Dear Families,

This is our last newsletter for the year! It is hard to believe that this time next week, the students will be on school holidays and families preparing for Christmas!

Graduation

On behalf of our school community we congratulate our Year six students who celebrated their Graduation last evening.

Our year six students have been exemplary! We are all so proud! As I said last night through their actions, words and attitudes they have consistently demonstrated loyalty, kindness, respect and responsibility. They have led by example and have been true role models to the other students. They have shown enormous pride in our school, and have represented themselves and our school so well. As they move into Secondary School, we hope they embrace the challenges and opportunities with the same enthusiasm and courage. May they continue to dream big, be kind and make a positive difference in the world around them!

Families leaving our Community

To the families finishing their time with the SJV School Community we thank you for all your wonderful contributions across the years. Your unwavering support of your children and your willingness to work closely in trust with the school has helped build our school to be such a vibrant and caring community. We wish you every blessing.

Staff Farewells

It's always sad to be saying goodbye to those who have made such a positive difference in the life of our community.

After more than 35 years as a teacher at SJV, we say thank you to Liz Jackson for her incredible contribution to so many students, their families and colleagues. Liz' dedication, passion and care have left an indelible mark on so many. Her energy, her wonderful sense of humour and her kindness lit up the room for students and colleagues alike. A wonderfully creative teacher Liz has been able to bring the very best out in all those she has taught! As past and present students have remarked, Liz made learning so much fun! Liz is an integral part of the SJV story and we will miss her presence! We continue to pray for Liz as she battles illness.

We thank Emma Sofra who after 14 years as a teacher (both full and part time) will take up a new challenge at Resurrection Keysborough.

Emma has been a wonderfully inspiring teacher and colleague. Her gentle nature and positive regard for everyone will be missed. We wish Emma well.

After 7 years at SJV the most talented Beth Lacey will retire! We hope to see Beth back at SJV as a CRT in 2025. Up until this year we have be blessed to have Beth as our performing Arts Teacher. Her creativity, her enthusiasm and her passion for the Performing Arts and Sustainability have been a delight for all at SJV!

We farewell Nat Papaioannou who will be taking up a teaching position at St Josephine Bakhita in Clyde North, closer to her home. Nat has been a part of our staff since 2019, teaching in the junior school. She is well loved by her students and community members and we will all miss her gentle and encouraging manner.

Andy Kinsella will take leave in 2025. Andy has been a Foundation Teacher for the past two years and her wealth of experience and skill in teaching and caring for young students has not gone unnoticed. We thank her for her expertise and hope to see Andy back at SJV in the coming years.

Andrea Harvey's passion for teaching the seniors has drawn her to take a position St Catherines Moorabbin next year. Andrea's dedication and skill has positively impacted her class across the past two years. We wish her well in the next adventure.

We congratulate and thank two of our LSO's.

It is exciting times for Lauren Cameron who will take up her first teaching role at Our Lady of the Pines Bulleen. Lauren's has a talent and passion for music and her work with our choir has been very much appreciated. As an LSO she will be missed by the students she has assisted. We also thank the most talented Ella Tremonti. Ella has worked in several classrooms across the year and has been an asset leading our Bike Education Course here at SJV. We wish Ella well as she returns to NSW. We thank Ms Shermila for all her hard work across this last term! May blessings always be with you.

Some of the staff leaving have written a thank you on the following page.

2025 Staffing

Please find attached a link to our 2025 staffing. Please note that in exciting news Marg Klupacs will return to the school and teach 3-4 MK on a Friday.

2025 STAFFING LIST

Student Leadership and Captains in 2025

We will be announcing the Student Captains for 2025 tomorrow afternoon. All Year 6 six students will be 'leaders' with some students elected to captaincy roles.

Please note a change of date:

Badges will be presented at an Assembly on Thursday 6th February at 9am

Thank you Morning Tea

We invite all our Parents' who have helped us in 2024 from our Parent and Friends, Interschool Sports or other sporting events, excursions, camp and our SAC Committee to join us after the closing end of school mass on Friday at 10.00am for a thank you morning tea.

Run 4 Fun from last weeks Spirit Day Run - Prizes have now been despatched from their warehouse! We will contact families when they arrive.

