Dear Families,

What another exciting week of learning and fun we have had at St Joseph's this week! Apart from the daily explicit teaching and learning and the friendship fun in the playground, we have had our school photos, our senior school camp, production auditions, and our Year 3 children participated in their Reconciliation Retreat Day and received the Sacrament of Reconciliation on Thursday evening.

It is hard to believe we only have one week left of Term 1! As the term draws to a close we have a full week ahead with lots to celebrate and enjoy. The highlights of next week include our Holy Week and Easter Liturgies and our Open Book Classrooms. I'm sure our Prep children are also looking forward to their Easter Egg Hunt with their Year 5 and 6 buddies on Wednesday. The lead roles for our School Production 'Beauty and the Beast Jnr' will also be announced next week. We are also looking forward to supporting Callum, Max and Louie as they take part in World's Greatest Shave which will take place on Friday at 12:50pm in the hall. Everyone is warmly welcomed!

Weekly Prayer

Loving God, as we continue our Lenten journey, may we learn from the past and trust in Your grace. Help us to stand firm in faith, relying not on our own strength but on Your unending mercy. May our words and actions reflect Your love to the world. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good.

God’s love is eternal.

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is mighty.

God’s love is eternal.

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is patient.

God’s love is eternal.

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is merciful.

God’s love is eternal.

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is kind and generous.

God’s love is eternal.

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is compassionate.

God’s love is eternal.

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is holy.

God’s love is eternal.

Pope Francis tells us that “with the Jubilee Year, we start a new life, a new phase… we begin again.” Let us go forth from here sharing the light of hope and message of God’s love in all that we say and do. God, guide us on our journey as ‘Pilgrims of Hope.’

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Sacrament of Baptism

A special congratulations to Mary, Abigail, Agnes, Bennett and Lucy on receiving the Sacrament of Baptism last weekend at St. Joseph’s Parish. Baptism is a meaningful milestone in the Catholic faith, symbolising a new life in Christ. Through this sacrament, they have received God’s grace and joined the Church's family. May this special occasion be the beginning of a lifelong journey filled with faith, love, and blessings.

Reconciliation Retreat Day

Our Year 3 students participated in a Retreat Day on Wednesday in preparation for the Sacrament of Reconciliation on Thursday. Father Gallacher spent time with the children as they prepared for this sacrament. More information about this on Ms Donnella DeVisser's RE Page in this newsletter.

Sacrament of Reconciliation

On Thursday evening some of our Year 3 children received their Sacrament of Reconciliation at St. Joseph’s Parish. This is a significant milestone in their faith journey, and we are so proud of you. The children have their stoles to keep as a special memento of this special celebration. They will use these again next year when they will add a symbol for the Sacrament of Eucharist. We thank our Religious Education Leader Ms Donnella DeVisser and our Parish Priest Fr Gallacher for the preparation of the students.

Celebrating Catholic Education Week and the Jubilee Year

Last week, we were blessed to celebrate Catholic Education Week, embracing the theme: "Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you" (Isaiah 60:1), alongside the Jubilee Year theme, "Pilgrims of Hope."

Throughout the week, our students took part in activities that deepened their faith and strengthened their sense of community. Each class contributed to a vibrant display by decorating a star and selecting a core value, such as kindness, respect, or inclusion, to focus on as a class throughout the year. When you get a chance please take a moment to admire this beautiful display.

Our Prep students also created their own stunning display in the foyer of their building, reflecting on Catholic Education Week and the Jubilee Year by noting ways they could shine, which is truly worth seeing!

Year 5 and 6 Camp- Camp Rumbug

What an AMAZING time our Year 5's and 6's have had this week at their senior school camp at Camp Rumbug near Foster!

It was an absolute delight for me to spend this time with the students as they enjoyed the activities and everything Camp Rumbug had to offer. I am so proud of our senior students in they way they looked after each other and showed kindness and great manners to their fellow peers, the teachers and staff at Camp Rumbug. Many of the staff commented on how beautiful our students were and how they love having St Joseph's children stay at Camp Rumbug!

Our senior students demonstrated resilience, positive attitudes, a sense of fun as they participated in activities such as the mud run, raft building, canoeing, archery, the giant swing and flying fox and much more!

A very big thank you to their teachers Clare Smith, Siobhan O'Dwyer and Lauren O'Grady for all their work and organisation in making this camp such a great experience for our students. A special thank you also to our Deputy Principal Dean Butler who attended camp to support our teachers and spent time with the students. And a very special thank you to Fr Gallacher for taking time from his busy schedule to join us on Friday morning at camp. This was a great opportunity for Father to get to know some of the senior students as they will be preparing for the Sacrament of Confirmation later this year. It was a very special time for us all as Father led the children in saying 'grace' as we shared a meal together. We appreciated Father spending his time with us at camp.

