Dear Families,

It is wonderful to see our students back at school and to wish all families a happy new year. We hope your holidays were filled with joy, rest and relaxation. May the year ahead bring exciting learning opportunities, strong friendships, and a deep sense of community for all.

Our students have settled beautifully into their new classes and are enjoying reconnecting with their friends and teachers. We sincerely thank families for their efforts in preparing their children so well for the school year.

A very warm welcome to our new families joining the St John’s community, especially our Prep students and those transitioning into other year levels: George (4) and Rose (2), Mason (2) Giselle (4). We hope you and your children find happiness and a strong sense of belonging within our school.

I would like to thank our staff who have worked over the break and throughout the last week to prepare our school for the new year. We are delighted to welcome new staff members to St John’s: Nicole Federico, Angelique Barbuto, Justine Fovel, Linh Nguyen and Emma Lunardi. We look forward to the knowledge, passion, and dedication they will bring to our school.

It was wonderful to see so many parents, grandparents and carers on the first day enjoying a morning coffee hosted by the PIC - Partners in Community in partnership with St John’s School. It was a joy to see our school grounds come to life with conversation and laughter as parents and carers celebrated the start to the 2026 school year.

School Vision 2026

At St John’s, our work is guided by our school vision: An inclusive Catholic community, fostering a commitment to faith and nurturing a love of learning. This vision underpins our commitment to continuous school improvement, ensuring the best possible outcomes for our students.

On Wednesday 28 January, our staff participated in a dedicated professional learning day, working together to further strengthen our Knowledge-Rich Curriculum, with a particular focus on Humanities. Throughout the day, teachers engaged in rich professional dialogue, explored high-quality curriculum resources, and deepened their understanding of how knowledge builds progressively across year levels.

This learning supports teachers to design lessons that are engaging, coherent, and meaningful for students, ensuring that key concepts, vocabulary, and skills are taught explicitly and revisited over time. A strong emphasis was placed on building background knowledge so students can better comprehend texts, make connections across subjects, and develop critical and curious thinking.

Our staff worked collaboratively and thoughtfully, demonstrating a strong commitment to continually improving teaching practice and ensuring the best possible learning experiences for all students. The learning from this day will directly inform classroom planning and teaching throughout the next 6 months, supporting students to grow in confidence, understanding, and achievement in Humanities. You will notice that we will no longer use the term Inquiry learning but use the area in which your children will be learning eg, Humanities, geography or science.

In 2026, we start our new 4 year priorities outlined in our 2026-2029 School Improvement Plan

Goal 1 To improve student achievement in mathematics, particularly, in number fluency and number sense in years F-2

Goal 2 To improve student achievement in reading comprehension across all learning areas in Years 3-6

Goal 3 To improve Instructional Leadership practices for staff

Goal 4 To strengthen and deepen the Catholic faith and tradition in our school community - staff, students and families

Goal 5 To improve student behaviour and engagement in Year F-6

We look forward to working in partnership with our school community to bring these priorities to life and create a positive, enriching learning environment for all students.

Next couple of weeks in the classroom

For our teachers and staff, the most important thing at this time of year is establishing relationships and routine with the students. Schools and classrooms are ‘communities’ in themselves and, to ensure a high level of productivity, it is vital that strong, positive and respectful relationships are fostered between students and with staff. At St John's, we believe that if we set and communicate high expectations of learning and behaviour, students will rise to meet these expectations. Over the next couple of weeks your children will be learning about PBL, the St John's Rights and Responsibilites and the routines of their classroom.

Beginning of the year Mass and Prep presentation

We will come together as a school community to celebrate our Beginning of the Year Mass on Tuesday 10 February at 12.00pm. During the Mass, our Prep students and their buddies will process together at the commencement of the celebration. Families are warmly welcome to attend.

Welcome Picnic

All families are invited to celebrate the start of the year by attending a Welcome Picnic on Friday 20 February

Date: Friday 20th February

Time: 5:00pm - 7:00pm

Located in the bottom yard

Bring a picnic rug and something to eat (no nuts).

Please no alcohol allowed for this event.

Second Hand Uniform Stall

PIC will be running a second hand stall on Friday 6 February at 3pm. No cash, card only.

Getting to Know You Meetings

In order for teachers to learn more about your children we will be offering Getting to Know You Meetings.

Our Getting to Know You Parent, Student and Teacher Meetings will be held Tuesday 10 February 1:30pm - 5:50pm (last appointment) and Wednesday 11 February 3:40pm - 4:50pm (last appointment).

Bookings are now available via School interviews via the below link and code

https://www.schoolinterviews.com.au/ - 7j9yd

To accommodate these times the students will be dismissed on Tuesday 10 February at 1:00pm. MACSEYE will be available for those families requiring the out of school care service. Please book online or contact MACSEYE to book a spot.

