St. John’s Primary School, Footscray was established over 100 years ago in 1922 by the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart. We are a Catholic primary school that promotes Gospel values and faith development. In dialogue with all multi-faith perspectives, St. John’s fosters spiritual development and interfaith understanding.

At St. John’s we believe in educating the whole child, including physical, emotional, spiritual, social, intellectual and overall wellbeing. Our vision is to provide learning experiences through collaborating, making meaning, creativity, research, problem solving and negotiation with a focus on developing a learner’s capacity to thrive in challenging situations – knowing what to do when they don’t know what to do.

Learners are taught strategies and skills to get themselves out of the Learning Pit, as mistakes are highlighted as opportunities for growth. We create conditions for learners to focus on building their dispositions and capabilities. Some of these include resilience, persistence, bravery, empathy, self-directedness, reflectiveness, curiosity, collaboration and resourcefulness.

We value discovering, creating and innovating for a sustainable and just world. Our dream is for learning to go beyond the school walls and for learners to develop skills that can easily transfer into any environment.