Principal News

Dear Parents and Carers, 

Grandparent's Day - What a Celebration!

What an absolutely stunning celebration we had last Friday for Grandparent's Day! Thank you to the many, many hands that worked together to make this special day so successful. With approximately 700 people in attendance, it was 'standing room only' - and we wouldn't have it any other way. It is days such as these that remind us why St Joseph's is just so special (best school in Melbourne!). 

Congratulations and thank you to our amazing Year 5s, Miss Dusting and Mr Moldrich for the wonderful assembly item performance. It was a very moving assembly, with lots of funny moments. A special mention to Keira, Harriet and Claudia for their beautiful singing during the assembly presentation. 

While some grandparents were unable to attend, it was very special to see a number of special friends, family members, neighbours or parents fill-in for this occasion, with some even taking time away from work to attend. 

The success of days such as these are often the result of our incredible parents. In this instance, we thank our Year 1 P&F Parent Reps plus Year 1 Parent Helpers for their efforts across the morning and in the days leading up to the event - Kirsten, Peach, Emma, Laura plus Poppy, Adurty, Lauren R, AJ, Steph C, Sarah R and Clo. In addition, we sincerely thank our Year 6 students and teachers, who were exceptional. They supported the day by setting up chairs and tables, showing families around the school, serving food, chatting to the adults and helping Grandparents to the tables for morning tea. Simply fabulous. 

World Teachers Day

Next Friday, we will celebrate World Teachers’ Day - a special opportunity to acknowledge our school’s greatest asset: our wonderful teachers. Many elements come together to make St Joseph’s such a special place for our families and children: our facilities, strong community spirit, Catholic identity, rich curriculum and extracurricular opportunities all play an important role, but it is our teachers who bring these elements to life and hold everything together. Put simply, they are the glue that holds it all together. 

Each day, our teachers share their knowledge, passion and creativity while supporting every child with genuine care and dedication. Their hard work extends far beyond the classroom, and the positive impact they have on our students cannot be overstated.

We are immensely proud of our teachers and deeply grateful for all they do to help our students flourish. We truly could not ask for a more talented and caring team, and we look forward to celebrating them next Friday!

Regional Athletics Competition 

Congratulations to Lewis (Year 6), who achieved an outstanding third place in the long jump at Wednesday’s Regional Athletics Competition, recording an impressive distance of 3.51 metres. This is a wonderful achievement at such a high level of competition. Well done, Lewis - we are incredibly proud of you!

Prep 2027 

In readiness for 2027, we are thrilled to announce that Miss Hannah Showell and Miss Elly Dillon will be teaching Prep next year! Hannah and Elly are very much looking forward to meeting our wonderful new students at the upcoming orientation sessions. All other staffing allocations will be announced later on this term. 

On Tuesday we hosted our Prep 2027 Parent Information Session. Congratulations and sincere thanks to Hannah, Elly, Luke Daffy and Alannah Harrison, along with our parent speakers Monica G., Victoria and Rosie, for their wonderful contributions. Their presentations provided our incoming families with a valuable introduction to life at St Joseph’s. We are very grateful to them for sharing their time and helping our newest families feel informed and excited about the year ahead.

Next week, we turn our attention to our 2027 Preppies, who will join us for their Orientation Sessions on: 

• Wednesday October 28
• Wednesday November 4
• Wednesday November 11

The Prep classrooms will open at 9.20am, with each session running from 9.30–11.00am. Parents and carers may bring their children to the Prep area, where staff will be ready to welcome them and help them settle in. We encourage families to practise a quick and confident drop-off routine in preparation for the sessions.

Children should bring a small snack, a labelled water bottle and their hat to each session.

Across the three mornings, children will become familiar with the Prep classrooms, teachers and school routines, while also meeting some of the classmates with whom they will begin their school journey. Children may work with either Prep teacher during orientation, as class groupings for 2027 are still being finalised. This provides a valuable opportunity for every child to get to know both teachers and feel comfortable within the Prep environment.

Prep 2028 Enrolments

Enrolment applications for Prep 2028 are open to new and current families. We encourage current families to share this information with friends who may be interested in joining the St Joseph’s community. Current families seeking a place for a younger sibling must also submit a sibling enrolment application by Friday, March 26, 2027, to secure priority for our 2028 Prep intake. The enrolment application form is available on our website here. If you have any questions, please contact the school office on 9528 1614.

