Head's Message

This summer, I spent five weeks on a cross-Canada road trip that ended at the easternmost point of Newfoundland. After driving more than 17,000 km, I was reminded how expansive and beautiful our country is. Along the way, I listened to many podcasts, including a re-release of Backstage at the Vinyl Cafe.

For context, the original Vinyl Cafe was hosted by Stuart McLean on CBC Radio from the 1990s to the 2010s. Stuart shared stories he had written about fictional Canadian families and towns, but he also read letters from listeners. One of those letters stood out to me because it connected to back-to-school.

The letter described a parent giving their child a small pink eraser before the first day of school. The eraser symbolized risk-taking, learning from mistakes, and trying again. Here is part of that letter:

"Take it with you everywhere. You never know when you're going to make a mess, or where. Just that you are bound to mess things up. And don't worry about that, I give you my permission. Make many messes. Make wonderful messes. The harder you try, the bigger they'll be. Don't mind mistakes. The mistakes are how you learn. You have an eraser. Go ahead. Make the messes. Then clean them up. And try again."

This message also reminded me of an initiative Mr. Venables started in his math class last year. Students celebrated “math crimes,” like multiplying 3 × 0 and getting 3. The idea was simple: don’t fear mistakes. Use them as opportunities to learn. Laugh at yourself. Be open when you don’t know something, and trust that others won’t think less of you for making errors.

That’s a goal for all of us, teachers included. No one is expected to be perfect. We should create a culture that values risk-taking and learning from mistakes. It’s not about avoiding failure, but about picking ourselves up, trying again, and growing stronger.

Josh Hart

Head of School

Message from PCEG

It was wonderful to meet so many parents last night at our first PCEG (Parent Community Engagement Group) meeting for the 2025/2026 school year! We hope to see you all and to have an opportunity to engage with more families at upcoming meetings and events. We wanted to give a quick breakdown of what was discussed last night and an idea of events and fundraising opportunities that we hope to organize.

Our PCEG chair, Leigh-Anne, spoke on our purpose for this year which is to continue and increase parent engagement and build on existing events. We hope to provide a schedule of events and fundraising opportunities with plenty of notice. Ideas on where to spend PCEG funds are not only welcome but encouraged, so please reach out!

The three main ongoing fundraising opportunities we have are: 

> Country Grocer Receipts -please save your receipts and bring them into the office.

> Bottle Returns -you can drop off your bottles to Island Return It on Fisher Road across from the main Depot -please specify you are donating the proceeds of your bottle return to St. John’s Academy Shawnigan Lake

> Used Clothing Sale -information will be provided with dates of when/how you can donate/consign used clothing to be sold at our used clothing sales (dates of these sales will be posted as they are planned)

We are all looking forward to a fun, productive year. Please join us at our next PCEG meeting, either in person or online October 21, 2025, at 6:00 pm. Meetings will be held on the third Tuesday of every month.