A message from Emily

Dear parents and carers

This Sunday, Jordan flies out to Italy as she begins her World Youth Day (WYD) Pilgrimage to Lisbon. Jordan was accepted into a leadership pathway experience where she will travel to Rome and Assisi before joining pilgrims from around the world in Lisbon for WYD. From MACS there are 500 educators, leaders and students flying to Lisbon for WYD. At last week's assembly we blessed Jordan with a prayer from our community and a candle that she took to the WYD Commissioning Mass last Sunday. We wish Jordan and all the pilgrims a safe and enriching experience that will shared with us on their return.

Prayer for WYD Pilgrims

Heavenly Father,

You called Mary and opened her heart to say 'yes' to the mission you asked of her. Filled with the Holy Spirit, She rose and set out in haste to visit her cousin Elizabeth to share the Good News.

Help our pilgrims as they go on pilgrimage to Workd Youth Day in Lisbon. 

Be their companion and strength on their journey,

Open their hearts to the prompting of your Spirit,

And lead them to a deep and abiding encounter with your Son.

Like Mary, may they return from World Youth Day, filled with your Spirit and ready proclaim the Good News in the parishes, schools, and local communities of Melbourne.

Amen

Saint John Paul II, pray for us.

Our Lady of the Visitation, pray for us.

NAPLAN 

Individual Student Reports for Year 3 and Year 5 children will be delivered to school in the very near future. The reporting of achievement level has changed this year and Australian Curriculum and Assessment Reporting Authority (ACARA) has created a short video for parents and schools to help interpret these reports. Please click on the link to watch this - video. At this stage we don't have access to the school data in comparison to state or our trend data. Unfortunately we have to wait a few more weeks to have this information.

MACSSIS 2023

Our school is participating in Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools – School Improvement Surveys (MACSSIS). MACSSIS is an annual process whereby schools listen to the thoughts and feelings students, families and staff have about how their school can improve. These surveys help inform the ongoing improvement of schools across the Archdiocese of Melbourne.

One of the main goals of the family survey is to identify the strengths and areas for improvement in our school. MACSSIS data benefits everyone within our school and provides valuable community insights on areas that each school can focus on. 

Our school believes it is important to encourage families to have a voice and contribute to shaping the ongoing improvement of the school. The survey will be available online and can be accessed from Monday 28 August and needs to be completed by Friday 15 September 2023. Information on how to access this survey will be emailed out to parents and carers the week before it opens online. Please see video below for more information.

This week we welcomed MACS Executive Director Dr Edward Simons,  Shauna-Maree Sykes, General Manager - Improved Learning Outcomes and Juliette Cox Regional General Manager - Western Region to St John's. This was part of MACS announcement to address the workload of teachers and ensure equity across all Catholic Schools in the Archdiocese of Melbourne. The Herald Sun was present as part of this announcement and some of our children and educators featured in Tuesday's paper. Please see below for further information:

Curriculum resource materials to better support our teachers and learning

I am pleased to advise that Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS) will shortly commence working with schools to develop high-quality, comprehensive curriculum resource materials to better support our teachers to deliver the F–6 Victorian Curriculum.

This follows overwhelming endorsement of this approach by teachers across the Catholic sector in a survey conducted last year. Research also shows that high-quality curriculum resources will create more sustainable workloads for our teachers and allow them to focus more on teaching and student engagement, where their time and energy counts the most.

In addition, this approach will promote equity and excellence across MACS schools, ensuring all students have access to evidence-based, quality-assured, sequenced learning materials that will help lift their outcomes over time.

We anticipate the rollout of the F–6 resource materials will be a three-year project. The initial phase will focus on F–2 Mathematics. These materials will be made available to us in Term 4 this year for review and planning purposes, with implementation in Term 1, 2024.

Importantly, our teachers will retain autonomy to tailor curriculum implementation to meet the individual and local needs of our students. Teachers will also have opportunities to participate in the development and quality assurance of the materials.

This is an exciting development for our school community and clearly demonstrates the commitment all Catholic schools share to supporting every student to fully flourish in their learning.

We will keep you informed as this important work continues.

Uniform

At assembly last week I spoke to the children about their school uniform. Last term, I noticed some senior children starting to wear items of clothing that were not a part of our uniform, including 'skins' tights under their blue sports shorts. This has now creeped into other children from other Hubs doing the same. 

At St John's we don't have a strict uniform on what children need to wear each day or term. I do, however, ask that children are wearing the correct items of the uniform they have chosen to wear. 

In this cooler weather, I am happy for children to wear a light blue skivvy or thermals under their uniform. However, if they are choosing to wear shorts with leggings underneath or the school t-shirt with a zip up hoodie then this is not acceptable. I had also noticed the increase of children choosing to wear coats all day. I am happy for children to wear additional items like puffer jackets to and from school and during break times. I have asked staff to ensure children take these off inside so that they have an extra layer of warmth that can be added when they go out into the cool air. Staff ensure the hubs are warm in winter and cool in summer for children to be comfortable when inside. 

Please remember that items of clothing like shorts, tracksuit pants, skorts, trousers can be bought from other clothing outlets providing they are ink navy in colour with no visible branding. I have provided a link to hear from families around items that could be added to our uniform list to meet the needs of your children, for example a jumper as an alternative to the bomber jacket.  Link to Uniform Feedback

FARM SECURITY & CHICKENS

Yesterday, during the school day, an opportunist thief managed to steal a bike from the Farm while the gate was left unlocked. They cut through a bike chain and made off with the bike and helmet. To enhance security during school hours, we have taken measures and added an additional lock that can only be accessed with a school gate key. This extra security measure aims to prevent unauthorised access to the Farm and protect our belongings.

However, outside of school hours when there are no bikes onsite, we will continue to utilise the combination lock. This way, families who wish to access the Farm during non-school hours can do so without any inconvenience. Nevertheless, it's crucial for anyone accessing the Farm to remember the importance of securing the gate at all times to maintain the Farm's security.

Additionally, we kindly request that adults actively supervise children while they are at the Farm, especially around the chickens.  We have observed that water containers have been knocked over, and food has been scattered around the coup, which leaves the chickens without access to fresh water or food.  Let's work together to ensure the well-being of our chickens and maintain a clean and tidy environment for everyone to enjoy.

We truly appreciate that our families have access to this space, and it's essential to remember that the Farm also serves as a learning space for our Engaging with Place specialist, Erin. By maintaining a safe, secure, and well-cared-for environment, we can continue to enjoy the benefits of this beautiful space. 

Warm wishes

Emily