Principal's Corner
Dear St John the Apostle families,
We're in that space at the moment where we need to have our minds firmly planted in both this year and next. Since I began teaching a long time ago I have come to accept that no matter how well planned we are, there will always be great achievements to celebrate, unexpected road bumps and diversions that need managing and some tasks that are important but must be bumped to the following year.
I always have a few stanzas from a poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox in mind when reflecting on what has passed and planning the future:
One ship sails East,
And another West,
By the self-same winds that blow,
'Tis the set of the sails
And not the gales,
That tells the way we go.
Like the winds of the sea
Are the waves of time,
As we journey along through life,
'Tis the set of the soul,
That determines the goal,
And not the calm or the strife.
We set our sails firmly here at St John the Apostle so that no matter what comes, we weather it together, learn and continue in the same direction. The storms that come may delay the arrival time and alter the path of the journey but the destination remains: We are on earth the heart of God.
Planning Teaching & Learning
Yesterday our Executive Team met all day to plan the school development strategies for Teaching & Learning in 2022. We reviewed our 2021 Annual Improvement Plan (you can find this on our school website) and began drawing up the plan for 2022. We're excited to continue to implement High Impact Teaching Practices across our school next year and continue see the very positive growth in learning.
As part of this process we reviewed our NAPLAN data, Annual Survey data and other information about our community. What a long way we've travelled over the past four years! These opportunities to reflect on the journey so far are always very rewarding.
School Budget & Fees for 2022
Our Community Council is meeting next week to confirm the school budget and school fees for 2022 and we hope to communicate these in the Newsletter next week. Our meeting will also be an opportunity to thank the Community Council members for their work in supporting our school and community.
Classes
Thank you to all those parents who have written to let me know the needs their child has that they would like considered when determining class placements for next year. These need to be communicated to me by today via email in order to be included in our planning. They will of course remain confidential to me only.
Transition to High School
Catholic School Parents Australia has developed a toolkit, ‘Gearing Up for Parent Engagement in Student Learning’, to assist families and schools to help make the transition into Primary and Secondary school a great experience for children and young people. The toolkit includes a module on transitions, Nurturing Your Child Through Transition, for Primary and Secondary students. These modules provide practical and concrete advice to assist students and parents to navigate the anxiety that can sometimes happen with change.
Parent Teacher Interviews
Next week you will receive information about Parent-Teacher Interviews that will be held after students receive their Semester 2 School Reports. Please keep an eye out for this information through Compass Parent Portal.
God Bless
