A message from Emily

Dear parents and carers

The weeks are flying by this term. We have had another wonderful fortnight at St John's with our Grandparent's Day; Year 5 Leadership Day where the Maribyrnong  Mayor, Cr Anthony Tran, met with the children to discuss his leadership experience; Parish Schools Transition Day where Yr 6 from St Monica's Footscray and Christ the King Braybrook joined our Yr 6 children in preparation for secondary school; CPR and Anaphylaxis training for staff; working bee at the Farm; photoshoot to capture life at St John's through images and 3/4 Hub excursion (including a snake sighting!).

As mentioned above, we held a last minute working bee at the Farm last Friday, taking advantage of the nice weather, to clear some of the long grass, weeds and stain the new chicken coup. This could not have been possible without Erin, Dani and Andrew leading the support from some wonderful parents who were free to assist. A big thank you to Ermina, Kat, Chris, Simona, Alysha and Mark. We appreciate that you were able to give so much of your time to help us with this task. I would also love to acknowledge that Dani gave up time on a day she doesn't work to also support this working bee with her little helper Julian. We will look to hold another working bee before the end of the year and will advertise this with more notice so others wanting to be involved also have this opportunity.

I would also like to extend my thanks to volunteers who helped on the night and/or contributed donations to our Centenary Twilight event. In our last newsletter, I didn't have all their names to thank them personally so I would like to take this opportunity to now name them and thank them again for supporting this wonderful event. A big thank you to:

Jamie Fowlie, Annelie Fowlie, Yen Ta, Joel Magnabosco, Mark Jaworski, Bree Todorovic, Amanda Cochran, Tom Szucs, Nick and Jacinta Stephenson, Brett and Emma Morris, Ceci Tankey, Ange Mammoliti, Kat Rachmanczuk, Erin Jenkins and Younes Ani, Janie Coleman and Emma Morris. I would also like to do a shout out to IGA West Footscray who donated all the bread for the sausage sizzle. 

What a wonderful afternoon we had for Grandparent's Day. We were overwhelmed with how many grandparents or significant people in our children's lives were able to make it to this event. It was so exciting and wonderful to see so many happy faces enjoying the time together. A big thank you all who were able to attend this event and to make it a highlight experience for the year. 

Tomorrow, Friday 11th November, is Remembrance Day and we will be marking this event with a Prayer Gathering at 9am. All are welcome to stay after drop off and join this gathering as we remember those who have died or suffered for Australia's cause in all wars and armed conflicts. 

I would also like to remind all families that children are now required to wear a hat when outdoors. The UV levels are very high at the moment so any child not wearing a hat will be asked to play under the sheltered areas. We have a small supply of legionnaires hats at the office to purchase ($10), otherwise hats can be purchase from RHUniforms. Please contact the school if you have any questions or requests around your child wearing a St John's school hat.

I would like to let the community know that next week our school leaders will be undertaking a review and evaluation of 2022 and planning for 2023, and will be offsite on Wednesday 16th and Thursday 17th November. We will be checking our emails but may not be able to respond immediately to your requests. While we are offsite, Amy Littley will be in charge on Wednesday and Michele Hayes on Thursday. They will be able to follow up any issues that may take place in our absence. I look forward to sharing our reflections and plans in the next newsletter.

Warm wishes

Emily