Principal News

Week 11, Term 2

Dear parents and carers, 

What a truly remarkable semester we have had, with just so much to celebrate at St Joseph's. We congratulate our students, staff and families for their significant investment during this period - bringing our school alive with learning, laughter, joy and community spirit. 

In particular, we congratulate our Preps for completing their first semester of learning. They are doing such a wonderful job under the watchful eye of Miss Aloi and Miss Mclean. 

Over the break, we hope that you are all able to have some rest and recharge, after what has been an incredible term of learning. It certainly has been a long one. Below is a small snapshot of what we have achieved this term - it is no wonder we are all feeling ready for a break! 

Term 2 Snapshot

Prep 2025 Interviews

Years 3-6 First Aid

Resurrection Liturgy

P&F Cocktail Party

ANZAC Day Liturgy

P-2 Ricketts Point excursion

Prep and Year 5 buddy activities

Year 5/6 Immigration Museum excursion

Year 6 Parliamentary Committee

Year 3 Sacrament of Reconciliation

Year 6 participating in the Da Vinvi Decathalon

Year 3 visiting Victoria by the Park

School tours for prospective families

District Cross Country 

District Soccer

Beachside Cross Country 

Mother's Day stall, breakfast and assembly

Year 3/4 Connecting to Country excursion

Year 6 Interschool Sport and 

Lightning Premierships

'Principal For The Day' with Olivia D

Year 4 Orrong Road Kinder visits

Acknowledgement of National Sorry Day and Reconciliation Week

Regular class assemblies

Cake Stall

Year 5/6 Topic 'Taking Action' (Joeys FIFA World Cup)

Parent/Teacher Interviews

Building Project - the final update!

Over the school holidays our builders will finish up their incredible work at St Joseph's. The final pieces of the puzzle include: 

• Finishing the refurbishment of the Principal office, admin office and multi-purpose room.
• Installing new lights and fans in the atrium.
• Delivery and installation of some furniture. 
• Painting the carpark entrance. 

Over the next two weeks we will also attend to any minor, final jobs before Spaces Australia departs St Joseph's, leaving us to enjoy the beautiful new classrooms and shared spaces. 

We look forward to celebrating the completion of the project in our first newsletter of Term 3. 

Southside Girls AFL Competition

Our Year 5 and 6 girls were recently given the opportunity to compete in a round-robin style AFL competition against 3 other local schools. St Joseph's, Sacred Heart Sandringham, St Joan of Arc Brighton and St Agnes Highett came together to promote the importance of girls playing team sports, and the day could not have gone any better. 

Our team made it into the Grand Final and, althought we didn't secure a win, the team's performance and spirit were exceptional. 

Congratulations to Ava S (Year 5) who was our 'best on ground' for the match! Here she is with Miss Coldebella, our wonderful football coach and Year 6 teacher. 

 The team will now progress to the next round at the Beachside Competition on Thursday July 25th. The success of this event has ensured it will remain a fixture on our school calendar for years to come. 

Time Capsule

It was a very exciting day on Monday when the builders pulled the time capsule out from under the floorboards in the Principal office. We were able to read one of the letters that was attached to the outside of the tube, detailing why the students prepared the capsule and what is contained inside. Marked, 'Do not open until November 2050', we resisted all temptation to open it and it will be safely buried in the cellar, along with a time capsule from our students, next term. 

Senior School  Topic Expo

It was wonderful to see the talented and creative Year 5 and 6 students bring  their amazing learning to life at the FIFA Joeys World Cup. Starting with the Year 5C 'Opening Ceremony' assembly, before moving into student presentations of their learning and then the round robin FIFA World Cup. 

Our students responded superbly to this unique opportunity to showcase their learning and creativity, and their excitement was palpable. We sincerly thank Miss Dusting, Mr Cody, Miss Coldebella, Miss Shanahan and Mrs Quitt for supporting our senior students so well. 

A special mention to the staff for donning their soccer jerseys to play against the students in the finale! There is nothing our wonderful teachers cannot do. 

Staffing News

As our families would have read on Monday, we are thrilled to announce the employment of Gabe Sheahan as our Learning Diversity Leader. With extensive experience across primary, secondary, and specialist settings, Gabe brings a wealth of knowledge that will greatly benefit our school community.

