Principal's News
Dear Parents, Carers, and Families,
What a wonderful week it has been at St Joseph’s, with the strength and warmth of our community shining through once again during our Mother’s Day breakfast, liturgy, and lunch celebration.
This week’s newsletter truly captures the joy of being part of the St Joseph’s community. Whether you are a student, parent, staff member, grandparent, or extended family member, each person is deeply valued and warmly welcomed within our school family.
The sense of connection, care, and belonging that exists across our community is something very special, and we are so grateful for the ongoing support, kindness, and love shown towards our school.
Today, we take the opportunity to celebrate and give thanks for our mums and all the special people in our lives who nurture, guide, and care so deeply for the beautiful children in our community. Your love, support, and encouragement help our children grow with confidence, compassion, and joy, and for this we are truly thankful.
Prayer of Gratitude
We thank Ms Correy for the beautiful prayer that she shared with our staff this week...
Dear God,
As Mother’s Day approaches, we pause to give thanks for the mothers, grandmothers, carers, and special women in our lives who show love, strength, patience, and kindness each day.
We thank you for the care they give, the sacrifices they make, and the encouragement they offer so freely. May they feel appreciated, supported, and deeply loved not only this weekend, but always.
We also remember those who may find Mother’s Day difficult, those missing loved ones, those that are sick, or carrying heavy hearts at this time. Surround them with comfort and peace.
Help us to show gratitude for the people who nurture and guide others with compassion and generosity. May we continue to reflect that same love and care in our own lives.
We ask this in your name,
Amen.
Mother's Day Breakfast
This morning, we held our very special annual St Joseph’s Mother’s Day Breakfast to honour the wonderful mums and special women in our community.
It was so lovely to see our hall filled with mums, grandmothers, and other significant women who play such an important role in the lives of our children. There was a genuine sense of joy, warmth, and love throughout the room, making the morning feel truly special.
We are so grateful to have shared this beautiful celebration with the incredible women in our community who give so much care, support, and love each and every day.
A heartfelt thank you to the amazing dads - Luke McBride, Jerome Purcell, James Dennis, Lukas Konieczny and James Yelland who arrived at school bright and early at 7:30am to help set up for our Mother’s Day Breakfast and serve our wonderful mums throughout the morning. Your generosity, enthusiasm, and willingness to give your time helped create such a warm and welcoming celebration for the special women in our community.
We are also grateful to Stef Brunetti for providing the lovely food from Fleischers and to Jess Groenheide and Laura Kay for helping with the set up in the hall. We also extend our sincere thanks to Fleur from Fleur Creative for the beautiful flowers that added such warmth and beauty to our Mother’s Day breakfast celebration. A special thank you also to Jess Dennis and Caz McBride for their wonderful efforts in organising the Mother’s Day raffle, selling tickets, and arranging the lovely prizes. Your generosity and support helped make the day even more special for our community. Thank you also to our staff for your support in making this a special occasion for our community. It was lovely to see the care and thought that went into making the morning feel so meaningful and enjoyable for our mums, grandmothers, and special guests.
Mother's Day Liturgy
This morning, we gathered as a community in St Jospeh's Church for our beautiful Mother’s Day Paraliturgy, celebrating the wonderful mums, grandmothers, aunties, carers, and special women in the lives of our children. It was a truly special morning filled with prayer, love, joy, and gratitude.
A heartfelt thank you to Father Gallacher for leading our liturgy and offering a special blessing for our mums. We are also so grateful to Ms DeVisser, Ms Liolios, Ms La Rosa, Ms Nashed, Ms Cummings, and Miss Mia for the care and preparation with our Prep students that made the celebration so meaningful.
Our gorgeous Prep children led the liturgy so beautifully, sharing heartfelt messages and presenting flowers to their mums and special guests. There was certainly not a dry eye in the room, and the love and warmth shared throughout the morning was something truly special.
Thank you to all our families for joining us and helping make this prayer celebration so memorable. We wish all the amazing mums and special women in our community a very lovely mother's day.
Parents and Friends Mother's Day Lunch
A huge thank you to Jess Dennis for organising such a beautiful Mother’s Day Lunch today at Firebird Restaurant. The afternoon was filled with delicious food, warmth, friendship, laughter, and connection a wonderful reflection of the spirit of our St Joseph’s community and the strong sense of belonging we value so deeply.
