Welcome Back

I hope all families and students have enjoyed some of the beautiful weather on offer during the Easter break and have returned refreshed and ready for the challenges of Term 2.

Staffing

I also extend a warm welcome back to Ms Liz Hosegood after a period of sick leave and welcome Mr Nigel Adkin to the teaching staff. Mr Adkin will be teaching Health and Physical Education to years 7, 8 and 9 and VCAL to Year 11.

I also advise that Mr Loonstra will be taking over the role of House Leader for Aquila for the remainder of the 2021 school year.

The following staff will be on periods of long service in term 2 and their replacements are indicated in parentheses:

Ms Sonia McNally April 19 – 30 (Mr O’Malley)
Ms Judy Bishop April 19 – 30 (Mr O’Malley)
Sue Mullholland April 19 - 30 (Technician)
Ms Margot James Term 2 (Mr Simon Massouras)
Mr Peter Colvin Term 2 (Ms Gabriel McDonald)

Congratulations - 2021 HTAV AWARDS – Ms Rachel Towns

During the school holidays Ms Rachel Towns was acknowledged by the History Teachers Association of Victoria for her Contribution to the Teaching and Learning of History Education. She was nominated for her work in writing texts and support material for teachers and will be presented with her award after the AGM of the association on Thursday 29th April 2021.

SIS Division B – Swimming Carnival

On Wednesday the 21st of April, the St John’s Swimming Team competed in the Division B Swimming Carnival of the Southern Independent Schools Association. Our students have been training hard over the last month of Term 1 in preparation for the event and it was pleasing to see some excellent individual performances on the day. I want to thank all of our students who represented St John’s on the day and thank our coaches headed by Mr Alexander, Mr Nathan Gard, Miss Natahlia Poli, Ms Ashleigh Fraraccio , Ms Marina Kintzel and Ms Michele Trusler for their support and encouragement throughout the training period and the carnival on Wednesday. St John’s finished in fourth place overall.

South Sudanese Deacon joins St John’s.

I welcome Mr Juma Lofornk who will be joining St John this term in his role as a Community Liaison Officer. This initiative, instigated by Deacon George Piech Meat, will see Mr Lofornk Employed by Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS) spend three full days each week working across St John’s Regional College and Thomas Carr College in Tarneit. Mr Lofornk will be familiar to many through his role as a Deacon in St Antony’s Parish Noble Park and I look forward to his work in building community relationships over the coming year.

CSIRO – STEM Professionals in School Program

Conducted by the CSIRO, the STEM Professionals in Schools program is Australia’s largest national skilled volunteering program for STEM professionals and classroom educators. The program facilitates flexible, ongoing partnerships between science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) professionals and teachers in schools across Australia. In our third year of the program, St John’s is proud to welcome our new STEM Professional for 2021, Mr Jay Seneviratne. Mr Seneviratne is a qualified chemical and mechanical engineer working with Boral and will use his experience across several industries in working with our advanced science students in Years 7, 8 & 9. The project will be coordinated by STEM Leader Mr Tim Lee during Term 2 and will involve research, problem solving and analysis of their findings around the sustainability of our most valuable resource, water. A new group of young scientists will be selected for Term 3 to work with our STEM Professional Mr Jay Seneviratne.

some of the beautiful weather on offer during the Easter break and have returned refreshed and ready for the challenges of Term 2.

Staffing

I also extend a warm welcome back to Ms Liz Hosegood after a period of sick leave and welcome Mr Nigel Adkin to the teaching staff. Mr Adkin will be teaching Health and Physical Education to years 7, 8 and 9 and VCAL to Year 11.

I also advise that Mr Loonstra will be taking over the role of House Leader for Aquila for the remainder of the 2021 school year.

