Dear St John the Apostle families,

We had a great turn out last night at our Christmas Family Picnic. Thank you everyone for such a wonderful evening. Thank you Mrs Macdonald for preparing the students for their performances. Thank you to all the staff who assisted with costumes and organising the children.

I'd like to offer a big thank you to our Community Council for providing a BBQ and lolly bags for everyone. Thank you to Nat Nicholson and Mary-Ann Fraser who coordinated the BBQ and Kellie Bradbury and Belinda Clifford for preparing all of the lolly bags.

It was a happy, relaxed and inclusive way to spend time together. Thank you all for entering into the spirit of the night. While each student's education is the core reason we all come together, this happens most succesfully in a community of positive relationships, where every student feels like they belong. Last night was a great example of this.

Student Semester Reports

This week the end of semester student reports will be distributed. Parents had the opportunity to have a Parent-Teacher Interview this week and teachers sought interviews with any parents they would like to have a final conversation with. Thank you for working in partnership with your teachers to support your child's learning this year.

The reports will include a general comment for the first time. Staff worked together to design a general comment that was informative for parents, fitting in as much detail as they could in the limited space provided. You will see that the comments have a list of dot points that describe examples of your child's achievements in Religious Education, English, Mathematics and various other curriculum areas. We hope these are helpful in understanding a little of what your child has learnt this year.

Students on Personal Plans, of which there are approximately 110 in our school, will be emailed an additional Personal Plan report. Prepared by their teacher, this report provides an additional comment by the teacher against each of their Personal Plan goals and recommends whether the goals remain in place or are adjusted for the beginning of 2024.

Thank you to our teachers who have spent many weeks preparing these semester reports and to Rebekah Brown, who has supported teachers in preparing all of the Personal Plan reports. I have the joy of reading every report that is sent home. While it is a lot of work, I do love seeing how much the students have grown. There is a great sense of satisfaction in seeing a years worth of growth for every student.

Classes 2024

Classes have been finalised for 2024 and teachers have been meeting this week to engage in 'handover' conversations. These involve the teachers seeing their class list for next year and then meeting with the current teacher to go through the needs of each student they will have in their class. Again, this is another important task at the end of each year that takes considerable time and organisation, but it is worth it for our students and teachers alike. Of course teachers will meet with families early on in 2024 but to go into the year with some knowledge about each student already gives everyone a head start.

On Wednesday we will have 'One Up Day'. After lunch on Wednesday students will visit the classroom they will be in for 2024 and meet their teacher. Every student was asked to name three people they would like to be in the same class as next year. We have ensured that they will be in the same class as at least one of these students.

Have an enjoyable weekend as we prepare for our last week of school for 2024.

Matthew Garton

Principal

Code Camp in 2024

At the end of this Newsletter you will see a flyer for Code Camp. We have partnered with Code Camp to provide an after school activity each week for those students interested in this part of digital technologies. The flyer outlines the details for how to register. We're excited to be able to offer this opportunity.