From the Principal

St Justin’s Primary School acknowledges the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as Australia's First People and Traditional Custodians of the land and waterways on which our school stands.

We pay our respects to the Bunurong people of the Kulin Nation, and their elders past and present, and emerging as we continue to proudly live and learn on their land.

St Justin's Primary School - Celebrating over 40 years of Catholic Education

Dear Families and Friends,

Welcome to this week's newsletter. We hope you've all had a great weekend and look forward to the long weekend ahead. It's hard to believe that we are at the end of Week 6 and only have four weeks left until the end of Term 1 - where has that time gone? Whilst we finish up our swimming program there is still much planned for the weeks ahead - some of the information can be found on the front page of the newsletter, whislt other information can be found on other pages - please take the time to familiarise yourself with the information on all pages - whilst some of it is repeated each week, it might be handy one day.

Week 3 Lent - Sunday 8th March

This Sunday we are journeying through the third week of Lent, a special time when we slow down, listen carefully, and think about how we can grow closer to God.

Sunday’s Gospel tells us a story about Jesus meeting a woman at a well. A well is a place people went every day to get water – water they needed to live.

Jesus uses this moment to teach us something very important.

He talks about ‘living water’ – not water you drink, but God’s love, which fills our hearts and helps us live kindly, bravely, and joyfully.

In this story, Jesus shows us that everyone matters, everyone is welcome, and everyone is loved by God – no matter who they are or what their life is like. Jesus knows us, listens to us, and invites us to share his love with others.

So, let’s open our hearts, quiet our minds, and get ready to encounter Jesus

Prayer:

Loving God, you are the source of all knowledge and wisdom.

May your Spirit guide us and transform us

as we travel this Lenten journey

so that we may serve one another with compassion,

kindness and understanding.

We ask this prayer in Jesus’ name.

We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen

Swimming

Today was the final day of our intensive Swimming Program. By all reports, the students not only had a great time, but more importantly; developed their confidence when in and around water. However, a few swimming lessons over two weeks can never be enough and we as parents and carers, still need to ensure the education process continues, especially when we are around pools, rivers and lakes and at the beach.

A huge thank you to all our volunteers who helped throughout the two weeks - very much appreciated. A very big thank you also to the staff, especially Mrs Snell who spends a great deal of time planning our swimming program, which includes: booking the venue, organising buses, arranging class timetables and yard duty rosters and coordinating volunteers - so much work to ensure the two week program runs smoothly.

Open Day

Our Open Day is planned for Thursday 26th March, running from 9am-7:00pm. This is a great opportunity for new families looking for a school for their children for 2027 to come along and see what St Justin's has to offer. We would love some volunteers, parents and students, to help run this day - we require at least two parents all throughout the day to meet and greet and then some volunteer students from 3:30pm - 7:00pm to help with tours. Please send an email to the office team to let us know if you can help out: office@sjwheelershill.catholic.edu.au

Parents and Friends

The Parents and Friends (which is all of us) have been busy organising a number of events and activities. As always, some of these events and activities are organised to raise funds, others are simple organise to bring our community together and celebrate friendship, learning, togetherness, connectedness and much more. Some events include:

Second Hand Uniform Sale:Friday 13th March
Parents and Friends Meeting: Friday 13th March @ 9:00am
Harmony Day Bake Sale: Friday 20th March
Working Bee: Saturday 21st March (1:30pm - 4:30pm)
Sasuage Sizzle Hot Lunch - Friday 27th March (orders need to be in by Friday 20th March)
Easter Bonnet Parade: Thursday 2nd April - students are asked to make their own simple bonnets to help celebrate Easter and our creativity. Our Visual Arts Captains will present some examples to student next week.
Hot Cross Bun Morning Tea: Thursday 2nd April (orders in by Monday 30th March)
Easter Egg Raffle: Thursday 2nd April (casual dress day on Friday 27th for Easter Egg donations)
Morning with Mum: Friday 8th May (more details to follow)
Trivia Night: Saturday 30th May (more details to follow)
Kiosk Friday: Every Friday in the Undercover Area

For more information, access the Parents and Friends page in this newsletter.