2025 Foundation (& New Students) Clapping In Ceremony

This will also take place at the Assembly on Thursday 5th February, at 9am (Not in the Opening School Mass as previously advertised) There will be a Morning Tea to follow.

St Vincent de Paul Christmas Appeal

We thank all our families who bought food to share with others for the Christmas Appeal. Our Mini Vinnies were outstanding reminding classes to bring food and collecting the food each week. We hope that SJV made Christmas a little brighter for those in need.

Beginning of Year Testing Times:

At the beginning of the 2025 school year, all students will be required to participate in beginning of the year literacy and numeracy testing to monitor student learning and growth. These tasks are valuable in providing staff with information in relation to students’ understanding, growth and areas for future learning focus. We ask families to familiarise themselves with the beginning of the year testing dates below:

Students in Years 1-6 will be required to attend school on Wednesday 29th January or Thursday 30th January at an allocated time to complete literacy & numeracy testing.

Year 1 and 2 Students: Parents will be able to book an appointment for their child to complete testing on either Wednesday 29th January or Thursday 30th January. Information regarding online booking will be sent to families before the end of term.

Year 3 and 5 Students: All students are required to attend school from 8:45 - 11:00 on Wednesday 29th January. All children will be required to be picked up at 11am. No child will be allowed to walk/ ride home but must be collected by an adult.

Year 4 and 6 Students: All students are required to attend school from 8:45 - 11:00 on Thursday 30th January. All children will be required to be picked up at 11am. No child will be allowed to walk/ ride home but must be collected by an adult.

Awards

This week Mila won an Empathy award for always having a smile on her face and being kind. We hope all our students practice being grateful and display empathy and mindfulness over their summer break.

John Hannah House

This week we finished our John Hannah House Intergenerational Program on a high with our grade 3/4 completing a Christmas activity and our grade 6's saying goodbye by performing their Graduation dance to them. We look forward to continuing this successful program next year and wish the residents of John Hannah House a safe and happy Christmas.

2025 - School Arrival Time, Gate Opening & Bell Times

Please note the following changes for 2025:

The school gates will open at 8.30am, but the music to enter the classroom will begin at 8.40am to ensure the school complies with the Enterprise Bargaining Agreement (EBA).

The roll will be taken at 8.45am.

All students upon arrival will be asked to wait on the assembly/basketball court outside the staff room until the music begins and student move into their classrooms. Supervision will start on this area at 8:30am.

2025 Recess and Lunch times

PLEASE NOTE THE CHANGE:

In 2025, the school timetable will be adjusted to allow for two 2-hour learning blocks before lunch, followed by one 1-hour learning block after lunch. As part of these changes, recess will be earlier in the day and lunch will be later.

Here are the updated times for recess and lunch:

Recess Eating Time: 10:50am - 10:55am

Recess Outside Playtime: 10:55 am - 11:25am

Lunch Eating Time: 1:25pm - 1:35pm

Lunch Outside Playtime: 1:35pm - 2:15pm

We hope these changes will help support a productive and balanced school day!

Mother's and Father's Day 2025 Survey

LAST CHANCE TO HAVE YOUR SAY

Survey closes this Friday.

Over the last few years we have hosted a Mother's Day and Father's Day breakfast. Please fill in the following survey. These events do take a lot to prepare so we want to make sure that this is the right time for these events :

Click HERE

We have also sent this survey via seesaw.

Save the date 29th March 2025

This event will be our major school fundraiser for 2025.

If you have a business and can donate any Vouchers or Goods for Raffle prizes, please contact or hand into the office reception.

If you think you can help in any other way please contact: jwillmott@sjvmulgrave.catholic.edu.au

Please see our Important Dates page for all upcoming events and Term 1 2025 testing and starting days.

Happy Christmas

My thanks to every student and family for all your ongoing support of our school across 2024. Wishing all families every blessing over the Christmas break. May you all experience a blessed, happy, holy and safe Christmas and New Year with your family and friends.

Take Care and we look forward to seeing you in 2025.

Best wishes

Andrew

M-City Community Christmas Art

SJV is part of the Community Christmas Art Program at M-City. Please make sure you vote!!