Week 7, Term 1

Dear families,

Literacy News

We are proud to announce that St Joseph’s has been recognised by Dyslexia Victoria Support (DVS) as the first Catholic school in the Bayside area to be offering a whole school, structured approach to Reading, Writing and Spelling.

Members of the DVS admin team were honoured with the Victorian Premier’s Volunteer Champions Award (2018) for their outstanding work in this space. It’s a privilege to be recognised for our exceptional Teaching and Learning Practices at St Joseph’s.

Smoking Ceremony

This morning, Eric Edwards and Jungala Ellis from the Bunurong Land Council, came to St Joseph's to perform a Welcome to Country and a Smoking Ceremony. All students have been taught the significance of this ritual in recent weeks in preparation for this special ceremony. The importance of a Smoking Ceremony at the beginning of the year is to cleanse our school and prepare it for a better future.

We thank Mrs Harrison and the Year 6 Leadership Group - Brendan, Harrison, Angus, Seri, Livia, Jack and Mabel, for their work to prepare our school for this important event. They have truly excelled in their roles this term.

We also thank the many family members who were able attend this special morning. It was a privilege to share this ceremony with you all.

Athletics Day - what a success!

With beautiful blue skies we could not have expected a better outcome for our annual School Athletics Day. The feedback from all involved has been overwhelmingly positive and it was a stunning way to end our shorter week before the long weekend.

We sincerely thank Mr Gately and Mr Hartney for coordinating the day and working with the Year 6 Sports Leaders - Maggie, Ava, Aleisha, Andreas, Connor, Rafi, Lottie, Lachie, Flossie, Will S and Sofia. From chicken throwing, to hurdles and shot put, our students had the most fantastic day!

We thank our parents for their support and participation, as this day would not be able to run as successfully as it does without you. It was so lovely to see so many of you down at the track, helping out and cheering on the students. We love our parent community and are thrilled that you all embrace the day as much as we do. In particular, we thank Abi Spratt and Christine Boyle who handed out ribbons on the finish line all day and Andrew Roberts who ran the start line for the hurdles for all students.

We received the loveliest email after the day:

We just wanted to thank all the staff at St Jo’s for what he describes as the ‘best day ever’ at Aths today! Your staff definitely go above and beyond to ensure the kids have a positive school experience and love coming to school everyday. Thanks again, we are beyond impressed with St Jo’s!

We also congratulate all staff for getting into the spirit of the day - either participating in the hurdles or running in the sprints with their students. We are so blessed to have such enthusiastic (and fit!) members of staff at St Joseph’s. A special mention to Miss Dusting for running in the 200m race with her students!

School Closure Success

Each year, our staff spend two consecutive days offsite to focus on targeted teaching and learning, professional development, as well as staff and student wellbeing practices. This focused time for our staff, away from school, provides an opportunity to connect and learn in a way that is just not possible during school hours. Without a doubt, the return on our investment greatly exceeds expectations - enhancing staff capacity, strengthening team culture, nurturing and acknowledging the importance of staff wellbeing and, ultimately, improving student outcomes.

This year, we welcomed Mark Dowley, Associate Head at the Crowther Centre for Applied Educational Research. Mark spoke with us about the Science of Learning and how learning happens - encompassing gaining student attention, direct teacher instruction and how we help students remember. We also covered moving students from 'novice' towards mastery of skill, before pulling it all together with a reflection on our practice, which is high quality instruction. Our staff were so engaged with, and inspired by, Mark's presentation and he was incredibly complimentary of our current practices at St Joseph's - commenting that it was such a joy to work with schools who were so aligned with current educational research.

All the best with your school, it was a great group of people to work with. You are doing fantastic work.

I strongly encourage all families to read Mr Hartney's analysis of the day in his Deputy Principal News.

On Friday, staff were privileged to be led by Miss Coldebella (Wellbeing Leader) looking at the Berry Street Educational Model 'Relationships' Domain, examining school policy and analysing wellbeing data. As always, we thank our highly dedicated staff for their professionalism and commitment to improving teaching, learning and wellbeing practices at St Joseph’s. It is a privilege and a blessing to work alongside such an inspiring team.

