A message from Emily

Dear parents and carers

It's been another busy and enjoyable fortnight for the community of St John's. We have had children celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation, represent St John's at cross country and swimming events and had visits from two local macaw birds. Please check the Learning and Teaching page for photos of children representing St John's at these local sporting events. Today we completed the school tours for Prep 2025. If you haven't submitted an enrolment form for a child that is due to begin school next year, please do so asap. This information will allow us to know how many current families we need to offer places to and how many new families we can welcome to St John's next year. It was great to hear lots of positive feedback from prospective families around the learning the children were engaged in and how different it is to their own primary school experience.

In our last newsletter I mentioned a parent survey that the School Advisory Council have suggested in gathering information for the school to use to engage families in different ways. Please complete as soon as possible so that we can send out dates and times for different opportunities for you to be a part of community voice and engagement. Click the link to access the survey -link

MACS Vision for Instruction was launched on 22nd February and outlines their intent and goals for the MACS 2030: Forming Lives to Enrich the World strategic plan. The intent is: 

By 2030, we aim to become the benchmark for excellence in teaching and learning, through a coherently integrated, academically competitive and distinctively Catholic educational offering. 

The two goals for instruction:

• Goal 1 - Excellence: All MACS schools deliver a knowledge-rich, evidence-based teaching and learning program.
• Goal 2 - Equity: Every student, regardless of background, achieves literacy and numeracy proficiency.

It will be exciting to see what MACS offers to schools in professional learning to support these goals and the positive impact this will have on all children who attend a MACS school.

Yesterday afternoon the staff worked with a Liz Hockey from MACS Western Region Office as part of our preparation for School Review later this year. This process will help us make a formative assessment of our current practice and setting goals for school improvement over the next 4 years. The process requires us to look across five spheres - Religious Dimension, Learning and Teaching, Leadership and Management, Student Wellbeing and Community. Part of the process will be consulting with children and families as well as staff members. Our school closure day on 15th April will focus on evaluating our practice against rubrics and providing evidence to demonstrate this. In the later part of Term 3, an external reviewer will spend three days at St John's reviewing these documents but also making time to speak to families and children. I look forward to sharing more about this as the time comes closer.

Today I met with Luke from the MACS Infrastructure and Policy Team to support with the required works needed for our roof and the development of the convent. This is an exciting step forward. In the coming weeks I hope to reach out for community voice in the development of the master plan to take St John's into the future.

Tomorrow is International Women's Day. The theme for this year is Inspire Inclusion. 

When we inspire others to understand and value women's inclusion, we forge a better world.

And when women themselves are inspired to be included, there's a sense of belonging, relevance, and empowerment.

Collectively, let's forge a more inclusive world for women.

Lauren Davis and I attended the MACS celebration on Wednesday where they recognised women in leadership within MACS with a breakfast and launch of a research project report - Women in Leadership. The report highlights 10 recommendations for MACS to support women in Catholic Education on a pathway to leadership roles.

Important Reminders 

• Tomorrow is a SCHOOL CLOSURE DAY - 8th March. Children accessing OSHClub tomorrow will be in the 5/6 Hub as the staff will be working in the hall.
• Monday 11th March - Labour Day Public Holiday
• Wednesday 13th March - Preps first Wednesday at school.

Last year I announced the inclusion of a New Sports Polo Top. It is now available online - School Uniforms page. We still have the sky blue polo available for purchase and children are able to wear this over the next few years. It will be a slow phase out while we still have stock available and it is a slightly cheaper option to the new polo. Please see image below. 

Wishing you all a safe and wonderful 'extra' long weekend.

Emily