St John's
School Advisory Council
Our most recent School Advisory Council (SAC) meeting, held in the staffroom on Tuesday 1st September, was a meaningful and energising gathering. It provided a valuable opportunity for members to reconnect, share perspectives and reflect on the goals that continue to unite us in supporting the growth and development of our school community. Gatherings such as these remind us of the strength that comes from collaboration and the importance of a shared vision as we continue through the year. We look forward with enthusiasm to the initiatives and projects still to come and sincerely thank all SAC members for their ongoing commitment, support and contribution to making 2026 such a positive and successful year for our school community.
Our SAC Team for 2026
We are grateful for the leadership, commitment and guidance of our 2026 School Advisory Council. Each member brings valuable perspectives and contributes to shaping the direction of our school, supporting our mission and values across all areas of school life.
Verona Gridley – School Principal
Father Dispin John – Parish Priest (Custodian of Mission)
Melinda Buscema – Deputy School Principal / RE Leader (Custodian of Mission)
Angela Maclean – Chairperson, Parent Representative
Samantha Solomons – Secretary, Parent Representative
Anne Tyedin – Parent Representative
May De Almeida – Parent Representative
Rob Kruisheer – Parent Representative
Principal’s Report – September 2026
It has been another busy and productive period at St John’s, with exciting developments across leadership, learning and teaching, student wellbeing, faith and our wider school community. I would like to thank our staff, students and families for their continued support and enthusiasm.
Leadership and Management
Planning for 2027 is well underway, with our class structure now confirmed at seven classes. This is a positive outcome, particularly given current government funding arrangements. We have worked hard to secure seven classes so that we can maintain class sizes of approximately 20–25 students. This structure will be finalised once Term 4 enrolments are confirmed and families will be provided with further information in due course.
Our School Closure Day was a valuable opportunity for staff professional learning. A major focus was the review and development of our Positive Behaviour for Learning Matrix. Staff have also been working on social stories to accompany the presentation of each behaviour expectation. We look forward to sharing these resources with our community once they have been finalised.
Leadership positions in Wellbeing and Literacy for 2027 have been advertised and interviews with current staff who have applied are currently being conducted. Appointments will be announced in due course.
Planning for the appointment of our new Principal will also progress later this term, with applications expected to open over the school holidays.
Learning and Teaching
Developing teacher professional knowledge remains an important priority. Our mathematics professional learning, led by Anna Hendy, is currently focusing on mathematical fluency and automatic recall. Students are developing their ability to quickly recall number facts, equations and times tables so that they can devote more cognitive capacity to solving increasingly complex mathematical problems.
We have also introduced a new Spelling Mastery program, an evidence-based approach delivered by our Learning Support Officers through explicit instruction. This provides students with structured and consistent support as they develop their spelling knowledge and skills.
There is plenty happening across the school in the coming weeks. Our STEM Day on 15 September is fast approaching, with staff and students busy preparing for what promises to be an engaging day of learning.
A range of excursions and camps are also coming up, including activities for P–2, Years 3/4 and our Year 5 camp. Year 6 students will also continue to benefit from our digital learning opportunities and a leadership incursion this week.
Religious Dimension
We are grateful to Fr Maurie Cooney, who is filling in for Fr Dispin during his absence.
Congratulations to our Grade 6 students, who celebrated their Confirmation last week. It was a wonderful occasion, and we are very proud of the students as they continue to grow in their faith.
Our Religious Education program continues to be an area of great strength. Melinda has been involved in professional learning connected with the development and trialling of new RE initiatives and has been working closely with Prep, Year 1 and 2 teachers in planning and implementing lessons. This will continue with the upper grades this term coming.
St John’s is currently participating in a pilot program focused on more explicit teaching in Religious Education. The work involves new scope and sequence documents, carefully developed professional resources and an increasing number of curriculum units for different year levels.
Our school has received very positive feedback through this process and has been recognised within the Eastern Region network for the enthusiasm and quality of our RE practices. Melinda recently presented this work to approximately 60 Religious Education Leaders, where it was very well received.
It is exciting to see our staff contributing to the development of the new curriculum while also sharing our practice with other schools.
Student Wellbeing
Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL) continues to be a major focus across the school. We are currently implementing and refining our Tier 2 practices, while also considering opportunities to participate in Tier 3 professional learning and practices in 2027.
Our approach is based on the principle that behaviour support should be responsive to student needs. All students receive explicit teaching of our expectations, while additional support is provided to students who require it.
Our school values of Respect, Safety and Responsibility remain at the heart of this work. We are reviewing our Behaviour Matrix so that expectations are expressed clearly and positively, including a greater focus on digital behaviour. We are also developing accompanying slides and resources to help explicitly teach these expectations to students.
Staff are increasingly using PAM/SIMON to strengthen the recording and analysis of behaviour data. Learning Support Officers can now enter incident information directly into SIMON, allowing us to develop a clearer picture of patterns and support students more effectively.
