PRINCIPAL'S NEWS

PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE...

Last week we had a visit from two very special guests...  Hazel (Ashlyn's baby -on the left) and Anastasia (Bella's baby - on the right) graced us with their presence and met our senior and prep students.  Congratulations again to Ash and Bella - their babies are simply gorgeous and were very well-behaved on their first 'school excursion'.

STATE ELECTION - 2022

St Joseph's will once again be a polling place for the State Elections to be held on Saturday November 26.  We still require your help with volunteering to assist throughout the day with the sausage sizzle, cake stall and craft stall.  If you could pencil in a section of the day to lend a hand we would be greatly appreciative.  

Staffing 2023

This year we have a few staffing changes to announce.  

Lauren Taffe has accepted a position at Alphington Grammar School.  Lauren has been at St Joseph's for 13 years during which time she has provided a quality education for many classes of children.  On behalf of our school community I thank her for dedication to our students and families over the years.  She will be sorely missed and undoubtedly a great asset to Alphington Grammar.

Angela Stamellos has accepted a position at St Francis Xavier School, Box Hill.   Angela has taught both preps and middles over the last two years at St Josephs and I thank her for her enthusiasm and hard-work, and I wish her all the best for the future.

This year we have three staff members who are taking some time away from teaching.

Jenelle Thornton has retired from teaching and is looking to explore different options for 2023 and beyond.  Jenelle has been at St Joseph's for the past 5 years and has been a huge asset to our school.  In her time with us Jenelle has taught prep, Visual Art, Performing Arts, and coordinated our Peaceful Kids wellbeing programme.  Her fun-loving and vivacious personality has been embraced by the community as a whole, and her dedication to The Arts Programme has been unprecedented.  She has deeply cared for and supported our children and families over the past five years, and possesses an inate ability to build supportive relationships with students, families and colleagues.  Jenelle has raised the profile of The Arts at St Joseph's beyond expectation - for this I am truly grateful.  Her (enormous) presence at St Joseph's will be greatly missed, I wish nothing but happiness for her in the future.

Tess Parton has decided to take some time-out from the profession.  Tess has been with us for one and a half years, joining us when Olivia Durnan commenced her parental leave. In her short time with us Tess has taught both junior and middle classes and has provided culturally rich Mandarin lessons for the whole school that have energised and reinvigorated our LOTE (Language other than English) programme.  I thank her for all that she has contributed to St Joseph's and applaud her for the initative she has shown in developing and implementing a language programme from ground zero.  I wish her all the best in her future endeavours and career pathways.

Stephanie Vlahos has also decided to diversify her career pathways and take some time away from the role of Learning Support Officer.  Steph has been with us for 7 years and has worked predominantly in the prep class.  She has touched the hearts of many of our little ones transitioning from kindergarten to school, and been a huge support, socially, emotionally and academically for all children with whom she encountered.  The support she has provided to teachers has been exceptional due to her deep understanding of how to cater for student learning, and her exceptional ability to build and maintain relationships with students, families and colleagues.  I wish her all the best for the future.

We have been very fortunate to have some highly experience Teachers and Learning Support Officers join our team in 2023.

Louise Keys will remain in the role of Visual Arts teacher.  We were extremely fortunate to have Louise join our staff last term, and welcome her expertise and experience to our team.  

New staff joining our team are:

* Kirsti McInnes comes to us from St Monica’s in Moonee Ponds and prior to that St Anthony's in Alphington.  Kirsti has 7 years’ experience and has 3 years’ experience as a Numeracy Leader.

* Myanna Goetz comes to us from St Margaret Mary’s in Spotswood.  Myanna has worked in education for 7 years, 3 years as Educational Leader in a pre-school setting and 4 years at St Margaret Mary’s.

* Brittany Symons comes to us from St Mary's in Echuca/Moama.  Brittany has 8 years' experience having taught around the Riverina Region in country Victoria, and including 3 years teaching in London.

* Mandy Jin will join us to teach Mandarin.  Mandy has 5 years’ experience teaching Mandarin at The Victorian School of Language teaching classes from Prep to grade 6 and concurrently works as a Level Leader Kindergarten Teacher.

* Tori DeLecca and Angelique Matthews will join our staff working as Learning Support Officers.  Tori is also from St Monica’s in Moonee Ponds and Angelique comes to us from Melbourne University Early Learning Centre.

School Advisory Council Vacancies

A message from the Chair of the School Advisory Council 

ANNUAL REVIEW MEETING AND VACANCIES ON THE COUNCIL

As 2022 starts to draw to a close, the School Advisory Council will be holding its Annual Review meeting on Wednesday 24 November at 7pm in the staff room - all are welcome to attend.

2022 has marked a transition to our new board governance structure that was required by the  Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS). The Council support the Principal, the Parish Priest and the school leadership team to drive the values of our school and community.  This year has seen our first full year back at school since 2019 and the Council have been hard at work progressing a number of projects. The Annual Review meeting is a chance to connect with our community and for you to hear what we have been up to!

We have two positions on the Council that are being vacated and would love you to be a part of the team - if you are interested in nominating, please pick up an application form at the office or speak with Mary or myself.

Candice Becroft

Chair

Chess Club Holiday Programme

Over the Christmas Holidays 'Chess Mates' will be offering lessons for prep - grade six students.  See Community News section of this newsletter for more details.

Please help the Parish...

We are looking for a family to organise the Saint Joseph’s Christmas Eve Nativity Family Mass. This is such a rewarding experience and a valuable memory opportunity for your family. You would be required to:

• Organise children to participate in the Nativity Scene
• One rehearsal prior to the night
• Costume available at school. 

If you can help please contact Fiona or Mary ASAP.

Child Safe Standards

On 1 July 2022, 11 new Victorian Child Safe Standards came into effect for schools.  To meet the new Child Safe Standards, we have built on our existing child safety strategies, policies and practices to strengthen our school’s culture of child safety and protect children and young people from abuse.

The 11 Child Safe Standards are listed on the 'Child Safe Standards' section of this newsletter.  This week I would like to take the opportunity to highlight how we at St Joseph's have promoted Child Safe Standard 8.

9. Child safety in physical and online environments – Physical and online environments promote safety and wellbeing while minimising the opportunity for children and young people to be harmed.

At St Joseph's there are many ways in which we actively promote physical and online environments to be safe for all students.  At the beginning of every term all students participate in an online session focussed on online safety.

* All students are required to sign a code of acceptable online conduct so that they can be safe when using technology. 

* This year our middle and senior students participated in an online safety and online bullying prevention talk by members of the Victorian Police Force. 

* Parents had the opportunity to attend an online webinar with Susan McLean.