General Information

EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST - TAKE HOME READER CHANGING

We are looking for Parent Helpers who are available on either Monday, Tuesday, Thursday or Friday between 8:50 - 9:30am, to help change student take home readers.  Interested parents will need to have a current Working With Children Check (WWCC) and some confidence using a computer and a barcode scanner.

All volunteers will need to attend a Child Safety meeting and then will be trained by staff once they commence.  If you are interested in helping out or have any questions, please call the office.

2025 ENROLMENT INFO NIGHT

On Thursday 29th February our Prep 2025 Enrolment Info Session will be held in the School Hall. Families living within the school catchment area who are interested in enrolling their child are welcome to attend.  The meeting will commence at 7pm and should conclude by 8:30pm. The evening will include the following:

• A tour of the building and facilities.
• A presentation on the values and educational approach of the school.
• An outline of the enrollment criteria and process.
• Questions from the floor.

We look forward to meeting everyone at this forum.

ONLINE SAFETY  

Last year St John’s began working with the team at Inform and Empower, to help parents and students navigate the online world safely.  We continue the partnership this year with Year 1 - 6 participating in online cyber safety sessions during February.  During the sessions the students explore how to be more aware, clever, kind and brave when they are online.

Below is a link to a short video introducing the team at Inform & Empower:

Below are links to Parent Tip Sheets, we strongly recommend families have a look at these as they can be a great springboard to important discussions you can have with your child.

TAKE HOME READERS

Take Home Readers Year 1 & 2

Take home readers for students in Year 1 and 2 have commenced.  Students change their books twice a week.  If they finish the book prior to the next reader change day, we suggest you have your child reread the text, to improve fluency and comprehension.  A Reading Diary will be sent home with your child’s book and we encourage families to fill these in.  They are a great way to track the process your child is making.  Those students who have achieved a Level 28 are considered independent readers.  As such they are able to choose their own reading material.  We encourage families to become members of the local Julia Gillard Library in Tarneit located at 150 Sunset Views Blvd, Tarneit.

Prep Take Home Readers

The transition to school is a major milestone and you will most likely find your child is very tired at the end of the school day and needs extra rest and sleep.  Home reading books do not commence in Prep until Term 2. By this time your child will have been taught several letters and sounds in class and be able to ‘sound out’ words in the home reading books. 

During Term 1 the expectation is that children in Prep are read to using a range of materials including books you may have at home or by visiting the local library to borrow books.  Families can also access the Sunshine Classics Online resource by following the steps below:

STAFF PROFESSIONAL TRAINING 

Last week staff completed their annual First Aid Modules, with some hands-on training.  During the session all staff completed a refresher CPR course, run by members of the HeroHQ Team.

FLOURISHING LEARNERS CURRICULUM & COACHING

Catholic schools throughout the Melbourne Archdiocese are invited over the coming years to be part of a curriculum program called Flourishing Learners.  Through the Flourishing Learners program, schools are encouraged to use evidence-based teaching resources and high impact teaching strategies.  The program also strongly recommends the regular use of assessment data to identify starting points for student learning, to drive teaching and to monitor student growth.

At St John’s we are well placed to join the Flourishing Learners Project as our Junior Literacy Program (InitiaLit) and our whole school assessment tools (from the PAT Assessment Suite) are those recommended by the program. All teachers will work throughout the year with an educational coach Sarah Morganti, who will help them to implement the teaching routines associated with the Flourishing Learners Program.  Sarah has a strong educational background and worked for several years in the Catholic Education Office, before beginning her own consultancy firm.

This term the teachers will also be attending planning sessions with Genovieve Grouios, our Maths consultant.  Thanks to the support and wisdom of Genovieve, we have now created a full maths scope and sequence document which is inline with the new Victorian Maths Curriculum.  Genovieve has also supported St John’s to create sequential units of work from Prep to Year 6, that ensure the curriculum is covered fully in each year level.

CHILD SAFETY - WALKING & RIDING TO SCHOOL

It is fantastic to see students walking and riding to and from school in family and friendship groups.  We recommend that parents chat with their child about the route they are going to take, so that you can ensure it is the safest option and you are aware of their travel movements.  Please remind your child to use school crossings where they are available and to always proceed carefully when crossing any road.  If your child is riding their bike to school, please ensure they are wearing a helmet.

