Week 3, Term 1

Dear parents and carers,

It has been an incredibly busy and productive fortnight at St Joseph's and we have so much to share with you. Enjoy!

Year 6 Leadership

It was so lovely to present our Year 6 Leaders with their special jumpers and badges at assembly last week. A new addition to our program, the Jumper Presentation was so well attended by our families and, importantly, recognises the significant contribution our Year 6s make to the fabric of our school. Thank you to our generous P&F Committee for subsidising part of the cost of these jumpers for our families - one of the many contributions the P&F make throughout the year.

School Open Days & Tours for Enrolments 2025

Enrolments for Prep 2025 are open and we encourage all families to submit their applications as soon as possible. It is vital that we have all sibling applications so we can allocate places for new families. The application form can be found on our School Website: https://www.sjelst.catholic.edu.au/applynow

Our Open Days are scheduled for:

Wednesday February 28th, 9-12pm
Tuesday March 5th, 9-12pm
Thursday March 14th, 9-12pm

Our families are our greatest advocates, so keep spreading the good word about our amazing school to your family and friends. Tours are always welcome outside of these hours, so please contact the office on

9528 1614 should you be unable to make one of the above times.

School Uniform

Our two new uniform items were showcased today by Evie and Sam - a knitted jumper and a sports jacket. The jumper is an optional piece that can be worn with shorts, pants, the summer dress, winter pinafore and summer culottes. The sports jacket is another optional piece that is only to be worn on days when students wear their Sport uniform. We expect the items to be available to families in May.

Parent Information Sessions and Interviews

Last week, our parents had the opportunity to listen to our staff speak during the Parent Information Sessions. In these sessions, they covered the curriculum content for their specific year level, in addition to lots of general information that staff needed to share i.e. homework, daily routines, home reading, camps, school uniform etc. It was lovely to speak with so many parents after the sessions, as they commented on how incredibly helpful the evening was, and how impressed they were with the confident and articulate way in which our staff delivered the information.

This week, parents met with teachers to discuss how their child has settled into the school year, what they hope for their child in 2024, how their child feels about school, and strengths and areas for growth. While the purpose of these meetings is largely for the parents to share information with the teacher, the families have also been very impressed with how well our teachers know their child socially, emotionally and academically.

Across both events, the feedback from all has been overwhelmingly positive - highlighting the importance of establishing relationships and expectations in these early weeks of the school year. I thank our staff for their heavy investment in these two critical events for our parent community - their professionalism and preparedness is second to none.

Building Project Update

Our building project continues to move along, importantly, staying to schedule. Our very own Sistine Chapel (the atrium) is halfway through the painting works, with the carpet, metal sheeting and fabric due to be finished after the long weekend.

SRC & Environment Leaders

Congratulations to our Semeter One SRC and Environment Leaders! Please see the Leadership Page for all of the details.

Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday

On Tuesday, we acknowledged Shrove Tuesday with pancakes. Shrove Tuesday marks the last day before Lent, traditionally a period of abstinence, associated with clearing your cupboards of goods such as sugar, fats, and eggs. Traditionally, pancakes were eaten on this day to use up these foods before the 40-day fasting season of Lent began. Thank you to our parent reps who will cook pancakes for the students on Tuesday morning, this is always a highlight!

On Wednesday we gathered for Ash Wednesday to begin our journey towards Easter. We thank Father Pat for celebrating the Mass with us and Miss Dillon for her work across these two important days.

HOLT Swimming

Today, 23 students competed at the HOLT District Swimming Carnival - Luke M, Hannah J, Joshua L, Max O, Allegra P, Jasmine P, Ned V, Jack P, Rosa M, Jasmine G, Sofia J, Poppy B, Jamieson C, Phoebe F, Hector G, Pen G, Liam J, Kiera W, Charlotte W, Flossie S, Lottie S, Henry P, Rafi A.

