Dear St John’s Community,

As you may or may not be aware, MACS - Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools has been engaging in a significant rebranding and establishment of themselves as the third biggest Catholic Diocese in the world, with a focused approach to changing the face of education in Australia.

A while ago I talked about the Vision for Instruction, which is transforming how teachers approach teaching and learning in the classroom. Last week, they launched the Vision for Engagement. The MACS Vision for Engagement is an evidence-informed and authentically Catholic commitment to nurturing calm, respectful and inclusive classrooms for staff to work in and students to learn in.

For teachers, these practices revolve around:

teaching respectful behaviour
fostering belonging
focusing on attendance
promoting mental health and wellbeing
enabling motivation
targeting individual learning needs.

And expectations for students:

behaving respectfully towards others
attending school every day, on time
adopting classroom routines that ensure expectations are understood
listening intently and paying attention
participating in instruction that is targeted to need, and supports growth and achievement
persisting with complex tasks
feeling safe and connected at school
being supported with mental health and wellbeing
benefiting from stronger partnerships between the school and family
experiencing caring relationships with teachers and school staff
receiving a coordinated and effective system of support across all areas of their learning.

All of these are important concepts, not many of them are new, however, it's the first time everyone is being called on to do it together. We all know, if one person is trying to push a car, it's pretty hard; get a few people behind it, and suddenly things are moving. Time will tell what impact this will have on our sector.

First Holy Communion

I'd like you all to keep our First Holy Communion candidates in your prayers this weekend as they receive their Sacrament on Sunday.

Dear God, we thank you for the gift of faith and for the grace you offer through the sacraments. We ask for your blessings on our First Holy Communion children as they prepare to receive this joyous Sacrament. May their lives be a witness to your love, and may they always be filled with your Holy Spirit.

Amen

After school pickups

I'd just like to remind everyone that students are not permitted to play running or ball games between 3.15pm and 3.30pm after school. There are too many people around and we need students to make their way to where they are being picked up, especially for the drive through so we can keep it flowing promptly for everyone. If parents are present, we ask you wait until 3.30pm otherwise, it attracts other students to join in, and we have the same problems occurring. We also have Kelly Sports every Wednesday after school, needing to gather students and set up for their activities.

Staff announcements

There are a couple of very important baby announcements I need to make. There definitely seems to be a baby boom happening.

I'd like to mention Mrs Maree Summers, who's just become a Nanna for the first time with the birth of her first grandson last week. She's very proud!

Congratulations to Mrs Suzie Futusoff and her husband. Mrs Funtusoff returned early from maternity leave this year to help us out in 5/6, and is pregnant again. She will be working through to the end of Term 3. A huge congratulations to her and her family.

Huge congratulations also to Mrs Sarah O'Keefe and her husband. She will be heading off on maternity leave in about Week 3 or 4 of Term 3 to have their very first child. How very exciting for them! We have engaged Mrs Jess Dankert, who has been running Music for us this term, to take over Mrs O'Keefe's class for the rest of the year. We are looking at a suitable replacement for music in the meantime.

Finally, Mr Dean Lefebvre, who is set to take Long Service Leave next term, has just extended that leave to include the whole of Term 3. We hope he has a great time off and a wonderful trip to Japan. We will begin looking for a suitable replacement for while he is away.

Kookaburra Kids Foundation

This week I met with Scott from Kookaburra Kids and was so impressed by what he is doing for kids dealing with family mental illness I offered to share it with our community. Kookaburra Kids is a not-for-profit organisation that delivers services to young people who are impacted by family mental illness with the aim of empowering them to build resilience, lifelong knowledge and abilities so they can reach their potential. Anyone can refer their child to Kookaburra Kids through their website. If you'd like to know more, please follow this link

St John's Footy Tips

Come on, kids and parents! Don't let the teachers win!

Top 10 Footy Tips

1 - JARON96 90

2 – Mr B 88

3 - Mr LEFEBVRE - 88

4 – ASHFOUDY 88

5 – MISSBNG2014 87

6 – JESSA1923 – 87

7 – EZNDAZ 86

8 – MATT-LEDGER 86

9 – MASTERPNG2018 85

10 – TOONAUSSIE 85

School Uniform Reminder

Just to clarify for everyone, we no longer have a Summer and Winter uniform. There is only a School Uniform and a Sport Uniform.

Have a restful weekend!

Kind regards,

Derek Bruitzman

Principal

Jokes of the week:

Q. How did the snowglobe feel after listening to the scary story?

A. A bit shaken up

Q. What bites but doesn't have any teeth?

A. Frost

Q. Why did the polar bear get fired?

A. He kept disappearing in winter

Fun facts of the week:

Peru has more butterflies and butterfly species than any other place in the world

Ethiopia follows a different calendar to most other countries in the world. This year is 2016 in Ethiopia and they celebrate New year in September.

The entire population of Australia is 10 million people less than the population of the Tokyo metro area, (capital city of Japan), but Australia is 500 times bigger.

NCCD Information Sheet for Parents, Carers and Guardians