Principal's Report

Message from the Principal

Dear Parents and Carers,

Spring is in the air and the warmer days are certainly lifting our spirits. Thank-you for continuing to support your children at home during Remote Learning. It is great to see the creativity of our students and parents, completing their many and varied learning tasks. 

I know that some students are struggling to maintain their focus and turn in all of their work. Please contact me or their class teacher if you require any extra assistance.

Last week we welcomed back Tom Jackson from paternity leave as we said farewell to Naomi Ryan on maternity leave. Naomi has worked at St John's for the past 6 years, bringing a great deal of knowledge, passion and enthusiasm to her teaching. She will be greatly missed in Prep and as our Writing Leader but we wish her and her husband Brandon, all the best on the safe arrival of their baby in a few weeks time.

We are delighted to have Julia McPhee working in Prep for the remainder of the year.

 

Thankyou to the many parents and students who wrote letters of gratitude to our staff,  a couple of weeks ago for Wellbeing week. Your kind words and encouragement was greatly appreciated.

Parent/Teacher/Student Learning Conferences 

We will be offering Parent/Teacher/Student conferences online in the final week of Term, on Tuesday 15 September, 1:00pm till 8:00pm. Please see the St John's Notice Board for further details and to make your booking. 

School Fees and Levies                  

2020 school fee and levy statements were emailed to parents last week. These are due for payment by Friday 18 September, 2020.  We appreciate that there may be some families that are not in a position to finalise their account by the due date and we ask that if you are experiencing financial hardship,  please call the school and speak with me on 9874 1575 or email: principal@sjmitcham.catholic.edu.au

Please call the school office if you did not receive your statement.

 

At this stage we are still hopeful that Year 5/6 debating, Year 5 camp and Years P- 4 swimming program will be able to go ahead. If this is not the case, parents will be advised and financial arrangements will be made to compensate parents accordingly.

St John's Talent Show

Don't forget to make a short video for our Talent Show coming up soon.

Walk to School Day

Next Friday 11 September, is Walk to School Day. If you are able to walk past the school you will be able to collect a sunflower seed to grow in your garden. We hope to see many families out walking on this day!

Parent and Carers Forums

This week I am offering all parents and carers the opportunity to meet with me online for a Community Forum. I hope this will give you the chance to offer feedback on remote learning and share some stories about how you and your family are managing during these challenging times.

Tuesday 1 September - Year P - 2 , 7:00pm

Wednesday 2 September - Year 3-4, 7:00pm

Thursday 3 September - Year 5-6, 7:00pm 

Join with Google Meet:

meet.google.com/yhu-kwhr-phi ·

Happy Father's day

I would like to wish all of our fathers and carers a very Happy Fathers Day this Sunday. I hope that your children look after you and celebrate in some creative ways.

Victorian Government CSEF

If you have a Health Care Card you are eligibe for extra funding. Applications for the Victorian government Camps, Sport and Excursion Fund can be made by completing the form available from the school office or on the CSEF website:

CSEF funding provides $125 per eligible student each year to support school activities. To be eligible you must hold either a Veteran's Affairs Gold Card, Centrelink Health Care Card or Pension Concession Card. We encourage all eligible parents to advise the school office.

Some of our St John's families may be missing out on this assistance simply because they have not applied.

 

Have a great week and stay safe!

 

Verona Gridley

Principal 

vgridley@sjmitcham.catholic.edu.au