Office Staffing

Many of you may notice that Leanne Bradley has returned to work in the office for the next couple of weeks. Leanne is kindly covering for Julie Sparks, who has needed to take leave for family reasons.

We also warmly welcome Mrs Louise Verna to St John’s. Louise will be taking on Leanne’s position as Bursar, and we greatly value the experience and knowledge she brings to our school community.

We will inform you of the appointment of our new Administration Officer in the coming weeks.

St John’s School: Ensuring Safety and Security for Our Students

St John’s Parish School goes to extraordinary lengths to keep all children safe and secure. Some of the things you can do as parents to support student safety:

School Arrival: Children should arrive at school no earlier than 8:35am. This is when a teacher begins Kiss & Drop Duty, and the yard duty teachers supervise the top and bottom yard. For families needing earlier care, MACSEYE provides a great service, starting at 6:45 a.m. each school day (charges apply – please ensure you are enrolled in the service).
End of Day Pick-Up: The school day finishes at 3:20pm. Children are supervised by school staff until 3:30pm. Any child not picked up by 3:30pm will be taken to the school office. If they still haven’t been picked up by 3:40pm the children will be taken to MACSEYE After School Care for their safety (charges apply – please ensure you are enrolled in the service). We encourage all families to register with MACEYE as your child will be sent to aftercare if they are not collected by 3:30pm.
Late Arrivals: If your child is running late for school and arrives after 8:45am, please accompany them into the office to sign them in using the Passtab machine.
Parking: When using the Kiss & Drop off area on Yarra Street, we kindly ask that you drive slowly and safely while dropping off and picking up your child. Please ensure you drive down to the beginning of the drop-off zone to help keep the flow of traffic moving smoothly. Your patience and courtesy are greatly appreciated, especially considering that young children may not have the same awareness of traffic as adults. Additionally, it is essential to respect our neighbours by always parking legally and refraining from blocking driveways.
Parents/grandparents are not permitted to drive through or park in the staff car park at drop off or pick up times. This is dangerous as students/families walk through the car park at these times.
If riding a bike or scooter to school, the children are to dismount at the gate to ensure the safety of others and walk their bike or scooter to the bike racks in the school grounds.
Important Protocol for families: Parents/Carers should never approach a child or the parents of that child regarding school-related matters. If you have any concerns or issues, please address them directly with your child’s classroom teacher. Your child's safety and security are our top priorities.
Dogs on school grounds: For the safety of all students, staff and families, dogs are not permitted on school grounds at any time. If walking your dog to or from school, we ask that you leave it tied up outside of the school.

Thank you for your cooperation and support in keeping our school community safe and secure.

Parent Digital Communication

Communication is the key for success in working together. A reminder that there are four main digital platforms the school uses to facilitate communication with parents.

nForma
SeeSaw
Direct email
Newsletter

We recommend if you are new to the school to download the nforma and Seesaw Apps as soon as possible. If you need support with the nForma App please see the office.

Newsletter

In 2026, the School Newsletter will be published fortnightly and distributed every Thursday, on the odd weeks of the term. This newsletter serves as our primary communication tool with families, providing essential updates and information about school activities. We encourage all families to read it regularly to stay informed about what’s happening at school.

Many enquiries received at the office each week are often questions already addressed in the newsletter. To help streamline communication, please check the newsletter before reaching out to the office.

Contact Details and Medical Action Plans

Please send an email to the office@sjheidelberg.catholic.edu.au if your contact details have changed over the summer break. This will ensure efficient and effective communication with you by school staff.

We also require a current or updated medical action plan, if applicable for your child. This includes action plans for asthma, anaphylaxis and other allergies. If your child’s medication has expired or medical requirements have changed, you are urgently required to provide the office with new medication and inform of any changes.

Advertising and Promotions

We would love your support in promoting St John’s 2026/27 enrolments to the community. Please contact the office if you can advertise a flyer at your business/workplace or are willing to do a letter box drop off in your local area.

Prep enrolments 2027

If you are planning on sending your child to St John's in 2027 please fill out an enrolment form via our website asap. Link provided - https://www.sjheidelberg.catholic.edu.au/enrol-now

Open Days and School Tours

We are very grateful to all of our parents for advocating for our school in the local community. We have had a number of enquiries over the holidays for Prep in 2026, which is a really positive sign for our school. This year, we will be holding school tours, where prospective families can come and tour our school to see and hear from the students and staff. The dates for school tours are on our website.

St John's School Uniform

As most parents would know, we have high standards for the wearing of our school uniform and these standards are maintained by staff and leadership at the school. A reminder that when wearing school uniform, it is expected that students will be wearing all black school shoes, not runners. Runners can be worn on their sports day. Uniforms may be purchased from Noone Imagewear Ivanhoe East or from the Second Hand Uniform Shop. If your child is not in the complete school uniform please send notification to their class teacher.

