Faith, Community & Culture

Visit from Andrew Chinn

No doubt your children have shared some of the experiences they shared with Andrew Chinn on Tuesday last week.  Andrew has an awesome ability to create a safe and welcoming environment for all individual students to then perform as a collective in such a short timeframe.   Students enjoyed working with Andrew in his workshops throughout the day; they learned some groovy dances, some cool jokes and some interesting facts about Jesus' life and how they are called to follow in his footsteps.  

Many of you would be familiar with some of his songs, including Ubuntu and the Rainbow song.  The rainbow song was performed by our middle school, backed by our very vocal junior school.  

The school community then joined together to sing, dance, laugh and worship in the Church.  So many wonderful moments were shared.  We are so blessed to have an artist like Andrew visit us every couple of years.   We can't wait to share this experience together again in 2025!

Father's Day Evening

Damp conditions didn't dampen the spirits of our students and their special people last Thursday night!  After an hour or so of engaging with activities across the school and visiting the learning spaces, our guests gathered in the hall.  The theme of the gathering was based on the everyday objects of keys and doors.  

We named as many door types as we could and thought about the doorways we walk through, with whom and why, without much consideration, on a daily basis.  After we warmed our brains up we shared in a Kahoot game.  Congratulations to the Sheedy family who took out first place.

Our reflection then turned to God.  Together we looked at images that showed Jesus knocking on a variety of doors.  We noticed that there was no door handle on his side of the door, yet there was one on the other side.  We remember that Jesus knocks on our doors but we must be willing to accept the invitation to let him into our lives.  Will you hear the knock?  Will you open the door?

At the conclusion of the evening, our special guests were asked to take a paper key and reflect on the things they would like to unlock in their children. A few of the key images can be found in the photo gallery.

Special thanks to Alyssa, Parker and Vida for lighting our heads, hearts and hands candles to signify the presence of Christ during this reflection time.  

Check out the video for Father's Day 2024

FIRE carrier Excursion to McClelland Gallery

Last week I was lucky enough to escort the FIRE carriers on their excursion (report below). I would like to take this opportunity to thank the students for the etiquette displayed by you all throughout the day.  You made my heart sing.  You are all outstanding members of our school community; St John's is grateful that you belong to our learning community!

On Thursday last week, The Bunurong School Cluster visited McClelland Gallery to share in four experiences.  

Firstly we gathered with Nikki from the Encounters program.  She spoke about her own culture from the land in Queensland and also the culture of the Kulin nation.  She told stories of totems and how Aboriginal people protected their totem and could trade things such as possum skins and turtle shells if they were protected by their totem.  She shared information about bloodlines and also about shared experiences with Maori culture.  An interesting fact is the difference between the way white people look at the night sky.  White people use the stars to form constellations however indigenous people look at the black space between the stars to form their shapes and constellations!

Adam then took us for a tour around the sculpture park.  Although many of us have visited the sculptures before he told us so many things about the artists, the construction of and the intention of the art.  This is a skill the students in years 5/6 have been learning as they analyse and critique text and media work in their reading block.

We had a little bit of time to continue to explore the other sculptures in the park.  We then focussed on work by Dean Colls who created Rex Australis (aka rusty ram head sculpture) that adorned the Peninsula link.  The shapes (mostly triangular) were welded together from 2D shapes to form the 3D sculpture which is now staged in the park.  Dean also has a sculpture called Alexander the Great which is a huge beetle but uses smaller 2D shapes than Rex Australis.  The gallery is super excited for his next installation to arrive next year!  

Sue, from the gallery, then took us to the three galleries where Aboriginal artists displayed their works.  We were amazed at the stories behind the art and the lives that the artists have lived.  

We loved the day and everything we learned.  We know that we must continue to find out more about the information we heard, it's part of our responsibility to learn more and share more.

Playgroup

Rain, hail or shine, Playgroup at St John's is on each Friday morning!  Indoor play and outdoor play creates an opportunity for our youngest members of the school community to connect.  Our parents are also enjoying meeting and sharing parenting times together.  Please consider joining our playgroup, just sign in through the office :)

Cultural Intelligence Professional Development

As part of our ongoing commitment to a culturally inclusive and safe school, staff took part in a joint initiative with John Paul College staff last week.  Staff, based on their individual interests and needs, participated in workshops hosted by different organisations.  The workshops included presenters from OneLoveAustralia, Cultural Synergies, Together for Humanity and Connecting to Country.  Next week we will have the opportunity to share resources with each other that will support our Cultural and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) students.

Like last term, I encouraged you to reach out to staff members to complete a cultural plan with your childs teacher.  Sharing your family culture often benefits your childs connection to education.  We know that it benefits our school community!