From Mrs Scott's Desk

Dear Parents and Carers,

It is hard to believe this is the last newsletter for the 2023 school year but I write this with such joy and pride for the amazing year we have had here at St Joseph's, Junee as a community.

I’m sure the community will join me in saying how proud we are of each and every student at St Joey’s. Their commitment to their own progress in their school work and to caring for one another is what has been so humbling. Our students are so happy and although they may have faced varying challenges throughout the year, with the supporting partnerships of home and school they have been able to bounce back and improve.

Thank you parents and carers for working together with us to ensure the best education for all our students. We appreciate your communication, care and understanding. Not forgetting all the time, effort and generosity you give to assist within the school. We could not exist without the strong partnerships with our families. 

There can be no school year without staff. I want to take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank every staff member for working so tirelessly throughout the year to provide quality Catholic Education to all of our students here at St Joseph’s. They go above and beyond to ensure our student’s needs are provided for. I am blessed to work alongside such wonderful team members who have not only cared for the students but care for one another as we have journeyed through 2023.  

It is with sincere gratitude and best wishes that we farewell Ms Kate Madden ( IDL Teacher), Mrs Kim Irving ( Year 1 class teacher), Mrs Tracey Puntoriero ( Aboriginal School and Community Worker) and Miss Hayley Bond ( Year 3 class teacher). We say thank you to Miss Tylah Cavallaro, Mr Eli Honner, Miss Kayla Butt and Mrs Theresa Pope who have completed their short term contracts this term and we look forward to them returning in 2024 in a casual capacity.

Staffing 2024

Our staffing for 2024 is nearly finalised and I am pleased to announce the class teachers for 2024. In addition to current staff who will be staying on, we welcome Mrs Penny Kerr and Mrs Joanne Virgona to our teaching staff next year.

Mrs Kerr grew up in Junee and began her teaching career here at St Joseph’s. After leaving Joey’s she has been teaching at Mater Dei Primary Wagga for over 10 years. Mrs Kerr has taught across all stages in Primary  Kinder - Year 6, as well as working in a leadership capacity as Instructional Literacy Teacher and Reading Recovery instructor. She is very excited to be coming back to St Joey’s and we look forward to sharing in her expertise and professionalism.

Mrs Virgona has taught across primary and secondary schools in rural and city settings. More recently she has taught at TRAC, Lutheran Primary, Kildare and Wagga South Public School. Mrs Virgona’s passions are Maths and Music, specialising in conducting choirs. 

We look forward to Mrs Kerr and Mrs Virgona joining us on Tuesday for Transition Day. 

Classes 2024

Kinder: 

Mrs Bianca Brady (Mon - Thurs)

Ms Jodie Moran (Fri)

Year 1

Mrs Penny Kerr

Year 2

Mrs Kellie Salmon

Mrs Halliburton (Thurs for Mrs Salmon's REC RFF)

Year 3

Mrs Joanne Virgona

Year 4

Mrs Lucy Dowell (Mon, Tues & Fri)

Mrs Maria Makeham (Wed & Thurs)

Year 5/6

Mr Tim Pratt

Mrs Maloney will continue as Assistant Principal, Library K-6 and she will assume the role of Inclusion and Diverse Learning Teacher.

Mrs Rebecca Hart will be working in Reading Intervention and Release from Face to Face teaching in each class. She will be teaching Science and Technology across K-6.

Mrs Makeham will remain our Literacy Instructional Teacher as well as Year 4 teacher

(two days a week).

Mrs Jodie Moran will remain in her Maths Instructional Teaching role, Kinder on Fridays as well as supporting in other classes.

Our Teacher Assistants returning in 2024 are Miss Tahlia Crane, Mrs Kylee Huard, Mrs Cristy Vergano, Mrs Amanda Fitzgerald and another TBA.

Transition Day - Tuesday 12th December 2023

Students in K-5 will move up a grade on Tuesday and spend the day with their new teacher for 2024. This allows them all time to get to know one another before the year starts in 2024. For part of that day, the teachers will also be released from class for a handover. Year 6 children will be working out of the library for the day.

Farewell Year 6

I had the privilege of attending our Year 6 Graduation Mass and Dinner on Monday evening and it was so lovely to share the night with such an amazing group of students and their families. We wish them all the very best as they transition into high school and we are very proud of everything they have achieved. 

