A message from Emily

Dear parents and carers,

Mary MacKillop Feast Day

Tomorrow is a very exciting day for our community! We'll be celebrating Mary MacKillop's Feast Day, and we'd love for all families to join us.

The celebration will begin with a liturgy in the morning, followed by a silent disco in the afternoon. This is also a fantastic way to welcome the 5/6 Hub back onsite with the rest of the St. John's community now that Stage 1 of the construction is complete.

A huge thank you to Taryn for her incredible leadership in planning and organising this special day along with the event team. We can't wait to celebrate with everyone!

St John's Regional Soccer Team

What an incredible achievement for our girls' soccer team! They competed at the Regionals today, making history as the first-ever St. John's team to reach this level in any sport.

They showed incredible grit and determination, with two draws in their first two games and a narrow 3-2 loss in their final match. While they didn't advance, their competitive spirit, teamwork, and sportspersonship made us all incredibly proud.

A huge thank you to Michelle Graham for making this opportunity happen, Lachlan Walker for his coaching support, Kat for organising the team jerseys, and all the parents who came out to cheer the girls on. Congratulations girls!

MACSSIS (Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools - School Improvement Survey)

It's almost time for our annual MACSSIS survey, and we are encouraging as many families as possible to participate!

This is a valuable opportunity for you to share your feedback, and the data we collect will be used to help with our forward planning for 2026.

The survey will be open from September 1st to September 19th, 2025. We will be emailing each family an access code before September 1st.

To learn more about the MACSSIS survey and its importance, please watch the video linked below.

NAPLAN

Families of students in Years 3 and 5 should have recently received their child's NAPLAN report.

As a school, we've been eagerly analysing our trend data, particularly focusing on the growth our Year 5 children have shown since their last NAPLAN test in Year 3. Our initial analysis reveals that the dedicated work of our educators in Years 3/4 during 2023 and 2024 has had a huge impact on our children's learning.

We are so proud of these results! I look forward to sharing more about this growth with you all after our staff has completed a deeper dive into the data.

Master Plan and next steps

Tonight, our School Advisory Committee (SAC) is meeting with ROAM Architect, Rod Allan, to get the first look at the school's masterplan.

I'll be sharing this exciting plan with our staff at next week's meeting. After that, we'll present it to the wider community and provide an opportunity for you to learn more about the masterplan and our next steps.

With Stage 1 now complete, our next step is to relocate the mains power. This will allow us to proceed with Stage 2 early next year.

A Friendly Reminder for Eleanor Street Pick-up

We would like to remind all drivers picking up children on Eleanor Street to please prioritise everyone's safety.

To ensure a smooth and safe pick-up, especially during the peak congestion around 3:15pm, we ask that you please:

• Do not make U-turns on Eleanor Street. Please use the roundabout to turn back towards Ballarat Rd.
• Remain in your car while waiting. Our staff are on hand to help children safely into vehicles, which helps keep the traffic flowing quickly.

Thank you for your cooperation and for helping us keep our entire community safe during pick-up times.

Warm regards

Emily

Reminders

• Update medical details in PAM for excursion
• Please keep children's special items and toys safely at home
• Book Week is coming. See flyer below:

Warm regards

Emily

OUR IMAGE OF THE CHILD

‘At St. John’s, we strongly believe that children are at the centre when given authentic and meaningful experiences. They flourish when their passions and interests are acknowledged and valued. Children are empowered when they take ownership for their learning. They have a right to develop autonomy through discovery.’

(St. John’s Staff, 2018)

We respectfully acknowledge the Wurundjeri People of the Kulin Nation as the owners of the land on which we live, play and learn at St John's Primary School, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.

All students attending St. John's Primary School have the right to feel safe. The care, safety and wellbeing of children and young people is a fundamental responsibility of all within our school.