WELCOME BACK

How lovely it was to gather as a school community at the start of last week and welcome everyone back to Term 2. We had a very successful Term 1 and as we move into Term 2 we will be celebrating our School’s 30th Anniversary (postponed in 2020). The history of St John’s is a very interesting one. It was established by the people of the parish of St Michael’s and Monsignor Purcell, the parish priest at the time. The school motto: Pax Christi, has always been central to how we engage with each other in this community.

Parents and carers have always been so very willing to support the school and were always happy to give their time. In the early days they carried furniture and held fundraisers. Today they assist in the canteen, working bees, school events and exams. We are always grateful for the generous way so many of you willingly support our school, it ensures that the community nature of our school is very evident.

We will be celebrating the 30th Anniversary on Foundation Day on May 21 with a special mass by Bishop Brian. The director, Peter Turner and special guests including past principals and the original steering committee will be present.

STAFF DEVELOPMENT

Our term began for all staff with professional development. All teaching and school learning support staff engaged with professional learning and collegial planning in Student Learning Feedback. The KLA coordinators are the leaders of this and presented workshops on High Intensity Learning Strategies. They will continue to work on this in professional learning teams over the next three terms. 

All staff then attended a training session on managing sexualised behaviours. This has become a complex area in more recent years and it is essential that we look at both educational support for our young people along with addressing issues in a timely and effective manner.

At St John’s we recognise that everyone is a part of the learning community and staff are the leaders of this learning. They take their own professional learning very seriously and share their learning in a collegial manner.

PARENT SURVEY

Each year we survey our parents and carers to hear your voice and use this information to inform our decisions. We truly appreciate you taking the time to provide us with feedback. We ask that you please complete the survey for 2021 by clicking the following link.

Tell Them From Me: Parent Survey

CANTEEN

We will be making a few changes to our canteen practices to assist the management of supplying lunches in a timely manner. This will include the termination of written orders. All orders must be entered online. The link for ordering lunches may be found on our school website or by clicking here.

TAS FACILITIES

There have been some major improvements to the facilities in the Technical and Applied Studies building (block I). Earlier in the year the entry area was improved by opening spaces and purchasing new equipment such as the laser cutter. Over the last few weeks the woodworking area was opened up to be one large workspace and a new area was added for the storage of projects such as HSC major works. 

I would like to acknowledge the wonderful input by the staff, especially Mr Gould and Gibson, to ensure that the areas were well planned and that the works proceeded with minor interruptions to classes. Many of the students also assisted and I am sure that they are very pleased with the outcome, providing an excellent workspace for everyone.