COVID Update

I hope all of our families and students had a great break over the school holidays and enjoyed some wonderful family time together. Unfortunately with the Premiers announcement yesterday we have entered lockdown from 11.59 pm July 15 to 11.59 pm on Tuesday 20 July.

As advised in my letter to parents yesterday all Catholic schools in Victoria will transition to remote and flexible learning during this period.

St John’s will continue to provide onsite supervision for students in the vulnerable and at-risk categories as well as children whose parents/carers are authorised workers who cannot work from home, work for an essential provider and no other supervision arrangements can be made.

For a full list of student categories who are eligible to come to school during the lockdown please go to our website.

Our aim is to provide a quality online education over the next three school days and I have every confidence that our staff will achieve this with our students using our online resources. I thank our families for your ongoing support and will keep you updated with the details of our scheduled return to face-to-face schooling on Wednesday July 21.

NAIDOC Week

During the school holiday NAIDOC week was celebrated nationally from July 4th to July 11th.

NAIDOC stands for ‘National Aboriginal and Islander Day Observance Committee’ and since the 1990s has become a week in July where all Australians celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples with them.

NAIDOC Week 2021 theme – Heal Country! – calls for all of us to continue to seek greater protections for our lands, our waters, our sacred sites and our cultural heritage from exploitation, desecration, and destruction.

NAIDOC 2021 invites the nation to embrace First Nations’ cultural knowledge and understanding of Country as part of Australia's national heritage and equally respect the culture and values of Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islanders as they do the cultures and values of all Australians.

Student Scholarships Applications Open

Student Scholarships

Applications are now OPEN

For next year, the 2022 school year, the following Student scholarships will be awarded at St John’s Regional College:

Year 7 (2021) into Year 8 (2022) 4 Half Scholarships
Year 8 (2021) into Year 9 (2022) 4 Half Scholarships
Year 10 (2021) into Year 11(2022) 4 Half Scholarships

Student Scholarships awarded at St John’s are deemed to be General Excellence Scholarships and selection is based on criteria such as Academic Achievement, Community Involvement and Extra-Curricular Involvement.

The application forms are available on SEQTA (see below links) and from Reception.

Applications are to be submitted by 4pm Friday 27th August 2021 attention to Mr Tim Hogan via Reception or can be emailed to stjohns@sjrc.vic.edu.au

Application Form: Scholarship Application Form

Confidential Report: Scholarship Confidential Report

25th of July Open Morning & Tour – New Enrolments for 2022 and 2023

Our next Enrolment Information Session for this year will be held on Saturday the 24th of July at 10am. New and Old families considering enrolment for their children in the 2022 or 2023 school year are invited to attend this event which will include a tour of our facilities and opportunity to meet senior staff of the College.

Bookings for the Enrolment session can be made via the College website or through the following link https://www.trybooking.com/BALBU.

Staffing

I welcome back the following staff from leave in term 2: Ms Bethany Millership, Dr Janine Biggin and Ms Margot James. I also welcome to St John’s Ms Gabriel McDermott who will be teaching junior Maths and Science to replace Mr Justin Summons.

Futures Expo – July 21

Our Careers Advice and Subject Selection Evening “The Futures Expo “ will take place on Wednesday the 21st of July in the Br Leo Scollen Stadium beginning at 6pm. Please be advised that we will confirm this advent early next week due to the current covid restrictions.

If you would like to know answers to the following questions, then you should be attending this night:

How do I work out what career path I should follow?

What are the fees for a university course? What options do I have for paying Uni. Fees?

What careers follow from a particular University or TAFE course?

What subjects should I be doing in Years 9, 10, 11 or 12 if I like this career?

How do I qualify for a trade? What trades are providing the best employment opportunities?

Families and students will be able to access Experts from a variety of Universities and TAFE as well as our own teaching staff on subject selection and pathways through senior school and beyond. Note this is a compulsory event for students in Year 10 and I strongly encourage students from years 9 ,11 & 12 to attend with their families.

COVID Safe protocols will be in place for all visitors on this night. This will include the wearing of masks and QR codes. Social distancing will also take place with the staging of this event in the Br Leo Scollen Stadium.

Year 12 Parent Teacher Interviews

I thank our parents and Year 12 staff for attending the Year 12 interviews last night. The end of the school year is in sight for our senior students, so the Parent Teacher Interviews become a vital form of feedback for them as they look to complete courses over the coming weeks and begin their preparation for the end of year exams. I acknowledge and thank our staff for the detailed feedback they provide to our students to help them identify what they need to do to be at their best in the final weeks of the school year.

The Adams Family Musical Camp

Over the school holidays, the Cast and Crew of the 2021 SJRC Musical “The Adams Family ” staged a 2-day camp at St John’s to bring their rehearsal performances to the next level as opening night fast approaches. “The Adams Family” will take place on the 12th , 13th and 14th of August at the Alexander Theatre at Monash University, Clayton and will also include performances from primary school students at St Paul Apostle North , St Kevin’s Hampton Park and St Marys Dandenong. The cast and crew have been working together for some months now and are excited about bringing this show to life for your entertainment and in the tradition of St John’s Musicals over many years this will be a show that should not be missed. Tickets are available through the St John’s website under the Latest News section.

The Addams Family