Principal’s News

Dear Parents and Carers,

With Footy Finals approaching and some nicer weather expected this weekend, it seems like Spring is on the way.  I hope you have a good weekend and that your footy team is doing a bit better than mine. Go Roos!

Working Bee - Saturday 16 August

Our beautiful bush setting at St Joseph’s provides a rich environment for learning and play, but it also comes with increased bushfire risk. Like most schools and early childhood services in the Upper Yarra, we have been identified as high risk and placed on the Bushfire At-Risk Register (BARR).

We are currently classified at Level 3, which means we must enact a pre-emptive closure on days of Catastrophic Fire Danger. Other schools in the area are classified at Levels 2, 1 or 0, which require closures even on Extreme or High fire danger days. Such closures would cause major disruption to learning and family life.

To avoid being reclassified to a lower level (which would mean more frequent closures), we must continue managing fuel loads on our property by clearing undergrowth and debris. Our Maintenance Officer, Anthony, has been doing an outstanding job—often working overtime on weekends and after hours—but this is a massive task that can’t be completed by one person alone.

To support Anthony with this work, we are holding a Working Bee on Saturday 16 August from 8:00am to 12:00pm, and we’re asking for your help.

We especially need parents who have certification and experience using chainsaws to assist with cutting. Due to safety and liability reasons, only certified operators can use chainsaws on-site. However, we’ll need many hands to help clear, stack, and burn branches once they’ve been cut.

After the Working Bee, we’ll enjoy a BBQ lunch, and we’d love help with catering, too. Donations of food for morning tea are very welcome, as is assistance with serving, cooking, and cleanup.

Parents who participate in the Working Bee will receive a $100 credit toward their Working Bee Levy and go into the draw for a $100 Woolworths voucher.

Please click here to access the signup form.

Thank you in advance for your support—I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible on Saturday 16 August.

Father's Day Celebration

We will be celebrating Father's Day on Friday 5 September with a Dads and Kids fun afternoon.  We are planning some fun classroom and sporting activities between 3:00pm and 5:00pm and we will be having a sausage sizzle.

We have received feedback from families that it is hard for Dads to attend a breakfast but many are able to make it to an afternoon event.  This was very well attended last year.  We hope to see as many Dads there as possible.

Children whose Dads are unable to make it are invited to bring another significant person to join in the celebration.  As this is a celebration, as opposed to Working with Children, there is no need for adults attending to present a working with children's check.

Building Program

Following the disappointment of our Building Grant being withdrawn by Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic School (MACS), we are finally back on track with our Masterplan.  Following a Bushfire Survey conducted by Cheryl Nagel from Bushfire Environs Victoria, MACS had grave concerns for our school from a Bushfire Resilience point of view.  She recommended significant fuel load reduction (vegetation management), and as you would have seen, this is well underway.  Most recently clearing has been happening around the Sports and Performing Arts Centre, which is our Place of Last Resort in the event of a bushfire.

We had a meeting with Sibling Architects and the Infrastructure Departmentf rom MACS this Thursday to look at implementing Stage One of our Masterplan which will involve the installation of two 80,000L Water Tanks.  This stage will also include the thinning of the forest with the removal of a large number of trees.

Stage Two will involve the renovation of the main building and the demolition of the existing STEAM Room and Library.  These rooms will be relocated into spare classrooms in the existing buildings.   Stage Three will be the construction of  three General Purpose Classrooms and two Specialist Classrooms, positioned between the main building and the Sports and Performing Arts Centre, adjacent to the oval.  Once completed, the South Building will be demolished, making way for an undercover outdoor play/meeting space.

We are scheduled to meet with MACS Infrastructure, our Regional General Manager and Sibling Architects before the end of the month to monitor how we are progressing with the fuel load reduction to mitigate bushfire risk.  I will let you know how this goes and whether there is any reclassification of the school in the Bushfire at Risk Register (BARR).