Principal's Report 

Semester 1 Report Writing Day 

June 13th -

 Commencement Semester 2     June 14th

A school closure day will take place on June 13 to allow teaching staff to complete Semester One reports which will be distributed to families in the first week of the school holidays. The school administration will be open as per normal hours on Tuesday. 

Class will resume on Wednesday the 14th of June when we commence our semester 2 curriculum program. This is two weeks prior to the end of term 2 to allow for our whole school 2024 Curriculum step up program to take place in the last three weeks of this school year.

Make a Difference Day (Mad Day) June 23

At the conclusion of term 2 on Friday June 23 we will stage the MAD Day walk to raise funds for our Lasallian Schools in Pakistan and local Wellsprings Centre for Women in Dandenong run by the Presentation Sisters.  To allow for the Walk in the afternoon an adjusted timetable will run for the day with an earlier school finish at 3pm. 

8.55am   -9.05am                 Homeroom 

9.07am to 10.47am             Period 1 & 2 

10.47am to 11.10                Recess

11.12am to 12.02                Period 3 

12.02 -12.45                         Lunch

12.45  to 1 pm                      Assembly 

1pm – 3pm                            MAD Day Walk

Exams:

Our Exam Schedule for students in Year 10-11 concludes this Friday. Exam results will be included in the Semester 1 reports and will provide important feedback to students regarding their ability to demonstrate their knowledge and skills in a range of subject areas under test conditions. For those students choosing a pathway to University, examinations are a form of assessment that they must gain confidence in. The good news is that with practice and preparation this is an area that they can get better at, and I encourage our students with this goal in mind to take advantage of our tutors in the CLC during term 3 who will be able to assist them in the development of their examination skills.

VRQA & School Review Update

Through the course of this week , David Allibon and Blair Cooper from the National Curriculum Service conducted our review for the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority (VRQA).  

Every 4 years the VRQA conducts a review of St John’s and our compliance to its state standards for operation of a Secondary School. The reviewers take feedback from all stakeholders to evaluate our progress against the 4-year School Improvement Plan and provide commendations and recommendations for the next 4-year School improvement plan 2024-2027 which will be developed in terms 3 & 4  of this year.

SIS Cross Country:

I congratulate our Cross Country team who competed in the Southern Independent School  Country Championships at Casey Fields on the 30th of May. There were some fantastic individual performances, particularly from our medal winners Beka Edeo in Year 7 and Kelemen Dominic in Year 10.

I thank our staff who assisted on the day ; 

Mr. Mark Alexander, Ms. Ash Fraraccio, Mr. Nigel Adkin, Ms. Michele Trusler & Ms. Emilia Kazanidis.

Year 7 , 8 & 9 Reflection Days: Over the course of this week our students in 

Years 7 , 8 & 9 participated in a one-day retreat facilitated by the Melbourne based Lasallian Youth Ministers  and our own Lasallian Youth Minister Jess Edwards. The team led our students through a series of activities to explore the way faith and spirituality impacts on their daily life. It was pleasing to welcome back ex-student Ignacia Nheu as part of the Retreat team. Ignacia since leaving St John’s in 2021 has spent some time working as a Lasallian Volunteer at La Salle College in Perth and is currently working as a boarding supervisor at the Worawa Aboriginal College in Healsville.

My thanks to the staff who helped run the successful retreat days and to  Mr Rhynehart , Mr Farrelly and Ms Edwards for their organisation and planning of these opportunities whihcgo to the heart and role of our school as a Catholic faith Community.

Year 9 Career Planning Day:

I thank our Careers & Vet Leader Mr Bruce Topham for staging a very productive careers planning day for our Year 9 students this week. As a prelude to subject selection and the Careers Expo in early term 3 students were introduced to a range of tools and information sessions about the pathway choices that are ahead of them. 

The process of discerning and selecting pathways and the subjects that support those choices can be overwhelming for young people. The Career Planning Day is the beginning of a discussion to help students identify where their interests lie and the steps that need to be taken as they prepare for future careers. I particularly thank Mr Topham and 

VCE Programs Leader Ms. Flanagan for their preparation of the day and also our senior Students : Gabriel Loos , Kathy-Ann Gugroop , Tameka Haggett  , Angelo Mijares and Abigail Cachart who shared their experiences of VCE and VET for the benefit of our younger students.

Staffing 

We send our best wishes to staff member Ms Arlene Garrity-Klomp who is relocating to Queensland and welcome Ms Caroline Low who will be taking on the role of Daily Organizer.  I also welcome Mrs Nadia Azzam who will be working as a member of our Learning Support and Administration teams.

Enrolment Interviews for 2024 

Over the last week the senior leadership team have been interviewing our new Year 7 2024 students and their families. It is always pleasing to hear of how highly regarded our school is in the local community which reflects the great work of our staff and students over many years. 

Enrolment tours take place every Thursday morning for 2024 and 2025 students. Our next evening enrolment session will take place on Wednesday July 19th at 6pm.  For those looking for enrolment information please refer to our school website or contact our Enrolment Registrar Ms Helen Phillips via the main office on 87932000.