Principal's Report

Anniversary of Nano Nagle

On Sunday 26 April 2020, we celebrated the 236th anniversary of Nano Nagle's death. Attached to this newsletter you will find an obituary from 1784 which captures the esteem that Nano Nagle was held in her community of Cork in Ireland. Next week on our school calendar we will celebrate Founder’s Day where we bring in focus the lives of our two founders Nano Nagle and John Baptise De La Salle and their impact on our community. Unfortunately we will not be able to celebrate Founders Day 5th of May as we normally would but I would think that when our school returns from isolation and when we will have much to be grateful for, we will select a day to celebrate and give thanks to our founders, Nano Nagle and John Baptiste De La Salle.

St John's Regional College in the News

In this week’s local paper, you will find an article discussing remote learning at St John’s from a student and teachers’ perspective. I have attached a link to the Star Community News article which highlights how College Captains Aker Mawith, Tofy Jorissen and staff member Ms Maria Nasioulas have adapted to this new environment, identifying both the challenges and positives that come with this new style of learning.

https://dandenong.starcommunity.com.au/news/2020-04-28/loneliness-of-long-distance-learning/

Parent & Student Feedback on Remote Learning

As we have moved to remote learning over the past three weeks, we have regularly surveyed our school community to help us understand how students and parents are coping with this fundamental change in the way the curriculum is delivered. We have used the feedback from parents and students to adapt and fine tune the different teaching methods used and to also ensure students are receiving the communication they need to take the next steps in their learning. The feedback attached has been constructive and overwhelmingly positive and I wish to acknowledge our professional teaching staff for the way they have adapted so quickly to this mode of curriculum delivery and also to our students who are taking ownership of their learning at home. Two-way communication is vital to maintain the effectiveness of our learning program so we will continue our weekly surveys through this period of Stage 3 isolation restrictions.

Wellbeing at Home

Our Wellbeing team have been placing tips on SEQTA each week to ensure that students focus on their Health and Wellbeing during this period of isolation at home. This week’s tips focus on exercise at home and I place them here to encourage our parents to monitor the hours our students are spending at the screen without a break. You will also find a very funny exercise video from our Health and PE team on our Facebook page titled ‘Move It’ – something we all should be doing.

Tip #1 - EXERCISE @ Home 

Take the effort to schedule time away from sitting down and reading off screens. When you exercise you release chemicals like serotonin, dopamine and endorphins that make you feel better. Recent research has also shown that when you are working out you release myokines which travel to the brain and appear to act as a natural antidepressant.

So...look after yourselves and burn off those stress chemicals, cortisol and adrenaline, and practise some SELF CARE during Remote Learning!! Your physical & mental wellbeing is important!

Try standing up and stretching your body or accessing YouTube Yoga, Pilates or other types of workouts or exercise videos.

SJRC - Student Counselling & Family Well-Being Team

Between Art & Quarantine

Our staff are currently conducting a social media challenge supported by Art Galleries from all over the world. This challenge called Between Art and Quarantine encourages creativity in isolation by asking people to recreate a famous artwork in your home. The Arts and Engagement team led by Ms Tania Robinson thought it would be a fun to get staff and students involved during a bit of downtime at home. See attached some famous art recreations by our staff.

Solar Energy Project

Last year the College Board committed to the use of renewable energy technologies at St John’s Regional College. This will see our community assist in the production of sustainable energy, reduce dependence on fossil fuel resources and generally contribute to world energy security. This commitment has seen the installation of 1080 solar panels at a cost of $450,000 over the last four weeks. Turing on the switch to our new power source will take place at the end of May and assist with an annual reduction of our power bill of $80,000. The new solar energy system comes with the opportunity to integrate its working and study of into a range of subject areas including the STEM studies of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths. Students through specific web-enabled software will be able to analyse energy consumption and production data throughout the school.

Bereavement

We extend our prayers and sympathies to staff member Ms Joanne Davies and her family on the passing of her mother last week.

We pray:

Eternal Rest grant unto her O Lord and may perpetual light shine on her. May her soul and all the souls of the faithful departed rest in peace. Master of the Universe hear our prayers, we make them in confidence forever and ever.

Amen.