Principal Post

Dear Families,

I hope that everyone enjoyed their long weekend with family and friends. Certainly, we were blessed with some beautiful Autumn weather. It has been a very busy start to the term and I am sure our students benefited from an extra day!

Catholic Education

This week we celebrate Catholic Education across the diocese. The commitment to ‘forming lives of faith, hope and love in the light of Christ’, is the theme of celebrations for Catholic Education Week across the Archdiocese of Melbourne this year from 12 to 19 March. We congratulate several of our students whose 2022 Art Work has been selected to appear in the MACS Art show this week. This creative arts exhibition, showcasing the wonderful artwork of both primary and secondary students, will run from Tuesday 14 March to Saturday 18 March and is open to the public. See our students art work and find out more information further into our Newsletter.

Dr Edward Simons, Acting Executive Director of Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS), said the week is an annual opportunity to celebrate the distinctive Catholic identity and achievements of 334 primary and secondary schools, along with the important role they play in their parish and local communities.

‘Around 155,000 – or one in five – students attend a Catholic school across greater Melbourne and surrounds, demonstrating the value families place on a Catholic education and the quality of education Catholic schools are delivering’, he said.

‘We find parents are increasingly looking for a more holistic approach to education, one that is focused on development of the whole person – spiritually, intellectually, emotionally, physically and culturally.

‘They want an education that will help their child succeed and be happy and confident in the world, no matter what path their future may follow.

‘The distinctive promise of our schools is to provide an education that is focused on the whole person and tailored to each student’s individual needs.

‘Our schools aim to inspire and enable every child to flourish and, in turn, enrich the world around them – and this is something worth celebrating’, Dr Simons said.

NAPLAN Year 3&5

NAPLAN began this morning for our Year 3 & 5 students. Our students settled well to these tests.

Please ensure your children are at school on time.

Open Days & Enrolment (2024)

Our Next Open Morning Tours will be held next Tuesday 21st March. This will be an exciting morning as we also will be celebrating Harmony Day.

If you have a child that is coming to St John Vianney's in 2024, PLEASE COME TO THE OFFICE TO COLLECT AN ENROLMENT PACK. We would like all sibling enrolment forms to be back by Friday 31st March to assist us with planning.

Pizza with the Principal

Last Wednesday we gathered as a Foundation Level to share some Pizza and have a Community Conversation about our school.

Having enjoyed some yummy pizza, we began the evening with the Foundation students singing our 2023 theme song 'Light the Way' and telling us what they were enjoying about school life! Then it was off to to enjoy some outdoor game activities with Kelly Sports. This allowed some time for our parents to tell us what is going well for students and families and ways we can continue to improve.

Several questions were discussed during the night and our Foundation parents provided valuable feedback and insight about their thoughts of our school.

We discussed:

Why did you choose SJV as your child’s school? Some responses included ‘good reputation from family and friends’, ‘community feel’ and ‘friendly and welcoming staff’.

We then asked, What are your children saying about school and what are they looking forward to? Our parents reported that ‘they love school’, ‘love art’ and ‘love making new friends’.

We also asked, What has been good for your family so far at SJV? And what could be even better? Our families suggested that ‘although communication is good, it could be improved with more notice given for special events’.

And we concluded the night with the question,

What would you like to know more about? Several parents expressed that they would like to know more about Operoo and more information about the learning happening within the classroom.

We would like to thank our Foundation families for participating in the community conversation as this information helps us to continue to improve our school.

Harmony Day - next Tuesday

Harmony Week is the celebration that recognises our diversity and brings together Australians from all different backgrounds. It’s about inclusiveness, respect and a sense of belonging for everyone. At SJV we will celebrate Harmony Day next Tuesday 21st March. We encourage students to wear their cultural dress. If a student does not have cultural dress they are able to wear 'orange' or a touch of orange. There will be a range of celebratory activities within the classrooms.

Bullying - NO WAY

As part of our Social Emotional Learning we continue to address the importance of saying no to bullying and violence. To this end, on Harmony Day we will also have students grow in their awareness of this initiative through age appropriate activities. Bullying No Way is not a once in a year activity but will be revisited across the year.

Camp Australia - Holiday Program

Unfortunately our school will not host a holiday program at SJV for at least the ' First and Second term holiday period'. This decision is based on 2022 data.

We are aware of parents ongoing interest in having a Holiday Program onsite. and will continue to explore possibilities. We will let you know if this changes later in the year.

Please note that if we do have a Holiday Program at SJV, it will not be coordinated by Brigette (our School Coordinator) and it will be open to other students from other schools.

Holiday Programs for Term 1 holidays are located at various schools including the following:

Brandon Park Primary , Mulgrave Primary,

St Peters Clayton, Glen Waverley Primary and Glendal Primary. You need to go onto the Camp Australia website for further information about Holiday programs including booking instructions.

Term 2 School Closure Day

Please note that their will be a School Closure Day on April 24th (First Day of Term 2) Staff will participate in an RE Professional Learning Day

25th April is Anzac Day (Public Holiday)

Students will return to SJV on Wednesday 26th April.

Parish High Tea

Date: Sunday 30th April, 2023

Time: 1.30pm - 4.30pm

Price: $25.00 per person

Please contact 03 9546 3831 for more info!

H A T C O M P E T I T I O N