Look out for more information in next week's newsletter as the students will share their experiences of camp!

Holy Week and Easter Liturgical Celebrations

Next week all classes will be involved in sharing the Holy Week and Easter stories in the Catholic tradition. The teachers have been working with the children so that they have a deep understanding of this story which is very important in our liturgical calendar.

As we prepare for Holy Week, students from Prep to Year 6 will deepen their understanding of this sacred time through special activities and reflections.

Although a little early, we will be celebrating Holy Week at school, next week which is a deeply significant time in our faith. Each day, we will hold a special liturgy, reflecting on the events leading up to Easter. These liturgies provide our students with an opportunity to engage with the story of Jesus’ journey and deepen their understanding of his message of love, sacrifice, and hope.

Each grade will lead a liturgy in the school hall, sharing their learning and prayers with our school community. These liturgies are sacred prayer services, and we ask that all students and families approach them with the reverence they deserve. The hall will be transformed into a prayerful space, inviting quiet reflection. We kindly ask that everyone enters, waits, and departs in a respectful and reverent manner.

We warmly invite all families to join us in prayer and reflection during these daily liturgies as we prepare for Easter.

Holy Week Schedule:

📅 Monday 31st March – Palm Sunday Liturgy (Prep) at 2:45pm

📅 Tuesday 1st April – Holy Thursday The Last Supper (Year 1) at 2:45pm

📅 Wednesday 2nd April – Holy Thursday Washing of the Feet (Year 2) at 2:45pm

📅 Thursday 3rd April – Good Friday Liturgy (Year 5 & 6) at 2:45pm

📅 Friday 4th April – Easter Liturgy (Year 3 & 4) at 9:00am

Open Book in Classrooms

Following the Holy Week liturgies, families are warmly invited to visit classrooms to view the students' work and celebrate their learning. This will take place in the classrooms straight after the liturgy in the hall. The Open Book schedule corresponds with the class sharing for that particular day. For example, Prep will be presenting Palm Sunday on Monday and their Open Book session will follow that in the classroom, and so on. We look forward to proudly sharing with you, the children's learning from across Term 1.

Project Compassion Stall

Last weekend our wonderful Will, Albie and Winnie held a stall to raise money for their Project Compassion money boxes.

They sold cookies, lolly bags and icy poles for $2 each. They were very excited to have visits from some familiar faces in some of their Prep and Year 2 classmates. They also attracted some passersby.

Once they shut up shop, they tallied their money and were thrilled to have raised $192.

We congratulate them on such a wonderful effort! We are very proud of you!

More information about Project Compassion on Ms Donnella DeVisser's RE Page.

World's Greatest Shave - Max and Callum & Good Friday Appeal - Louis

Thank you to our community for the very generous donations that you have made in support of and Callum, Max and Louis.

We are incredibly proud of Max and Callum, as they will be shaving their heads for The World's Greatest Shave, and Louis, who will be cutting his locks for the Good Friday Appeal!

This special event will take place on the last day of term – Friday, 4th April at 12:50pm in the hall.

As a school community, we will come together to cheer them on and show our support. Families are warmly invited to join us for this wonderful cause.

It is not too late to donate! If you would like to contribute, your support will go a long way in helping these important charities.

Let’s rally behind Max, Callum, and Louis!

Please donate via these links:

Max - https://www.worldsgreatestshave.com/fundrai.../maxlally/2025

Callum - https://www.worldsgreatestshave.com/fundraisers/callumwilson

Louis - https://fundraise.goodfridayappeal.com.au/fundraisers/louisstanney

Production Auditions

As we begin to prepare for our School Production 'Beauty and the Beast Jnr', our Performing Arts Teacher Ms Wendy D'Arco and her Production Team began auditions on Tuesday with the senior school students. The students were asked to prepare an item which could involve singing ,dancing, drama or narration. I heard that we have a lot of talent amongst our senior students and they were very excited about auditioning. The lead roles will be announced in this coming week! This is a very exciting time for our Year 5 and 6 students!

Parents and Friends Update

HOT CROSS BUNS FROM FLEISCHER'S - ORDERS WILL CLOSE ON TUESDAY

Order your delicious hot cross buns at the following link:https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1375096

Orders for hot cross buns will close on Tuesday. Please put your orders in for the best tasting hot cross buns in Melbourne. Thank you to the Marmina family for their generosity to donate a portion of the sales to our school.

EASTER RAFFLE

The Easter baskets for our school looked incredible this morning!The St Joseph’s raffle will be drawn at the final assembly (next Friday)!Thank you to all families who purchased Easter raffle tickets this morning. We have already raised over $500!More tickets will be available for sale next Thursday before and after school and next Friday morning.