Sarah Horan will be returning to Ireland after her brief tenure in the Music role, and we extend our best wishes to her. We are excited to welcome Andrew Vagg, who will be joining us for Semester Two to lead our Performing Arts program. Andrew brings a strong background in performing arts. We know our families will make all of our new staff members feel very welcome. 

Today we also said farewell to Fiona Kelly (Learning Support Officer). She has decided to move back to Geelong to be closer to her family. Fiona has been a valued member of our LSO team, and her dedication to our students and staff has been truly appreciated. We thank Fiona for her contributions and wish her all the best - the St Joseph's community will dearly miss you. 

Semester One Reports and Parent-Teacher Interviews

Thank you to our wonderful staff who worked so diligently to prepare the Semester One student reports. In a change to our regular program, we moved the parent-teacher interviews to align with the student reports, and concluded the interviews this week. The feedback from the changed meeting time has been overwhelmingly positive, with parents and staff reporting just how beneficial the meetings were, and it provided the perfect opportunity to reflect on a wonderful semester's worth of learning. 

Learning Diversity

We have been working our way through the termly PSGs for our families and teachers. We are indebted to Alannah Harrison for the wonderful work she has done to support our families in our transition period between Learning Diversity Leaders. We also sincerely thank our dedicated classroom teachers, support staff and LSOs for the significant work they do in writing and actioning various learning plans and goals for their students. 

Glen Eira Local News

This week, some of our Year Six students had the opportunity to sit down with a journalist from Glen Eira Newspaper. We could not have been more proud of the way the students conducted themselves during the 'round table' discussion, as they engaged in conversations about their submissions to the 'My Brother Jack' Writing Competition. 

They engaged so respectfully with one another and were able to provide well thought out discussions to the journalist's questions. Well done to Mabel, Leo, Olivia and Liza! We are so proud of the work you are doing in Year 6. Keep an eye out in the August edition of the paper.

Working With Children Check (WWCC) Card

A reminder to all parents/volunteers that, as part of our commitment to Child Safety, and in order to volunteer at our School, the school requires you to hold a current Working With Children Check.

If you need to renew your existing card, please use this link:

https://www.workingwithchildren.vic.gov.au/individuals/current-cardholders/renew-my-card. Please also ensure you have listed our school in your WWCC Contact Details when renewing your card and then we will receive a letter notifying us that you have been approved and there will be no need for you to bring in a copy of your card.

Little Gems

I recieved this gorgeous email about one of our Year 3 Basketball teams: 

We just wanted to share some lovely news with you re: our Tigers team, coached by Ari (Chloe) and Travis (Evie). They won their grand final tonight after being undefeated for the whole of Term 1 and 2, 2024 (the final score was 17-4). This win was especially wonderful as last year they were put in a competition against boys teams (all year) which they often found quite challenging. But they pushed through those challenges from last year, never gave up, trained hard, persevered, and it has paid off - they not only became stronger players individually, but more importantly as a team (the encouragement they give each other is so incredibly heartwarming). We are so proud of our girls tonight!

Mrs Quitt and Miss Coldebella turned up at work accidentally dressed as twins, much to everyone's delight. 

The new PE jacket is a hit, and not just among the students. Here is Mr Jansson and Miss Nardella modelling the staff version. Looking fabulous!

Some super Year 1 students popped in to showoff their phonics work. Congratulations! 

Our Preps are so advanced, they are already into chapter books! How's the concentration - this is just too cute. 

Art Club continues to be a success for our students. This lunchtime club is run by Miss Amanda (LSO) and Mrs Harrison once a week during breaktimes, and we are grateful that they are able to provide this club for our students. We also thank Miss Jen for her support, as she often joins in to display her artistic talents. 

Seri, Neave, Jasmine and Maggie could not contain their joy when winning the mixed AFL competition earlier this month. These girls, and indeed all of our Year 6s, are having the most fabulous time in their final year at St Joseph's! 

Izzy (Prep) was so proud of her writing that she asked for a photo with Mrs Harrison to celebrate. 

In closing...

Thank you to the staff for another amazing term at St Joseph's, and to the students for their hard work and determination. How is it the end of June? The year is flying past. 

Looking forward to seeing you all 

again after a restful break. 

Take care, 

Claire Tobin

Principal