Hair: Any hair longer than shoulder length needs to be tied back(this applies to both female and males).

Please, please, please label your child’s school uniform, especially hats and jumpers. It is not the responsibility of staff to locate missing uniforms. Lost property is kept in the student entrance of the school.

For the children's safety, we remind parents that no jewellery other than sleeper/stud earrings may be worn. Sleeper earrings should be close enough to the ear lobe to prevent anything from getting caught between the ear and the earring which may cause significant damage or harm to your child or other children. Nail polish is not permitted.

SunSmart Policy

As part of our Sun Smart policy, all students are required to wear a school hat. If your child does not have a school hat at school, she/he will be required to stay in a shaded area of the playground during playtimes.

In regards to sunscreen, it is best for you to apply this to your child in the morning before she/he comes to school. Please provide your child with a roll-on sunscreen, so that they may reapply before going out to 2nd lunch. Students will need to apply the sunscreen by themselves so it would be good to practice this with your child.

Birthday Invitations and Treats

It is school policy that birthday invitations are not handed out by the classroom teacher or students during school hours. Please consider either posting/emailing invitations. (A class list with email addresses will be handed out early in Term 1 by your class rep). However, if all the class is invited you are welcome to pass them on to the classroom teacher for distribution. When celebrating birthdays, it is not an expectation to bring treats but if you do wish to do so, we encourage non food related treats where possible. These will be given out at the end of the day .

Parent Helper Course - Child Safety Induction Program

This year, we again welcome the support of parents / carers to assist in our classrooms. As a school we value strong partnerships and believe that your support is invaluable. All parents / carers are welcome to help. We require that all helpers assisting in the classrooms are fully trained and have a current Working with Children Check. There will be a compulsory training session (approximately 1 hour) for all new parent helpers. Parents / carers are asked to attend one of the following sessions either Thursday 12 March 2:30pm or Wednesday 25 March 9:00am. Please contact Elizabeth on ewhiting@sjheidelberg.catholic.edu.au for any questions.

Term 1 School Fees

2026 school fee statements will be sent out in the coming week. Information regarding your payment options will be included with the statement. Please note, if you elected to pay by Credit Card Instalments in 2026, a new form will need to be completed for 2026.
CSEF – CAMPS , SPORTS AND EXCURSION FUN: For those families who hold a current and valid Health Care Card, you may be entitled to the CSEF Victorian Government Grant. If your application is successful, this will be credited toward the Camp/Excursion/Sports Levy. Please show your Healthcare Card to the school office and complete the relevant paperwork. All families, even those who filled in the form last year, must fill in the 2026 form to qualify.

Please see Louise in the office for any further information or email accounts@sjheidelberg.catholic.edu.au for any questions you may have.

School Assemblies 2026

Assemblies are held in the Parish Hall every second Monday afternoon at 2:40pm. Families are welcome to attend.

At assembly, there are Class Learning Presentations and special announcements from student leaders.

Class Parent Representatives Needed!

We are currently seeking enthusiastic volunteers to serve as Class Representatives for our school. As a Class Rep, you will play a vital role in fostering communication between parents and the school community, ensuring that everyone stays informed about important events and initiatives.

Key Responsibilities:

Act as a liaison between teachers and parents, sharing information and updates.
Organise and coordinate class activities and events.
Support the development of a positive classroom community by encouraging parent involvement.

This is a wonderful opportunity to connect with other parents, contribute to our school community, and make a positive impact on your child’s classroom experience. If you’re interested in becoming a Class Representative, please reach out to your child's teacher.

School Advisory Council

Role and function of the School Advisory Council

The School Advisory Council acts as a forum for discussion on matters concerning holistic education within the school. It brings together in a spirit of cooperation, the Parish Priest, Principal, parent representatives and teachers from the school, so that responsible and informed advice can be given to the Principal. Through membership on the School Advisory Council, each member assumes an important role in the ministry of the school.

Expressions of Interest are currently being sought for parents and carers to join St John’s School Advisory Council. Aidan (Year 1 Rep) and Melinda (Year 5 Rep) will continue to be on SAC but we are looking for parents from the following year levels.

Prep
Year 2, 3, 4, 6

Any parents or carers who would like to nominate for SAC are asked to send an email to principal@sjheidelberg.catholic.edu.au providing their name, child’s name/grade, personal qualities, skills and interest as contributors to this advisory body. Expressions of Interest are due by 9:00am, Monday 16 February.

Feedback

We are always looking for ways to improve our school community - please email our principal Mrs Alison Dean- principal@sjheidelberg.catholic.edu.au with any

We look forward to working in partnership with families in support of the best outcomes for your children throughout 2026.

God Bless

Alison Dean

Community News