Congratulations to our 2020 HSC graduate: Jasmine Hair, who has been awarded a prestigious award from NESA. She was awarded the AECG President’s Award for the highest achieving, non-indigenous student in Aboriginal studies in NSW. She will receive this award on Friday 12 March at a NSW Awards’ presentation in Sydney.

Jasmine reflects that it has been her involvement in the girl’s Aboriginal dance troupe and other cultural experiences that created her passion for deepening her learning in this area. This aligns beautifully with the intention of Mrs Christine Finney, who established our Gooroon Aboriginal support, who strongly believed that, by encouraging all students to engage with cultural experiences, they would develop a deeper understanding of the value of Aboriginal culture for all Australians.

We would all like to congratulate Jasmine and her teacher, Mrs Blades, for this outstanding achievement.

OPEN NIGHT AND CATHOLIC SCHOOL WEEK

This week we celebrate Catholic Schools Week and it is so timely that we have also shared our school by opening to our community for Open Night. St John’s vision is to deliver quality Catholic education to the young people of the Shoalhaven with a focus on Excellence in learning in a peaceful community. This is certainly what our staff and students showcased on Wednesday night.

Our young people take great pride in their school, and rightly so, as they contribute to it at every opportunity. The feedback from visitors was overwhelmingly positive, with most of it acknowledging what a welcoming and positive community they experienced at St John’s. I would like to acknowledge our staff and students for the wonderful presentation they showcased on the night and for the wonderful work that they do each day that was reflected on Open Night in its authenticity.

We now move toward the enrolment process for 2022 and I ask that you please remind your friends and family of the closing date for our Year 7 2022 enrolments, Monday 29 March 2021. For those who were not able to attend on the evening; tours will be offered as follows, and they may join us by simply contacting the school office;

YEARS 8, 9 AND 10 SRC

On Tuesday a luncheon was held with the school leadership team and SRC members in Years 8, 9 and 10 to gather and hear their voices.

Students gave us feedback on all aspects of the school and their experiences, hopes and dreams including what they like in their learning and what they would like to see more of, issues they would like to see addressed from playground shelter to rubbish management. These young people have a great passion to ensure that they contribute to our community and we certainly value their feedback.

LAUNCH OF ACTIVITIES WEBSITE 

There is great diversity in the talents and interests of the young people at St John’s and with this in mind the staff offer a wide range of opportunities for student engagement in extracurricular activities. We encourage all students to get involved and have a go at something new. To help them know exactly what is available and when, Mrs Blades has established an Activities Website. It is accessible for all students and we encourage you to have a look with your child and discuss what they may like to engage with. The link to the site is available on your student's compass account and our school website, or by clicking here.