The Final Countdown...

Advent is a time when we can step back from the hectic routine, slow down and contemplate the birth of Jesus Christ. It marks the beginning of a new liturgical year in the Church that slowly builds momentum towards Christmas as the weeks go by. As with all new beginnings, this season is intended to renew our joy, hope, faith and love.

This week we lit the 3rd candle: the pink candle that represents joy. Joy is a very real and deep happiness that is rooted in faith and trust. In this third week of Advent, we pause and reflect on the first half of the season, as well as look ahead to the last weeks. The joy that we have and will experience during this season magnifies as we continue to prepare for the coming of Christ, who is full of joy.

As we draw near to you, Lord God, keep us aware of your presence in all we do. Come with power to enlighten us by your grace, that we may live in praise and joy all our days.

Our Preps have been rehearsing their Nativity play to share with the school- such a simple way to tell the story of Jesus’ birth, with an added cute factor:

Moving Up Day

On Monday we held our ‘moving up’ morning, where our students met their teacher for 2022, and also met new students who are joining our school.

We welcomed our new junior classroom teachers: Donnella, Celia and Kate, and we are thrilled to announce that we have appointed Mr Liam Cleary as a full time teacher at St Joseph’s. Liam will provide English and Maths support in the 3-6 grades, and he will also take over the inter-school sport coordinator role. All our new teachers will be a great asset to our school in 2022 and we look forward to welcoming them to the St Joseph's family.

Stepping Up to Leadership

On Monday afternoon, our Year 5 students took centre stage as they presented their leadership speeches for the 2022 captaincy roles. Each student nominated their preferred roles and they presented so confidently to the audience of students and staff. Well done to our very impressive Year 5 students- what a great effort from each one of them.

The votes have been counted by myself and Mr Earl, and we will announce all leadership roles at the end of year assembly on Wednesday of next week at 12pm.

I am certain we will be in good hands with our 2022 Year 6 students, and I know that Mrs Callinan and Mrs Smith are looking forward to working with these outstanding students.

The Christmas Giving Tree

A sincere thank you to Jane P and Joanne for organising this very special and thoughtful annual tradition at St Joseph’s. This year, St Vincent De Paul requested "store cards" for their families, who may be in need of food as well as gifts. Thank you to all families who made donations of gift cards and gifts, that I am sure will brighten Christmas for many families.

Semester Two Reports

After a number of weeks and lots of data collection and analysis, our student reports are ready to be issued via the parent portal on Monday afternoon. I must take this opportunity to thank the staff for their diligence and hard work in preparing these reports; after reviewing each report, I can honestly say that our teachers know our students so very well and they know each child as a person and a learner. You will receive a notification on Monday when the reports go ‘live’ and if you have forgotten your password, you can simply click on ‘forgot password’ as long as you remember your email address. You can ensure access before Monday by following this link:

https://parent.nforma.ct.com.au/app/index.html?schooldomain=sjmalvern&emailaddress=#/login

Congratulations to all students on your exceptional reports and on the hard work and sheer determination you have shown with your learning this year. A huge well done to parents and staff in supporting student learning throughout ‘lockdown’- you all deserve a restful and relaxing summer break! Well done!

Literacy Professional Development

Thank you to Mrs Jackson, our literacy leader, for running two full days of literacy professional development for our 2022 team of teachers. The staff were expertly taken through research and evidence of the ‘science of reading’ and were able to work as a team to articulate the ‘signature pedagogies’ of teaching literacy at St Joseph’s. The new staff were incredibly grateful to experience this professional development with Amanda, and ultimately, it is our students who will benefit from the increased expertise of their new teachers. Well done all and thank you Amanda!

2021 Swimming Carnival

Thank you to Hanna Wood and Tanya Huebner for organising yesterday's school swimming carnival. It was a fantastic day and our students gave it their all, despite the challenging weather. Congratulations to all who participated, and a special mention to the Red Team who took home the trophy at the end of the day.

Thank you to Piero and Will for assisting at the finish line and distributing ribbons- they were a great help!

Re-scheduled Picnic and Mary Poppins Jr.

Thank you for your understanding regarding yesterday’s cancellation. It was just too cold to go ahead (yes, I know I’m from northern England!) and it wouldn't have been particularly enjoyable. We will try again on Monday 13th December with the same arrangements: Picnic from 3.30pm, show starting at 5.30pm with a finish time of approximately 7pm.

30 degrees sounds a bit more appealing!

And Finally…

As this is our final newsletter for the year, we have much to celebrate and acknowledge as the year draws to a close. What a year with unexpected interruptions and our fair share of ‘curveballs’ along the way! Despite these challenges, our children have grown in their resilience and academic capabilities and these positive outcomes are a result of the strong partnership between parents and our staff. I thank you all for your support throughout the year.

I would also like to thank our School Advisory Council for providing much-needed guidance and advice in 2021 from a parent perspective.

I wish all of our staff a relaxing and much-needed break and thank each of them for the way in which they have embraced the challenges this year. It is a privilege to work with you and I thank you for all of your hard work and commitment to our students and school community.

We thank all of our departing staff who have contributed to the life of the school in so many ways and I hope they are richer for the experience of being a part of the St. Joseph’s school community:

To Nancy Breust and Mary Murphy who are retiring; to Aimee who is returning to the UK with Jonnie and Freddie; to Georgie M who will begin teaching in her old school; to Kathryn and Greg as they begin their new life in Ballarat and to Joanne who is moving to Aireys Inlet; thank you for all you have done for our students and families over the years, and we wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors.

A special thank you to Hanna Wood who stepped into the sports role for this term, we are so sad we can’t have Hanna full time next year!

At the end of the year we also farewell families who have been an integral part of our school family for a very long time. We thank you for your support and many contributions over the years and I hope you all look back on your experiences and time with us with fondness. Thank you for all you have done.

And finally, to the most important people in our community: the students!

I congratulate you for your humour, hard work, enthusiasm, commitment, risk-taking attitudes and acting/ dancing skills! It has been a pleasure and joy to work with you all. You have shown determination and hard work during such a challenging period.

To our departing Year 6 students, we thank you for your leadership of our school this year; you have embraced all challenges thrown your way and have done so with energy and positivity. We wish you the best of luck in your new schools, and we ask that you please keep in touch in the future. I am certain you will excel as you move into secondary school.

To all other students leaving us at the conclusion of the year- we will miss you all. We thank you for your contributions to our school community and please remember that we would love to have you come back and visit us.

On behalf of all the St. Joseph’s staff, we wish all of our families a happy and holy holiday ahead, may it be filled with lots of rest, relaxation, fun and precious family time.

See you for the picnic and movie!

(I’ll also share the movie link with you on Monday evening for you to watch and download)

Thank you,

Michelle

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4th South Yarra Girl Guides