From the Principal

Mr Torpey

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 40 years of Catholic Education

Dear Families and Friends,

Saint Justin's Feast Day - Saturday 1st June

Today we celebrated the Feast of St Justin, or Justin Martyr (St Justin’s Feast Day is 1st June). As part of our celebrations, we gathered as a community for Mass in our Parish Church. It was a beautiful celebration and we thank all those who were involved. We also thank the Parents and Friends for providing us with donuts for morning tea.

The Gospel reading on St Justin's Day was from Mark (10:46-52) and told the story of Jesus leaving Jericho with his disciples and a large crowd. Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, called out to Jesus, asking for his sight to be returned. Jesus responds and because of his faith, the blind man regains his sight.

We pray that amongst the business of our lives that we also hear the call of others in need and respond. Whilst we may not always be able to perform miracles, our support maybe just the thing that is needed.

Thank you to all who helped make this day special for us all.

First Eucharist

This term our Year 4 students will receive their First Eucharist.. First Eucharist will be celebrated on Saturday 8th June 6.00pm Mass, Sunday 9th June 10.30am Mass and Sunday 9th June 5.00pm Mass.

Thanks to Mrs Snell for presenting a very personal First Eucharist Family Workshop last Tuesday - very much appreciated. Please keep our Year 4 students in your prayers as they continue on their faith journey.

Professional Learning Day

On Thursday 13th June, 2024 we have planned a Professional Learning Day, with a focus on our School Improvement Plan (SIP) and our Annual Action Plan (AAP). The SIP was developed last year as a result of our School Review and is implemented over the next 4 years. The AAP is based on the goals of the SIP and are reviewed yearly. The day will be supported by a team from the Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS) Eastern Region Office.

Please note that these days are not taken lightly - they are essential for us to continue supporting our students at St Justin's.

School Absences

As the wintery conditions set in, so do the reports of coughs, colds, flu and Covid. Can we please encourage parents to keep their children at home whenever they display the symptoms of being unwell. Thank you for your cooperation.

STUDENT ABSENCES - to be recorded via audiri or phone call until advised

We take the opportunity to remind all families that student absences should still be reported to school via Audiri or phone call prior to school commencing.

The “Mark Student Absent” module in nForma is not currently working correctly at this time as we are not able to have parents input into the current day. This is being worked on and we will inform you when it has been tested and is operational. In the interim - Student Absences are to be reported in the following ways:

Audiri - Student Absence
Leave a message via Student Absence on 9561 7644

We appreciate your support with this advice.

AFL Football cards

We have had 3 folders with AFL football cards handed into the office. If these are yours please come to the office.

Working Bee

Our working bee for this Term will be held on Saturday 1st June from 1:00pm - 4:00pm. There are a variety of tasks to complete, all of which help keep our school safe, tidy and well presented - something I think we are all proud of. We would love to finish at 4:00pm with a sausage sizzle. Again, we encourage everyone to come along, even if only for an hour or two – many hands make light work. Register via Audiri - resources and forms.

St Justin's 40th Anniversary Celebrations

Thanks to everyone for your contributions to our 40th Anniversary Celebrations. So far we've identified that we currently have three students at school whose fathers are pictured in the inaugural photo taken in 1984. We have also had shared with us a copy of the original letter from the then Parish Priest of Good Shepherd, to the Archbishop, recommending that the name of the new school to be built in Wheelers Hill be "St Justin's".

Celebrations of our 40th Anniversary are being planned for October. If you have any memorabilia, photos or stories they would like to share with us, please contact the office or email office@sjwheelershill.catholic.edu.au.

Use of Photographs

Thanks to all the families who have completed the permission forms to use (or not to use) photos. As many of our families have requested that photos not be used, especially on Social Media (which includes our newsletter which is published online) it will be very challenging to use group photos in the future. Our newsletter may look a little different, but I'm sure it will still be a great read.

Please remember that if at any stage you take a group photo of students, it should not be published online unless permission has been granted.