Principal’s News

Dear Families,

The digital world that our children are growing and learning in is a very complex space. Recently I watched an episode on 60 Minutes on the ever increasing risks that our children are exposed to through social media. In a very short period of time our children have moved from a play based childhood to a tech based childhood.

Direct correlations are now evident between the increase in depression and anxiety and the use of smartphones. Social media is all about using each other as a point of comparison. As parents and educators, it is our job to support our children to have a human-connected childhood rather than a digital-connected childhood.

As a school, we have made a commitment to set most homework tasks offline so as to minimise screen time for our children. Learning in the classroom is supported by technology tools rather than technology driving the learning.

As part of this commitment to ensure our children have their screen time managed at school we are seeking donations of old board games, packs of cards, and games such as connect 4 etc to be used on wet days. If you have any of these items that you no longer use at home we will gratefully receive them at the school office.

Volunteers in our Community

St Joseph’s is a very blessed community with the number of volunteers we have from all our wonderful parents. Our most recent band of helpers were the wonderful parents and children who sanded and painted the outdoor bench seats on our playground and did a massive leaf clearout and a secret garden spruce-up. Chris K tightened the net on the side of the hall so it rebounds the balls beautifully!

A special thanks to the

Cacharts (special call out for Jamie “sandman” Cachart who brought his industrial sander along and blitzed the sanding in no time!!)

Jendras

Purcells

Chris Karinacolas

Caz and Luke McBride

Tetiana Adeykina

It was great to hear the children also getting involved with painting, weeding and leaf clearing! As they say, children model the behaviour they see. Well done to our wonderful parents who are teaching their children to give back to their community!

In line with the theme of volunteering The City of Stonnington is calling for nominations for its annual Volunteer Awards. These awards celebrate the tremendous people and community groups whose commitment to volunteering makes a difference in our local community, positively impacts the lives of others, and makes the City of Stonnington a better place to live.

Nomination categories include:

Sports
Arts and Culture
Community Group
Community Service
Environmental Sustainability
Young Person.

The Mayoral Award will be selected from the nominations received in the above categories.

Visit Volunteer Stonnington’s website to learn more and submit your nomination. Nominations are open until 5pm, 5 July 2024.

https://www.stonnington.vic.gov.au/Community/Volunteer-Stonnington/Stonnington-Volunteer-Awards

Champions of our School

On Tuesday 28th May, Bekim (Year 5), Callum (Year 5), and Evelyn (Year 3) represented St Joseph's / Dendy District at Beachside Division Cross-Country. They all ran so well and made our school proud!

Bekim placed in the top 50 for the U11 boys, Evelyn placed 17th in the U9/10 girls, and Callum placed 3rd in the U11 boys and will go on to compete at the Southern Metro Primary Region Cross Country in June.

Playground Safety - Before and After School

Just a reminder to families that there will be no ball games before or after school for the safety of everyone in our community at pick-up and drop-off times. It would be great if staff and parents worked together to support this request.

Pyjama Day

On Thursday 20 June, everyone is invited to wear their pyjamas to school. This is an initiative being led from our school captain Alyssia who promised this day as part of her school captain election speech. Our politicians could learn from Alyssia on the importance of following through with election promises!

Alyssia is being ably supported by our SRC leaders Sophie & Rhys, Mrs Carmen, and all the school SRC representatives.

Donations for the day can be made by either a gold coin donation on the day or online using the following link:

Funds raised will go towards supporting St Vincent de Paul with the Vinnies CEO Sleepout appeal which goes towards providing crucial support and services to Australians in need. With your help, we can help break the cycle of homelessness for good.

Assembly Schedule (UPDATED)

Please find below an updated assembly schedule for the remainder of Term 2:

Week 8 - Friday 7 June - General Assembly

Week 9 - Friday 14 June - Year 1C

Week 10 - Thursday 20 June - Pyjama Day - St Vincent de Paul Presentation

***Please note that Pyjama day has been moved from Friday 21 June to Thursday 20 June due to a change in the Year 5/6 schedule for their lightning premiership interschool sports day. Assembly will also take place on Thursday 20 June. ***

Week 11 - Friday 28 June - Friendship Fair Day - Instrumental Presentation

Kings Birthday Public Holiday

Just a reminder the school will be closed on Monday 10 June for the King’s Birthday Public Holiday.

Wishing staff and families a wonderful long weekend.

Cathy Mason

(Acting Principal)

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