Thank you to the Yr 6 parents who have entrusted us with the care, wellbeing and education of their children. We hope you all had an enjoyable night and as I mentioned at the dinner, the students now have ‘life membership to our school’ and we look forward to them keeping in touch and visiting us in the future.  

A big thank you Mr Pratt, Mrs Halliburton, Mrs Makeham and Mrs Dowell  for teaching the students this year and for all their organisation of the night. They have been such nurturing and inspiring teachers to our Year 6 students this year.

Thank You Fr Paddy

We have been truly blessed to have Fr Paddy Sykes as our Faith Leader, Parish Priest and 

School Community Member who has supported us fully throughout the year. His spiritual guidance and rapport with the staff, students and parents has been incredible. We give thanks for his servant leadership to our school and say ‘Thank you’ for all that you have done and continue to do for us in bearing witness to our school motto ‘Christ our way’. We wish Fr Paddy many blessings this Christmas and look forward to working with him in the new year.

Parent Survey

Many thanks to the parents who completed the Parent survey which has now closed. We truly appreciate your feedback and it assists us to be aware of areas that need improving but also the so many areas we can celebrate. 

School Presentation Day 2024

I have appreciated parents verbally letting me know their preference for what time of day our end of year School Presentation Ceremony should be held. The results of the Parent Survey, which has now closed, indicated that 54.5% of parents prefer to have the event during the day. The staff have indicated that day time is their preference as well. Thus, in 2024 and beyond we will host this event during the day. It is very difficult to please everyone but this has been the fairest way to make the decision. 

I look forward to everyone joining us for this years School Presentation ‘A Night of Stars’ this Thursday 14th December starting at 6pm in the School MPC. 

Riverina Conservatorium of Music Lessons in 2024

I have been speaking to the Conservatorium of Music Wagga about the possibility of having individual and small group music tuition lessons during school time. Parents would pay for the lessons and the instruments they are looking at offering are: Flute, clarinet, guitar, drums, piano/keyboard and vocal. We will send out expressions of interest early in Term 1, 2024 to see if they have enough interest. Students would be rotated weekly in their lessons so they don’t miss the same lesson each week.

School Council

I’d like to take the opportunity to thank the members of the School Council for their support over the year.  

We say a special thank you to Jess Daley and Mitch Heydon for their contribution to the School Council as they step down from their positions. To the other members - Lisa Oliver (President), Fr Paddy, Amanda Riley, Lowana Sweeney, Mark Halliburton, Nick Wood, Alex Kearins and Adam White, we look forward to your continued contribution to our School Council in 2024. 

Nominations will be open early Term 1 2024, for parents to join the School Council. 

The AGM followed by first meeting for 2024 will be held on 20th February, 2024 at 6pm in the school staffroom.

Fundraising & Generosity

This year we started the SJJU Social and Fundraising Committee which is a branch of the School Council replacing what was known as the Parents and Friends Association. We assigned each class a fundraising or social event and two parents from each class were Parent contacts who helped communicate to other parents in the class and organise these events.

We met at the Commercial Hotel for meetings, children came along and each meeting was so well represented by parents.  

Our fundraising pursuits were so successful this year that a huge $30,655.23 has been raised with a further $4,491.04 collected from the school canteen profits thanks to Mrs Sweeney and the parents who assisted her. 

This is incredible! Your generosity is outstanding and we know how hard you have all worked to contribute to this final amount. This has helped bridge the gap between now and those years we were unable to fundraise or had little fundraising. Our students across the school have benefited from the resources we have purchased and continue to do so as a result of your generosity. This thanks extends to the business owners of Junee who have been such amazing supporters of our fundraising events too.

Please see our Calender page for January & February 2024 dates. Please note the school office will be closed from 3.30pm on Friday 15th December 2023 to Tuesday 30th January 2024. School uniform orders have closed for December and January with Junee Embroidery Services.

Finally, I would like to say a heartfelt ‘thank you’ to all the school community for supporting me in my role as Principal this year. I thank you for the joy of working with your children and for entrusting them to us.  I am looking forward to continuing to work with the whole school community in 2024 and continuing to provide quality Catholic Education at St Joseph’s, Junee.

May the peace and joy of Christmas be with you and your loved ones. Enjoy the holidays, rest well and stay safe. See you in 2024!

God Bless

Angela Scott