Dear St John the Apostle families,

As a parent I loved when my children were in preschool and primary school. Perhaps it was because I knew all about schools and I was excited for what they would experience. I didn't ever work in the same school as my own children so it was often hard to go to their assemblies and masses. Teachers don't get flex-time. The hours are locked down and there's only so much time you are comfortable to ask for to go to your child's school. I did love the opportunity for parent information nights, parent-teacher interviews, going to sport on the weekend with a mostly school based team at soccer, sacrament preparation and celebrations and even, when possible, helping at the school fete and working bees, being part of the P&F and helping in the canteen.

I did what i could. Sometimes I could be more engaged than other times. We certainly weren't the most involved parents in the school but we also weren't the least.

What my children learnt throughout this time was that I loved watching them learn at school and make friends and grow. They knew that the school we sent them to was chosen by us and that we felt that something about it was special. We knew that the school would help them grow in the values that were important to us.

As young adults now, they know that we were not 'purchasing a product', rather we were choosing a place to help them write their own story and that we would always walk alongside them, with interest (and sometimes prodding) as they undertook their school journey in a place and community we valued and loved.

Three of my four children went to St John the Apostle Primary School, the youngest leaving the year before I arrived.

Do this before anything else

At St John the Apostle, the most important way of being engaged is to talk to your child about their learning and generally know what is happening for them. We don't expect parents to follow every single detail of what is happening in school. We just ask parents to generally stay in touch with their child's learning, supporting them with homework and listening to them read, staying up to date with communication from their teacher and the school and checking in with the teacher whenever there is a question or concern. We try to make this as easy as we can with technology and opportunity. In fact, thanks to Schoolzine and Seesaw, it can all be handled from your phone.

When children see their parents engaged in this way the message they receive is that their parents value school and their education and they almost always respond by treating school as important and then doing their best.

Helping shape the school and community

Of course, schools are communities and parents are members of this community. Schools don't grow and continuously improve without the support of parents working alongside staff and students.

We all have different capacities, skills and interests as parents. My wife knew that going into school to listen to reading was probably not going to be in her 'wheel house'. However, helping with cake stalls and fundraising definitely was and she was more than happy to help knowing that her efforts would translate into resources to help students.

Our Community Council is a very active and engaged group of community members made up of parents, grandparents and staff. It works hard to help the school continuously grow in its capacity to support a diverse range of students and families. The 2020 Community Council has worked very hard in initiating the implementation of a new school uniform, supporting the school in developing a 1 to 1 Chromebook program, participating in the tender process for a new Out of Hours School Care provider and fundraising for new outdoor upgrades such as the Rainbow Top.

The Community Council AGM is being held next Wednesday evening at 6.00pm in the school library and all community members are welcome to come and be part of the meeting. At this meeting we will talk about the work achieved to date and the work going into the future. Bookings are essential due to limited numbers. See the link below to book to attend the Community Council AGM meeting and the link to the Community Council Nomination Form. 

There's always something for everyone

Not everyone has the time to give to being a Community Council member. There are so many ways that people can be engaged and support their children's school.

• Volunteering to help in the Canteen or the Clothing Pool at various times through the year is always welcome. If this is something you'd like to know more about please call Leanne in the Front Office who can put you in contact with someone to discuss this.
• Assisting at any one of the three sport carnivals is also a great help. We can't provide these opportunities for students without parent assistance. Just keep an eye out for when notes come out about these events and you'll be able to volunteer.
• Once or twice a year we will have a short Working Bee on a weekend. It's a fantastic once off way to help with creating a beautiful outdoor area for your own children and other students. We'll send out Schoolzine messages when we are going to hold these.

These are just a few ways to assist at St John the Apostle Primary School and don't need to be onerous or demanding.

Parent Information Nights

Thank you to all of the parents who attended the Parent Information Nights during the week. Thank you to our teachers for their hard work in getting ready and for their willingness to record their presentations.

The recordings for each year level are being finalised and will be available on our school website at the beginning of next week.

God Bless,