Principal's News

Dear Families,

This week marked the beginning of the  Season of Lent, which prepares us for Easter, the most important time in the Church’s calendar. By praying, fasting and giving alms, we are reminded of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Jesus brought the promise of hope to all people so that we may “Have life and have it to the full.” (John 10:10)

As we mark this important moment in the liturgical calendar, we were able to open our doors and arms to our parent community. It was lovely to see people popping into classrooms for a quick peek and toddlers were so keen to see their older sibling's classroom. Thank you for being respectful of our covid safe protocols when you came into school.

On Tuesday, the school was chocker-block full of parents assisting with pancake making for Shrove Tuesday. It's been such a long time since this was allowed to happen and we'd almost forgotten the joy of having such sessions with parents and children (not to mention the joy of leftovers for the staff!)

On Ash Wednesday the students and staff gathered as a junior and senior group to receive ashes on our foreheads, which is a public expression of our faith and humility and marks the time of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Sharing what we have, or ‘almsgiving’, is a sign of our commitment to justice and our thanks for all that God has given us.

What a Team!

Our school tours continued this week with four prospective families visiting our school, and a special visit from the staff from another school, who came to watch our literacy teaching in action. These visits are becoming more and more common, with schools keen to find out about our approach to teaching literacy (see here: https://www.sjmalvern.catholic.edu.au/page/233/Structured-Literacy-) and also to gain some insight into the change process/ management behind the scenes. One of the key components of our success is having all 'hands on deck' with our students; all staff participate in weekly professional development and are trained in our teaching methodologies (explicit and systematic). Our Learning Support Officers (LSOs) are also trained side by side with our teachers- there is no 'them and us' at St. Joseph's. As I take families on tours I am immensely proud of the teamwork amongst all of our staff. 

We wish Hayley and Marcus, Y1 LSOs, all the best as they head back to uni this week to continue their Bachelor of Education degrees. 

Go to the Principal's Office!

Thankfully, our students are sent to me to celebrate achievements, rather than for disciplinary reasons! This week my highlights were short stories written by our preps and descriptive writing written by our Year 4s. Such impressive work being produced in our classrooms. Well done!

Anyone for Coffee?

The smell of coffee wafted across the playground this morning, with teachers and parents quite excited at the new addition to the Friday morning assembly routine. We have wanted to have a coffee van join us for the past few years, but the idea went off the boil given the covid restrictions. Thrilled to have Chris and Eva  from Angry Mug Coffee join us this morning- thank you!

Congratulations to Will!

It is great to hear that our 2021 Year 6s are settling well into secondary school life and I received some fantastic news from Will Mc, who is in Year 7 at Salesian College. After thoroughly enjoying being part of our Mary Poppins production last year (after being a little reluctant to participate at the beginning), 

Will stepped out of his comfort zone and auditioned for Salesian/ Sacred Heart's production of Beauty and the Beast. We are so proud of Will who has landed one of the LEAD roles as Chip the teacup. Well done from all of us St Joseph's!

Next Week:

• On Monday we begin our mixed group MSL/ Spelling Mastery/ Year 7+8 program. Please read Amanda's piece later in this newsletter.
• Our Year 5s and 6s will participate in a graffiti prevention program on Monday
• On Tuesday we have our annual Deloitte's audit. Thank you to Isabelle and Priscilla (business manager) for such efficiency with all things financial. Great work from our front office!
• On Friday we have 9 of our senior students heading to the Beachside swimming competition, representing the Dendy District. Good luck swimmers!
• We also have our first Open Day of the year next Friday 11th March. Please encourage friends to register for the open day tours if they are looking for a place in prep 2023: https://www.sjmalvern.catholic.edu.au/page/221/Book-a-Tour

And Finally...

A sincere thank you for following up with the 'shoe situation'. It's great to see that our children are wearing the right shoes at the right time.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend ahead,

Michelle