Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome back to the beginning of Term 4 and the last term for the year. I hope you have enjoyed the last two weeks with your families over the holidays and managed to have some time away or do something special with them.

This week I have been privileged to spend time at camp with the year 5/6 students and teachers at Phillip Island. It was a wonderful experience and a great time connecting with the students. Check out the amazing adventures they got up to during their time away on the year 5/6 page of this newsletter.

We welcome Nick back next week!

Hats are Back!

All students need to wear a school hat this term. Please ensure that your child wears a hat to school so they can enjoy playtimes with their friends. Often it is helpful to have a spare just in case the hat is misplaced.

Maria Ruberto Final Session at St Joseph's

On Tuesday, 14th October, Maria will present her final parent session at St Joseph's in the SPA Centre Green Room, 5-6 pm. It would be wonderful to see as many parents as possible attending this session. It is a free event, and Maria offers some wonderful advice on parenting children, as well as insights into how the brain controls our behaviour. In the last session, Maria spoke about Compassion and how it plays an integral role in our lives. We look forward to seeing what Maria presents to us this session.

Child minding is available, please email Katie Vranken is you are attending and it you are having your children minded. A light snack will be provided during the session for children attending child minding. kvranken@sjyarrajunction.catholic.edu.au

Swimming Program 2025

In Week 3 this term, we will commence our annual Swimming Program at the Yarra Centre, from Monday, 20th October, to Thursday, 23rd October. In Week 4, the program will run from Monday, 27th October, to Thursday, 30th October. Please refer to the Physical Education/Sports pages in the newsletter for times and additional information. NForma forms, which were published this week, so please keep an eye out for any alerts to complete forms.

Bushfire Information

St Joseph's is a Bushfire Rated School and has a BARR of 2. BARR categories are fire risk categories 0, 1, 2, and 3, with category 3 being the lowest on the scale. This means that each year, all Victorian education facilities are assessed for their risk to bushfire and grassfire through a methodology developed by the CSIRO. This methodology considers bushfire-prone areas (BPA), the Victorian Fire Risk Register, and the site’s surrounding terrain, fuel and vegetation type. Our school is in an area considered to be at very high risk of bushfire. As a Category 2 school, our school is recommended not to operate from its usual site when the fire danger rating in our Local Government Area is forecast as ‘Extreme’ by the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) and must close on days forecast as ‘Catastrophic’ by the BOM in your designated fire district. More information about the Bushfire ratings can be seen on an additional page in this newsletter edition. Please ensure that your family has a plan for this upcoming Bushfire Season.

St Joseph's Colour Run 2025

Start spreading the word! The St Joseph's Colour Run is this term!

Details and information about the Colour Run will be coming out soon. This event has consistently received a very exciting and positive response in the past, serving as a great fundraiser for the school. Please look out for opportunities to support the P&F and ways to raise funds for the school on the P&F page and in future emails to families.

Pupil Free Days this term and end of term dates.

This term, there will be a Pupil Free Day on Monday, 3rd November, followed by the Public Holiday for Melbourne Cup on Tuesday 4th November.

The last day of Term 4 for students is Tuesday 16th December at 3pm as indicated in the School Calendar. Please refer to this calendar for additional upcoming events, and see the 'Upcoming Dates' page at the end of the newsletter.

Wishing you all the best for a great week ahead,

Katie Vranken

Religious Education