Dear Parents and Caregivers,

The 2022 school year has come to an end. This time of the year is always a time of mixed emotions. We may feel tired with the plethora of events to attend and jobs to be done. But as we reflect on the year that was, may we also feel a sense of joy and achievement with everything that we accomplished and as we look to 2023, may there be a sense of hope with the new adventures and challenges that lay ahead.

This morning we celebrated the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. It was so lovely to see the children, staff and parent community fully participate in this mass with reverence and joy. On behalf of St John’s School, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Father Christian Irdi, and the parish of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Church for everything they have done to support the St John’s School community in celebrating the eucharist. We are truly blessed to have Father Christian who continually supports our students and staff.

Advent
This Sunday is the third Sunday of Advent. The third Sunday of Advent is also called Gaudete Sunday. Gaudete is a Latin word that means ‘rejoice’. This Sunday of Advent is marked by the lighting of a pink or rose-coloured candle instead of a purple one. It is a reminder that the Advent season is a season of joy.

Year 6 Graduates
Congratulations to our Year 6 students and their families on their Graduation this morning. It has been pleasing to see the growth these students have made this year. We wish them well for high school and thank them for their contributions to our school.

Congratulations to the following students:
Mason, Madeleine, Ruby, Alexander, Ava, Bianca, Bronte, Xavier, Indiana, Sienna, Ella, Jessica, Olivia, Alexander, Jasper, Lachlan, Jett, Indah, Ciana, Jordan, Zachary, Jack, Jaden, Eloise, Tobias and Klaudia

During your primary school years at St John’s Primary School, you have worked hard, demonstrated strong leadership, and through your thoughts, words and actions, reflected the teachings of Jesus, loving your neighbour. It has been an honour to work with you for just under three years and I wish you nothing but the very best for your high school years and beyond. The next chapter of your life is waiting for you to add new pieces of the puzzle. May God keep you safe on your journey.

Student Leaders 2023
All students in Year 6, in 2023 will be involved in levels of student leadership across the school. Student leaders as elected by their peers and staff were announced to the Year 5 cohort yesterday. We will congratulate the 2023 student leaders at tomorrow mornings assembly.
Congratulations to
Head Boy – Lawson
Head Girl – Ava
Deputy Head Boy –  Oscar
Deputy Head Girl – Ciara

Faction Captains
McBride – William and Chase
McAuley – Sienna and Tristan
Bryne – Stella and John Oscur
Dominic – Reef and Finn

All Year Six students will be involved in ministries throughout the year. As with the student leaders this year, the commitment of these new leaders is to leave their role in a better position than when they received it. To respect what the leader before them has done and then develop and improve this role for the next leader.

End of Year Concert – Thank You!
Thank you to all the parents, carers, family and friends who attended our annual Christmas Concert which showcased our talented Kindy to Year Six students. We hope you enjoyed the concert as we celebrate the end of the school year. Thank you to Miss Megan and Miss Teagan from Make A Move along with TLS Staging for all of our lighting, sound and staging requirements during our Concert on Friday evening and for the generosity they showed to support our school holding another successful concert.

Thank you also to all the Staff of St John’s Primary School, for preparing the students so well and for all the behind the scenes work that is required to make nights like this a success. Lastly, to our wonderful students. Thank you for your amazing performances, you all displayed such remarkable talent in singing, acting and dancing! You were the absolute stars of the night!

End of Year Reports
End of Year Reports for Year 1 – 6 will be available on SEQTA on Friday afternoon, Kindy and Pre Primary reports will be available early next week. When discussing and sharing these with your child, celebrate some strengths and growth and identify an area of focus for 2023. Please acknowledge the effort you child has put into each area not focusing on simply the grade.

Staffing
It gives me great pleasure to welcome the following staff members to St John’s:
Music Teacher – Miss Galina Aladko
Sports Teacher – Mrs Kristy Wise
Both Galina and Kristy have years of teaching experience and currently work across various catholic schools in Perth. We look forward to Galina and Kristy joining the St John’s Primary School community in 2023.

