Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome back to another term in the beautiful Upper Yarra Valley. I hope that all families have had the opportunity to be well-rested and ready for another busy term ahead.

Over the holidays I have had communication from Nick and he assures me that he is missing us, although seems to be having lots of fun eating and exploring his way through England and France. Nick will return to St Joseph's in week 5 this term.

Farewell Bek Spencer

Bek Spencer, one of our valued LSOs has announced her resignation from St Joseph's from the 4th of August this year to seek out new challenges and adventures. Bek has been with us at St Joe's since her own children were here as students at our school. Bek has worked in many different levels throughout the school and has been an important person in the lives of teachers and students who have worked with her. We wish Bek well with her new venture and will miss her being part of our community.

An advertisement has gone out to the wider community and we will be interviewing in the coming weeks.

Welcome

We welcome Cassandra Darwall (LSO in year 1/2), Erin Mullan (year 3/4) and Meg Urquhart (year 3/4) to our school this term. Already there have been wonderful interactions with the students and some amazing work completed! See the news in years 3/4 and 1/2 for a more formal introduction!

Year 3/4 Camp

This year the year 3/4 students will be attending the CYC City Camp on September 14 and 15. The camp is run by the same organisation as ADANAC and the Phillip Island Adventure Resort that the 5/6s have recently attended. As we need to organise attendance, parents of 3/4 students will receive an email alert from the camp in regard to dietary requirements in the coming weeks. Camp experience for students are compulsory and camp fees are part of the school fee payments. If your child may be experiencing any anxiety about camp, please speak with either myself or their class teachers. Camps are wonderful experiences for students to explore new experiences and gain independence, resilience and participate in relationship-building activities with their peers. Further communication will be sent home about the camp in the coming weeks from the 3/4 team.

PSGs

If you have a hard copy of the minutes from your latest Term 2 PSG at home, please sign them and return them to school ASAP. On August 4, we will be updating our NCCD data with students who will receive funding for the 2023/2024 year and we need to have the signed PSG minutes and PLP available as evidence of consultation. Once these students have been finalised, parents will receive communication about the adjustments that will be provided for their child who is on NCCD.

Production

Every 2 years we have our whole school production. This year will be our first one since covid. Usually, our main characters are held by our senior school students who lead a whole school cast in the production. This year we are presenting "Shrek Jnr The Musical". The dates for this event are 30th October and 1st November. Please avoid scheduling holidays at this time as we wud love to have the whole school represented. Please read Lisa's Performing Arts section for more information about how you can get involved.

Parent Involvement

St Joseph's loves to have parents involved in all elements of school life. Without parent involvement, schools cannot run. Schools require valued parent feedback, ideas, contributions, skills and involvement in school activities. Two areas of our school community desperately need to have you involved. One is in the St Joseph's Parents and Friends and the other in the School Advisory Board.

Both of these groups are integral to the running of the school.

The P and F is a small group that works together to organise events for the parent and school community. Some of the events that are organised are the Mothers and Father's day stalls, fundraising events eg Trivia Night, and special events for students such as ice cream celebrations and school discos. The group meets once or twice a term to organise upcoming events. We would love you to come along and see what we are all about. An upcoming meeting will be held in the next week or two. Look out for an email notifying the community of the meeting time.

The School Advisory Council is a small group of parents and school leaders who meet once a term (or twice if needed).

School Advisory Councils are an essential component of governing and operating Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Melbourne. They provide a forum for consultation and participation for parish and school communities. The School Advisory Council may review policies, be part of school review panels and assist in providing feedback from the school community to the leadership team. We would love to expand our Advisory Council participants. If you are interested in speaking to someone about coming along to the next meeting, please come and chat with either Amy Ireland, Jacqui Tarquinio or myself.

We would love to see new faces in both of these important groups within our school community.

Assembly

Our first assembly for this term will be held on Monday 17th July at 2:15pm. It will be hosted by the year 6 leaders and Foundation. We hope to see you there.

Swimming Program

We have been able to secure an intensive swimming program at the Yarra Centre for weeks 3 and 4 in Term 4. The dates are Monday 16th October to 27th October. Lessons will run from Monday to Friday. The exact times will be confirmed later in the term.

School Crossings

As per communication via email, the Shire of Yarra Ranges have notified schools in the region of their struggle to have school crossings manned. When communication is sent to our emails, we will forward this to families. Please check communication around this if your children use crossings around this area.

Mount Lilydale Mercy College Musical

On Thursday the 3rd of August, the year 5/6 students will be travelling to Mount Lilydale to watch the matinee of their upcoming musical The Wizard of Oz. This excursion fits in with our performing arts lessons for the senior classes and will be a great experience for them as they prepare for their own musical later in the year.

Please see the page relating to Mount Lilydale's Musical for bookings.

Out and about on the playground this week

This week there has been a hive of activity in the playground where the students have been engaged in exploring and creating in the stick area, and gaga pit. There have been fierce competitions on the basketball and downball courts and students busily dodging in games of chasey. It has been a pleasure to be out on yard duty interacting with happy students.

Enjoy the week ahead,

Katie

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