Principal's News

Dear Families, 

Term 4 is certainly flying by, and there is so much to look forward to as we enter the final few weeks of the 2025 school year. It’s a busy and exciting time for our students, and we are grateful for the wonderful support of our school community as we finish the year strongly together. We are very pleased to share that we have updated our St John’s School website with beautiful new photography and refreshed content that truly showcases the heart of our school community. Our new site highlights the joy, learning and connection that make St John’s such a special place. We invite all families to take a look and explore the updated pages:  https://www.sjeuroa.catholic.edu.au/ 

This morning, we welcomed our Foundation 2026 children and families to St John’s for their first Transition Session. It was a lovely start to their journey with us, and the children settled in beautifully. A big thank you to Mrs Sally Redfern, our Foundation 2026 Classroom Teacher, and Lisa Lister, our Foundation 2026 LSO, for a warm and seamless welcome. We look forward to seeing our new Foundation students again for their next session on Tuesday 2nd December from 9am–11:40am. 

Swimming Program begins next week!  

We are very excited to begin our 2025 Swimming Program next week, running over two weeks. Thank you to Mr Linc McKernan for the huge amount of planning and organisation that goes into coordinating this program, we are very grateful for his work behind the scenes to ensure everything runs smoothly. If the weather is not suited for swimming in the next few weeks, please still prepare your child as if it is, and they will participate in a swim safety session here at school instead. Below are the swimming times for each year level so families can easily see when their child will be attending the pool:

Monday 1st December 🏊 

9:30am-10:20am: Year 5 Swimming 

10:20am – 11:10am: Year 6 Swimming 

11:10am – 12pm: Year 2 Swimming 

12:20pm – 1pm: Foundation Ramsden Swimming 

1pm – 1:50pm: Year 1 Swimming 

2pm- 2:40pm: Foundation Redfern Swimming 

Wednesday 3rd December 🏊 

9:30am-10:05am: Year 3 Swimming 

10:05am-10:40am: Year 4 Swimming 

10:40am – 11:15am: Year 6 Swimming 

11:30am – 12:05pm: Year 5 Swimming 

12:05am – 12:40pm: Year 2 Swimming 

12:40pm – 1:15pm: Year 1 Swimming 

1:30pm – 2:05pm: Foundation Redfern Swimming 

2:05pm- 2:40pm: Foundation Ramsden Swimming 

Friday 5th December 🏊 

9:30am-10:05am: Year 6 Swimming 

10:05am – 10:40am: Year 5 Swimming 

10:40am – 11:15am: Year 3 Swimming 

11:30am – 12:05pm: Year 2 Swimming 

12:05pm – 12:40pm: Year 4 Swimming 

12:40pm – 1:15pm: Foundation Redfern Swimming 

1:30pm – 2:05pm: Foundation Ramsden Swimming 

2:05pm- 2:40pm: Year 1 Swimming 

Tuesday 9th December 🏊 (also Whole School Transition Day 9am-11am) 

12pm – 12:40pm: Year 4 Swimming 

12:40pm – 1:20pm: Foundation Ramsden Swimming 

1:20pm – 2:00pm: Year 3 Swimming 

2:10pm – 2:45pm: Foundation Redfern Swimming 

Thursday 11th December 🏊 

9:30am—10:20am: Year 6 Swimming 

10:20am – 11:10am: Year 5 Swimming 

11:10am – 11:55am: Year 3 Swimming 

12:15pm – 1pm: Year 4 Swimming 

1pm – 1:50pm: Year 1 Swimming 

2pm – 2:45pm: Year 2 Swimming 

To ensure your child is prepared, please make sure they bring the following items each day: 

• Bathers 
• Swim shirt 
• Towel 
• Goggles (we have some school pairs available if needed) 
• Thongs or similar footwear for walking to and from the pool 
• A spare change of underwear 

If you have any questions, feel free to contact Linc via email at lmckernan@sjeuroa.catholic.edu.au 

Key End of Year Dates – Term 4, 2025 

As we approach the end of the school year, the next few weeks are filled with important events and celebrations. Please see the key dates below: 

• Friday 5th December – 2:30pm  Whole School Assembly 
• Monday 8th December – After 3:00pm  Semester 2 Reports released to families via SIMON (PAM) 
• Tuesday 9th December – 9:00am–12:00pm  2026 State-Wide Transition Day (including Foundation 2026) 
• Thursday 11th December  Carols on the Deck – All welcome come at 6pm for a 6.15pm start 
• Monday 15th December – 6:00pm  Year 6 Graduation Dinner – Mercy Centre  (SAVE THE DATE – Official invite coming soon) 
• Monday 15th December – All Day  Crazy Sock Day – Normal uniform with a gold coin donation 
• Tuesday 16th December – Final Day for Students  12:30pm – End of Year Mass and Year 6 Graduation Mass 

It’s shaping up to be a great finish to the year, and we hope to see you at many of our key events over the next few weeks! 

Key Dates for 2026 and CESL Theme 

As we begin preparing for next year, here are the key dates for 2026 along with the CESL theme that will guide our work and formation across the year. The CESL Theme for 2026 is “Seek Peace and Pursue It”. The 2026 theme invites us to actively cultivate peace in our classrooms, relationships and leadership. It reminds us that peace is not passive; it is something we intentionally work toward through compassion, justice, inclusion and understanding. 

Term 1, 2026 

Tuesday 27 January, Wednesday 28 January and Thursday 29 January: Pupil Free Days for staff preparation 

Friday 30 January: First day for all students including Foundation (Foundation students remain home until Wednesday 4 March for Literacy and Numeracy assessments and family interviews) 

Term 2, 2026 

Monday 20 April: Pupil Free Day for CESL Learning and Teaching Seminar 

Friday 5 June: Pupil Free Day for Student Wellbeing and Safeguarding 

Term 3, 2026 

Wednesday 5 August: Pupil Free Day for CESL Staff Spirituality Day 

Term 4, 2026 

Friday 30 October: Pupil Free Day for BRCE Staff Spirituality Day 

Monday 2 November: Pupil Free Day for CESL Report Writing  

Monday 14 December at 6pm: Year 6 Graduation Mass 

Tuesday 15 December at 12.30pm: Students finish with Graduation and End of Year Mass 

Wednesday 16 December: Staff finish for 2026 

Take care, 

Sam Kerlin 

Principal – St John’s School, Euroa