Supported by Miss Shanahan and Mr Gately, our amazing students not only shone in the pool, but also demonstrated amazing sportsmanship and teamwork. The first thing Miss Shanahan reported to me upon her return to school was, "the students were amazing!"

We also received this beautiful email from a parent who attended. We could not be more proud of our students!

A little feel good story for the end of the week… Hannah won her freestyle individual race, Leggy secured a second with her backstroke and Rosa came second in her breastroke and butterfly. They all swam the relay and came second. They swam their little hearts (and legs!) out and had a fabulous day. So proud of our St Joey kids!!

Year 6 Canberra Camp

Josh Burns MP visited Year 6 today to prepare the students for their trip to Canberra next week. We always love it when Josh stops past and our students take away so much from his engaging presentations. Our students will depart for Canberra at 6.45am on Monday. Year 6s - don't forget to set your alarms!

Next week our Year 6 students will be undertaking an educational tour of the National Capital. Students will be given the opportunity to participate in a variety of educational programs with a focus on Australia’s history, culture, heritage and democracy. The Australian Government recognizes the importance of all young Australians being able to visit the National Capital as part of their Civics and Citizenship Education. To assist families in meeting the cost of the excursion the Australian Government is contributing funding of $45 per student under the Parliament and Civics Education Rebate program towards those costs. The rebate is paid directly to the school upon completion of the excursion.

Parking

We strongly encourage all families to abide by the parking restrictions and expectations around our school boundaries, in particular, the 'drop and go' arrangements on Sandham Street and Staniland Grove. We also remind parents that they are not permitted to park in the staff car park, however briefly, and to please ensure you are parking correctly in the residential steets i.e. not across driveways or taking up multiple spaces, preventing our neighbours from accessing their houses.

School Photos

School Photos are booked for Thursday 29th February. Please send your child to school in their full summer uniform, including the correct navy socks and school shoes. Any hair accessories (i.e. headbands, ribbons or scrunchies) must be in school colours (white, navy or gold). Year 6 students will need to also wear their rugby jumpers. If your child has their Sport lesson on this day, please pack their runners in their school bag and they will be given time to change.

School Closure

On Thursday 7th March and Friday 8th March, the school will be closed so all staff can participate in a two day professional learning seminar. We have leaders from the Crowther Centre presenting to our staff on explicit instruction, in addition to completing some Child Safety and Wellbeing training, and reviewing school wellbeing policies and practices. The Crowther Centre is an education and school improvement consultancy firm that works with high performing schools to sharpen their teaching and learning approaches. These two days reinforces our priority on high quality teaching, learning and wellbeing. We thank you for your understanding as we undertake this valuable professional learning.

Little Gems

How is this for a flashback! Taken in 2018, Will is showing off his baby brother Alfie to the class. Will is now in Year 6 and Alfie is in Prep. Funnily enough, Alfie is in the same Prep classroom that he is pictured in here (fortunately, the green walls are no longer part of the decor!).

Prep A showing off their beautiful skills in lining up! We are so proud of our Preppies.

Mr Jansson and Mr Hartney came in matching outfits last week. They told me they were wearing blue and white to try and recruit new members to the North Melbourne Football club. I say to them, good luck!

It was lovely to have so many family members at assembly last week when we handed out the various Leadership bagdes. We love our Friday assembly community.

Congratulations to Giannis (2L) for winning his most recent tennis competition! What a superstar!

Dance Club is the place to be! A Year 6 Leadership initiative this year; the students loved choreographing and learning a special routine. I hear they may be making a special appearance at an assembly later this term... stay tuned.

Students in Year 4 have been working on their SunSmart posters, after completing a series of lessons as part of their Term 1, Wellbeing unit of work. Here they are, proudly showcasing their work.

Thank you for another wonderful fortnight. It is hard to believe that we have only been back for 14 school days. We really are getting into the swing of things now and are excited for what is to come. Enjoy a restful weekend.

Claire Tobin

Principal

Chess Club