EXTERNAL EASTER RAFFLE

The P&F are calling for helpers to help sell raffle tickets for the additional 3 Easter hampers. 1 hour time slots are available across the 12th and 13th April. Please use the sign up genius link on DOJO. We encourage families and students to participate.The P&F would like to thank the Tehan and Barré families for all the work they have done to facilitate the Easter Raffle.

MOTHER"S DAY LUNCH

Save the date for the annual Mother’s Day lunch on Friday 9th May. Tickets will be on sale soon!

ELECTION DAY

St Joseph’s has been chosen as a polling place for the upcoming federal election. This will take place on 3rd May, 2025. This will provide us the opportunity to raise funds from the local community via a sausage sizzle and cake stall. Please keep an eye out for announcements regarding the election.

School Advisory Council (SAC) Meeting- Next Week

Our next SAC Meeting will be held on Tuesday April 1st from 7pm. I look forward to meeting with our SAC next week as we continue to work together for the purpose of school improvement. It is always valuable to have discussions with parents from our community about matters of importance to our school. Next week a few of the items on our agenda include finance, our marketing plan, our Annual Action Plan which outlines the learning goals for 2025, the EBA which outlines things such as 'Time In Lieu' for teachers and teachers' 'Face to Face' teaching time and as always, Child Safety. I thank our SAC Members for their time and their valuable contributions on behalf of our school community.

Our SAC members for 2025:

Parish Priest: Fr Gallacher
Principal: Annabelle Marinelli
Deputy Principal: Dean Butler
Chair: David Steghuis
Secretary: Courtney Jendra
P&F Reps: Laura Kay and Talia Hasset
Parent Reps: Michael Touhey, Kate Tehan, Sascha Pausewang

Open Days at St Joseph's

Please encourage any families you know who are looking at a school for 2026 and beyond to book a tour with us at any time or to attend one of our upcoming Open Days....

Open Days for 2025

Thursday 24th April - 9am - 11am

Tuesday 6th May - 9am - 11am

Enrolments for 2026

It is always very exciting when we begin to look forward to our enrolments for the next year. With our Open Days running across the next few months, we are beginning to plan for 2026. We request that if you have a younger child who will commence Prep in 2026, you please make contact with the office to ensure we have your child enrolled for next year. It is very important that we have this information as soon as possible.

Please follow us on Facebook and Instagram

Please follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

Facebook: Search 'St Joseph's Primary School, Malvern'

Instagram: Search 'stjosephsmalvern'

The more you like, comment and share, the more we raise the profile of our amazing school!

Child Safety

In the interest of child safety, the front gate will continue to be locked from 9:15am till 3:15pm in the afternoon. I apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. If you are wanting to enter the school between these hours please call the office and we will walk out and let you in. This is a temporary measure until we can finalise the installation of a new security entrance. This will happen very soon. Once again, we thank the P&F for their support with this. If you have any questions or concerns about this please do not hesitate to make contact with me or with the office.

Family School Calendar

Here is the link to our family school calendar so that you can keep up to date with school events across the year.

https://www.sjmalvern.catholic.edu.au/mevents

Last Day of the Term- Friday 4th April 1:20pm

Our last day of Term 1 is next Friday 4th April. We finish at 1:20pm on this day.

The earlier finish allows teachers to be paid back for time when they have attended meetings, after school events and camps. This which is called 'Time in Lieu' (TIL) in accordance with the EBA (agreement) Please ensure arrangements are made for your child to be collected at this time.

School Canteen on the Last Day of Term

Our School Canteen will still run next Friday even though we finish at 1:20pm. The Canteen will be operating for the first break only and all options will be able to order at this time. We thank the amazing Talia and Tennille for all their work in providing this for our students. We are very lucky to have them and the canteen onsite, and as you all know the quality of the food is amazing!

End of Term 1 and Beginning of Term 2 Reminders

Easter Liturgies and Open Book in Week 10 (See below)
Senior School Excursion- Melbourne Museum Tuesday A
SAC Meeting Tuesday evening April 1st at 7pm
Prep Buddy Easter Egg Hunt
Last Day of School Friday 4th April at 1:20pm
School Holidays Monday 7th to Monday 21st April
Term 2 Commences Tuesday 22nd April
Open Day Thursday 24th April
ANZAC Day PH Friday 25th April

We look forward to sharing this important week with our school community as we round out Term 1.

Staying connected...

If, at any time, you have any concerns or worries about your child's wellbeing, learning, or friendships, please do not hesitate to have a chat with your child's teacher as your first point of contact. If you have other concerns, please feel free to touch base with our wonderful admin team, a member of school leadership, or myself. For more serious concerns, I encourage you to please reach out by either making an appointment through the office to see me, or contacting me directly via email.

With warmest regards and blessings to you all,

Annabelle Marinelli

Principal

annabelle.marinelli@sjmalvern.catholic.edu.au

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