Learning and Teaching

Tournament of Minds

On Saturday, 17 August, Ava, Stella, Evie, Margaux, Eleonora, Aimee and Alona also known as “Passed on By Gen-erations”  and Luciano, Maxwell, Jasper, Ben, Ethan, Elliott and Frances, also known as “The Boys + Frances”, travelled to Deakin University to participate in the Tournament of Minds for 2024.

After weeks of researching, writing scripts, painting sets, assembling props, recording soundscapes, making decisions and collaborating effectively, our teams produced fabulous performances to address their Long Term Challenge. 

Our St John’s teams had two very different challenges. Passed on by Gen-erations chose to have an Arts focus. Their task was to choose a prominent person in their community and present an entertaining performance that would tell their story. They chose Gen Bryant; our fabulous local songwriter and singer, and they presented an awesome presentation highlighting her struggles and triumphs over her years. They included song, dance, artwork and an intriguing script which beautifully told her story. The judges could not believe how much they fitted into their designated 10 minutes!

The Boys + Frances chose to focus on STEM. Their task was to create an invention that would remove plastics from our waterways. They created an inspired prototype that included a water wheel that was powered by the current to trap plastics, but allow fish to move through unharmed. They used their collective engineering skills to build a well designed contraption that wowed the judges with its ingenuity.

All our TOM contestants should be incredibly proud of themselves. They truly worked within the parameters and the ‘spirit’ of the Tournament of Minds and showed great skills in all aspects of the challenge. We were so thrilled to see quieter personalities shining through, everyone listening to each other, identifying each others’ strengths, collectively and creatively designing, constructing and producing successful presentations.

The judges’ feedback was incredibly positive and the students spoke confidently about their roles in their given challenges. We look forward to receiving official results soon…but no matter the outcome, we believe you are all amazing! Well done! We hope you enjoyed the experience as much as we did.

Ange Crowe and Mel Kerwin

Extension Education

District Basketball

Our Grade 5/6 students recently showcased their skills and teamwork at the district basketball tournament at Dandenong Basketball Stadium. They showed great determination and sportsmanship, representing our school with pride and we are incredibly proud of their efforts. There were a few special mentions from the day. Firstly, the leadership shown by Mason Bright who assisted in refereeing multiple matches for our Rookies team. Also, a special thanks to parent Kerry Thom who coached the undefeated Future Stars boys team for the day.

Book Week @ St John’s 2024   

What a wonderful Book Week we had!! From the Book Character Parade to our shared reading of “Timeless”  by Kelly Canby to the Buddy reading sessions to Digital Literacy Activities to readings from different teachers, to our wonderful book creations...it was go, go, go and a whole lot of fun!

On Tuesday, The Book Character Parade had everyone smiling. We had a range of amazing costumes from students and staff. Special mentions go to our Quitting Crayon,  our Charlotte and her web, our roaring dinosaurs and our BFG, Paddington, The Golden Ticket, our Shining Twins and our very many wizards and magical characters! Thank you to the parents and students for your enthusiasm and creativity with costumes which resulted in a very successful morning, superbly hosted by the inquisitive Ava, Kimberley and James.

During the week, each class chose a CBCA nominated book to deep dive into. They talked about the author's purpose and character development, they created story maps to outline their thinking and discussed alternative endings to their chosen books. The time taken to study great examples of writing was much appreciated by the students and teachers. We look forward to seeing students’ using this learning in their own writing in the future.

Staff thoroughly enjoyed going to other classrooms during the week to read their favourite stories. It was fantastic to watch the children responding to different faces and voices and seeing staff in a different setting.  

Thank you to all students, parents and staff for actively participating in all of our celebrations during Book week. Happy Reading!!!

Ange Crowe

Literacy Leader