On Wednesday the 8th of March, St John’s held an open night for the new students of 2024. The open night showcased a number of subjects and the opportunities our school has to offer for a range of different interests. 

On the night we had the opportunity to assist the PDHPE department with a variety of St John’s students from each grade. The students helping out had the chance to run an assortment of fun games and challenges for everyone to try out. Some of the games included: A competitive game of paddle tennis or spikeball, a range of fitness, agility and balance challenges. The bush craft elective students were also up with PDHPE in the gym displaying what they do. 

Throughout the night we had the opportunity to visit the other subject departments and see what they had on display. It was very interesting seeing all the fun displays, equipment and talents from other St John's students and teachers. The performing arts departments were showing off their talents and musical abilities that they have developed from the opportunities here at St John’s. 

We also had the chance to check out the science and technology departments. Science had a lot to display such as Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream, HoneyComb, Electricity Equipment and Fire Displays. The Technology rooms on the night had a large variety to showcase, the items they showcased were the woodwork and metalwork departments, the food technology rooms where they made hot chips and cupcakes for families to enjoy, the agriculture farm was also open for visitors to take a look at.  

The open night was a lot of fun showcasing the members of the public what this amazing school has to offer. We met many people and learnt alot about future students and their families while having fun at the gym hanging out with each other. 

All of the students who helped out said they enjoyed the night and are looking forward to helping out at future school events like this. We hope we showed what our school is about and what we value at St Johns. On behalf of all the students and teachers there on the night, we hope we made you feel welcomed into the St John’s community. 

By Emmi Daniel, Madison Mcgill and Lexie Cooper 

YEAR 8 SCIENCE

POSITIVITY PEBBLES

The aim of this project is to enhance the connections and positivity within the year group. Each Tuesday at the weekly year meeting the SRC will reveal who won the nomination of the positivity pebble. They will read it aloud to the year along with the associated story and a small pebble will be given to the nominated person so that they may remember that they did something positive in the school community to make someone smile. Sometimes we focus too much on the negatives, but with the positivity pebble project people are trying to notice when someone does something positive within the school community instead of looking for negativity. Even if it is something small, like saying thank you to a teacher, the person who notices and nominates the person will subconsciously remember a small positive action and this could give them a little boost to get through a bad day.

People who have earnt positivity pebbles have helped make someone's day by doing simple things such as helping their peers out, being kind around others, being welcoming, listening and sharing. These are not the only way people can get them. Positivity pebble recipients also strive hard for their own success by trying hard with their own learning and showing signs of improvement.

Some of the recipients of the positivity pebble were Kalarni Aldrige and Lochlan Hazelwood. Kalarni won the positivity pebble for following the core value of hospitality, being very kind, welcoming new students to the school and including others in what she does. She is also always smiling and putting smiles on others faces and being proactive in her learning. Lochlan Hazelwood was nominated for helping with instructing rules of a sports game so that everyone knew how to play and then helped  by setting up the field while Miss was organising the teams so we could start playing as soon as possible. There were lots of other recipients like Aidan Smith and Macey Harrison, 

The positivity pebbles project in year 8 is a great way for the year group to engage with each other and form positive connections with our peers. Even though we can only pick 2 people there are always so many other nominations of positivity in year 8. The project helps us to focus on positivity which helps put smiles on our faces rather than the negativity within our year group Although we have only done this for nearly 4 weeks, the project has helped the entire community of year 8 focus on positivity and has been a fun thing to look forward to for every year meeting. It has been a huge success and everyone has loved the project, from the SRC, the nominees and those who nominate people.

By Kate, Naomi and Lizzie