It certainly is a busy time but as always, it's great to see so much happening. If at any stage you would like to help out, please reach out to the Parents and Friends or come to the meetings. Please remember, all volunteers need to be a registered with the school - once you have your Working With Children Check / VIT, just call the office and make a time to meet with Mr T. Once registerd, please sin in at the office and get a lanyard when volunteering.

Working Bee

Our first official working bee will be held on Satuday 21st March 2026 from 1:30pm-4:30pm. The main objective is to have the school looking spick & span before our Open Day which is on the following Thursday. Jobs include:

New softfall into the Senior Adventure Playground (it wouldn't be a working bee if we didn't do this job).
Dusting cobwebs.
Tidying the garden beds (especially at the front of the school).
Adding sand to the sandpit.
Staining the timber chairs around the Wheeler Wing.
Paint yellow lines.
Planting plants - including the vegetable garden.
Install a watering system in the hot house - (a plumber would be handy).
Plan for future projects including the intallation of a new fence and replacement of front retaining wall and cubby playhouses out front.
If anyone can weld, we have a small welding job to do (small gauge)
And much more.

As always, our working bee will finish with a sausage sizzle and drink. Everyone welcome.

Mr T is happy to conduct Volunteer Interviews on the day - just bring your completed paper work along (Volunteer application forms are available from the office).

Existing Families - Enrolment for 2027

We are in the process of preparing our enrolments for 2027

Application are nowonline. If any current school families require an enrolment application for 2027 click on the link below:

https://www.sjwheelershill.catholic.edu.au/enrolments

Click on "Apply Now"

We respectfully request that these applications are completed by Friday, March 20th 2026, so we have an idea of our numbers for 2027 before we offer places to new families.

Ride2School Day

Join students across Australia participating in National Ride2School Day on Friday 20th March 2026 and help children build healthy habits, independence and confidence on the journey to school. Students are encouraged to walk, ride or scoot to school. It’s a fun and healthy way to start the day, build confidence and help create a calmer, safer school gate for everyone.

Please note:

A Bike / Scooter parking zone will be set up on the basketball court - students will be able to leave their bikes / scooters there for the day.
Our Parish Mass starts at 9:15am
All participants are reminded to dismount at the front gate and wheel their bikes / scooters up to the parking zone.
STRICTLY NO E-Bikes Or E-Scooters please

Important Dates

Whilst we have most dates in the calendar, some dates include:

Monday 9th March - Labour Day - Public Holiday
Wed 11th - Fri 20th March - NAPLAN Window Year 3 and Year 5
Wednesday 11th March - NAPLAN Year 5 and Year 3 Writing 9.30am
Thursday 12th March - School Photos
Thursday 12th March - NAPLAN Year 5 Reading 9.30am
Thursday 12th March - Sacrament Information Session 2:45pm TBC
Thursday 12th March - PREP Family BBQ Night
Friday 13th March - NAPLAN Year 3 Reading 9.30am
Friday 13th March - Second hand uniform sale alongside Kiosk Fridays

Please refer to Dates Ahead for a full list of important dates in Term 1

Public Holiday

A friendly reminder:

Monday 9th March - Labour Day. Enjoy the extra-long weekend!

School Photos – Thursday 12th March, 2026

Please note that our school photos will take place on Thursday, 12th March. As always, please ensure that students are dressed in full school summer uniform, including the correct coloured socks (white for girls and grey for boys), black school shoes and have well-groomed hair. Order forms were sent home last week and need to be returned to school on or before Wednesday.

Student Absences

We take the opportunity to remind all families that student absences should be reported to school via nforma or phoning the office prior to school commencing by 8:30am.

Student Absences are to be reported in the following way:

Leave a message via Student Absence on 9561 7644
Report Absence via nforma

Please refer to the MACS Responding to Student Absences flowchart below which has been issued to all schools. We appreciate your support with folowing the correct procedures as we do not want to unnecessarily burden the Police with Welfare Checks that are not required. We are certain that they have plenty of other work to do!

Sacrament Dates 2026

Please refer to Education in Faith for 2026 Sacrament Dates.

Parking Safety

As always, thank you for your ongoing support.

All the best,

Pat

Mr Patrick Torpey

Principal