Principal's Report
Association of Canonical Administrators
The Association of Canonical Administrators (ACA) meets twice a term at St John’s to review and confirm the recommendations of the St John’s Regional College Advisory Board as per the Constitution. The ACA consists of the Parish Priests representing the Parishes who established St John’s as a Regional College in 1958. Following movements in Parish Priests in the Archdiocese of Melbourne over the last six months I wish to welcome Fr Martin Jeremias and Fr Michael Payapilly as the two new members of our ACA. The full membership of our ACA is outlined below with Fr Brendan Lane continuing in his elected role as the President of the ACA.
St Mary’s Parish, Dandenong | Fr Brendan Lane PP (President)
St Paul Apostle Parish, Endeavour Hills | Fr Kevin Dance CP PP
St Anthony’s Parish, Noble Park | Fr Martin Jeramias AP
Holy Family Parish, Doveton | Fr Michael Payyapilly PP
St Kevin’s Parish, Hampton Park | Fr Desmond Moloney PP
Association of Canonical Administrators Meeting –
Wednesday August 27
Advisory Board -
Annual General Meeting
27 August
As advertised in the last newsletter the Annual General Meeting of the St John’s Regional College Advisory College Board will take place on 27 August.
Nominations for the four vacant positions on the College Board closed on 15 August. Nominations forms can be submitted to the Parish Office at St Mary’s, which is open from 8.30 am to 3 pm Monday to Friday or the front office at St John’s Regional College, Caroline St Dandenong, office hours 8am – 4pm Monday to Friday.
In accordance with the Child Safety Standards, all persons nominating for the Board must submit current Working with Children Accreditation.
The Annual General Meeting will be held in the Contemporary Learning Centre of St John’s Regional College on the 27 August at 6 pm. All members of the St John’s Regional College community are welcome to attend this open meeting.
Wellsprings for Women – Celebrating 25 Years of
women at the well
On Tuesday this week, I attended Parliament House to join in the celebration of 25 years of community service by the Wellsprings organisation. Started by Presentation Sister Ann Halpin as a Drop-in-centre in the Langhorne Street residence of the Sisters in 1993, Wellsprings was officially opened by Councillor Christine Ware in 1994. The Wellsprings centre has assisted over 6500 women from a great variety of cultural, migrant and refugee backgrounds in its 25-year history. Today it continues the Presentation legacy of providing not only a safe, welcoming and caring place for women but one that continues to support and strengthen women through education, networking, information, advocacy, building skills and capacity, creating pathways and opportunities that assist them to build better, more just and more environmentally sustainable societies. We congratulate Wellsprings on their amazing record of service and look forward to being part of their wonderful community of volunteers for the next 25 years.
Feast of the Assumption
Our whole school community stopped on Thursday of this week to celebrate the feast of the Assumption. In honouring the feast day of Mary, we reflect on the example of Mary’s “Yes” to God at a difficult period in her life. This was a great testament to her faith and profoundly changed the direction of her life by trusting God completely. I thank our Director of Faith and Mission, Mr Rhynehart, as well as all of our CYSMA students and staff in making this a wonderful celebration of Mary’s life.
SIS Teen MasterChef
Last week all 12 member schools of the Southern Independent Schools Association participated in this year’s SIS Teen MasterChef competition, hosted at St John's Regional College.
Each year judges from the Australian Culinary Federation assess the dishes from each team and ensure success for all participants by providing guidance throughout the competition.
The feedback identified some impressive techniques used by contestants and overall a high level of complexity and creativity in the dishes presented.
I am very pleased to acknowledge that St John’s received the gold medal for the most outstanding dishes delivered on the day and I congratulate the following students: Aiden Cachart, Scarlett McGaw, Valbona Dzelan, Jessica Edwards and Vasiliki Ioannou for this wonderful achievement.
I would like to acknowledge the staff who prepared our students for this wonderful event and ensured that everything ran smoothly on the day. My thanks to Ms Heather Fennell, Mr Kees Vanderlaan, Ms Priya Cardinaletti, Mr Mark Pudney, Ms Melissa Jeffree and our Food Tech Assistants, Ms Sue Mulholland and Ms Silvia Maira.
Book Week
I congratulate Ms Lisa Finamore and the Arts and Engagement Team on a wonderful celebration of the written word during Book Week. Students from Years 7 to 10 and from our local Primary school, St Mary’s, were able to participate in a range of engaging activities throughout the week including presentations from several authors, a poetry workshop with staff member Mr Peter Samuel and an Art and History workshop inspired by Author Jacinta Walsh’s presentation of Jac’s Story. Our students thoroughly enjoyed the week and I thank all staff involved in the development of our student’s literacy skills and a lifelong love of reading.
Primary School Science Programs
This week it was great to see our feeder Primary schools from St Mary’s and St Paul Apostle North come to St John’s to participate in Science experiments as part of their curriculum programs. Assisted by St John’s Science Teacher, Mr Paul Colvin and several of our Year 9 and 10 students, our guests were lead through a series of Chemistry experiments to test the reactions of various elements when combined. I am pleased to report that all students survived the experiments and enjoyed a wonderful learning experience.
The School of Rock
Opening Night
22 August
The St John’s Regional College Musical for 2019 “School of Rock” is now only a week away and tickets are selling fast. Our students and staff have worked unbelievably hard over the last four months and the excitement for opening night is growing throughout the school. The quality of rehearsal that I have seen indicates that this Musical will reach the very high standards set by previous cast and crews in the long history of St John’s staging school musicals. The School of Rock will take place on the 22, 23 and 24 of August at the Alexander Theatre at Monash University, Clayton. Tickets are available below.
Presentation Ball
I look forward to the St John’s Regional College Presentation Ball, which will take place this Friday Night at the Grand on Princess in Mulgrave.
22 young men and women will be presented to Fr Martin Jeremias after completing their traditional set of Ballroom Dances.
It will be a wonderful community celebration and I thank Mr Van Es and the parents led by Mrs Julia Taylor for their hard work and support of this event for the benefit of our young people.