We Congratulate…
Congratulations to Miss Anita Rodi on her recent engagement to Brendan

Congratulations to Miss Meg Joyce on her recent engagement to Charlie

Congratulations to Amanda, Pete, Evie and Rory Edwards on the wonderful news that the Edwards family is expanding…baby Edwards is due in May 2023.

St Vincent de Paul Food Drive
The food that was donated to the St John’s School, for the St Vincent de Paul Food Drive over the Christmas season has been gratefully received by this hard-working agency and will assist many families over the Christmas season. Thank you to everyone who very generously provided food for this worthy cause!

What do the staff at St John’s do next week?
During next week the staff will engage in a range of activities in preparation for next year. These include:
· A review of 2022 considering processes, policies, and procedures.
· Extensive handover meetings where every child’s needs are discussed.
· Discussion of Curriculum updates and the implications of these.
· An extensive First Aid course.
· Classroom preparation time.
· Prayer and reflection.

We are very fortunate at St John’s Primary School to have a wonderful community that puts students at the centre of everything we do. I would like to take this opportunity to thank our parish, families, staff, the broader school community and our students for a very successful school year.

Wishing all our families at St John’s a safe and festive season. We will see you back on Wednesday 1 February 2023.

May the peace and joy of the newborn Christ be with you all during this festive season

WA Term Dates for 2023 are:
Term 1 : 1 February – 6 April 2023
Term 2 : 24 April  – 30 June
Term 3 : 17 July – 22 September
Term 4 : 9 October – 8 December

Wishing you all a wonderful week.

God Bless

Velma Erskine
Principal

What’s happening….?

School Fees 2023

Catholic Education WA has announced that there will be a decrease in the fees parents pay at St John’s Primary School in 2023.

A decrease on school fees have come about as a result of changes to the overall funding for Catholic schools in Western Australia. Our school and CEWA are able to utilise a greater level of data to inform how we determine fees in a way that better matches our school and community’s unique context.

The decision to decrease school fees in 2023 is a part of our ongoing commitment to meeting the needs of the St John’s School Community.

To view our 2023 Fee Structure click here: 2023 St John’s School Fee

Graduation

This morning we celebrated the Year 6 Graduation. It was a beautiful celebration of their time at St John’s.

Grandparents Day

It was so lovely to welcome our Grandparents to school last week. We celebrated with a mass and then grandparents got to visit their grandchild’s classroom and see their work and meet their friends. The morning concluded with a delicious morning tea.

Big Day Out

On Tuesday our students from Pre Primary to Year were treated to a “Big Day Out” to the cinema to see a special screening of Lyle,Lyle the Crocodile! They were treated to a pizza lunch afterwards and there was great excitement on Wednesday when Mr Whippy arrived with ice-creams for everyone!

Kindy Nativity

Our Kindy students performed a beautiful re-enactment of the Nativity last week.

Christmas Concert

Last Friday we had our annual Christmas Concert. It was an evening filled with singing and dancing and festive fun!

Surf Gala Day

The students had a terrific time at the Surf Gala at Trigg yesterday morning. It was a wonderful community event put on by the organisers and coaches from Surfing WA. It was great to see the kids enjoying their time in the water and connecting with students from other schools.

Year 5 – Tough Stuff 4km Run

After eight weeks of activities and discussion about resilience, overcoming obstacles and developing a positive mindset, the Year 5’s completed their 4km Tough Stuff run at Abbett Park. It was amazing to witness such an great atmosphere, filled with a lot of running, cheering, water guns and of course, food to energise our participants. A special thank you to our parent volunteers as well as to Brooke, Brodie and Sophia for making our Year Five Tough Stuff program so memorable with a lot of valuable life lessons along the way.

2023 Parish Religious Education Program

EXPRESSION OF INTEREST WEEKEND AT IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY PARISH

Parents of children (who are not students of St John’s Primary School) in Years 3, 4 and 6 who wish their children to receive the sacraments of First Reconciliation, First Holy Communion and Confirmation are asked to contact the Parish Office on  9341 1124 for Information packs.  Enrolment forms to be returned to the Parish office on or before the Sacramental Commitment weekend of 4th & 5th February 2023.

Parish Playgroup