It was lovely to see our mums enjoying a well-deserved afternoon together, making new friendships and reconnecting with old friends. The welcoming and joyful atmosphere made the celebration truly special, and we wish all our mums a very happy Mother’s Day.
We are also incredibly grateful to Kylie Stanney, Fleur D’Altera, Angela Lam, and Sami Rincovitch, who generously gave many hours of their time sourcing donations for the amazing Mother’s Day gift bags. A very special thank you to Nicole Prasad, who so generously donated $720 worth of Proplenish collagen face masks - such a luxurious and thoughtful treat for our mums.
Thank you also to Narelle for the delicious Cubbyhouse Canteen heart-shaped cookies, which looked so beautiful displayed at each table setting and added such a lovely touch to the afternoon.
We also extend our thanks to Nicole Andrews, Ange Nicolai, Nicola O’Connor, and Kylie for their generous prize and gift bag contributions.
A special thank you to Caz McBride for putting together the beautiful gift bags and for sourcing the wonderful raffle prizes, including the Joyful Pilates package and the olive oil decanter and glasses.
Finally, thank you to Fleur for donating the gorgeous flowers and sourcing the lovely Aveda samples included in the gift bags.
The generosity, care, and community spirit shown by so many people helped make the afternoon such a memorable and meaningful celebration for our mums and special women.
Congratulations to our raffle prize winners Jess Groenheide, Hayley Bowman, Kylie Stanney, Bianca Bernardi Ms Isabelle Freeman, Tarryn Wood, Ana Kennedy, Zahra Ryan and Tetyana Adeykina- you will be well and truly spoilt this mother's day!
Child Safety and the Child Safe Standards
At St Joseph's, the safety and wellbeing of all our students is our highest priority. Safety is at the foundation of every child's ability to learn and thrive. We place it at the heart of everything we do and are unwavering in our commitment.
As educators, we have a moral and legal responsibility to act in the best interests of every child and young person, to actively promote their wellbeing and to ensure the safety of every student entrusted to our care.
The Child Safe Standards set out minimum requirements and outline the actions organisations must take to keep children and young people safe.
There are 11 Child Safe Standards, which include requirements to:
- involve families and communities in organisations’ efforts to keep children and young people safe
- provide greater focus on safety for Aboriginal children and young people
- manage the risk of child abuse in online environments.
Here is a link to more information about the standards: https://ccyp.vic.gov.au/child-safe-standards/the-11-child-safe-standards/
Child Safe Standard 3
Across the year, our staff dedicate time to working through the Child Safe Standards. This week our staff focused on Child Safe Standard 3. This standard centres on ensuring that children and young people are empowered and actively involved in decisions that affect them. It emphasises the importance of listening to student voice, promoting participation, and creating an environment where all students feel safe, respected, and confident to express their views.
Through this work, staff will strengthen their understanding of how to support students in speaking up, ensure their perspectives are valued, and embed practices that promote inclusion, respect, and student wellbeing across all areas of school life.
Current examples of this at St Joseph include daily morning circle time, student voice through new wellbeing programs - Ripple and UR Strong Wellbeing Program, SRC initiatives, just to name a few.
Please refer to the MACS Care Parent Fact Sheet on Child Safe Standard 3
"At St Joseph's Primary School, we hold the safety, wellbeing and protection of all children and young people in our care as a central and fundamental responsibility of our school."
Open Days at St Joseph's
Whilst our Prep enrolments for 2027 are now almost at capacity, we are pleased to offer our final official Open Day for the year on Wednesday 27th May from 9:00am–11:00am. This is a wonderful opportunity for prospective families to visit our school, explore our learning environment, and meet members of our community.
If you know of any families who are still interested in securing a place for 2027 at St Joseph’s, we encourage them to get in touch with Isabelle in the office and complete the enrolment process via our school website as soon as possible.
The majority of Prep interviews for 2027 have now taken place, with enrolments in the final stages of being confirmed for next year. We look forward to welcoming our new Prep families into the St Joseph’s community. And it s always so lovely to spend time with siblings of our current students. This week I meet Asher, Carter's younger brother and he was so clever in showing me how he is very ready for school next year...
