Dear St John's Community,

What an absolutely amazing and exciting day we have had today! There was colour everywhere and then there was water everywhere! Sorry about that! There will be some students coming home today wet as well! But it was so much fun!!!!

Here are a couple of pics to give you a taste if you weren't able to be there today!

We have officially calculated just how far we travelled today and it was a whopping 1224 kilometres. Not a bad effort!!

That's the same distance as driving from Frankston to Port Macquarie in Northern NSW, or to Tibooburra on the QLD border, or even to Whyalla in South Australia. Impressive!

House Colour Challenge

The results are in and as close as they were we can only have one winner. Congratulations Wilson House! Something special coming your way in two weeks' time!

1st: Wilson - 350 kms

2nd: Walsh - 298 kms

3rd: Nunan - 295 kms

4th: Maclellan - 281 kms

Colour Run & House Challenge Fundraiser

So, how did we do? We currently sit at just over $6000 raised which is an exceptional effort! The parent organisers have asked that we keep it open for a while longer which we will do but thank you so much and please let everyone know we are very grateful for their support.

Trybooking link

Last Sunday the Bishop came to St John's to Confirm our Confirmation Candidates. The Bishop was welcoming and absolutely wonderful with our candidates and their families.

I want to extend a warm congratulations to all those students who received the sacrament on Sunday. You can read more about it on the Faith, Community and Culture page of this newsletter.

Spirit of God, grant these students:

The gift of wisdom to see the world through your eyes,

The gift of counsel to make difficult decisions,

The gifts of knowledge and understanding to use their minds to know you and love you.

The gift of fortitude to have the courage to live in faith despite difficulties and disappointments,

The gift of piety to be able to express their special love and commitment to you,

And the right kind of awesome and fear that makes them pause to wonder and revere God’s Love in the world around them.

Amen.

Multicultural Mass & Cultural Parish Lunch

Thank you to all the families who attended on the day. It was so great to see lots of different nationalities represented in the church. And the food afterwards, oh my goodness! There were some sensational dishes to try! For those of you who made it, you know what I mean! Yummy!

Girls - Regional Basketball

Last newsletter I announced our girl's success on the division-level basketball day. Well, yesterday the girls represented St John's at the Regional level, the last step before the State finals.

They won every game and earned a place in the semi-final. After a tight semi-final, they went into the grand final against Mentone Grammar.

It was a hard-fought game, our team was made up of Grade 4-6 students while the opposition were all Grade 6s. Mentone won out in the end but the girls can hold their heads up high and proud for how hard they fought to stay with them right to the end. Awesome achievement!

Thanks again to their magic coach Mrs Cotta, and all the parents who helped get them there!

Q. A shipload of red paint crashed into a shipload of blue paint. The crews were marooned.

Q. A friend of mine swallowed some food colouring. He feels he dyed a little inside.

Q. Why did the colour go to school?

A. Because it wanted to get brighter

Have a awesome long weekend and I hope you pick a winner!

Kind regards,

Derek Bruitzman

Principal

School Website

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

St John's Online Safety Hub

Marty's Cybersafety: Parent Toolkit

Chromebooks