Principal's Report

Farewell Fr Declan O'Brien

Fr Declan has confirmed his appointment as Parish Priest to the joint parishes of Kyneton and Trentham. This appointment will take place on 20 September 2017.

I wish to thank Fr Declan for his leadership of our Faith Community over the last eight years. We will have an opportunity to thank Fr Declan at a staff morning tea later this month.

Fr Declan will be replaced by Father Brendan Lane who is currently Parish Priest at St Bridget’s Greythorn, Balwyn North.

The Wizard of Oz

St John's school production “The Wizard of Oz “ is a few weeks away from opening night.

Last week at our College assembly we were privileged to see a spectacular performance from our cast members including our St Mary's Primary School performers.

This year we have invited all of our Primary schools to participate in our school production. We feel this is a great way to build partnerships with them and it also provides an opportunity for our younger students to be involved in a first class amateur production.

I look forward to seeing the production on opening night and warmly invite all members of our community to enjoy this wonderful event at the Cardinia Cultural Centre.

Tickets are still available through the College office for all performances from Monday 4 September through to Thursday 7 September.

MAD Day Launch

Last week we welcomed special guests to the College to help launch the fundraising aspect of Make A Difference Day known as MAD Day.

De La Salle Brother - Br Wasid and Miranda Chow from the Lasallian Foundation spoke about how funds raised by students last year were put to use in Pakistan, particularly our twinned school Ahmadabad Primary School.

Dalal Smiley from Wellsprings in Dandenong, a foundation established by the Presentation Sisters, spoke of their great work in supporting women and their families who are new to Australia. Wellsprings offers a range of language and computer courses as well as social support as these women and their families make Australia their home.

Our MAD day activities on Tuesday 15 August will consist of a whole College Eucharist followed by a walkathon. As per previous years all funds raised will go towards the projects and programs conducted by the Lasallian Foundation and Wellsprings for women.

I thank all in our community for their generous support of these worthwhile causes which make a real difference in people's lives.

Cambodian Appeal

At the end of the year we have 16 Year 11 and 12 students heading to Cambodia. Here, students will assist our De La Salle Brothers in their work educating disadvantaged children in a primary school on the outskirts of the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh.

As they prepare for their departure in December, various fundraising activities are staged throughout the year. This includes a trivia night coming up in a few weeks and a staff car wash which is on-going throughout the term.

One of our volunteer students and Liturgy Captain Montel Thomas has taken his fundraising quest to his parish of St Kevin's, Hampton Park. After outlining the focus of the Cambodian Immersion Program at a number of weekend masses, the parishioners have generously donated over $4000. An amazing amount which will be gratefully received by the De La Salle Brothers and their school community.

I applaud Montel and our 15 other volunteers for their tenacity and commitment to service and the parishioners of St Kevin’s for their wonderful assistance.

Environmental Squad

Last week our Environmental squad educated our students through a range of fun activities reflecting on the impact we have on our environment and how we can all make a difference as part of Environment Week.

These activities were led by Environmental Captains Nyagai Bany and Ravleen Kaur plus Middle Years Leaders Christie Ben, Lucy Doherty, Micheal Leau, Michelle Immanuel, Ishmeet Singh and Vivian Dao.

The events and activities throughout the week included :

Let's Turn off - the lights and any other unnecessary appliances in the room using power in period 4.
Environment quizzes in homeroom.
‘Tip it, Sort it, Win it!’ - What can I recycle ?
Reuse it day! Recycling of plastic bottles .
Trashless Thursday! Bring your lunch that is free of disposable packaging.

Congratulations Staff Member -Rachel Towns

The St John's Community congratulates Ms Rachel Towns on recently publishing her third and fourth workbooks with Blake Education.

Rachel teaches History, English and Religion at St John’s.

Her workbooks Making a Nation – Australia and The Industrial Revolution are blackline masters intended to help teachers engage students with the Year 9 History curriculum.

She has previously had two other workbooks published by Blake Education Japan under the Shoguns for Year 8 History and Ancient China for Year 7 History. She has also had two chapters published in the History Teacher's Association of Victoria textbook for VCE 20th Century History on ‘Roaring Twenties and Dreadful Depression’ and ‘Popular Movements’.

SIS Teen Chef

On Monday of this week, St John's hosted the annual SIS Teen Chef competition. Our students performed to a very high standard and received a Silver Medal, with a total score of 85 out of 100 and a fourth placing overall.

The students had to prepare a main course and dessert with points allocated for professional preparation, presentation, service and taste.

I wish to thank our teaching staff Mr Mark Pudney, Mrs Melissah Jeffree, Ms Priya Cardinaletti, Mrs Heather Fennell, Ms Sally Taylor, Chef Kees and Chef Karla who have worked closely with the students as they prepared for this competition over the last two months.

I would also like to thank Ms Megan Hall, Ms Sue Mulholland, Mrs Sylvia Maira and the Maintenance Team for assisting.

Tim Hogan, Principal