Dear Parents and Guardians,

The end of Term Two has come upon us quickly. It is hard to believe that term finishes at the end of next week!

My sincere thanks to the entire school community for your continued support and collaboration throughout the term. Our students have once again demonstrated commitment, resilience, and growth in their learning and personal development and we have enjoyed many wonderful gatherings and events that have strengthened our sense of community and celebrated our shared achievements.

Congratulations

Year 4 students made their First Eucharist on Saturday. It was a very special occasion for our students and their families and l thank Rhoe, Chloe and Mary for supporting our students in their preparation for this important faith milestone. Thank you also to Kate for organising a beautiful Mass to celebrate this important event. Special thanks to Fr Jossy who led our wonderful Mass and to Deacon Ferdinand for his support at this important faith milestone.

MLA Camp at Creswick

I enjoyed a fabulous time with staff and students at Log Cabin Camp in Creswick recently. The students and staff enjoyed a wonderful time on camp. Students participated in a range of activities including the giant swing, obstacle course, zipline and hut building, just to name a few. It was a wonderful opportunity for our students to try new activities, and all should be commended for taking risks and encouraging their peers. A very big thank you to Cherrie, Dermott and Michael for their participation and support on camp and to Rhoe, Chloe and Mary for their wonderful organisation and planning to ensure a successful camp for all.

Staffing Updates

I am very excited to inform our community that we have employed a new Deputy Principal/Leader of School Improvement for our school. Sarah Goulding will be joining our staff in Term 3 beginning on Monday, 4th August. I am sure Sarah is going to be a valuable addition to our community and look forward to introducing her to staff, students and families in Term 3.

We will also be welcoming Vanessa Wannis back to our community. Vanessa will be teaching Physical Education on Tuesdays next term and l know our students and staff will be very excited to work with her again.

We are delighted to share some wonderful news—Mikayla will be taking the first four weeks of Term 3 off as she travels with her family to celebrate her wedding! On behalf of our entire school community, I extend our warmest congratulations to Mikayla and Jai. We wish them a beautiful celebration, and a lifetime filled with love, joy, and happiness.

To ensure a smooth and successful transition for our students during Mikayla’s absence, we have arranged for a replacement teacher who will visit and work in the classroom next week. This will provide valuable continuity and support for our learners as Term 3 begins.

Cybersafety

St Joseph’s the Worker is committed to promoting and maintaining a safe and welcoming community for all families and students. Ensuring the safety and wellbeing of all students is the school’s paramount duty and support families in managing the challenges of keeping their children safe online.

As part of our commitment to promoting and maintaining a safe and welcoming community for all families and students, the school was recently visited by Senior Constable Toni-Mae Wilson from the Preston Police station.

Senior Constable Wilson led a very informative session with some of our parents at 9.00am and then worked with our students for the remainder of the day. All sessions were highly valuable and a great way for the students to gain real insights into the need to be safe when online.

School Reports

We are pleased to announce that our Semester One, 2025 School Reports will be available to you digitally, and ready for you to access later next week. We hope all families are able to celebrate the children's effort and achievements over the last six months. A letter will be sent home next week regarding how to access reports online.

Child Safety 

At St Joseph the Worker Primary School, we hold the care, safety and wellbeing of children and young people as a central and fundamental responsibility of our school. We expect that school employees, volunteers and community members to proactively ensure the safety and wellbeing of students at all times. 

In recent weeks, we conducted a practise drill to ensure staff and students are confident in knowing the emergency management procedures.  The school practised a lock down and post exercise, we reviewed our procedures to ensure we are compliant. Most importantly, staff and students followed our procedures, and everyone was safe.

Behaviour Disposition: Respect

As you are aware, to ensure that we always promote a positive learning environment for everyone, we are introducing three Behaviour Dispositions at St Joseph the Worker Primary School: Respectful, Safe and Responsible.

This term, we have focused on being Respectful. We have discussed this with our students and regularly reminded them about respectful behaviour and expectations. Next week at our final school assembly for this term, our School Captains and Vice Captains will be sharing a review of our learning about respect this term.

Assembly – Next Week

Our final assembly for this term, will take place next Thursday, 3rd July starting at 2.30pm. We hope you are able to join us.

Casual Clothes Day

On the last Friday of this term, students can wear casual clothes to school. We ask students to donate a gold coin on this day to support Vivian in her education in Tanzania. St Joseph the Worker has a proud history of supporting students at the school of St Jude so that they can attend school and gain an education. Further information about the wonderful work of the School of St Jude can be found at https://www.schoolofstjude.org

This term staff have been donating a gold coin in lieu of wearing jeans to school on Fridays. We have raised over $210 to support Vivian. It has been a very worthwhile achievement knowing that we are also making a difference to the life of someone with limited opportunity to attend school.

School Fees

A gentle reminder to all families that two terms of fees should have already been paid unless you are paying by direct debit. It is essential that school fees and levies are paid on time to enable the school to meet its financial obligations. We are committed to providing quality Catholic Education to all Catholic families in our Parish and if at any stage you are finding it difficult to pay school fees, I ask that you contact our Bursar or myself immediately.

We will be contacting all families who have not made any payment this year as there are many outstanding fees owing at this time. If you have any questions regarding this, please contact the office and make an appointment to see Marisa.

Early Pick Up

We kindly ask parents to limit early pick-ups, as they disrupt both student learning and the essential work of our staff. Students are expected to remain at school for the full day unless they are unwell. Wherever possible, we encourage families to schedule appointments outside of school hours to ensure that every moment of learning is maximized for our students’ benefit.

End of Term

A big thank you to our students who have been amazing this term. Even with the cold weather and many illnesses in our community, we have continued to ensure that classrooms were warm yet well ventilated. By working together, we have been able to look after the safety and wellbeing of everyone and continue to engage in our learning.  

I would like to acknowledge the wonderful efforts of our staff who have worked together to ensure that students remain in classrooms working with their peers all this term. Excursions, incursions, MLA camp, celebrating our wonderful Mums in the classrooms and at assembly, congratulating our students who received the Sacrament of Eucharist and Confirmation, understanding more about how to keep our children safe online, together with sporting events have supported the students in enjoying all school life. I thank all staff for their continued professionalism this term and their dedication to ensuring students and their learning remain our priority.  

Please keep Fr Manny in your thoughts and prayers – he is currently unwell and receiving hospital care.

As this is our last newsletter for the term, l wish everyone happy holidays and look forward to seeing you for Term 3 beginning on Monday, 21st July.

We ask St Joseph the Worker to continue to bless and keep safe, our wonderful Parish and School Community.

Kind regards,

Maria Barnes

Principal

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