Our Junior Transition Leader Ms Niki Liolios will be communicating with all new 2027 Prep families shortly to keep you updated with our formal Orientation dates as well as our Pre-Prep program which will commence in Term 3. We look forward to these new families being part of our St Joseph'sx community.
Junior Joey's Playgroup- Every Monday 8:30-10am
It was a full house once again on Monday as we welcomed families for our Junior Joey’s Playgroup. Our wonderful Junior Transition Leader, Ms Niki Liolios, has been busily preparing and setting up exciting new experiences for our youngest friends to explore and enjoy.
Our playgroup mornings are always filled with joyful play, laughter, and meaningful connection, creating a truly special sense of community. They offer a lovely opportunity for families and young children to come together in a warm and welcoming environment, and we feel very grateful to share this time with our community.
Evacuation Drill
Earlier this week, St Joseph’s participated in a practice evacuation drill as part of our ongoing commitment to maintaining a safe and prepared school environment for all students and staff. We were very proud of the calm and responsible way our students responded throughout the drill. They followed instructions carefully and demonstrated great maturity and cooperation. Regular emergency practice drills are an important part of ensuring that everyone knows what to do in the event of an emergency and help us continue to strengthen our safety procedures.
School Advisory Council Meeting
On Thursday, our School Advisory Council met to discuss a number of important school improvement initiatives and priorities.
The purpose of the School Advisory Council is to support the strategic direction of the school, provide advice on key matters, and strengthen the partnership between the school and our parent community in the best interests of all students.
The Council will also discuss school enrolments, finances, the Code of Conduct, Mandatory Reporting requirements, and a range of other important matters relating to the ongoing growth and development of our school. One of the key agenda items for our next meeting will be the Child Safe Standards and the associated policies, processes, and protocols at St Joseph’s.
The School Advisory Council is a collaborative group, bringing fresh ideas, thoughtful discussion, and a shared commitment to building a strong future for St Joseph’s. I sincerely thank all members for the generous time, parent voice, and support they give to our school community. The contributions of the SAC are valued immensely.
Winter Uniform
With the noticeable change in weather this week, it has been very timely for us to transition to our winter school uniform. We have certainly been feeling the chill in the mornings, and it’s been wonderful to see students coming prepared and dressed appropriately for the colder conditions. It is also wonderful to see our students wearing their winter uniform with pride. Thank you to parents for supporting this so that we can continue to maintain our high standards.
Happy Special Birthday Mr Butler!
This week, we had the joy of celebrating a very special birthday for Mr Butler. Our students were incredibly excited to help make his day memorable, sharing warm wishes, smiles, and plenty of joyful energy throughout the celebrations. It was wonderful to see the genuine care and affection our children have for Mr Butler, and the happiness they brought to his special day. We thank our Year 3 parents and children for their generosity in making this a special day for Mr Butler.
Our staff also enjoyed celebrating alongside him and acknowledging the kindness, dedication, and positivity he brings to our St Joseph’s community each day. We wish Mr Butler a very happy birthday and hope his birthday celebrations across the weekend are filled with many special moments.
School Closure Days Term 2
Please note the following school closure days in your calendar...
Monday 8 June- School Closure - King's Birthday Public Holiday
Tuesday 9 June - School Closure Day - Staff Professional Learning and Faith Formation with Malvern Parish Schools (St Joseph's, St Mary's and St Roch's)
What's on Next Week
Staying Connected...
At any time, if you have any questions or concerns about the wellbeing, care or learning of your child, please do not hesitate to reach out to your child's class teacher, one of the school leaders, or Dean Butler, Deputy Principal or myself, Annabelle Marinelli, Principal.
Over the next couple of weeks, Dean and I will be taking some long service leave one week after the other. During Dean’s absence next week, please do not hesitate to contact me directly or another member of our school leadership team. In my absence, from Tuesday 12th May, you can reach Dean Butler via the school phone number or his email address. I will be returning to school on Monday, 25th May. While I am away, I will be checking my email from time to time however I may have limited internet access. I am confident that Dean and our school leadership team will take excellent care of the school during my absence. Please feel free to get in touch as needed.
Additionally, please note there will be no newsletter next week (Friday, 15th May). The next school newsletter will be sent out on Friday, 22nd May.
Enjoy the weekend with your families, and once again, I wish our beautiful mums and special women in the lives of our children, a very special mother's day.
With warmest regards,
Annabelle Marinelli
Principal