosting functions such as the Parish Picnic and Pizza Nights in 2021.

It has been wonderful to see so many classes enjoying the new SJB Gaga Pit courtesy of the Parents & Friends. Our Grade 6 students are definitely making the most of the new space at play times too so thanks so much to all involved in making it happen.

The mini Athletics Carnival was a huge success with everyone having a great time in their House teams again and working together. The MacKillop House Captains, Summer Sequenzia and Harlan Coppola, were extremely proud winners as they held up the shield at the end of the day on behalf of their team. Well done to the Grade 5 students who volunteered to help the juniors run their events while the Grade 6 leaders were at Mass. It was wonderful to see next year’s leaders of the school show what wonderful role models they will be. Keep an eye out on SeeSaw for the official announcement of the winners of the Athletics Carnival. We have recorded our School Captains again as the video quality wasn’t very clear for last week’s assembly and a lot of people missed it. Congratulations to everyone on the way they participated in the day! *Take a look at the photos at the end of this newsletter of all the fun we had at the Athletics Day!

Next week will be the last week that students can earn House Spirit points for their teams by showing RESPECTFUL behaviours. At the moment Bosco House are leading the Term 4 tally but there is hardly anything between the four teams for the overall House Spirit Trophy for the year so we will find out next week who will be the final winners for 2020. Have a great weekend! Sommer and Naomi, Wellbeing Team

Reconciliation Year 3 Wednesday 1st September (school hours)

First Eucharist Year 5 13th & 20th March at 6 pm Mass.

First Eucharist Year 4 29th May & 5th June at 6 pm Mass.

Confirmation Year 6 Saturday 7th August 12:30 & 3:00pm.

Just a quick note to let you know that our Bug Club licence has expired so your child will no longer have access to their digital books that they have been using throughout the year. We have absolutely loved seeing how many of our students have made use of this tool and look forward to seeing you all get excited about reading in 2021!

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas & a happy and safe New Year! Danielle Thompson

Pie/Sausage Roll Special Lunch Day is on this Monday 7th December. We hope the children and teachers enjoy a treat on us!

Final P&F Meeting 2020 Thanks to all who were able to attend our last meeting for the year on Tuesday night, we had well over 20 people! It was so wonderful to see everyone after so long and the strong numbers are a reflection of our strong community connection. Thanks to the members who took on roles over the last two years, your work is much appreciated! The roles of President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, Fundraising and Maintenance will be up for grabs at the first meeting back in 2021, so if you’re a community minded person who loves getting to know people, please consider coming along and putting your hand up.

End of year Committees Dinner - Tuesday 8th December @ 7pm Attached below you will find the invitation to the SJB annual committee end of year event. This invitation is extended to School Board members, Parish School Support Committee members, as well as P&F members. If you attend P&F meetings, help at working bees, fun runs, or any other activities, you are considered part of the P&F and invited to attend! If you are a prep parent keen to be involved, please come along and introduce yourself. RSVP to pandf@sjbniddrie.catholic.edu.au by Friday 4th December. We’d love to see you there!

Thank you

Peter Monaghan Principal

ATHLETICS DAY