Year 6 Tournament of the Minds 

Congratulations to our wonderful Tournament of Minds team, Zoe, Maddie, Eva, Lotte, Domenica and Jasmine, who received the Spirit of TOM Award!

Tournament of Minds is a six-week challenge that encourages students to work collaboratively, think creatively and solve complex problems. Over the six weeks, the team developed their ideas, wrote and rehearsed a dramatic presentation, created props and artwork, and worked together to overcome challenges along the way. The process requires commitment, persistence, imagination and excellent teamwork. The judges praised the students’ dramatic performance and commented on how clearly their enjoyment of acting shone through. They were also particularly impressed by the team’s diligence, resilience and ability to overcome challenges, as well as the beautiful artwork they created. Receiving the Spirit of TOM Award is a wonderful recognition of the team’s positive attitude and determination throughout the entire experience. We are incredibly proud of their efforts, well done!

Year 3 Zoo Snooze

Our Year 3CS students had an amazing time at their Zoo Snooze on Wednesday evening! It was a wonderful experience filled with lots of excitement and plenty of special memories. We received terrific feedback from the Melbourne Zoo camp leaders, who were extremely impressed by our students. 

The children were their very best selves and represented St Joseph’s with absolute pride. We could not be prouder of them! A sincere thank you to Miss Stanley, Mr Capp and Mr Daffy for accompanying the students and helping to make the experience such a memorable one.

Year 4 Eucharist Retreat Day 

Today, our Year 4 students took part in a special retreat day as they prepare to receive the Sacrament of First Eucharist next Thursday evening. The day provided a meaningful opportunity for the children to reflect, pray and prepare together. Students attended Mass, created beautiful pew-end decorations and rehearsed for the celebration. A shared lunch of pizza topped off a very special day. It was a wonderful day of faith and preparation. 

A sincere thank you to Mr Hayes and Miss Freeman for guiding and working with the students throughout the day, and for helping to make the retreat such a meaningful experience. We wish our Year 4 students every blessing as they continue their journey towards this very special sacrament.

Summer Uniform

All students now need to be wearing their full (correct) summer uniform. A school hat must be worn at break times, with a strict 'no hat, no play' rule applying. Students are required to apply their own sunscreen before school and throughout the day. Correct school shoes and socks must be worn and we remind students and families, when purchasing new school shoes for next year, black Asics or Nike runners are not part of the regular school uniform.  We thank you in advance for your understanding. 

Frozen Friday! 

Starting today, students will be able to purchase icy poles ($1) and small tubs of ice cream ($3) each Friday. With the warmer weather upon us, this will be a lovely end-of-week treat for the children to look forward to throughout the summer months. A big thank you to our wonderful P&F for purchasing and distributing the treats each week. We are sure Frozen Friday will quickly become a much-loved tradition!

The Festive Season is Here – and so is our Christmas Raffle!

The P&F are excited to launch this year’s Christmas Raffle, with two incredible prizes up for grabs:

• 1st Prize: $7,500 Travel Voucher from Elwood Flight Centre
• 2nd Prize: $2,500 Jackalope Hotel Gift Voucher

It is time to start fundraising for our next exciting project! Ideas for the next major upgrade to our outdoor areas will be discussed at the upcoming P&F meeting on Monday, October 26. All Christmas Raffle proceeds will support this next improvement, a wonderful way to give back to our school community. Let’s come together this Christmas to raise funds for the next exciting addition to our school. If you have any questions, please contact pandf@sjelst.catholic.edu.au

School Fees

We kindly request that all families with outstanding account balances settle their payments at their earliest convenience. In the event that you did not receive your fee statement as anticipated, please reach out to Fiona Scammell (fscammell@sjelst.catholic.edu.au). Your prompt attention to this matter is greatly appreciated.

Term 4 Assemblies

Families and special friends are always welcome to attend our school assemblies. We begin at 9am and conclude at approximately 9.30am. 

And finally...

A reminder that Week Five will be a shorter week with the Melbourne Cup long weekend, as Monday will be a pupil-free day. We thank our families for their understanding and hope everyone enjoys a wonderful long weekend. Our next newsletter will come out on Friday November 6, as we prepare for the final sprint to the end of the year.

Claire Tobin | Principal