A message from Emily

Dear Families of St John's

What a term we have had! It has been amazing to be onsite for a whole term and working towards a 'COVID' normal that allows us to learn and welcome each other face to face. Lot's of exciting things have happened and I hope that you have been able to hear about it via our Facebook and Instagram accounts. If not, I highly encourage you to follow us at St. John's Catholic Primary School (Facebook) and stjohnsfootscray (Instagram).

I would like to take this opportunity to announce some exciting news! A huge congratulations to Melissa (Yr 1 Hub) and her husband Jordan who are expecting their first child in August. 

I would also Like wish Lauren, Chris and Billy all the best as they prepare for the arrival of baby number 2. I thank Lauren for all her support as I have transitioned into the Principal role at St John's. Her leadership through passion, inclusiveness and care is something that is invaluable to the community of St John's and we are very lucky to have her. 

I would like to also congratulate Andrew on accepting a new position at St. Peter's Sunshine West. While we will lose Andrew's expertise as a PE educator he will remain a part of the St John's community by continuing his work at the farm. Andrew has a number of exciting projects planned for this year and with the support of Dani and the parent community we hope to improve the opportunities for children to engage in authentic learning at the farm. 

We say goodbye and good luck to Anna O'Donovan, who was working in the Yr 3/4 Hub this term, as she makes her long await return to her family and home country Ireland. Anna was only with the community for a short time but she loved working at St John's and described it as "such a warm and welcoming school". Something I totally agree with.

I would like to wish Maria Natoli and her family all the best as she takes leave to spend time with their family in Queensland. After what we have all experienced over the last two years it has really highlights the importance of connecting with family and loved ones we have been separated from. I hope Maria enjoys this time and that it's all she hopes it to be.

While we have a few changes we are excited to welcome new opportunities for people within our community as well new people joining St John's. With Lauren finishing up at the end of this term, Chevon Adamidis will step into the Acting Co-Deputy Principal role with Karen. Chevon stepped into this role for a short time last year and lead with compassion and drive with the children at the heart of all her thinking. 

We welcome Mairead Doherty to St John's. Mairead comes to us from St Lawrence Derrimut and will be taking on the Visual Arts role as well as Numeracy P-2 with the support of Mitch Hayes who will oversee Numeracy Yrs 3-6. We look forward to seeing what Mairead brings to her roles through her passion for ceramics and past Numeracy leadership experiences.

We welcome Kelly Edgar who has been appointed as an educator at St John's starting in Term 2. Kelly will take on a few roles at St John's with her main responsibility being Physical Education. Kelly has worked a number of days already at the school as a replacement teacher and is very excited to join us as an educator next term. 

We have also employed a number of new Learning Support Officers to support learning across the school in recent weeks. Raquel Romano has joined the Prep Hub, Nadhi Trivedi has joined the Year 3/4 Hub and Shelby Grinter will join the Year 2 Hub next week.

I would like to take this opportunity to address some changes that have happened in relation to OSHClub at St John's. Over the last couple of years including this term, there have been low numbers of families accessing this service before school, to the point that it has been operating at a loss for sometime. It was my understanding that changes were going to be communicated to the impacted families many weeks ago. I apologise if this was not the case. In light of the recent changes to the 'work from home order' being lifted, and families reaching out who have said they intend to use this service, I have renegotiated with OSHClub so before school care will now continue next term. As for the Holiday Program, it was not feasible to offer this service these holidays as most days had only one child/family enrolled. I have since heard some families intended to enrol but it is hard to plan for such services if we don't know who intends to access this. I strongly encourage families wanting to access this service to book well in advance so it allows OSHClub to meet the needs of our community and avoid the disappoint that this week's communication from them has caused. I have been reassured that families who had enrolled in the Holiday Program were going to be contacted and will be able to access this service at other sites. If you need access to the OSHClub Holiday Program please contact them asap.

As we come to the last week of term I would like to wish all families a wonderful break and safe Easter. 

“In this season of rebirth, may you feel your faith renewed and your heart made new with the hope Easter brings.”

Take care

Emily