A message from Emily

Dear parents and carers,

Our last newsletter for 2023. Thank you for another wonderful year at St John's. We have achieved so much this year and it's thanks to the partnerships we have between home and school. We look forward to continuing to improve and celebrate what is so amazing about our community in 2024.

During this term the children in Year 4 and 5 have had a focus on leadership. This included an incursion with Unleashing Personal Potential's Leadership Day where the children explored leadership with and without a badge. Children in Year 5 were then given an opportunity to apply for leadership roles in 2024 as School Captain, Sports Captain and Social Justice Leader. The process involved children submitting a letter to me with their reason why they believe they's make a great leader. They then met with Amy and I to share their speech and answer questions in an interview-like scenario. From this Amy and I shortlisted the children we felt had presented a compelling case and would recommend for these roles. These children then presented their speech to their peers in Years 4 and 5 who then voted. Amy and I were blown away by the quality of the children's applications and speeches. There are so many children who we would have been happy to name as leaders next year but, unfortunately, not everyone was going to be selected. I have shared with all the Year 5 children that there will be opportunities for all children to demonstrate their leadership including supporting Bess with eLearning and Karen with Wellbeing. We feel this process has been highly successful and support the decision the children have made. It is with great pleasure that I announce our 2024 School Captains are: Pearl Stephenson, Liam Guye and Oliver Ngo. All other 2024 leaders will be announced and presented to the community early in Term 1.

Staffing updates:

At the end of this year we will be saying goodbye to Nidhi and Abbey. Nidhi joined us last year as a co-educator and during that time Nidhi has also been working in the mental health sector as a counsellor amongst many other things. Last year she was recognised by the Wyndham Council for her work in mental health and women. With the completion of her studies and accreditation, Nidhi is pursuing her passion for counselling and we thank her for all her contributions to our community.

It is also with sadness that I announce that Abbey is leaving our community. Abbey joined us this year as our PE educator and has brought so much energy to this role. She is much loved by all but understand that for her family, she needs to return to her home town of Mildura. This news is very recent and I am currently looking for an educator to fill these big shoes. Once we have secured a PE teacher for next year I will share this with the community.

We wish both Nidhi and Abbey all the very best. There are so many people in our community who have experienced your love and warmth and you'll both be missed in 2024.

2024 Co-educators

Prep Hub - Shona

1 Hub - Milly & Toula

2 Hub - Vita

3/4 Hubs - Thushari and TBC

5/6 Hub - Lauren

Farm and Library - Eileen

We welcome Vita to our staff. Vita is a positive, energetic person who will join the 3/4 Hubs as a co-educator. Vita is very excited to join our community and is very passionate about children and ensuring the right environment for them to learn and be happy. We look forward to getting to know Vita better in 2024.

Split Break Time Trial

We will have an increase in the number of children at St John's next year with the growth in the number of children in the 3-6 year levels. These year levels also tend to use the backyard which can feel unsafe with the number of different games being played simultaneously. Feedback from our student data and focus groups has indicated a feeling of unsafe behaviours during break times due to the games some children are playing.

To help improve this as well as minimising the number of injuries, we are trialing a split break to give children more space to engage in the games they want to play without creating an issue with feeling unsafe.

Next Monday the children from Hubs 2, 3 and 4 will begin their play at 10:50am and remain outside until 11:15am to be inside by 11:20am for eating time until 11:30am

Children in Hubs Prep, 1 and 5/6 will eat from 11- 11:10am. We will ensure younger children start eating earlier so they have enough time to finish before going outside. They will then be outside from 11:10 - 11:40am. Staff will then evaluate this process to see if it was effective and could be something we roll out for Term 1 next year.

SIMON & PAM

Our new platform has been rolled out and we apologise for some of the technical issues that we have experienced. It is the reason we thought we would launch this year so we could iron out the problems ready for 2024. You will be able to access your child's Semester 2 Report from this platform. We will notify families when this happens along with a video to help you interpret the report. We will also look for family input in ways to improve these reports moving forward.

Next year we will be communicating all first aid visits, absences and permissions via this platform. Thank you for your patience as we launch this new product. If you would like to more about this product please check out their website

Medical Management

Recently, Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools Ltd (MACS) have updated their Medical Management Policy to ensure that schools meet their responsibilities and duty of care for managing the medical needs of children with diagnosed medical conditions, health care needs, wellbeing and/or personal care needs, to support students’ equitable access and participation in education.

This means that St. John’s will be implementing required changes to the management of supporting children with medical conditions, including those who require administration of medication during school hours. You will received an email next week which will outline what this means for you and your child/ren who have health needs or medication during the day at school. 

Parental Engagement Opportunities 2024

Over this term, staff have unpacked data from the MACSSIS Survey and have identified Parental Engagement as an area of priority. We will be exploring was we can engage parents authentically and include parent voice in a variety of ways.  Staff and members of the School Advisory Board have identified a couple possibilities to start with:

• Parent Run Trivia Night
• Master Planning for St John's including the redevelopment of the Convent into learning spaces
• School Review Focus Groups/Interviews

If you would like to be part of any of these I would love to hear from you. I am also open to other suggestions, including fundraising opportunities. More information about this will appear in next year's communication.

End of Term Events

• Monday 11th December: 
  • Advent Liturgy led by the Prep Hub
• Tuesday 12th December:
  • Advent Market led by the children starting at 4pm
  • Christmas Carols in the backyard at 5pm
• Thursday 14th December
  • Yr 6 Graduation Celebrations
• Friday 15th December: 1pm Finish
  • End of Year Mass 10am in the hall
  • Guard of honour for our Yr 6 children and children leaving St John's. All families are invited and welcome to join in the Guard of Honour. We will gather outside at 12:50pm in time for 1pm dismissal.

Term 1 2024

A calendar of events will be shared with families next week so you have dates for special events and school closure days. Please see below the start dates for Term 1.

• Monday 29th January: Staff return for Term 1
• Tuesday 30th January: First Day for Preps ONLY
• Wednesday 31st January: All children in Hubs 1-6 return to school. (No Preps)
• Thursday 1st February: All children onsite

Wishing you a safe and Merry Christmas

Emily