The following staff will be on periods of long service in term 2 and their replacements are indicated in parentheses:

Ms Sonia McNally April 19 – 30 (Mr O’Malley)
Ms Judy Bishop April 19 – 30 (Mr O’Malley)
Sue Mullholland April 19 - 30 (Technician)
Ms Margot James Term 2 (Mr Simon Massouras)
Mr Peter Colvin Term 2 (Ms Gabriel McDonald)

Congratulations - 2021 HTAV AWARDS – Ms Rachel Towns

During the school holidays Ms Rachel Towns was acknowledged by the History Teachers Association of Victoria for her Contribution to the Teaching and Learning of History Education. She was nominated for her work in writing texts and support material for teachers and will be presented with her award after the AGM of the association on Thursday 29th April 2021.

SIS Division B – Swimming Carnival

On Wednesday the 21st of April, the St John’s Swimming Team competed in the Division B Swimming Carnival of the Southern Independent Schools Association. Our students have been training hard over the last month of Term 1 in preparation for the event and it was pleasing to see some excellent individual performances on the day. I want to thank all of our students who represented St John’s on the day and thank our coaches headed by Mr Alexander, Mr Nathan Gard, Miss Natahlia Poli, Ms Ashleigh Fraraccio , Ms Marina Kintzel and Ms Michele Trusler for their support and encouragement throughout the training period and the carnival on Wednesday. St John’s finished in fourth place overall.

South Sudanese Deacon joins St John’s.

I welcome Mr Juma Lofornk who will be joining St John this term in his role as a Community Liaison Officer. This initiative, instigated by Deacon George Piech Meat, will see Mr Lofornk Employed by Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS) spend three full days each week working across St John’s Regional College and Thomas Carr College in Tarneit. Mr Lofornk will be familiar to many through his role as a Deacon in St Antony’s Parish Noble Park and I look forward to his work in building community relationships over the coming year.

CSIRO – STEM Professionals in School Program

Conducted by the CSIRO, the STEM Professionals in Schools program is Australia’s largest national skilled volunteering program for STEM professionals and classroom educators. The program facilitates flexible, ongoing partnerships between science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) professionals and teachers in schools across Australia. In our third year of the program, St John’s is proud to welcome our new STEM Professional for 2021, Mr Jay Seneviratne. Mr Seneviratne is a qualified chemical and mechanical engineer working with Boral and will use his experience across several industries in working with our advanced science students in Years 7, 8 & 9. The project will be coordinated by STEM Leader Mr Tim Lee during Term 2 and will involve research, problem solving and analysis of their findings around the sustainability of our most valuable resource, water. A new group of young scientists will be selected for Term 3 to work with our STEM Professional Mr Jay Seneviratne.

ANZAC Day Ceremony

On Friday of this week, our school community paused on the eve of April 25th to pay our respects and remember all those Australians who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations. April 25th historically recognises the anniversary of the landing on Gallipoli in 1915 where the spirit of the ANZAC was born with its emphasis on the human values of courage, sacrifice and service. Each year ANZAC day grows in significance and meaning for the Australian community in terms of the values at the heart of our society but also as a reminder of the price we have paid for peace that we shed tears for each and every year.

Tutoring Program

St John’s offers a free after-school tutoring program for all year levels. The tutoring program runs each week from Monday to Thursday in the Contemporary Learning Centre from 3:30pm to 5:00pm. Following on from Parent Teacher Interviews at the end of Term 1, families and students may have identified areas of learning support required as students take the next step in their development. Students requiring assistance in these areas or extra help in completing homework tasks are encouraged to come along to the CLC to see our experienced tutors in a range of subject areas, particularly Maths , Science and English.

Soccer Gala Day – May 3rd

Our Gala Soccer Day is fast approaching and will take place on May 3rd from 9.30am to 2.30pm at the St John’s Sports Precinct. We have over 220 students from our nine primary schools who will be attending on the day and playing-off for the inaugural Paul Wade Cup. Paul Wade is an ex-student of St John’s and a former Captain of the Australian Socceroos and he will be present the trophy named after him to the winning school. Parents from our primary schools are warmly invited to attend on the day and cheer on their sons and daughters. Parking will be available along Power Street and at the Robert Booth Reserve on Clow St.