NAPLAN

Congratulations to our Year 3 and 5 students who completed their Writing and Reading NAPLAN tests this week. NAPLAN is a point-in-time assessment that allows parents to see how their child is progressing against national standards in literacy and numeracy. We gently remind parents that NAPLAN tests are one aspect of our assessment and reporting process. They do not replace the extensive, ongoing assessments made by teachers about each student’s performance. Your class teacher will have the best insight into your child's educational progress.

Open Days

This week we concluded our 'formal' Open Days with our busiest day yet - 16 new families toured our beautiful school. We thank our Year 6 Leaders, who take all prospective families around the school on these days. It is such a delight to hear their commentary about why they love St Joseph’s so much and the special memories they have of particular school events and year levels.

One of our leaders finished the tour with the final comments:

Thank you for visiting St Joseph's, I hope you found this tour useful and hopefully you are able to join our beautiful community.

We are forever grateful to our current families who are our biggest advocates for our school, as all visitors mentioned glowing recommendations from neighbours, friends or family. We are thrilled to say that numbers are filling fast for our Prep 2025 classes. Once again we request applications for sibling enrolments, as we cannot guarantee a place for your child without an application. Enrolment is to be completed electronically via our School Website.

Building Project Update

On Tuesday we had a 'soft launch' of our new Atrium space. As the fences were taken away, we honestly could not believe how large the space felt. The steel panels are installed, the carpet has been laid and the lights and fans are on their way. The final pieces of grey fabric, including the walls on the Library, will be installed over the school holidays. We could not be happier with how it looks - the transformation of this space has truly been spectacular. Photos do not do it justice! The Year 6 classrooms continue to progress at pace, with the painting, wall fabric, joinery and carpet scheduled to be installed before the end of term.

On Wednesday, I met with the SRC to gather feedback in regards to their 'wish list' for our new Library furnishings. Entirely, and generously, funded by the P&F, the students have requested various seating options, such as couches, tables, chairs and stools, lots of book shelves, 'Book Nooks' to snuggle up and read with their friends, and lots and lots of colour. We will meet with the Architect early next week to finalise the plans, which will be shared in the final Newsletter of this term.

Classroom Helpers

A reminder that Mrs Harrison is hosting the Classroom Helper course next Friday at 9am. All new families and Prep families who would like to help out in the classroom need to attend this session. Please click on the link here and if you have any questions, contact Alannah at aharrison@sjelst.catholic.edu.au.

St Joseph's Feast Day

All families are warmly invited to attend St Joseph's Feast Day Mass on Tuesday 19th March at 10am. Students from Years Prep, 1, 2, 4 and 6 will be attending this special occasion, celebrated by Father Leenus.

Little Gems

Connor (Year 6), captained the U13s on Saturday to win for Mt Waverley CC and was Player of the Final. On Sunday, he captained the U13s to win for Caulfield Cricket Club! Congratulations, Connor!

I was delighted to pop into the Prep A classroom to hear the students recite their newly-learnt colours in Italian! Signora was so, so proud of her little ones.

More stunning artwork on display from our Year 6 and 5 students - we are truly so impressed with their level of skill.

We celebrated St Patrick's Day on Thursday with our beloved Irish teachers. Recognising the challenges of being far away from their families while living in Australia, we made our celebration a joyful reminder of the strength found in the St Joseph's community.

Our Year 1s were able to road-test the new atrium space as they went through their first Pilates class with Sara! Please make sure you read Miss Mclean's Junior Report for all the details.

Wishing Kerry all the best, as she takes leave next week to prepare for the wedding of her daughter, Allana! We are looking forward to seeing some photos. Fiona and Moira will be onsite next week in Kerry's absence.

Thank you to the many family members who were able to attend the Smoking Ceremony and Welcome to Country this morning. It was such a moving ceremony and a truly special way to cap off a fantastic week. Next Friday we celebrate Harmony Day with our students, and we cannot wait.

Have a wonderful weekend,

Claire Tobin

Principal

St Mary's College