It is with great excitement that I welcome you all back for the 2025 school year! I gather students had a restful and enjoyable break, filled with time to recharge and reconnect. As we step into this new year, I am incredibly proud of the way Year 9 has returned—displaying peaceful and respectful relationships, focused, and ready to learn.

From the very first day, it has been wonderful to see students embracing their studies with enthusiasm and demonstrating a strong commitment to their learning. Their positive attitude and willingness to engage with new challenges set the tone for what promises to be a fantastic year ahead.

This year, we are delighted to welcome back our incredible PALS team, with the exciting addition of Mrs. Selmes, who will be supporting McCabe. This allows Mrs. Jennings to be more available to assist students across the entire year group, particularly during morning PALS and our pastoral lessons. We also welcome back Ms. Ross who will be in the role of Wellbeing Support for Stage 5 (Years 9 & 10).

Year 9 have been reminded of their new leadership team for 2025, who will work hard to support the voice of the cohort as members of the Student Representative Council for 2025. These students will work closely with Mrs Renshaw, the SRC Coordinator to support various leadership initiatives throughout the year.

UNIFORM

Year 9 have also demonstrated mostly positive attitudes toward other school expectations we have at St John’s, particularly with regards to uniform. Students have been reminded of the school uniform policy with regards to hair, jewellery and shoes in particular. These specific requirements are outlined in the school diary. 

As outlined in the diary, school sports shoes need to be predominantly black or white joggers. These can include running shoes or trainers, however casual/skate/court shoes are not permitted. The school understands that it can be difficult at times for families to determine which shoes are permitted. For your convenience, here are the key requirements:

• The shoes most likely will  be classified as “gym” or “training” by the manufacturer.
• They should not have flat soles, be made of canvas nor have a platform sole.

Please be in contact with your child’s PALS teacher if you have any specific questions regarding the school's uniform requirements.

ORGANISATION IN YEAR 9

All Year 9 students have been issued a school diary for 2025, with the expectation that they bring it to school daily. To help establish positive organisational habits, students recently participated in a pastoral lesson on effective time management as they begin Stage 5 of their schooling.

During this session, students explored two options for planning and organising their school tasks: the traditional school diary and the digital tool Google Keep. While some students prefer writing in their diary, others find digital organisation more effective. Google Keep offers a simple yet powerful way to manage tasks and track important information.

Regardless of their chosen method, students are encouraged to consistently use either their diary or Google Keep to build strong organisational habits.

A great strategy is setting aside 10 minutes at the end of each school day to update homework and to-do lists, helping students stay on top of their workload and feel more in control of their learning.

With this update, parents and carers are no longer required to sign their child’s diary each week. Instead, we encourage ongoing conversations about maintaining consistent organisational habits. The diary remains a valuable tool for communication with the PALS teacher, alongside other methods such as phone calls or emails to the school.

YEAR 9 CAMP 2025 

• Year 9 Camp at Cataract Activity Centre in Appin is closely approaching. The camp will run from Tuesday 1 April 2025 - Thursday 3 April 2025. 
• Parents and Carers now have access to the Compass event for the camp, which outlines essential information including packing lists and the behaviour contract. 
• Consent for this event is due Friday 28 February, 2025. This is vital so that the school can confirm numbers with the venue in a timely manner. 
• In addition to providing consent via Compass, families also need to register online via the Cataract Scout Camp link before the end of February.

Link: https://book.venue.life/cataract/register/1500-st-johns-1734 

• All students will be supplied with a hard copy of the behaviour contract in the coming weeks. All parents/guardians and students must sign and return the hard copy behaviour contract to their PALS teacher by Friday, 21 March 2025. 
• If your son or daughter is unable to attend the camp, please contact Kate Jennings via the school phone or email ASAP to notify and discuss. 

'Let your light shine.'

Ms Kate Jennings