Dear Families,

Closure Day - NO SCHOOL THIS FRIDAY

Please note that the school will be closed this Friday 26th November. The staff will be undertaking a Faith Formation Day onsite.

School House Sports

Our House School Sports held last Thursday and Friday were most successful and were thoroughly enjoyed by all students. It was fabulous to see our students participating, encouraging, cheering and celebrating so well!

I was so proud of our sports and house captains who so enthusiastically involved themselves and assisted on both days. The captains were particularly helpful to our Prep - 2 students and our PE/ Sports Teacher Mrs Sullivan!

Our Congratulations to Blue House Team for winning the overall Trophy this year! More news including the Grade 6 Championship winners on our House Sports Page further in the newsletter.

Staffing News

As we come toward the end of 2021, I wish to inform you of several staff changes for 2022.

After more than 33 years at St John Vianney’s Mary Brand has decided to retire! What a wonderful career in Catholic Education and all of it at our school!! Her love and care for her students and for the St John Vianney’s Community has made her time in Catholic Education memorable for many in our community. I know Mary will miss teaching her students and we will certainly miss Mary! After so many years at SJV it won’t be the same. What an achievement! We wish Mary every blessing in her retirement!

Paula Fernon our Learning Diversity Leader has been at St John Vianney’s since 2018 but has been in Catholic Education for over 35 years. Paula will be concluding her time in Catholic Education schools at the end of this year. Her passion for Education and expertise has been so evident in her various classroom and leadership roles at a number of schools. Paula spent many years as Deputy Principal at St Louis de Montfort, Aspendale before moving to St John Vianney's. We have been very fortunate to have had Paula working so closely with our students and parents across these past few years. We wish Paula every blessing as she begins the new part of her journey.

Sarah Rak will conclude her time with St John Vianney’s at the end of this year. Sarah has been at St John Vianney’s since 2016 and has been appointed as a classroom teacher at St Dominic’s in Camberwell. Sarah has taught across all levels of our school and we thank Sarah for her hard work and contributions which have supported our students and families. We wish Sarah well!

Gail Child has been in Catholic Education since 1996 and at St John Vianney’s since 2019 as a Learning Support Officer. Gail has also decided it is time for her to retire from the role. Her willingness to be so helpful and flexible in her roles has certainly been to our benefit. Her very gentle and encouraging manner will be missed by all. We wish every blessing for Gail in her retirement.

Clorinda Maio came to our school in 2019 as a Learning Support Officer. Clorinda as a trained teacher, wanted the experience of being a Learning Support Officer within a school before moving into her teaching career. It is with great excitement that Clorinda will begin her teaching career next year at St John’s Mitcham. Clorinda has does a magnificent job as an LSO and we wish her well as she takes up a classroom teaching role. How exciting for her! She will be missed by all of us!

Xanthe Willenberg has been at St John Vianney's as a Learning Support Officer since 2017. Xanthe has decided to explore opportunities in the NDIS field next year. We thank Xanthe for her work with our students. Xanthe was able to develop caring relationships and engaged students in valuable learning experiences over her time at SJV. We wish her well in her future work.

Rhiannon Coco our Maths Leader, has been at St John Vianney’s for two years. We congratulate her on the appointment as Deputy Principal at St Thomas’ Blackburn. This is a great career opportunity for Rhiannon. We thank Rhiannon for her leadership and work with our students and staff. We wish her well in her new role.

We were so fortunate to have Beth O’Gorman join us in May as a replacement teacher, working in the 3/4 Level. In her short time Beth has built up a wonderful rapport with both students and staff within our community. As much as Beth has thoroughly enjoyed her time at SJV, it has always been her desire to teach at the Secondary School Level. It was no surprise to us then, that she was successful in her application and appointed to Killester College.

Appointments

You will recall that I appointed two new LSO’s to our school who began back in Term 3. Rose Nguyen and Anna Nguyen have fitted in extremely well to our school and will continue in 2022.

In addition I am delighted to inform you that the following staff have been appointed to St John Vianney’s Mulgrave beginning 2022.

Johnathon Rooney will take up the Learning Diversity position. Johnathon comes to us as an experienced classroom teacher and leader. He has had various roles including experience in the Learning Diversity area.

Brynelle Francis and Nicole O’Halloran will also join the team at St John Vianney’s. Brynelle has taught Prep for the past few years and Nicole has been teaching for several years at various levels, most recently in the 3/4 area. I know you will join me in warmly welcoming these people to the SJV Community

I will keep you informed of any further staffing appointments.

We will let you know the full staffing details including classroom teachers in our final newsletter.

Step up in 2022 Classes

Like every year the class organisation for 2022 is a very big and complex undertaking. Working collaboratively, the staff strive to ensure the best placement for your children. In formulating classes we consider academic, social and gender balance. We try to have your child in a class with one of the five friends they have chosen.

The students will meet their new peers and class teacher(s) on FRIDAY 10th December at 10:00am - 11:15am

New students from Years 1 - 6 joining the community will also attend the Step Up in 2022 Classes

There will be no changes to class lists for 2022 once the school has finalised these.

Prep 2022 Transition Process

On Monday morning with the sun shining brightly we welcomed our Preps to their second transition session. Once again they were very settled and thoroughly enjoyed their time in the various prep classrooms. It is such an exciting time for these children and their families!

It was lovely to see many of the parents stay for a Morning Tea, giving opportunity to meet new and old friends.

The final session will be NEXT Monday 29th November - 9.30am - 10.45am.

COVID

If a child, parent or family member becomes COVID Positive please inform the school immediately. If anyone is showing any symptoms, it is vitally important that you get tested. Should there be a positive case within our community we will take advice from the Department of Health via MACS.

Please note

Parents/ Carers are able to come onto the school grounds at drop off and pick up times. Parents / Carers can not enter school buildings without evidence of full vaccination unless otherwise authorised.

Canteen

The canteen is now open!!