Principals Update

 Key Events - Term 1

Term 1, Week 6 

• Thursday 5th March - School Closure - Pupil Free Day
• Friday 6th March - School Closure - Pupil Free Day

Term 1, Week 7 

• Monday 9th March - School Closure - Labour Day Public Holiday
• Wednesday 11th March - Naplan Testing
• Thursday 12th March - Naplan Testing. School Tour at 9.15am. SEDA Football during PE lessons

• Friday 13th March - Naplan Testing. SEDA Football during PE lessons. Assembly @ 3pm.

  Term 1, Week 8

• Monday 16th March - Catholic Education Week
• Tuesday 17th March - PSG Meetings, School Tour 7pm
• Wednesday 18th March - PSG Meetings
• Thursday 19th March - PSG Meetings
• Friday 20th March - Harmony Day (Sports uniform), St John Vianney's v St Pat's, AWAY GAME. Cricket Inflatables, School Tour- 1pm 

Dear SJV Families,

We are coming into a very busy time with a number of activities taking place over the next two weeks, so please take the time to check what’s on and what is appropriate to you and your family. 

School Closure & Staff Professional Learning

The school will be closed tomorrow, Thursday 5 March, and Friday 6 March, as staff participate in professional learning days. During this time, our team will be undertaking training through the Team Teach Connect program. Please note that Their-Care will be available on both school closure days.

Team Teach Connect is a professional development program focused on positive behaviour support. This training provides our teachers with advanced skills to better understand the “why” behind student behaviours. By strengthening both verbal and non-verbal communication strategies, we are enhancing our ability to maintain calm, regulated and inclusive learning environments where every student feels safe and valued. This investment in our staff ensures we continue to lead with empathy and foster a classroom culture where learning and wellbeing go hand in hand.

Please also note that the following Monday, 9 March, is the Labour Day public holiday.

Congratulations and welcome to....

Last week staff member Laura Heiberg welcomed her gorgeous baby boy Rommy to the world. Mum and baby are doing well and we cant wait for their first visit to SJV.

We also send warm wishes to the Soeding Family (Zofia- Prep) on the arrival of their new baby boy Luka.

Parents & Friends Association - Easter Egg Drive

Please support our Easter Egg drive. We are in the process of creating baskets full of wonderful prizes which will drawn in our raffle on the last day of term. We are seeking donations of eggs, chocolate, bunnies and chicks etc. Please send any of the donations to your child's classroom.

Parents & Friends Association

Thank you to the parents who attended last weeks PFA meeting. We had a great attendance with many great events planned throughout the year. 

Date TBC for the next PFA meeting.

District Swimming Team 2026

Last Monday, our Swimming team participated in the Mordialloc District Swimming Carnival at the Noble Park pool where thirteen district schools participated. At the conclusion of the carnival schools are placed based on their aggregate points, in this overall standing we finished  in the top 10 which was a fantastic effort considering that a number of the schools have 500 plus students. 

Thank you to everyone who supported the team, the parents who drove them to early morning training, the teachers who assisted at training and especially Mrs Monottoi who coordinated the team. 

Congratulations on a tremendous team effort!

Building Update

We are excited to share that great progress is being made on our building project. The concrete slab has now been successfully poured, and a new wall has been constructed — a significant milestone in the development.

Last week was a particularly busy one on site, with approximately 20 cement mixer trucks arriving to complete the concrete pour. It was an impressive operation and marks an important step forward as we continue to see our new facilities take shape.

We look forward to sharing further updates as construction progresses.

As of next Tuesday 10th of March, students in 1/2KD will be back in their classroom and the Library will be back to normal. I would like to thank the teachers, students and families of 1/2KD for their patience and flexibility during this time.

