Principal's Page

A Message from the Principal

The excitement never stops at St John's and last week was no exception as we celebrated Book Week. This is always a highlight for our school community and seeing the smiles on the childrens faces as they shared their costumes and favourite books always fills us with joy. We are grateful to our school community who support our students, with organising costumes, joining us at the parade and instilling a love of reading in your children. The Magical Theme certainly inspired many wand carrying outfits, including mine as the Magical Egyptian Queen - Isis. 

This week we will also have our Chinese Dragon Incursion for the whole school. The students will step into the vibrant traditions of Asian culture with this exhilarating Dragon Dance workshop, and delve into the rich cultural heritage of China.

Sadly we are counting down the weeks until we farewell Jenny Macleod as she retires, after 22 years at St John's. Jenny has worked tirelessly over that time supporting thousands of students and their families. We will be organising a final assembly on Thursday, 19 September at 2.30pm. This will be followed by afternoon tea, for the school community, to help farewell and thank Jenny for all that she has done. You are all invited to attend the assembly and afternoon tea.

I am pleased to announce that I have employed our new Administration Staff member. I had many highly qualified people apply for the position so it has been a difficult process choosing Jenny's replacement. Starting next Monday Sheree Ulrich-Field will be in the office, which will assist with the smooth transition and handover process. Please come in to the office soon so that you can introduce yourself and welcome Sheree to our school community.

Thank you to Emily Boyd for organising the Donut Day last Friday. The students and staff enjoyed their afternoon treat at the end of their busy Book Week.

Unplugging Childhood

Last Thursday we heard a very important message that needs to be shared with everyone, from Dr Justin Coulson - Delaying your child having a smart phone as long as possible. No child needs to have access to all of the apps on a Smart Phone and they don't need to be using any form of social media before the age of 14. By this age they are usually ready to deal with the barage of information, influencers and media, associated with these apps.

Dr Justin suggests that smart parents give children a dumb phone, a phone that can only make phone calls or send text messages. For more tips on how to deal with mangaing your child's use of devices, please read this article and follow his podcast or blog.

https://happyfamilies.com.au/articles/unplugging-parenthood

St John's Art Show 

You are all invited to the St John's Art Show, Friday, 13 September 2024. 

Each student will be exhibiting several pieces of artwork, to share their 

creativity and inspiration everywhere.

MACSSIS Surveys

We are asking families to complete the 15 minute MACSSIS survey to provide us with valuable feedback, about various aspects of our school and community. The Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools – School Improvement Surveys (MACSSIS) will be conducted from 2 – 15 September 2023. Students in years 4-6 will also complete the student survey. We encourage all families to complete the survey. Once you have completed the survey please email me to go into the draw to win a voucher. There will be several prizes drawn over a two week period.

Next week you will receive a link to the survey with an individual family login code. The surveys are totally anonymous and your feedback will help to guide our planning and goal setting for next year.

Fathers Day Breakfast

I am looking forward to celebrating Father's Day with all of the Fathers, Grandfathers, Father figures and our students, this Friday morning. Breakfast will be served from 7.30am - 8.30am. Please book in via CDF Pay to help with catering. 

It is also Pyjama day for our students so Dads are welcome to wear their PJ's to school too.                https://sjmitcham.cdfpay.org.au/MonitorOnline/app/#!/login

St John's Joke of the Week

Enjoy your week ahead and please let me know if there is anything that I can do to assist you or your family.

Verona Gridley

Principal 

vgridley@sjmitcham.catholic.edu.au