From the Principal
Dear St John the Apostle families,
What an amazing week have had!
We were overjoyed to be able to host our Kindergarten 2021 Information evening and first Orientation Day. Months ago we were planning a very different kind of experience and this week we were able to be face to face with parents, albeit physically distanced, and children.
They were amazing! The children settled in so quickly to their first Orientation session and were so involved and engaged. Next year's Kindergarten teachers will be Mrs Sarah Collins and Ms Mel Watson (formerly Ms Mel Taylor). Mrs Collins and Ms Watson created a very welcoming and fun first day. Thank you to all of the staff who supported the children for their visit and made it run smoothly.
NAIDOC Celebrations
Today our students all participated in NAIDOC Week activities. NAIDOC Week is actually next week so this was an excellent opportunity for our students to go into next week with greater awareness of some knowledge of Aboriginal culture and history.
In groups, the students worked with their teachers as well as Uncle Fred and Ms Katrina Cambridge (Catholic Education Aboriginal School and Community Officer), to explore artefacts, create artworks, listen to stories and hear traditional Aboriginal music. Aboriginal and Torres Trait Islander history and culture is a very important part of our Australian identity. Our students need as many opportunities as possible to grow in this understanding. Thank you to Ms Ellen Fletcher for organising the day's activities.
Staffing 2021
Mrs Jody De Andrade will be taking up a teaching position in Wollongong from 2021. Mrs D works in both Year 4 classes and 3 Maroon. She is an enthusiastic teacher who always designs creative learning opportunities for her students. Our students will miss her.
Mrs Georgina Jaram will teach at St Joseph's, O'Connor next year. Mrs Jaram has been the other half of the Library team for the last three years and taught every student across the school! She has enthusiastically supported many students to find books that they love to read. Mrs Jaram has also provided students with many experiences of high quality literature as well as been a warm, friendly and welcoming presence in the Library. We wish her the very best in the future. We are currently looking for a suitable Teacher-Librarian to continue providing fabulous opportunities for our students.
Class placements for 2021
At this time of the year I welcome parent communication regarding any specific needs that they would like considered in placing their own child in a class group next year. Parents wishing to communicate this are asked to email me directly (not the classroom teacher) with the considerations they would like kept in mind as part of the class creation process. These will be treated confidentially and viewed only by me. Specific teacher requests will not be considered. The cut off for communicating these considerations will be Friday 13 November.
Thank you for continually working together to help your child learn and grow.
Matthew Garton
Principal