Principal's News

St John’s School Vision: “An inclusive Catholic community fostering a commitment to faith and nurturing a love of learning.” 

St John's Catholic Parish School Prayer 

Loving God, We are grateful for the community of St John's Parish School. We ask you to unite us all in love, friendship and compassion. May our school be a place of wonder, learning and peace. Help us to be like Jesus Christ in all that we do as we journey together in faith, hope and love. We make this prayer through Christ our Lord. Amen. 

Dear Families,

The excitement never stops at St. John’s, and the last two weeks were no exception as we celebrated Book Week, Grandparent's Day, and our amazing performance, Dodgeball Dreamers. As one parent recently remarked, “There seems to be something on every week at St. John’s, it's fantastic… it wasn’t like this when I went to school!” This sentiment rings true, as St. John’s is truly an exciting place to learn- a place of wonder, learning and peace; united by love, friendship and compassion.

None of these wonderful events would be possible without the incredible support of our parent community. A shining example of this support was seen in the imaginative and resourceful costumes for Book Week and our enthusiastic participation during our performances. Your support of these big school events tells your child that they are important and what they are learning is important.

Dodgeball Dreamers

This week we came together to celebrate the remarkable gifts, talents, and skills of our students, providing them with the opportunity to step out of their comfort zones and revel in the joy of performing Dodgeball dreamers. Through this process we were definitely living out our school vision: "An inclusive Catholic community, fostering a commitment to faith and nurturing a love of learning." Our students have not only showcased their abilities but also deepened their creative and expressive talents and learnt how to work as a team. The Performing Arts are essential for our young people, helping them build the confidence to express themselves both individually and as part of a group.

As you can imagine many hours have gone into the production of our  Performance, Dodgeball dreamers, led by St John’s staff and students. I would particularly like to thank Maria Buttifant, our Performing Arts Leader and the staff of St John's as their unwavering dedication makes a significant difference in our student's lives.

Congratulations to our students, whose efforts made this wonderful and entertaining performance possible. We are truly blessed to have so many talented individuals at St. John’s, each contributing to the resounding success of this event.  

Thank you to those families who took the time to send us some wonderful feedback. We are so pleased everyone enjoyed it. Here are some samples of what you all thought about the performance.

I wanted to share my gratitude to the school staff and everyone involved in putting the school performance together. The commitment and encouragement from the staff is very strong. And also evident through the staff dance routine - one of the highlights from the performance!

Just wanted to send a quick note to thank you all, the whole staff and everyone involved in putting on the school performance this year. It was a fantastic show, so enjoyable to watch all of the kids, they all looked like they were absolutely loving it!! What a lucky bunch they are to go to St John's!

Thanks again, and well done, loved it!

Student-Free Day - Friday 30 August - Teacher Professional Development Day

While all the students were hopefully enjoying a sleep in, our staff were busy participating in a professional development session with Patrick Green and Rob Scanlon from MACS. We were learning about enhancing student engagement and participation, particularly in Literacy and Mathematics, through Daily Reviews.

Daily Review consolidates students’ understanding and develops their fluency in essential understandings for literacy and numeracy sessions. It also ensures that students have the prerequisite skills for the day’s lesson. The Daily Review adds to students’ confidence by ensuring that previously taught skills and concepts are reviewed in a sequenced and planned way.  

This new learning is in line with our Annual Action Plan priorities - 

Priority 2:Embed consistent whole school approaches to learning and teaching.

Priority 3:Lead data informed instructional approaches

The Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools – School Improvement Surveys (MACSSIS) 

We are asking families to complete the 15 minute MACSSIS survey to provide us with valuable feedback about various aspects of our school and community. The Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools – School Improvement Surveys (MACSSIS) will be conducted from 2 – 15 September 2023. Students in Year 4-6 will also complete the student survey. We encourage all families to complete the survey. Once you have completed the survey please email me to go into the draw to win a voucher. 

Today, you should receive a link to the survey with an individual family login code. The surveys are totally anonymous and your feedback will help to guide our planning and goal setting for next year.

St John’s PIC Father’s Day night out

To all the men in our community - Dad's, Uncles, Godfather's and Grandfather's, you are invited to attend our special Father's Day Dinner on 5th September at the Sir Henry Barkly Hotel.  Come along at 7.30pm and meet new people and see those you already know.  A big thank you to Danni, Mary and Meredith for organising it. It's sure to be a fabulous night.

St John’s Learning Powers - We need your creativity!

Learning Powers are key dispositions—habits of thinking and doing—that learners need to become successful, future-oriented, lifelong learners. After extensive discussion, data analysis, and research, the St John’s staff have identified the essential Learning Powers we believe our students need to thrive: Perseverance, Curiosity, Collaboration, Responsibility, and Reflection.

We are inviting students and families to design characters that represent each of these Learning Powers, making them relevant and meaningful to our St John’s students. These characters will help establish a shared language for learning across the St John’s Parish School community and will be nurtured within our learning environments to ensure everyone understands what it means to be an effective learner.

If you’re interested in creating these characters, please reach out to Alison. The final designs will be voted on by the students, ensuring that everyone’s voice is heard.

Footy Clinics being held at St Johns - after school

West Ivanhoe FC has offered to run a free footy clinic on our oval for anyone who would like to give Footy a go. The weekly clinics will run on...

 4th September

11th September

18th September

Everyone is welcome but please register by using this link. https://www.playhq.com/afl/register/96824e

Video of our Performance

Costello Videographers recorded our performance on Thursday at 4:30pm and 7pm. If you would like to order a USB of the performance for $40, please collect a form from the office, with your child this week and return it to the school by Monday

Finally, I hope all the students get to rest today and enjoy reflecting on what a wonderful school St John’s Parish School is  to be part of.

Warm regards

Alison Dean