Happy Birthday

Wishing all our students a very happy birthday who celebrated their special day over the holiday break and last fortnight.

2 January - Evelyn H Year 5, Indiana D Year 1

4 January - Jude H Year 3

6 January - Jimmy R Year 5

8 January - Evie P Year 5, Samantha T Year 3, Evie W Kinder, Rory C Kinder & Owen H Year 2

9 January - Hamish B Year 5, Layken L Year 6 & Leo M Kinder

10 January - Yuna L Year 4 & Alice P Kinder

11 January - Elliot S Year 5

12 January - Hazel P Year 2 & Harper M Year 6

14 January - Elleanor M Year 4

15 January - Isabelle K Year 1 and Benjamin A Year 2

16 January - Isla J Year 4

19 January - Lachlan Q Year 3

20 January - Merida G Kinder and Savannah F Year 4

21 January - Ella C Kinder, Logan C Kinder and Miles C Year 2

23 January - Harley M Year 1, Curtis T Year 6, Lachlan M Year 4 and Vincent O Year 2

24 January - Jack W year 6

25 January - Adam L Year 6 and Mason R Year 3

26 January - Savannah B Year 2

28 January - Jasper B Year 1

30 January - Benjamin L Kinder

1 February - Lani B Year 6 and Evelyn P Year 2

6 February - Felix P Year 6, Jordan G Year 5 and Stella B Year 1.

Parent Handbook

The SJB Parent Handbook is a quick reference guide for all school related information and is available on the school website. We draw your attention to pertinent sections of the Handbook that were updated in Term 4, 2024:

Afternoon Dismissal

You may recall that towards the end of 2024, we changed our Afternoon Dismissal Procedure whereby all students assembled in class lines under the Cola and were dismissed in groups according to their manner of dismissal: Bikers and Rowan Street Walkers, Basketball Walkers, Bus, OOSH and finally Parent PickUp. This Procedure will continue during 2025. Although this Procedure takes slightly longer, it ensures structure and effective supervision of students. Thank you for your patience as you wait for your child to be dismissed.

First Aid

The safety of students is the highest priority at St Joseph’s and as such, all staff receive annual First Aid Training. We implement varied procedures relating to the administering of First Aid at school. In the event a student is injured at school, staff complete a First Aid Notification form, and if able, the student is escorted to the Office with the form. School nominated Trained First Aid Officers assess the injury and make decisions on how to treat and when to communicate with parents.

Toward the end of 2024, we implemented a new procedure whereby if a student was injured toward the end of the school day, that is, when there was limited time for staff to assess, treat and contact parents before Afternoon Dismissal procedures commenced, then the student would be taken to the Office and parents called to collect the student along with any siblings. This procedure will continue during 2025. We thank parents and families in advance for their cooperation in this procedure.

Uniform Policy

The school Uniform Policy can be accessed on the School Website. An important part of our Uniform Policy is the wearing of our school hat. For sun safety reasons, all students must wear their school hat to school, from school, during Sport lessons, Sporting events and during all breaks. If students do not have a hat, they will be provided a shaded area to sit within the playground. Uniform Reminder slips we be sent home in recurring situations.

We thank parents for helping us to meet the high standards that we set across all domains at St Joseph’s to ensure our students are safe.

Smart Watches at School

We understand that some families like their child to wear a Smart watch to and from school. Once inside the school gate, we ask that these watches are placed into students' school bags on 'silent' or 'school' mode. If parents need to get a message to their child, please communicate this through the school office. Once students leave the school gate, they are able to check the watch and put it on. Thank you for your understanding with this.

Road Safety Reminders

School Zones

The 40km/h speed limit in school zones helps to protect children on their way to and from school. The lower speed limit reduces the risk and potential severity of a crash. School zone signs, dragon’s teeth road markings and flashing lights improve the visibility and driver awareness of school zones.

40km/h school zones are in force on all notified school days. These exclude weekends, public holidays and public school holidays.

School zone times

The school zones operate 8–9.30am and 2.30–4pm.

Parking

A huge thank you to our parents who follow road rules in relation to parking. You are keeping students safe and you are respectful of other road users and our neighbours.

When parking in the Parish carpark please never park across Father Patrick's driveway. This is well labelled. Please reverse park cars into the car spaces to ensure greater safety when leaving the carpark. There are often students walking in this carpark. Please take great care when driving and hold children's hands when walking.
Parents and families must never park in the Anglican Church carpark on Park Street. Neighbours in this area must access their homes through the Church carpark and parking in there is not permitted.
Thank you for respecting our neighbours by not parking across driveways.

Whole School Mass and Year 6 Leadership Presentation

2025 Enrolments - Online applications now open

Our online applications are now open.

You will be required to use our new online enrolment platform, called Funnel, removing the use of all paper forms. Please take note, particularly for sibling applications. The online application form will be accessible from the home page of our school website

2025 - Insights - Action Required (Kinder-Year 6)

As in previous years, we ask that parents/carers complete the online "Insights" for each child for the following:

2025 Consent for the use of student’s image and/or work
- (please note that by selecting "NO", students will not be able to participate in class (yearly school photos) or have any photo in the newsletter, yearbook or celebrations which at times are on our school facebook page.
2025 Acceptable Use Of Technology (Primary)

Please find attached instructions on how to complete the online consents. We ask that these consents are completed as soon as possible to enable us to publish photos through our communication lines.

