PRINCIPAL'S NEWS

A Message to the Community from Fiona Ehmer

To the beautiful Saint Joseph’s Community.

As was mentioned in the last newsletter, my husband and I have joined the business community in Bright, Northern Victoria. You will find us managing the Bright Motor Inn and Centenary Peaks Townhouses. We officially took over on May 1st and whilst the original plan was for me to see out the term handing over seamlessly to Ashlyn Keane, the demands of running a small business in a rural town have made it impossible for me to continue in my capacity at Saint Joseph’s.

Having said all of that, I would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you who have helped make my time at Saint Joseph’s truly the most rewarding time of my teaching career.

To the passionate staff whom I have had the honour to work with. Thank you for your support and your camaraderie but most of all your friendship. Your ability to continue to nurture, love and guide all of your students always leaves me in awe and I am more than grateful that I have finished my teaching career with such an amazing group of professionals.

To the parents who welcomed me into your unique community and allowed me the privilege of working with your children, thank you. Thank you for trusting that I always had your family's best interests at heart, thank you for believing in me, and thank you for, at times, challenging me. It has truly been an experience that I will treasure forever.

To the most amazing group of students I have had the honour to call my own. I will miss you all. All of the smiles, the jokes, the laughs, and yes even the learning! Remember to look after one another, be kind, you are bound for greatness. In the words of Dr Suess –“Why try to fit in when you were born to stand out.”  Saint Joey’s Northcote kids stand out!

Finally to the leadership team.

Carmel, who got me through a world-wide pandemic with laughs and special lunches, I miss you every day.  

Kate, to the most naturally gifted Deputy Principal, you too are bound for greatness, your passion and knowledge of your craft is truly impressive and I have loved our time together, I will miss you but Saint Joe's is so lucky to have you.

And to Mary, my boss, my mentor, my friend. I have had the honour to witness Mary’s undying passion for her staff, her children and her school first-hand. At her heels I have learnt the meaning of dedication, determination and unbelievable hard work. Mary has taught me to go the ends of the earth to support those who we have the honour to call our own. Saint Joseph’s is an extraordinary place and that does not occur by accident, it is only with the amazing talents of a ferocious leader that builds and maintains such a unique community. For the personal support that you have shown me during the last three and a half years, thank you, I do not know what I would have done without you. I will forever be in your debt for believing in me and giving me the opportunity to work alongside you in this very special place. 

It is with unbelievable sadness that I leave Saint Josephs. However, I do so with a bag of memories and the hope that if you are ever in Bright you will drop in and say hello.

Fiona.

Sacrament of Reconciliation 

Thursday, June 1 at 6.00 PM at St Joseph’s Parish Church Northcote

There will be a liturgy for the students who are receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation for the first time, at St Joseph’s Parish Church on Thursday evening at 6.00 pm. The students' families and friends are all invited to join in the liturgy on this special occasion. 

Please keep these students in your prayers.

School Fees

The Family Fee & Levy statements have been emailed out along with reminders recently. Payments can be made quarterly (each term), and can be made by bank transfer or cash/EFTPOS in the office.  

As always, my door is always open and I am available to discuss school fees should you require alternative arrangements to be put into place.

Mary.

A Message from the Sustainability Leaders - World Environment Day, June 05

On the 5th of June, St Joseph's will be having a nude food day. The theme for this year's World Environment Day is #BeatPlasticPollution, and we are celebrating by having a day when you are encouraged to not bring any plastic in your lunchbox. You can use other items to contain your food, such as containers or beeswax wraps.

Emmanuela Dounias and Zia George - Sustainability Leaders.

A section has been added to this newsletter titled "Sustainability".  Please have a look at this as it showcases the amazing work that our sustainability group has been doing, and also explains a new Sustainability Initiative that we are undertaking this year.  St Joey's will be working in partnership with Jason Sheehan from CERES to work towards becoming a five-star 'ResourceSmart’ school.  See 'Sustainability News' for more information.  Thank you to Ms Brittany and the Sustainability Team for initiating this most excellent venture and partnership.

School Fundraiser - A Message from the SRC

On the 25th of May St Joseph’s came together to help raise money for the unfortunate bus accident that led to children in hospital. So we decided to start the donation by having children from each class bring a gold coin donation. The winning class (the class with the most gold coins) received a potato cake and chips lunch! The class that won in the end with a grand total $201 is Middle K! 

We would also like to thank all parents and children who raised money for this fundraiser. In the end, we all managed to raise exactly $1,024. This is a very impressive amount and will help the children and their families very much. The money will go to the 'go-fund-me' page set up to support all the children who were injured in any way.

Thank You!

Sincerely 

Stella, Jana and all the SRC.

Divisional Cross Country Championships

Congratulations to our team who competed in the District Cross Country event on May 19.

Elliot Becroft            Sophie Brunton           Amelia Brown                    Freya Hamilton 

James Huynh           Sienna Iuele                 Parker Jamieson               Charlie Jamieson            

Elise Jones               Jana Kalogeratos         Zahra Lania                        Klara Nakic     

Stella Ryan               Joshua Tame                Saskia Thomas                  Zachary Wright             

Julian Zammit                                                                                                                                                                                  

All of our team completed the course, which in itself is a huge accomplishment and deserves applause.  

A special mention and a huge congratulations to the following children, who, in a field with close to 80 competitors, gained a place and will compete at the next level - the Divisional Championships this Thursday, June 01.

• Saskia Thomas, who came in second place!!!
• Stella Ryan, who came in seventh place!!!
• Siene Iuele, who came in tenth place!!!
• Parker Jamieson, who came in eleventh place and qualifies as a 'reserve' if needed!!!

We wish you all the very best of luck!!!

Walk Safely to School Day

A huge thank you and congratulations to everyone for their efforts on National Walk Safely to School Day on 19th May. It was wonderful to see everyone streaming through the gates after making their way to school on foot. 

Our very first 'Shoe House Competition' was also a great success with Mannix house racking up a grand total of 115 points and bringing home the win. A big congratualations to the following winners.

Shoe Throwing Competition

Prep: Ari (1st), Lucas (2nd) and Georgia (3rd)

Juniors: Leo (1st), Hayley (2nd), Sofia (3rd)

Middles: George (1st), Leo (2nd), Grace (3rd)

Seniors: Elliot (1st), Parker (2nd), Neve (3rd)

Shoe Decorating Competition

P-2 Category: Anastasia (1st) & Harry (2nd)

Year 3-6 Category: Neve (1st) & Freya (2nd)

Save the Date

We are super excited to announce that this term we will be hosting an ART SHOW EXTRAVAGANZA!!

Please save the following date: THURSDAY, JUNE 15.

Families will have the option of attending a viewing session at 3:30 pm or 6:00 pm.  A note will be sent out via Audiri (SkoolBag) asking you to select a time.  

I hope that all families will be able to attend this event as the children (and Louise!!!) have been working tirelessly throughout this term preparing for this occasion.  The artwork that is already displayed around the school is outstanding!

Winter School Uniform Reminders...

FOOTY TIPPING

Be sure to check out who is in the TOP 10 of our FOOTY TIPPING ladder in the 'Footy Tipping' section of this newsletter.