Principal's Page
A Message from the Principal
The impact of COVID continues to be felt across our community, with staff members and families in isolation. It was challenging for me last week, working from home while managing mild symptoms, so it is great to be back onsite again this week. We will continue to ensure that all class teachers and Learning Support Officers are covered while isolating at home. We are here to support all students and families and we will continue to keep you informed if there is a positive case recorded in your child's class.
We encourage all students to wear their mask to school everyday, to help reduce the spread of COVID. Additional RAT tests will be sent home this week. Please continue to monitor your child for symptoms and test on Monday and Wednesday mornings.
Last week the Prep parents were informed that Ms. Jessica Miller, the Prep A teacher, had made the difficult decision to step away from teaching to care for her critically ill father fulltime. We are very sorry to see her go and wish her all the best for the journey ahead. I have advertised for a replacement and will let you know when this position has been filled.
Next week we welcome a new Learning Support Officer to our Team, Mrs Jen Duarte. Jen will be working in the Year 1/2 area.
School Uniform
Please ensure that your child is wearing the correct school uniform each day. All students need to wear their shorts/skort and polo top or summer dress with navy socks and black school shoes during Term 1. They may only wear runners and sport shorts on PE/Sports days. Your support with this would be greatly appreciated.
Lunchboxes
Please try to limit the use of wrappers or packaging in school lunches. We are hoping to reduce our waste this year and teach our students about the impact of their rubbish on our earth by using small containers for snacks and avoiding packets of food. This will also encourage fresher food options and healthy eating.
School Fees
The 2022 School Fee Statements will be emailed to all families over the next week. Please let Jenny in the office know what your preferred method of payment is by returning the Fee Payment Schedule that will be sent home. As always, If you are experiencing financial difficulty, please don't hesitate to contact me.
Celebrating 150 Years
This Year St John's Primary School is celebrating 150 Years. In 1872, the first school was built on the current site of St John’s Church and was named after the area at that time,
‘Ayr Hill Catholic School.’
The school changed its name to St John’s in 1888 and was in operation for fifty-seven years. The new school was built further along Whitehorse Road. St John’s officially became a parish in January 1952 which extended to include Forest Hill, Park Orchards and Vermont. Later, both Forest Hill and Park Orchards established their own parishes whilst St James in Vermont and St John’s continue to be a part of the Mitcham Parish, where the two schools enjoy a strong relationship. It wasn’t until 1960 that St John’s School was built and opened on the current site. Since then there have been many changes to the schools infrastructure.
We have been invited to have our students participate at this Years St Patrick's Day Mass, for Catholic Education where our School Captains will be given the opportunity to represent our school. Later in the year we will organise different ways to celebrate this milestone as a school and with the broader community.
Catholic School Parents Victoria
Parents of CSPV invite you each year to contribute your parent voice to various topics in education. We also seek your perspective so we can share resources, present webinars, events and other projects based on your needs as Catholic school parents.
We invite you to complete the following survey to share what is most important to you now that your children are back at school. We encourage you to share your feedback on pertinent issues in education for parents at this time.
We will then discuss each of the responses for consideration as we plan for the year ahead. Thank you in advance for your response to our survey.
Click here to complete the survey by Friday 11 March 2022.
Rachel Saliba Executive Officer - Catholic School Parents Victoria
WOW -Walk or Wheels Once a Week’ - Tuesdays
We are excited to be taking part in the WOW (Walk or Wheels Once a Week) program with Whitehorse City Council.
What is it?
WOW is “Walk or Wheel Once a Week”. We have selected a day during the week to encourage everyone to walk or travel by wheels - bicycles or scooters, to school. Each class will have a WOW wall calendar to record the weekly participation. The class who walks & wheels the most for 6 weeks will receive the Golden Boot Award.
When is it?
This will be on TUESDAYS in Term 1.
Starting next week on Tuesday 1 March, we will be walking and wheeling for 6 weeks through to Tuesday 5 April.
Why are we taking part in the WOW?
Whitehorse Council wants to help our school students to walk, ride, scoot or skate to school. It’s great to improve health with daily exercise. We want to see more students being active, travelling to school plus help to decrease the traffic around school. We also want to help improve road safety knowledge as part of the program. We hope that you will all join in!
First Eucharist Parent Information Evening this
Thursday 24 February, 7pm
We will be presenting the Parent Eucharist Information Evening live via google meet this Thursday evening. All Year 4 parents are encouraged to attend and anyone else who believes that their child is ready to make their First Eucharist. Please see the link below and note that some parents have found it best to sign in via their child's google account.
https://meet.google.com/qve-udwj-qnq
Year 6 Camp to The Briars, Mt Martha
Next Monday our Year 6 students will head off to camp for three days of team building and outdoor adventure. The students will be challenged to complete various activities including ropes course, giant swing, problem solving and canoeing. I am looking forward to joining them on Tuesday and Wednesday. We wish them well and look forward to hearing about their adventures and challenges.
Thought for the Week
You cannot keep determined people from success. If you place stumbling blocks in their way, they will use them for stepping-stones and climb to new heights.
Mary Kay Ash
Have an awesome week!
Verona Gridley
Principal