Please read the attached Parent Guide on how to access this forms.

2025 School Fees -

School fees for 2025 have now been invoiced and statements will be emailed tomorrow, Friday 7 February.

If you are paying your fees upfront, full payment is due by 28 February 2025.
If you are paying your fees via weekly, fortnightly, monthly or quarterly, your first instalment is due 28 February 2024.

If you wish to pay via instalments and have not requested to do so, please complete the form below.

From the commencement of the 2025 school year, the management of certainaspects relating to school fee accounts in Primary Schools has been transferred to the School Fees Liaison Office at the Catholic Education in Wollongong.

What does this mean for families:

Your school’s administration office is your first place for enquiry regarding school fees. School staff will provide information regarding instalments, methods of payment, giving access to an Application for Fee Concession and attend to other general enquiries.

If you are experiencing financial difficulty or need to make an arrangement for payment of your school fee account, please email sflo@dow.catholic.edu.au with your name and the school in which your children are enrolled. The School Fees Liaison Office will then contact you directly to offer assistance.

Please note that each school has a dedicated School Fees Liaison Officer to provide a personalised service to individual families. This Officer will also have a close relationship with your school.

If you require further information about this initiative, please do not hesitate to contact your school’s administration office.

If you have not previously completed or wish to change your frequency of payments in 2025, a Request to Pay via Instalments form must be completed.

Are Your Contact Details Correct?

As we begin the new school year it is important that your contact details are up to date. It would be appreciated if you could log onto the Compass Parent Portal and check that your mobile/telephone number and email address are correct.

If you find that they are incorrect, you may update them in the portal.

Please also check that your email address is reachable, we sometimes find that we receive ‘bounce backs’ due full inboxes.

Important Update for all Parent/Grandparent Volunteers & Contractors

New Visitor Management System for School Sign-Ins

We are excited to announce the implementation of a new Visitor Management System designed to streamline and enhance the safety and efficiency of signing in at our schools. This system will change the way parents and visitors sign in, ensuring a smoother and more secure process.

Important Steps for All Parents:

Token for Onboarding Process: If you have previously provided the school with your Working With Children’s Check number you will receive an email with your token via email shortly. If you would like to start volunteering, please click on the link provided below to complete the new on boarding process.

Clearance for Volunteering: Once you have completed the onboarding process, you will receive clearance from the Child Protection team from the Catholic Education Office, allowing you to volunteer in our schools.

Quick Sign-In App: To make the sign-in process even simpler, we have introduced a quick sign-in app available for download from both the App Store and Google Play Store. This app will allow you to sign in quickly and efficiently whenever you visit the school.

We appreciate your cooperation and understanding as we transition to this new system. Our goal is to ensure the safety and security of all students, staff, and visitors. Should you have any questions or need assistance, please do not hesitate to contact the school office

What do I need to do if my child's arrangements for going home change?

At times your child's travel arrangement for going home can change for various reasons. When this occurs it is always advisable to let the school office know to save any confusion.

The school office is able to advise your child and their teacher if messages are received by 1:30 pm.

Student Absences

Whole Days

The school must receive notification by a parent or caregiver of any whole day absence. This can be done via the Compass School Management System on the day of the absence. In the event that notification is not supplied, the absence will be recorded as Unjustified/Unexplained.

Partial Absences

The School Office records partial absences when a child enters school late or leaves school early and parents are not required to enter these via Compass.

Unexplained extended absences from school are serious and the school adheres to the School Attendance Guidelines and St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School Bulli Procedures of the Catholic Education Office, Wollongong.

Book Club, Issue 1 2025

Students will receive our Book Club Issue 1, 2025 tomorrow.

Book Club Issue 1 will close on Monday, 24 February for delivery in the week commencing Monday 3 March.

Sports

SJB Swim Trials

We look forward to our SJB Swim Trials on Monday at Corrimal Pool. Please refer to the Compass Event for further information. Non Competitors in Yrs 2-6 will remain at school and are invited to wear sport uniform as they will do some outdoor activities on Monday.

Parent Volunteer information will be uploaded to the event today. Parent Volunteer Meeting will be held at 8:45am near Swim clubhouse before our trials will begin at 9am and conclude at midday.

Kylie Grose / Christine Smith

Sport Co-ordinators

Canteen

Open Monday to Friday for recess and lunch.

Cash purchases for snacks and drinks can be made at recess and lunchtime. Snacks and drinks can also be ordered via the new platform FlexiSchools.

FRIENDLY REMINDER: PLEASE ENSURE YOU CHANGE YOUR CHILD/S CLASS TO REFLECT THEIR CLASS FOR 2024

Lunch orders

Orders for lunch can only be made through Flexischools. Please note that orders close at 9.15am daily. Orders cannot be placed after this time.

Flexischool Parent Support Line - 1300 361 769 (Hours: 7.00am-12.00 noon)

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Handbook

2024 Bus Timetable (Premier Charters)

PB4L (Positive Behaviour for Learning)

Ask your child about the weekly focus for students.

This week's focus:

Be Responsible - Listen respectfully to your teachers and school friends.

Community Services

Norths Netball

Northern District Junior Tigers AFL Club