Dear St John the Apostle Community,

We've had a lovely start to the term. Welcome to our new students and families. We look forward to your contribution to our story and thank you for the opportunity to contribute to your family story.

Welcome also to Mrs Melissa Nisbet, teaching 4 Blue, and Miss Kristina Hudina, teaching 1 Blue this term.

Congratulations to Mrs Megan Thomas and family on the birth of Ayla during the school holidays. Everyone is doing very well. We await some equally joyful news from Mrs Miller.

How do you like our new school newsletter? It will evolve over the coming weeks as we learn to use it to its fullest capacity. We hope that it will be more accessible for everyone. Please feel free to provide us with feedback and suggestions.

Transforming our school environment

Behind teachers and families, the environment holds enormous potential to influence what and how children learn. Through thoughtful planning and consideration of the physical environment of the classroom and playground, schools create inclusive spaces for rich physical and social learning that are engaging and invite students into a deeper exploration of their world. Our school playground is ripe for a spruce up, more than just a bit of turf, a few more lines or an extra piece of very expensive equipment. We would like to provide an outdoor environment that is an extension of the learning spaces within the school buildings, provides a wide variety of options for children's choices, feels secure and safe and is vibrant and responsive to their interests and needs.

To this end, we have contracted Phil and Jenni from Wellspring Environmental Arts & Design to work closely with us in developing a long-term plan for improving our outdoor learning environment. Phil & Jenni have been highly recommended by others who they have undertaken similar successful projects with them, including Southern Cross Early Childhood School where some of our own students have attended. 

The process they have designed to follow is highly consultative and parents, staff and students will all contribute their issues and ideas for consideration towards the final plan. We hope to launch the plan at the Information Evening in 2019 with a  view to beginning the transformation of our grounds from 2019 onwards.

You can contribute to the design by completing the survey below. We'd love to hear your thoughts, issues and imaginative ideas.

Students will have the opportunity to contribute through a survey at school.

As part of our school 'spruce up' we are beginning a staged painting program. Over the coming Christmas holidays our Building Fund contributions will enable us to paint the corridor and break out spaces.

2018 Residential Address Data Collection

All schools are required by the Australian Government Department of Education and Training (AGDET) to supply 2018 student residential address data for collection. Attached to this newsletter is a notice provided by AGDET to inform you of this collection process. Please contact me should you have any concerns after reading the notice.

Teaching Staff for 2019

At present we are in the middle of recruiting for a number of teaching positions available from 2019. Mrs Rose Lee and Mrs Marianne Foley, who have both been on leave since the birth of their last children, have resigned from their positions. Rose and Marianne have been members of the school community for quite a number of years and their joyful presence will be greatly missed. Mrs Megan Thomas and Mrs Annie Miller, both on parenting leave, will not be returning during 2019 as they spend very valuable time with their families.

As a result, there are a number of positions advertised and we look forward to announcing these later in the term when the positions have been finalised.

Catholic Schools Netball Carnival

Good luck to our students attending the Catholic Schools Netball Carnival this Saturday. It will be a fun, big day for our families. Thank you to Rebekah Brown for organising the opportunity for our teams to play and to our parents who have generously offered to coach or manage a team. I look forward to seeing you there. For up to date changes to information go to the following link.

Have a lovely weekend everyone.

Matthew Garton (Principal)