A message from Emily

Principal – St John's Footscray

Dear Parents and Carers

 

We are very excited about our Centenary Celebrations that are taking place on Monday as part of Mary MacKillop's Feast day. We received a lovely video message from Archbishop Peter Comensoli in recognition of our 100 years. You can view this video below or on our 100 Years of St John's website.

 

On Monday the children will travel by bus to the Church for our Feast Day Mass for a 10am start. Parents are welcome to join us for this celebration. The rest of the day we have fun activities planned for the children to engage in back at St John's with a special treat. We look forward to capturing and sharing photos with you in the next newsletter and on our social pages.

 

I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. John 10:10 

Mary MacKillop wanted all to enjoy God’s promise to have ‘life to the full’. Mary knew that to enjoy ‘life to the full’, to reach the fullness of our humanity, you need to know God and be educated. Mary spent her life working to give all children, especially the poor, this opportunity.

From 22nd - 26th August I will be a part of a pilgrimage where I will be engaged in the story, faith and spirituality of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop with a particular focus on her model as pioneer and leader in Catholic Education. The pilgrimage will involve travel from Werribee to Portland, Penola and Adelaide to engage with Mary's story and provide inspiration. In the weeks after, I will share key learnings with staff and the community and the connection to our St John's community.

 

Plans are well underway for our Alumni Reunion on 11th September and our Family Twilight Celebration on Thursday 20th October. What we are needing is more support from our parent community to ensure the success of these events. We do have a small number of parents who have been a part of the planning process but we do need more people involved. We welcome all levels of support from being a part of the organising committee or giving time to help setup/pack up the day or lending your expertise in areas like face painting. If you would like to be involved in any kind on capacity please email Karen - kdodemaide@sjfootscray.catholic.edu.au We'd love to hear from you. Without support from our parent community it makes it a challenge to plan and provide this opportunities from our school community. 

 

Karen and I are going on a clean out spree starting 

Friday 12th August at 9am. Our first area to clean up and reorganise is the storage cupboard in the hall. If you would like to volunteer your time to help please email me - principal@sjfootscray.catholic.edu.au

 

Prep Enrolments for 2023 are now completed and places full. We look forward to welcoming new faces later in the year as the kinder children transition into the St John's community. We have also started planning for 2023 and signed on  with Hugh Van Cuylenberg and The Resilience Project. I look forward to sharing more about this especially the opportunities for families to engage with the key components of Gratitude, Empathy (Kindness) and Mindfulness at home.  If you would like to know more about this and recent findings around the impact of the project, click here.

 

We have updated the important dates page so please make sure you check this out.

 

Warm wishes,

Emily

 

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