Principal's Page

A Message from the Principal

Welcome back to the new school year for 2025! I hope that you and your family enjoy a special year of friendship, learning, joy and great community spirit at St John's. A very special welcome to all of our new families. We are excited that you are joining us and look forward to building strong partnerships with you and your child throughout the years ahead.

I enjoyed a lovely summer holiday with my family and friends, venturing to all corners of Victoria. Camping in the King Valley and at Croajingalong National Park I am always reminded of the many native treasures that thrive in abundance in Australia. Being surrounded by and immersed in the birdlife, reptiles, sealife and dense forests is certainly very therapeutic and reinvigorating. We enjoyed swimming, fishing, kayaking and many long walks. I hope that you experienced some special family times together also.

This year I will be well supported by my leadership team. I am delighted to welcome Mrs Nicole Webb to our leadership team this year, in the role of Literacy Leader. For our full staff list please see below.

There was a great buzz in the air in our Prep Class today. All of our Prep students and new students across the school have settled in well. It is amazing how much all of the other students have grown. I always love going around to the classrooms and on the playground to hear about all of their holiday adventures. It was lovely to welcome parents at our morning tea this morning, building connections with our new and current families.

John's 2025 Staff List

Staffing Updates

Over the school holidays, Connie Pearse,  an LSO at St John's for 16 years, was offered a position to train and support other LSOs. It is a role that will further her career and put into practice the additional study that she undertook last year. This new role represents a chance for her to grow as an educator and make an impact on the broader education community. Connie has worked with many teachers and students at St John's over the past 16 years and she will be greatly missed. Connie will be farewelled at St John's during week 3 of this term.

Our new LSO in Year 5/6C class is Keyla. Keyla is very experienced and is excited to be working with our senior students this year.

We are also delighted to welcome back Mrs Naomi Ryan from maternity leave this year. She will be teaching the Year 1/2 students.

First Assembly - Year 6 Leadership Badges

Next Monday, 3 February, will be our first assembly for the year. It will be hosted by Year 5/6A and the Year 6 students will all receive their leadership badges. We will also be welcoming our new students and the prep students to their first assembly. Please join us at 2.50pm in the Mary MacKillop Space for our first assembly. 

Parking Safely

This is a reminder to always observe the parking signs around the school. Whitehorse Council Officers regularly check that all drivers are parking safely. There is a Kiss and Drop area at the front of the school, so please do not park there. 

There is plenty of parking on the basketball court, before and after school. You can enter via Elizabeth St.

There is also plenty of parking across Whitehorse Road and you can use the Footbridge.

Student Smart Watches and Mobile Phones

This is a reminder that students are discouraged from bringing smart watches or mobile phones to school. If they do they will be handed in to the class teacher at the start of the day and may be collected at the end of the day. They will be kept safely in the teachers cupboard.

Guidelines for screen time can be found in the Australian 24-hour movement guidelines for the early years. These guidelines were developed from reviews of the evidence about the effects of physical activity, sleep and sedentary time (including screen time) on children’s development, health and wellbeing.

For screen time, the guidelines recommend:

• no screen time for children younger than two years
• no more than one hour per day for children aged 2–5 years
• no more than two hours of sedentary recreational screen time per day for children and young people aged 5–17 years (not including schoolwork).

2025 School Fee Statements

All school fee statements for 2025 will be sent to families by the end of February. This will include an outline of payment methods and timeframes.

St John's Second Hand Uniform Shop

Thank-you to Naomi Rocque and Samantha Mitchell who have taken on the role of coordinating the Second Hand Uniform Shop. They will assist you with any requirements for additional uniform items, if they are in stock. Please email Naomi and Samantha to let them what you need.

Naomi Rocque naomi.rocque@outlook.com

Samantha Mitchell sammitchell77@live.com

Joke of the Week

May you all have a wonderful year ahead. Please don't hesitate to reach out if I can support you in any way throughout the year.

Verona Gridley

St John's Primary School Principal

principal@sjmitcham.catholic.edu.au