Learning & Teaching

Discovery Open Afternoon 

We had a fantastic time hosting our Discovery Afternoon last Monday 9th September! Seeing so many families join us to discover the exciting learning happening in our P-2 hubs and witness the launches of our 3-6 children’s projects was wonderful. Our children were thrilled to share their projects, artwork and discoveries. We loved seeing families engage in the learning activities, ask insightful questions and participate in play alongside their children. Thank you for taking the time to visit us and learn more about discovery at St John’s.

We look forward to seeing you at future events!

Please look for the upcoming Discovery Parent session early Term 4 aimed at Two Hub children orienting to Three Hub.

REANZ Study Tour Visit 

Earlier this month, we had the privilege of hosting 28 educators from New Zealand as part of their Reggio Emilia Aotearoa New Zealand (REANZ) Study Tour. Our visitors were particularly interested in learning about our school's philosophy of discovery, community projects and collaborative planning.

We shared our approach to collecting data, connecting with our local community and land and working together as a team to document and plan. This experience focused on the importance of supporting children in their explorations and becoming investigators alongside them.

Our visitors' commented on our approach and emphasis on putting the child at the centre of everything we do at St John’s, highlighting the importance of actively seeking out children's passions to create meaningful experiences.

We are grateful for this opportunity to share and learn from our New Zealand colleagues and continue to refine our practices.

Primary Perspectives Network - Reggio Emilia Australia Information Exchange (REAIE) ~ Saturday 14th September

On Saturday, Lauren and Amy were invited to travel to Canberra to share our story of learning at St. John’s. We presented our approach to school inspired by the learnings of Reggio Emilia’s principles of education and how we have contextualised these over the last 7 or so years at St John’s. Similar to what we shared with the study tour participants, we were able to discuss our pedagogical choices and logistics on how children can truly become at the heart of their learning journey through care, consideration and valuing children as competent and creative.

Amy and Lauren were also fortunate to hear some incredible speakers who re-energised and left some thought provoking nuggets of wisdom to continuously orbit back to.

ASRC Food Drive

Last Friday 13th September, our Social Justice Leaders visited the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre in Footscray to learn more about the important work they do and to drop off donations from our Term 3 Food Drive.

Thank you to everyone who donated food - this was one of the largest donations we have contributed. All food is made available to people in our community seeking asylum.

Quang Minh Temple Visit

We invite families to come along with our staff to visit Quang Minh temple in Braybrook on Monday 7th October from 2-3pm.

This will be an opportunity to learn more about the Buddhist faith, experience meditation, and learn about the rituals that are held in this space. If you attend, please ensure conversations around learning, reverence and respect are had before entering this space with your children.

Please note that as this is a school closure day, children must be accompanied and supervised by a parent. 

Please RSVP via PAM by Friday 4th October so we can confirm numbers with the temple.

Division Athletics Day

Congratulations to our team of 12 students who represented St Johns’ at the Maribyrnong Division Athletics Carnival on Tuesday 10th September.

We were lucky to have a beautiful day for athletics and our children did the school and themselves proud in all their events, with many winning ribbons and achieving personal best performances.

The following children will continue into the next round to compete at the Western Metropolitan Athletics Event in October. The St John's community wishes them all the best for their events:

1st place:

Yr 6 : Pearl in both the 800m & Long Jump

         Aaron in the 100m sprint

         Boys relay team: Bryan,  Aaron,  Liam,  Phupa

2nd Place:

Yr 4:   Alec in Discus

All of the other children competed very well and finished in the following positions. 

Yr 5:    Tilly  3rd in 800m & 4th in 80m Hurdles

            Isla 4th in both the 1500m & Shot Put

Yr 4:   Maweien  4th in Long Jump

4th in the Boys relay team: Archer, Yel, Fionn, Alec   

A great effort by all our children. Well done.