Dear parents and carers,

And so, the countdown begins. It's hard to believe we have 6.5 days left of this incredible school year. Not surprisingly, we've managed another fabulous fortnight at St Joseph's, celebrating the highly successful Christmas Fete and Art Show.

With lots planned for the last full week of school, we ask that families please be mindful of fatigue and try keep to solid routines at home. Importantly, let's all ensure we 'hold our line' and enjoy the remaining few days before a well earned break over summer.

Christmas Fete

Where do I even begin? Words alone simply cannot capture or do justice to the resounding success of our Christmas Fete on 23rd November. Despite the hot weather and some last minute adjustments, the St Joseph's community came together and the Christmas Fete was easily one of the most successful days of the year.

I want to express my deepest thanks to the entire parent group, led by the Parents and Friends, for their work in pulling this event together. The fete raised significant funds to be put back into the school, in addition fostering a strong sense of community and belonging. In particular, we thank Ben Gibbs, Jen Conway, Tim Newberry, the Christmas Fete committee, the Parent Reps and the many, many parent volunteers who gave up countless hours across the year to bring this event to fruition.

St Joseph’s will always be the sum of many parts, and our success lies in the dedication, passion, and collaboration of our entire community. The fete is a shining example of what we can achieve when we come together with a shared purpose. The day itself was nothing short of spectacular and it was heartwarming to see families, students, and staff working together to celebrate what makes St Joseph's just so fabulous, in such a meaningful way.

I must also acknowledge my wonderful staff, who turned up on the day ready to help out in any capacity, including going on 'Splash the Teacher', working on the stalls, chatting to families, manning the St Joseph's tent and generally getting amongst the spirit of the day. A special mention must go to Mr Cody and Miss Dusting for going on the Cyclone with the Year 5s!

We sincerely thank our community members for the beautiful feedback, either on the day in passing, or over the past fortnight, acknowledging the efforts of the parents and the wider success of the day. Every child I have spoken with has said it was the best day of their school life - what more could you ask for?

As our two Co-Presidents come to the end of their tenure, Ben Gibbs and Jen Conway, we thank you both for the work you have done over the past two years in reinvigorating our school community. Their tireless work has not only ensured absolutely incredible fundraising outcomes, but strong social connections amongst parents that transcend year levels. As we all know, St Joseph’s does it like no other - and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

As such, we are putting the call out for new parent volunteers to join our wonderful Parents and Friends Association. All new members will be well supported by the School and our outgoing Co-Presidents. Please have a think if this would be of any interest - many hands make light work.

The money raised from the Christmas Fete will be put towards upgrading the astro turf on the back playground, a project that was strongly recommended through several workshops by our Student Representative Council. It has been an extraordinary two-year period of fundraising from the Parents and Friends, with the P&F also entirely funding the beautiful fit-out of our new Library. These are significant projects for our school and significant investments in the future of our children. We would not be able to complete these works without the generosity of our Parents and Friends.

Last call for Christmas Trees. If you are yet to order your tree, please feel free to use the following link. Orders close on Sunday at 5pm.

The Art Show

What a simply stunning evening it was last Thursday for our Art Show! The National Gallery of St Joseph's was a spectacular celebration of the students' work in Visual Arts gathered over the year and displayed so beautifully throughout the school building.

We cannot thank the students and staff enough for their efforts with the Art Show, thoughtfully and professionally displaying the children's art pieces. We extend heartfelt thanks to Lauren Doran for coordinating over 1,000 pieces, and to the staff for their work and invaluable support in making this showcase a success. The classrooms, corridors and atrium reflected the efforts of our hard working team and certainly made our already beautiful school shine, with every display board and wall surface covered by student art pieces.

We also congratulate and thank the students who performed on guitar, cello, keyboard or ukele on the night. This wonderful addition to the program was so well received, with a full roster of student performances across the night.

Below, we have included a small sample of the wonderful feedback we received from the night.

I just wanted to say thank you for the lovely evening looking at the children's Artwork around the school!

Thank you for all your dedication and professionalism. We are blessed to have you all.

Wow. FYI - the general consensus was, the art show was absolutely AMAZING! And I agree - it looked so fabulous. Way beyond expectations. Well done to everyone!

