Dear Families,

Welcome back to a new term. I hope everyone had a wonderful break and are feeling rejuvenated for a new term of learning and activities.

Welcome

A warm welcome to Edie, Knox and the Smith Family who started today. May their education journey here at St Joseph's be positive and rewarding.

Term Overviews

At the beginning of each term, classroom teachers send home a Termly Overview briefly outlining content being taught this year and reminders specific to the year level. More general school dates are in the fortnightly school newsletter. These are published on Mondays of the odd weeks of school. For example: Week One, Week Three, Week Five etc. On the alternate Mondays: Week Two, Week Four, Week Six etc. is when we have our whole school assemblies. Parents are warmly welcome to join us for these.

St Joseph's Award

Congratulations to Audrey and Savannah for receiving the St Joseph's Award at our last whole school assembly.

Rock Through the Ages

It is less than 10 days until the performance of Rock Through the Ages. Please click on the following link for tickets soon to ensure you don't miss out:

https://www.monash.edu/performing-arts-centres/event/rock-through-the-ages/

Grandparents and Special Friend's Day

We invite all grandparents and special friends to school on Friday 1st August. Our day will start at 9:00am with finding our grandparents and special friends, followed by mass, time in the learning areas and morning tea. An Operoo will be sent home in the next few days.

NAPLAN

We received our school NAPLAN data this morning with extremely pleasing results. Our mean for all assessments in both Year Three and Year Five are high in the strong proficiency. Marked growth was noted in the Writing assessment which has been our curriculum area of focus for the past eighteen months.

Special Milestones

Early next year we will be celebrating 100 years of the Oblates being in St Mary's Star of the Sea Parish and 150 years since the dedication of the foundation stone of the original church at Sorrento. If you and/or your family have any photos or memorabilia from the past 150 years that could be borrowed for the celebrations, could you please let me know.

Hope and Gratitude Fundraising Day

Congratulations to our Year 5/6 students on the fundraising day for their chosen charities. Over $700 was raised. Thank you to all families for generously supporting this important initiative. The St Joseph's School vision is: To be an engaged learning community contributing to the common good of all. Learning such as this assists us in realising our school's vision.

AI & the Digital Generation Webinar

Catholic Network Australia (CNA) and Cyber Safety Project are hosting a free ‘AI & the Digital Generation’ webinar for parents and carers of primary and secondary school students on Monday 11 August 2025 from 7.30 to 8.00 pm. Registration and further information are available via bit.ly/AICSP25. The webinar offers essential insights into topics including: − generative artificial intelligence (AI) and AI companion apps

− deepfakes and online misinformation

− AI safety at home

− legal and ethical considerations of AI use. The webinar will help parents and carers:

− understand the online tools and technologies their children are using

− build confidence in discussing AI, deepfakes and digital truth with their children

− learn practical strategies to encourage safe and ethical online behaviour.

Parent Portal

On the right hand side of our school website's home page is a button for a Parent Portal. In the Parent Portal you will find parent resources, past newsletters and important dates. The password for the portal is sjs3943.

The next fortnight @ St Joseph's:

Mon 28. Assembly 2:30pm

Tues 29. Dress Rehearsal

Wed 30. Rock Through the Ages 6:00pm

Fri 1. Grandparents & Special Friends Day

Have an enjoyable week and please let me know if I can assist you in any way.

Monica

moshannassy@sjsorrento.catholic.edu.au

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