Soccer Academy Program

The introduction of the new sporting facilities at St John’s has also seen additions to our 2021 curriculum program. Under the Health and PE banner a new Year 9 Soccer Academy Program is being run as an elective for students interested in following a sports pathway which could include senior VCE subjects of Units 1-4 in Physical Education, Units 1-4 in Health & Human Development and our VET Certificate in Sport and recreation. Under the supervision of Health and PE Teacher, Mr John Loonstra our community partner Olympiakos run a weekly skills development session with our Year 9 Soccer Academy program students.

Olympiakos also run a Soccer Identification program at St John’s each weekend for all age groups and those interested in this program can visit their website at https://www.olympiacostalentid.com.au/.

Enrolments 2022 and 2023

In Term 2, open mornings for prospective students and their families will take place each Thursday at 9.15am to give parents the opportunity to learn about our history, curriculum programs and future plans for St John’s. The one-hour session will also include a tour through our facilities. Specific evening sessions have also been scheduled for this term beginning at 6pm on:

Thursday 20 May

Thursday 24 June

Enrolments for 2022 & 2023 are invited and parents can book a place for these tours by contacting our College Reception on (03) 8793 2000 or through Try Booking via the Enrolment tab on our school website https://www.sjrc.vic.edu.au.

ANZAC Day Ceremony

On Friday of this week, our school community paused on the eve of April 25th to pay our respects and remember all those Australians who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations. April 25th historically recognises the anniversary of the landing on Gallipoli in 1915 where the spirit of the ANZAC was born with its emphasis on the human values of courage, sacrifice and service. Each year ANZAC day grows in significance and meaning for the Australian community in terms of the values at the heart of our society but also as a reminder of the price we have paid for peace that we shed tears for each and every year.

Tutoring Program

St John’s offers a free after-school tutoring program for all year levels. The tutoring program runs each week from Monday to Thursday in the Contemporary Learning Centre from 3:30pm to 5:00pm. Following on from Parent Teacher Interviews at the end of Term 1, families and students may have identified areas of learning support required as students take the next step in their development. Students requiring assistance in these areas or extra help in completing homework tasks are encouraged to come along to the CLC to see our experienced tutors in a range of subject areas, particularly Maths , Science and English.

Soccer Gala Day – May 3rd

Our Gala Soccer Day is fast approaching and will take place on May 3rd from 9.30am to 2.30pm at the St John’s Sports Precinct. We have over 220 students from our nine primary schools who will be attending on the day and playing-off for the inaugural Paul Wade Cup. Paul Wade is an ex-student of St John’s and a former Captain of the Australian Socceroos and he will be present the trophy named after him to the winning school. Parents from our primary schools are warmly invited to attend on the day and cheer on their sons and daughters. Parking will be available along Power Street and at the Robert Booth Reserve on Clow St.

Soccer Academy Program

The introduction of the new sporting facilities at St John’s has also seen additions to our 2021 curriculum program. Under the Health and PE banner a new Year 9 Soccer Academy Program is being run as an elective for students interested in following a sports pathway which could include senior VCE subjects of Units 1-4 in Physical Education, Units 1-4 in Health & Human Development and our VET Certificate in Sport and recreation. Under the supervision of Health and PE Teacher, Mr John Loonstra our community partner Olympiakos run a weekly skills development session with our Year 9 Soccer Academy program students.

Olympiakos also run a Soccer Identification program at St John’s each weekend for all age groups and those interested in this program can visit their website at https://www.olympiacostalentid.com.au/.

Enrolments 2022 and 2023

In Term 2, open mornings for prospective students and their families will take place each Thursday at 9.15am to give parents the opportunity to learn about our history, curriculum programs and future plans for St John’s. The one-hour session will also include a tour through our facilities. Specific evening sessions have also been scheduled for this term beginning at 6pm on:

Thursday 20 May

Thursday 24 June

Enrolments for 2022 & 2023 are invited and parents can book a place for these tours by contacting our College Reception on (03) 8793 2000 or through Try Booking via the Enrolment tab on our school website https://www.sjrc.vic.edu.au.

Faith and Mission 2

Tim Swan - Director of Faith and Mission