A message from Emily

Dear parents and carers

It's hard to believe that we are coming to the end of the school year. There is much to celebrate this year and lots to look forward to next year.

On Monday we will celebrate our Year 6 children with their Graduation Mass and lunch. Mass will take place within the 5/6 Hub. Families of Year 6 children have been invited to join us for this special celebration.

Next Tuesday, we will hold our 'End of Year' liturgy in Joan's Yard. All families are invited to join us for this community event. We will begin at 9am. At the end of the day we will form a guard of honour for the Year 6 children and children leaving our school community. Families are invited to join in with this tradition in forming the guard of honour. We will begin to form the guard of honour at 12:50pm in Joan's Yard ready for the 1pm 'End for Year Dismissal'.

Today was a busy day as we relocated all the furniture into 2025 hubs. I would like to thank all the children and staff for ensuring this process has gone well. Tomorrow we will have a skip delivered to the Back Yard to dispose of larger items. If you use the Back Yard for drop off or pick up please be mindful that this will be present on Monday. We are hoping the placement of the skip will have minimal impact on this process.

Last week we were lucky to have a visit from Bishop Martin Ashe and Fr Gerald. We took both of them on a school tour and they interacted with the children to hear about the exciting things they have been working on. Last weekend, was also the installation celebration of Fr Gerald as Parish Priest for our community. Bishop Martin was unwell on the day so Fr Rene stepped in. This was like a full circle moment for our Parish with Fr Rene being selected to become a Bishop on the 1st February next year and him installing his successor as Parish Priest for Holy Family Parish. Those who were present will agree that it was a lovely celebration. We congratulate Fr Gerald again on officially being installed as our Parish Priest.

Hall Update

Since our last newsletter I am able to provide an update around the works required to fix the hall. As mentioned in the past, extensive works are required to fix issues with the hall roof and foundations. Restoring the Hall to it's original design has been costed at $1.3 million. During the master plan consultation that took place earlier in the year, we also looked at this and the cost of some improvements to future proof this space costing $1.5 - $1.7 million based on engineering reports and architect's design. All this information was used as part of our SCF application that was unsuccessful. Since then further deterioration has taken place with the building resulting in the installation of the props along the external wall in the Back Yard. Last week we had a visit from WorkSafe, which I welcomed, to ensure the measures we have in place are meeting all requirements around the safety of our community. This was positive experience with representatives from MACS present also. A further engineering investigation took place last Friday with the installation of a device to measure cracks and movement between now and the end of January. All this will be used for our next application to fund for these works. I have already received and further invite families who wish to share how they are feeling about the hall and the impact of not having this space in writing. I will use these as part of my application to MACS in securing funding for these crucial works. I join you in your frustration, and so do the staff, at the lack progress in rectifying these issues, as we know how much it impacts what we are able to offer as a school in regards to community events and learning opportunities as well as the financial burden associated with engineering reports, temporary make safe works, loss of holiday program income and possible future enrolments.

Tonight, we have our Family Christmas night. We also have the addition of a sausage sizzle and one of our Year 5 children is selling some home made scrunchies. A wonderful group of parents will be running our Christmas BBQ led by Rob Crocitti and have also organise the option to pay by card. So make sure you buy a sausage or a veggie burger from 5pm. I would like to take the opportunity to thank Rob for this initiative and organisation of this fundraiser and securing donations from local business; IGA Barkley Street, Coles and Bakers Delight Highpoint and Essendon stores.

Reminders for 2025

• School Office Open: Tuesday 28th January
• First day for Prep 2025 : Thursday 30th January
• First day children in Yr 1 - Yr 6 : Friday 31st January
• School Photo Day Feb 25 - Please refer to the Family Engagement page to find out how to order.

The Back yard will be closed for pick up THIS AFTERNOON and TOMORROW MORNING due to the stage for tonight's Christmas Carols. We will also share arrangements for pick up procedures for 2025 prior to the children beginning for Term 1 in 2025.

I have checked and we still have some families who have not signed up to the Simon Everywhere app and PAM. In 2025 this will be our only platform to send communication and notifications home other than SeeSaw. Student reports have been released last week and this is how you access these, as well as update your child medical profile, access newsletters, book learning conversations and hear about upcoming events. Please make sure you have signed up asap if you haven't already. See information below.

I would like thank all our children and families for another wonderful year at St John's. So much has happened to celebrate from achievements of children to a successful school review process. I look forward to sharing more about our four-year cycle for school improvement next year but our themes are; safe and connected, feedback and growth and context driven practice. I would also like to thank the most amazing St John's staff. I feel very privilege to lead such an amazing, dedicated and passionate group of people who work tireless for the children of St John's.

I wish everyone a wonderful and safe Christmas and New Year celebrating with loved ones. We all look forward to welcoming you back in 2025.

Warm wishes

Emily