We are also updating our Junior and Senior Behaviour Reflection Sheets, which will be reintroduced as part of our restorative practices. Importantly, parents will continue to be notified about both minor and major behaviour matters.
Our aim is to create a consistent approach where students know what is expected, positive behaviour is recognised and rewarded, and students who require additional support receive it in a timely and targeted way.
We hope to present the finalised PBL protocols and procedures to the SAC at its next meeting before introducing the updated expectations to students in Term 4.
School Community
It has been wonderful to see such strong community participation recently.
Our Trivia Night was a great success, providing an enjoyable opportunity for families and staff to come together. Thank you to everyone who attended and to those who helped organise the evening.
Our Father Figures Breakfast held on Friday, was an opportunity to welcome our father figures and special adults into the school community.
A huge thank you also goes to everyone who participated in our recent Working Bee. An incredible 10 cubic metres of mulch was moved, making a significant difference to our school grounds.
St John's 2027 Fees
The School Advisory Council discussed the need to increase the school fees in 2027, in line with inflation and the MACS finance strategy. Our 2027 school fees will increase by 7%, representing the lowest possible increase in line with MACS requirements. We recognise that any increase in school costs can be challenging for families and will ensure that information about fee relief options is included in our communication to families.
The increase also reflects several rising operational costs, including camps, transport, staffing and technology. Camp costs will increase, with two camps expected to be approximately $600. Staffing overnight camps also carries significant additional costs.
The anticipated family fee structure is:
- One child: $2,580
- Two children: $2,900
- Three children: $3,035
The Capital Fee will reduce to $200, while the Curriculum Levy will include an additional $160 technology component within the Junior levies.
This technology investment will support ongoing upgrades, including our move towards cloud-based systems and the increasing use of digital platforms and programs such as Resilience Project, Maths online resources and cyber safety program - Inform and Empower.
Swimming costs will also increase to approximately $224, primarily reflecting increased bus and transport costs.
There is a great deal of positive work happening across St John’s as we prepare for 2027. From our seven-class structure and leadership planning to improvements in teaching practice, wellbeing and digital learning, our staff continue to work with great commitment to provide the best possible experience for our students.
Thank you to our students, staff, families and wider school community for your continued support. Together, we are building a school environment where every student can learn, grow and flourish.
School Community Update
Trivia Night
A huge thank you to everyone who supported our School Trivia Night. It was a fantastic evening filled with plenty of fun, laughter and friendly competition. Most importantly, the night raised an incredible $6,000 for our school community.
We are very grateful to our families, staff, volunteers and everyone who helped organise and support the event. Your generosity and enthusiasm made the evening such a great success.
Bunnings BBQs
Our two Bunnings BBQs were also extremely successful, raising an impressive $2,200 each. That is a fantastic result and a wonderful example of what our school community can achieve when we work together.
Thank you to everyone who volunteered their time, cooked sausages, served customers and helped make both days such a success.
Working Bee
Our recent Working Bee was another wonderful community effort. Together, we moved an incredible 10 cubic metres of mulch around the school grounds. A huge thank you to all the families and staff who gave up their time and energy to help improve our school environment.
Thank You to Our Sponsor
We are also very grateful for the support of Jellis Craig, who sponsored our school coffee cart at Breakfast. We would particularly like to acknowledge John Stack, who works at Jellis Craig, for helping make this partnership possible.
We greatly appreciate the generosity of our local business community and the ongoing support they provide to St John’s.
Thank you to everyone who continues to contribute to the life of our school. These events not only help raise valuable funds, but also strengthen the wonderful sense of community that makes St John’s such a special place.
SHINE Column
Aligned with our school theme of “SHINE ” for the year, the SAC explored the idea of introducing a Parent page in the newsletter called “SHINE Column” to express or show courage for things felt or observed in our community and invite your submissions to principal@sjmitcham.catholic.edu.au
A huge thank you to Jules Purcell and our Parents’ Association team for their incredible work organising our Trivia Night. It was a fantastic evening and a great success for our school community.
We also extend our appreciation to Nick McKay for coordinating our Bunnings BBQs and to all those who volunteered their time to make it such a successful fundraiser.
Finally, a special thank you to John Stack for organising the coffee cart for our Father’s Day celebrations. It was a wonderful addition to the morning and greatly appreciated by our families.
Your time, generosity and commitment make such a difference to our school. Thank you for helping make St John’s such a strong and connected community!
Join Our School Advisory Council (SAC)
We are currently looking for members of our school community who are interested in contributing to the future direction and development of St John’s. If you are a parent, carer or member of our wider school community who would like to share your skills, experience and ideas, we would love to hear from you. Prospective SAC members will first have an informal interview with Verona to discuss their interest and suitability for the role. If you are interested or know someone in our community who may be a great fit for the SAC, please get in touch with the school office.
As always, we encourage you to come and say hello if you see us around the school. We value your thoughts, feedback and involvement in our community. Whether you have a question, an idea to share, or simply want to have a chat, please know that we are always happy to connect, listen and support our families.
Angela Maclean
Chairperson and Parent Representative