Dear St John’s Community,

Sorry for the delay with the newsletter from last Friday. We're chasing our tails a bit, keeping up with the end of the year.

I know it's late, but I'd like to announce the staff for 2026 at St John's. We still have a gap to fill, but we're working on that!

Classroom Teachers:

Prep: (1 Grade)

Mrs Lyn Hoysted (3 days)

Mrs Katie Salmon

Grade 1/2 (4 Grades)

Mrs Sally Woodbridge / Mrs Vanessa Braham (Thursdays)

Mrs Emma Clark / Mrs Vanessa Braham (Fridays)

Mrs Caitlin McInnes

Mrs Catrina Charman (Mon/Tues) / Ms Mel Edwards (Wednesday - Friday)

Grade 3/4 (3 Grades)

Mrs Grace Atkins

Mr Brodie Pope

1 more currently interviewing

Grade 5/6 (3 Grades)

Mr Dean Lefebvre & Mr John Caine (Mondays/ Sport Support Fridays)

Mrs Amy McMahon

Mr Justin Aron

Specialists

PE - Mr Mark O'Sullivan (Tues - Thurs)

Music - Mr John Caine (Tues - Thurs)

Art - Mrs Michelle Munyun (Tues-Thurs) (Long service Leave - Term 1)

Japanese - Mrs Eva Wheeler (Tues-Thurs)

Other Roles

Mrs Maree Summers - Deputy Principal, Wellbeing & Literacy Leader

Mrs Marisa Paton - Religious Education, Planning & Engagement, Community Connections Leader & Graduate Mentor

Mrs Bernie Clutterbuck - Learning Diversity Leader & Wellbeing Support

Mrs Eva Wheeler - Maths Leader 3-6

Mrs Emma Clarke - Maths Leader P-2

Mr Dean Lefebvre - Science & Technology Leader

Mrs Lyn Hoysted - MHiPS Leader & Wellbeing support (Mental Health in Primary Schools Govt initiative)

Notes

Mrs Danni Gunn, Mrs Suzi Funtusoff and Mrs Sarah O'Keefe are on Maternity Leave

Mr Billy Coburn is on LWOP

LSO & Support Staff

Mrs Fiona Absolom (Maqlit intervention)

Mrs Mel Coy (+ Office Admin - Thurs/Fri)

Mrs Lisa Fitzjohn (Mini-Lit intervention)

Mrs Tory Jackson

Miss Kaitlyn Burt

Mrs Leanne Dale

Miss Sam Micallef

Miss Sienna Robinson

Miss Eve Hobson

Miss Olivia O'Sullivan

Miss Monica Wise (Maqlit intervention)

Miss Tia Saddington

Other support

Mrs Lesley Wood (ICT Admin)

Mrs Mel Cotta (Mon-Thurs - Office Admin)

Mrs Denise Francis (All things financial)

Mrs Rebecca Fall (Psychologist)

Mrs Evelyn Wee (Speech)

Mrs Jude Barry (Canteen)

Departures

We also say goodbye to a few people this year and wish them all the best for the future.

Ms Jeannine Johnston

Miss Cyarni Klimek

Mrs Jessica Dankert

Mrs Jessica Dalgleish

Student Leaders 2026

The leadership positions for 2026 were announced at our last assembly. The current leaders welcomed the newcomers to their roles for 2026. I was expecially impressed by the number of students who applied for the School Captain role this year. We used a three tiered preferential voting system with the students this year and lucky we did. It would have been impossible to split the main contenders for the Captain's role without it. The leaders for 2026 are:

Captains: Eve M, Bella N-G

Walsh: Malia M, Rhianna P

Nunan: Oscar J, Liean M

Wilson: Finn S, Lucy W

MacLellan: April S, Miyah H

Stewardship: Nanette C, Jordan S

Fire Carrier: Lucas T, Chloe G-M

Christmas Disco & Family evening

Please note if you havent already bought tickets you can do so here: Disco

Thursday is a Free Christmas Dress day for all students as well!

All proceed from the night go towards the Playground Fund.

Social Media Age Restrictions

From 10 December 2025, the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act 2024 will require social media platforms to:

prevent children and young people under 16 from having a social media account
deactivate or freeze existing accounts held by people under 16.

Delaying access to social media protects the health and wellbeing of young people and gives them extra time to build real world connections and digital literacy skills.

The responsibility will be on the social media platforms, not parents, carers, children or schools, to implement these new restrictions.

Most popular social media platforms will be age restricted. These include Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, X (formerly Twitter), Reddit and YouTube.

Messaging services and online games, as well as apps and platforms that support health and education, can still be used.

At our school, all age-restricted social media platforms are blocked for student use on the school network.

Dont forget, you can go to the Social media age restrictions hub of the eSafety Commissior to find out more and to find tips about how to talk about these restrictions with your children.

Prayer for the Advent season

Dear God,

At this time of Advent we pray;

For the brightness of Bethlehem’s star announcing to all who can see

that a Saviour is to be born,

we give you thanks.

For the beauty of the angels’ song

announcing to all who can hear

that the time is drawing near,

we give you thanks.

For the pure joy of a mother’s cry

announcing God’s blessing on her,

with such faith and humility,

we give you thanks.

Amen

Frankston Events coming up

Kids Beach Run 2026 – register now

Saturday 7 February, Frankston Waterfront frankstonswimclassic.com.au

Waterfront Festival 2026

Friday 6 and Saturday 7 February, Frankston Waterfront waterfrontfestival.com.au

Have a great week,

Derek Bruitzman

Principal

nforma Parent Portal App

Click on this link for a guide of the new nForma Parent Portal and how to install it.

School Uniform

VPASS - how to guides

Android phone process

Iphone process

Jokes of the week:

Q. Why is it so hard to find Advent Calenders this year?

A. Because their days are numbered

Q. How do you know Santa is around?

A. You can sense his presents

Q. What do you call an elf who can sing and dance rock n roll?

A. Elfis

Fun facts of the week

Lobsters produce an enzyme that repairs their cells and helps their DNA to replicate indefinitely. They're almost immortal!!

Armadillos shells are typically bullet proof (please don't try and test it!)

Each limestone/granite block that makes up the Great Pyramid of Giza weighs 2.5 tons. And there are 2.3 million blocks. Yes, you read that correctly!

Playground Fundraising

What's Happening in 1/2