Winter Coat orders

Keep an eye out for your order form to purchase a SJV winter coat. We only do one order a year and our timeline is a short one. Orders will be placed the last week of term and the coats should arrive at the start of term 2. Order forms will come home next week. You can check sizing

2027 Prep Enrolments 

Our Requests for School Tours have begun already! Enrolments for Prep 2027 are now open and we encourage all families to submit their applications as soon as possible.  If you have a child or you know someone wanting to tour schools for their child, please encourage them to book a school tour by contacting Nicole in our front office.  If you are not able to make these tours please note that you are also welcome to call to make a time that does work for you. 

SJV School Tour Dates

Thursday 12th March @ 9.15am

Tuesday 17th March @ 7pm

Friday 20th March @ 1pm

Thursday 2nd April @ 9.15am

MACS Care

Each month we will be placing information in this newsletter about the Victorian Child Safe Standards, which are a set of 11 minimum requirements that all organisations working with children must meet.

MACS Care, an initiative of MACS (Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools) is designed to highlight and bring awareness to these standards and how they apply in our school setting. 

For the month of February, our focus is Child Safe Standard 1: Organisations establish a culturally safe environment in which the diverse and unique identities and experiences of Aboriginal children and young people are respected and valued.

School Fees and Direct Debit Forms

At the end of last year we sent home Direct Debit forms for School fees. This is a great way to stay on top of your fees for 2026. Please fill this form in if you would like to take up this payment method and drop it into the office. If you have misplaced it, please call in to collect a new one. Accounts will be issued next week. New families, please feel free to call in and collect a direct debit form. 

Lunch Orders

We have a partnership with Station Stop Cafe on Fridays which allows our families to order lunches. These orders need to be processed by Wednesdays to be delivered on Friday. We have now locked in another supplier for Wednesdays with another Sushi Supplier. Follow the instructions below to download the app and you can start ordering!

Uniform Shop

Our Uniform shop is open every Monday at 3.15pm for sales. If you cant make it at that time, pop into the office and fill in an order form.

Second Hand Uniforms are coordinated by one of our parents, Sahara. Please log on to Brisbane Terrace SJV Secondhand Uniform on Facebook. Sahara will approve you joining the group and you can access second hand sales through this group.

NAPLAN 2026

All Year 3 and 5 students will complete the NAPLAN tests  between the 11th of March and the 23rd of March. If any families in Year 3 or Year 5 have holidays booked during this time, could they please let the school office know, so we can factor this into our planning.  We use NAPLAN to provide us with feedback about how we can improve our teaching, whilst parents are provided with a snapshot of how their child is progressing. For us, it is one assessment that makes up a thorough Assessment Schedule and should not present any stress for students, as they are well versed at completing online assessments.

Our Naplan assessments will be held on:

Wednesday 11th March- Writing 

Thursday 12th March - Reading 

Friday 13th March -  Language Conventions

Monday 16th March- Numeracy

Catch up assessments will be completed for students who are absent on the day of a test between Tuesday 17th of March to Monday the 23rd of March.

Instagram- We now have an SJV Instagram page on social media. So please make sure you follow and share: @sjv_parkdale

Reminders

• The next school assembly will be on Friday 13th of March @ 3pm in the MPR (Year 6 students will be presented with leadership certificates)

• Dogs - Please note that for the safety and wellbeing of all members of our community, no dogs are permitted inside the school grounds and they must not be left unattended tied up at the gates. Adult supervision and holding of the leash is so important around vulnerable places such as schools.  We love dogs but we do have to take care of all members of our community.

• Bikes and Scooters - Please walk bikes and scooters when moving through the school grounds.

• Punctuality - It is expected that all students are to be at school by no later than 8.45am and not any time up to 9am. From 8.45am to 9am is crucial for students to get themselves organised, start the day with Meditation, prayer, take the roll and ready to commence their day promptly. Formal lessons begin at 9am. Any child who arrives at or after 9am is to be signed in at the office by a parent/guardian. I ask all parents to make sure that you adhere to these times.

Good luck with the footy tipping and may the 2026 AFL season, be an exciting one! Go Tigers!!

Regards

Mick Schinck

Principal