Principal's Address

At the recent leadership forum, Dr. Pat Coughlan shared with principals that instilling hope is central to our responsibility to our communities.  

‘More than anything, hope is the belief that the future will be better than the present and that people will feel empowered to make it happen.’  

School improvement remains a constant focus for me as we strive to make St John’s the best school it can be. Dr. Pat reiterated that it is the leadership team's role to actively develop hope by choosing to initiate change rather than simply responding to it.  

Recently, I’ve discussed in this newsletter several key changes made at St John’s in the interest of school improvement, the most significant being the adoption of MTSS (Multi-tiered Systems of Support). Another, more subtle change occurred at the beginning of the year: the adjustment of our leadership structure at the school. It’s essential for our parents and caregivers to be acquainted with our Middle Leaders, so they understand why a particular staff member is getting in touch with them.   

To that end, the following positions were added or modified at the end of 2024.  

Melissa Irwin is now the Assistant Principal – Teaching and Learning, having previously held the position of Assistant Principal – Primary. One of the focuses of the leadership review was to align our leadership structure with our strengths as a P-12 school. Mel has embraced the challenge of leading Curriculum and Pedagogy across the school with support from her Middle Leaders and is doing an exceptional job.  

Kim Challenor has been promoted from Pastoral Leader to Student Wellbeing & Engagement Leader. In her new role, Kim will lead the pastoral team at the school. This position alleviates some of the welfare responsibilities from the Deputy Principal, allowing Ryan to concentrate on the administrative and organisational aspects of his role. Kim is a highly experienced pastoral leader and can now share her insights on student engagement across the school.  

The other key changes relate to the leadership of curriculum and welfare in P-6. Previously, different year levels were divided among leaders, which caused some confusion regarding areas of responsibility.  

Nat Beattie is now solely responsible for curriculum and pedagogy in P-6. She joins the team of curriculum leaders under Mel’s guidance. Examples of Nat’s responsibilities include the Diocesan Approach to Reading rollout across P-6 and directing NAPLAN activities.  

Hayley Sayer is now solely responsible for pastoral care and the welfare of students in P-6. She assists teachers with behaviour management by addressing instances of repetitive classroom disruption or escalated behaviours in the playground. Hayley joins the pastoral team under the direction of Kim and Ryan. 

I have included a diagram of our leadership flow chart to help illustrate these changes.   

Cheers, 

Mark