HOMEWORK

Homework can sometimes be a source of frustration for families.  We recommend that parents set up a homework spot where your child can complete their homework in a distraction-free environment.  Ensuring your child has a pencil, sharpener and ruler, will enable them to complete their homework.  If homework is too challenging for your child to complete, please contact their teacher and let them know.  Similarly if your family routine means your child is unable to complete homework, just let the teacher know via a note or a phone call to the office.

SCHOOL NURSE

As mentioned during the meeting held during the Prep Transition Sessions, the School Nurse will be visiting St John’s during Term 1.  This is a free service offered to all children attending primary schools in Victoria.  The School Nurse Program provides families with the opportunity to have a health assessment completed with their child.  The nurse also is a great source of information and advice about healthy behaviours.  Her first scheduled visit was yesterday.

TARNEIT TITANS FOOTBALL CLUB

Calling all future Tarneit Titan footballers!  All families are welcome to come down and try out our junior football program and be part of the Titan family.  At Tarneit we work with our Juniors to develop skills and ensure players enjoy camaraderie whilst creating memories on and off the field.

If you have any questions, please contact Troy on email enquiries@tarneittitansfc.com.au or message us directly on any of our social media pages.

BEFORE AND AFTER SCHOOL CARE

A Before and After School Care Service is available onsite and is run by Quantin Binnah. To access this service students must be registered prior to attending.  All registrations and enquiries should be directed to Quantin Binnah by calling 9742 5040 or visiting the Quantin Binnah website at 

http://qbcc.org.au for further information.

The hours of operation are as follows:

Before School Care Monday – Friday 6:30 – 8:30am

After School Care Monday – Friday 3:15 – 6:00pm 

(6:00 – 6:30 pm is also available at additional cost)

SNAPSHOTS OF ST JOHN’S 2024 STAFF

The staff are very excited for the year ahead.  Below are snaps of our current 2024 staff.  We especially would like to welcome the staff who have joined us this year and we hope they find their time at St John’s a rewarding experience.

UNIFORM

With all items of our new uniform now available at Rushfords, it has been wonderful to see so many students wearing one of our many new uniform options.   A reminder for those students still wearing the old uniform, to wear black shoes and not runners if they are wearing the original summer dress or grey school pants. 

LABEL ALL SCHOOL UNIFORM ITEMS

It is important to label all school uniform items.  The most commonly lost items are Hats and School Jumpers.  These can be easily returned if they are correctly labelled.  Please be aware that over time all labels fade and will need to be redone.

SCHOOL ADVISORY COUNCIL 

The St John’s School Advisory Council was established in 2022.  The role of this group is to support the Principal, Parish Priest and leadership team of the school.  We are calling on any parents to express an interest in being part of the School Advisory Council.   Please contact the school if you are interested in pursuing this role.  Thanks once again to our Advisory Council members for their ongoing commitment to our school community.  

The members of the council give voice to the parent body in advising the principal about important matters related to the ongoing education of the students.  

The Advisory Council will meet six times over the year each meeting limited to a 90 minute duration.  Our first meeting for 2024 will be Tuesday 12th March  @ 7:00 pm here at school.  

Below are the scheduled meeting dates for the year:  

• Tuesday, 12th March at 7pm
• Tuesday, 30th April at 7pm
• Tuesday, 28th May at 7pm
• Tuesday 30th July at 7pm
• Tuesday, 27th August at 7pm
• Tuesday, 22nd October at 7pm

CHILD SAFETY - CAR PARK REMINDER 

The school car park is open at the two busiest traffic times of the day, before and after school.  For everyone’s safety, we ask you to please remember the following:

• Pedestrians should enter the school via the footpath and NOT walk through the carpark gate
• When moving between the school and the carpark, everyone is asked to use the crossing located near the front of the school
• Parents who do park in the carpark, MUST walk over and collect their child. NO student is permitted to enter the car park unless they are accompanied by their adult
• The Drop Off Zone is only active in the morning and parents MUST remain in their car, while students exit the vehicle independently.

OUT OF SCHOOL HOURS CARE