The art on display was wonderful! It was so wonderful to see everyone’s creativity and art - Thanks for putting all that together!

Just wanted to congratulate you all for putting on such a wonderful art show. We were amazed with the number of artworks on display and the high quality.

Art Show - SRC Voting

This week, our SRC and Year 6 Art Show Assistants went around to view the student artwork and vote for two pieces from all framed items. The top pieces selected from each design will be professionally framed and displayed around the school for everyone to view. This is a lovely way to celebrate student success in Visual Art and provide our SRC with another way to contribute to our school community. We thank our SRC voting group, who took this responsibility very seriously. We will share the winners in the final newsletter of the year.

Annual General Meeting

On Tuesday evening, John Ferraro, Ben Gibbs and I addressed members of the parent community and staff, as we gathered for our Annual General Meeting. I reported on school achievements from a highly successful year, John Ferraro (Chair) provided a report from School Advisory Council and Ben Gibbs (Co-President of the Parents & Friends) shared the achievements and fundraising outcomes from the P&F.

It was really special to join 'forces' on the night, as, ultimately, all 3 bodies do such important work to contribute to the overall success of the school. There is so much that happens behind the scenes to make St Joseph's so fabulous, and it was lovely to share this with the families in attendance. We look forward to building upon this important event in 2025 - it is certainly not an evening to be missed.

Tea Towel & Apron Fundraiser

A big thank you to the many families who supported the recent Tea Towel and Apron Fundraiser - it was a resounding success! There are still some unclaimed apron orders in the office, if you haven't received yours yet, can you please call past the office to collect.

School Shoes

At this time of year, when most students have grown our of their regular school shoes, wearing runners is acceptable. We do not expect families to purchase new school shoes until the beginning of the new school year.

As such, in readiness for the 2025 new school year, we politely remind all families and students that jewellery, nail polish, sneakers, coloured headbands/scrunchies/ribbons are not a part of our school uniform. Hair accessories must be yellow/gold and blue only. Runners are not to be worn as part of the regular school uniform, black leather school shoes are to be worn on non-sport uniform days.

Staff News

Last week Year 6 farewelled Miss Shanahan as she prepared to fly home for her wedding. The students organised a lovely surprise party for her, complete with a crown and sash for her to wear. We look forward to welcoming Elaine back in the new year, and hearing all about her wedding.

The closure day last Friday provided staff with an opportunity to analyse data, review goals and targets, measure growth and plot students for their Semester Two reports. This process is crucial for the handover of key information for the teachers for the following year, providing a clear and comprehensive academic profile for each student. The leadership team have been so incredibly impressed by the student growth across the school and we are thankful to our staff for their significant investment in this process.

School Captain Speeches

As part of our leadership program, our Year 5 students made their speeches on Thursday. In front of a full audience, the students spoke confidently and passionately about their aspirations to lead the students in their final year at St Joseph's. The courage to talk in front of their peers (and many supportive family members) was incredibly impressive, and such an achievement. If the speeches on Thursday were any indication, all the students in Year 5 will be outstanding leaders, irrespective of their title. The 2025 School Captains will be announced at Mass on Wednesday 11th December, 10am.

Little Gems

These gorgeous Preppies were all smiles before school this week.

It was 'all hands on deck' to set the school up for the Art Show. Our Year 6s once again shone, supporting staff in preparing the works of art for display.

Our jacaranda has been looking simply marvellous of late, with many families (and some staff, it seems...) having an impromptu photo shoot under the purple flowers.

Ash and Eva (Year 4) & Tom and Johnny (Year 2) helping to clean up our playgrounds. Superstars!

Miss Opasinis, Mr Jansson and Miss Coldebella competed in the 2XU 10km run on the weekend - an incredible effort from them all!

Congratulations Year 4W and Miss Wilkinson on their beautiful assembly today, sharing their reflections on being a Kinder Buddy. We adore the program we run with Orrong Road Kinder and look forward to welcoming many of the Kinder buddies into Prep next year.

And finally...

We have so much to celebrate and be thankful for at St Joseph's. We could not have imagined a better end to the school week. Wishing you all a lovely weekend. See you on Monday for the final sprint home.

Claire Tobin

Principal

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