Principal's Report
Colour Run & House Challenge 2023
Dear St John's Community,
This week we have some important information to give to the community but I want to start first with some things everyone should be aware of in relation to digital safety.
Two weeks ago, I attended a training day for Principals and Digital Specialists regarding School Cyber Security protocols and AI (Artificial Intelligence in Education).
The 2IC to the Federal Government's Commissioner for ESafety spoke to us at length about online behaviours of children in Australia. She talked about how much of what children do online is hidden from parents and how important it is for parents to try and understand the online presence of their children as much as possible.
However, it was the second speaker who really engaged everyone with their information. How's this for a title: The Assistant Director of the Australian Signals Directorate (ASIO - Australian Security Intelligence Organisation), Head of Communication and Data Espionage - Starforce division and working on project Redspice (Resilience effects defence space intelligence cyber enablers), or, as he referred to himself - an ultimate Cyber ninja Monkey...
Wow...try putting that on a business card! His message was pretty confronting. Cyber-criminal organisations employed by foreign businesses or even governments launch cyber attacks on Australia every 7 minutes. That is just astounding. He also explained how AI bots are taking over the internet with current indications being that between 40-50% of all internet 'traffic' is AI Bots or Smartbot clickerfarms who employ people to sit with their phones and click on websites, links, likes, dislikes, etc. Some companies pay these clickfarms to show increased traffic on their websites so they in turn can charge more for people to advertise on their sites. It was discovered recently that a click farm in Taiwan employed over 18000 workers across 7 factories for this practice. Companies know it's illegal but there are no regulations in place to stop it. For example, a company can pay the clickfarm to target a competitor's website and doing so brings it crashing down effectively costing them millions of dollars and discrediting them to their online customers.
The worst part of AI bots and clickfarms is that companies like Facebook use them to increase traffic and even to create false accounts. Facebook was recently sued by companies for misrepresenting their client base and traffic on their sites to charge companies more for advertising. It was discovered that a significant % of Facebook accounts and /or traffic was fake, created by AI bots and Facebook knew about it and did nothing to stop it. Facebook lost the case and had to pay. But they are not the only ones doing it, it is rumoured to be a worldwide 86.4 billion dollar industry and criminal organisations are behind a significant portion of the problem.
He indicated that 2 years ago it took cyber criminals 48 hrs to crack or weaponise online platforms, new electronic protection systems and especially new car security systems while today it's simply a matter of a few hours. Which is what they are constantly working against.
He finished by asking us to take a message back to the kids in the schools and it was simple...EAT YOUR CYBER VEGGIES.
Listen to your parents and teachers about how to be safe online, protect your identity, manage your passwords in a safe, secure way, be a good digital citizen and practice good ethics. If you can do that, one day he might tap you on the shoulder and ask you to be a Cyber ninja spook too!
Our School Leaders for 2024 were announced at the last Assembly and I am proud to list them here for everyone to know. We had the largest number of students in my time applying for leadership roles for next year which is just amazing. We look forward to seeing what they can all do.
School Captains
Sophie H & Abbi C
Nunan House Leaders
Linh L & Chelsea M
MacLellan House Leaders
Coco Y & Clarissa C
Walsh House Leaders
Alex J & Zoey G
Wilson House Leaders
Archer S & Grace T
Stewardship Leaders
Charlotte S & Addison T
Staffing for 2024
There are some changes to staffing next year, the first being that Ms Kathleen Selek who has been on leave this year will not be returning to St John's. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank her for her time with us and her passion for her work with the children. We wish her all the very best at her new school next year.
We do have two classroom staffing places we are currently working on finalising for next year. These will be announced as soon as possible.
Prep:
Ms Lyn Hoysted/ Mrs Catrina Charman
Miss Katie Salmon
Grade 1/2
Mrs Emma Clarke/Miss Monica Wise
Mrs Sally Woodbridge/Miss Monica Wise
Miss Sarah O'Keefe
Grade 3/4
Mr Billy Coburn
Mr Dean lefebvre/ Mrs Catrina Charman
(3 days - TBC)/Ms Marisa Patton (2 days)
Grade 5/6
Mrs Grace Burdett
Miss Caitlin Matticoli
Mr Jason Selby
(Mr Kyle McIntosh - TBC)
Specialists
PE - Mr Mark O'Sullivan
Music/Production - Mr John Caine
Art - Mrs Michelle Munyun
Lang - Mrs Eva Wheeler
Leadership & Other Roles
Mrs Maree Summers - DP, Wellbeing, Literacy
Ms Marisa Patton - Religious Education, Cross-Cultural Connections
Mrs Bernie Clutterbuck - Learning Diversity
Mrs Eva Wheeler- Maths
Mr Dean Lefebvre - Science & Technology
Mrs Lyn Hoysted - Learning Diversity - Interventions
Miss Katie Salmon - i sea, i care, Ambassador Leader
Staff on Maternity Leave
Mrs Danni Dalben
Mrs Vanessa Braham
Mrs Suzie Funtusoff
Learning Support Officers (LSOs)
Ms Fiona Absolom
Mrs Mel Cotta (+Transitions & Office Admin)
Mrs Mel Coy
Miss Jessica Dalgleish
Mrs Lisa Fitzjohn
Mrs Tory Jackson
Miss Kaitlyn Burt
Ms Mel Edwards
Other support staff
Mrs Lesley Wood (ICT)
Ms Jeannine Johnston (Office Administrator)
Ms Denise Francis (Finance Manager)
Mrs Rebecca Fall (School Psychologist)
Mrs Evelyn Wee (School Speech Therapist)
Shiny, happy, people laughing...remember that old REM song! While it didn't feature at the Disco last week it certainly described the night. A lot of fun was had, a lot of cool and some...odd dance moves (thanks Mr Caine!) were going on over the night.
A big thanks for Nadia and Kate for overseeing the organisation of the night and all the parents and staff who joined in to help ensure everything ran smoothly.
Our Bush Christmas Concert is coming up in just over a week -Monday 11th December starting at 5.30pm.
We'll send out a flyer on Monday with what you can expect. There is a lot of work going on in the school at the moment to get ready for it so we hope everyone comes and has a great time!
Jokes
Jokes
Q. How much did Santa pay for his sleigh?
A. Nothing - it was on the house
Q. Why did Santa have to go to the hospital?
A. Because of his poor elf
Q. What was the snowman looking through a bag of carrots?
A. He was picking his nose
Two weeks to go! Let's make them positive ones!
Kind regards,
Derek Bruitzman
Principal
Uniform changes 2024
For those who missed it last time!
Agreement has been reached in adding an option for a St John's Beanie, a spray jacket (lightweight raincoat) and a heavier softshell jacket. These will not replace anything, they will just be available for those people who want them.
We've also agreed to remove the idea of a summer/winter uniform/sports uniform and simplified it to School Uniform / Sports Uniform. There are no 'changes' to the uniform beyond making the items above available to purchase.
Sunsmart school hats are still required for playtimes in Term 1 and 4 but beanies can be worn anytime outside those times.
This is what the structure will look like for 2024:
Cybersafety
Marty's Cybersafety: Parent Toolkit