Latest News

Click here to view the February 19 Schoolzine eNewsletter!

Click here to view the February 12 Schoolzine eNewsletter!

Click here to view the February 5 Schoolzine eNewsletter!

Welcome back to school in 2021!

We have an amazing year planned with new opportunities, new staff and new directions for our school. There'll be more news about this to come. I would like to thank all of our teachers for their commitment and deication over the last two weeks to prepare their classrooms and programs for our students.

Today I want to write just about how we will start on Monday, the first day of school for all students, Kindergarten through to Year 6. We haven't yet shaken off the COVID-19 health restrictions of last year but the good news is that we have moved a little forward. At the moment the following restrictions are in place:

• Parents can now come on site for brief visits without signing in at the front office, e.g. dropping off and picking up, but must maintain social distancing of 1.5m. They will not yet be able to enter the school buildings. 
• Parents coming on site for longer times such as meeting with a teacher must sign in at the Front Office and follow hygiene procedures.
• The school can resume whole school assemblies. The social distancing restrictions do not apply to students and staff.gathering together on school grounds but do apply to parents and visitors.
• Visitors, such as therapists that work with students, can continue to attend school to work with students, following our school sign in procedures.
• The school will maintain the higher level hygiene and cleaning protocols, e.g. using hand sanitiser, hand washing, daily disinfectant spraying of play equipment and surfacesm etc.

What does this mean for starting school next week?

Firstly, a reminder that school begins at 8.50am. All students are expected to be at school by this time. Supervision begins from 8.20am on the Rainbow Top. No student should be at school prior to this time unless participating in OSHClub's before school care program.

On Monday, assuming the weather is fine:

• Returning students will follow the usual practice of entering the school through the black gate at the back car park. They will then find their new class line on the rainbow top and put their bag down before going off to play with friends. Parents are welcome to accompany them to the Rainbow Top and remain for a few minutes for the morning assembly. Parents must maintain social distancing from each other and other students during this time.
• Kindergarten students will begin on Monday morning in the hall in the same, familiar way they did for orientation mornings. This will reduce any overwhelming confusion for them on the first day among the whole school. During the day the Kindergarten teachers will show the students where and how to line up in the mornings with the rest of the school. From Tuesday morning parents can follow the same procedures above for 'returning students'. At the moment, parents will still not be able to visit the classrooms in the mornings due to space restrictions for social distancing.
• Other new students to the school can come straight to the office on Monday morning with their parents where they will be met by their teacher and/or a class buddy to welcome them and take them out to the the line up area. Parents of new students on this day are welcome to come through to morning assembly if they wish but must follow school hygiene practices and social distance when in the school grounds. From Tuesday these new students can following the procedure for 'returing students' outlined above.

Should it be raining:

• Returning students follow the usual wet weather procedures.
• Kindergarten students enter at the black gate near the after school care building and the teachers will meet them at the verandah near Kindergarten.
• New students still go the front office where instructions will be provided.

The school day concludes at 3.00pm.

At the end of the day:

• No students are picked up from classrooms, the front office or front car park. All parents are welcome to queue in the pick up zone or park in the back car park and wait in the gathering space there. Please social distance.
• Returning students will know the procedures. Please let their teacher know if there are significant changes to their usual routine so they can support them to go to the right place. Teacher email addresses are available on the school website  www.sjaps.act.edu.au 
• OSHClub will collect Kindergarten students attending after school care from their classrooms.
• Kindergarten teachers will walk their remaining students to the pick up area and wait with them until they are picked up.
• New students being picked up will be walked by a teacher to the pick up area to meet their waiting parent/guardian.
• A teacher remains on duty in the pick up area until 3.30pm. There is no need to be there at 3.00pm. Parents are welcome to come a little later to avoid any congestion.

During Week 1 we will have further announcements about Parent Information Evenings coming up as well as clarifying school uniform and other expectations. In the meantime our school calendar on SZapp and the school website is being updated on a daily basis. Our Newsletter each Friday will have some additional new information as well. Please look at these regularly for updates.

I hope you all have a lovely and restful weekend. We look forward to seeing you all next Monday morning.

Kind Regards,
Matthew Garton
Principal

Click here to view the December 18 Schoolzine eNewsletter!

Click here to view the December 11 Schoolzine eNewsletter!

Click here to view the December 4 Schoolzine eNewsletter!

Click here to view the November 27 Schoolzine eNewsletter!

OSHClub are our new providers for Out of Hours School Care from 2021. We're thrilled to be partnering with them into the future!

The following link provides you with a flyer about OSHClub and the services they will provide at St John the Apostle, including how to contact them to book your child in for the holiday program and before and after school care from Term 1. Please download the flyer here:

OSHClub Information Flyer 

To help with a smooth transition for families OSHClub are also holding a Parent Information Session to find out all about the program. Please register for the session at the details below.

We look forward to a new partnership and exciting future for our students and families.

Regards,
Matthew Garton
Principal

Click here to view the November 20 Schoolzine eNewsletter!