From the Principal

St Justin’s Primary School acknowledges the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as Australia's First People and Traditional Custodians of the land and waterways on which our school stands.

We pay our respects to the Bunurong people of the Kulin Nation, and their elders past and present, and emerging as we continue to proudly live and learn on their land.

St Justin's Primary School - Celebrating over 40 years of Catholic Education

Dear Families and Friends,

On Tuesday, Mrs Loadman, Mrs Wegmann and myself had the opportunity to attend the quarterly Monash Schools Police Network Meeting held at Wellington Secondary College at 7:30am. The meeting was an opportunity for representatives to come together as a collective to discuss issues, trends and concerns facing both primary and secondary schools and provide support.

A whole range of topics were discussed from racism, knives, road safety (electric bikes and scooters), absenteeism and social media. Discussions were conducted around rules we have to keep children safe - not driving until we have a license, not drinking alcohol until we are 18 years of age, wearing a helmet when riding our bikes, not riding electirc scooters until 16years of age, assessing R rated material, restircting access to some online material including Roblox, etc. Senior Constable Jac reminded us that whilst schools have a responsibility to help educate students, parents have the responsibiity to "parent". Sometimes, being our child's "best friend" is not what they need - our children need boundaries - it is okay to sometimes say "No".

Below is an extract from our presentation held earlier this year around e Bikes and e Scooters

Week 4 Lent - Sunday 15th March

This Sunday, the fourth week of Lent invites us to reflect on light, sight, and understanding. As educators and parents, we guide our sudents/children not just in knowledge, but in wisdom, insight, and seeing the world with compassion. In the Gospel this Sunday we reflect on the story of the man born blind, a story about Jesus opening eyes – not just physically, but spiritually – and the ways God calls us to help others see truth and hope in their lives.

Prayer:

Christ,

Open our eyes to see what really matters,

help us notice the struggles and gifts of our students,

guide us to teach with patience, creativity, and care,

and show us where we might be blind to your presence in our workplaces.

Let us bring light, hope, and understanding into every lesson

and every conversation, so your love

and wisdom can shine through all we do.

Amen.

Project Compassion

Caritas Australia is an organisation that has been working alongside some of the world’s most vulnerable communities for over 55 years. Through their work, they partner with communities to help them achieve their development goals and build a better future.

The community of St Justin’s can support this important work by donating to the Project Compassion Lenten Appeal. Each class has their own Project Compassion box where students can donate a small amount of money. Students are encouraged to help out at home and, in return, receive a small donation to place in their class box.

Some classes have already been doing an amazing job supporting the appeal. So far, Year 2DW has raised the most money with a total of $58.05, followed by Prep LI with $33.35. At the end of Week 7, the school total was $187.80.

We still have three weeks remaining to contribute, so let’s keep the donations coming and see how much money the St Justin’s community can raise to support those most in need.

Thank you to our Mini Vinnies Leaders who are eagerly helping Mrs Snell promote this iniative at school.

PREP Family BBQ Night

Last night we conducted our Prep 2026 Family BBQ. Despite the cooler weather, it was a great evening with great food, but more importantly because it was a great chance for our families to come together. Thanks to Tony Di Iorio for setting up and cooking, representatives from the School Advisory Council and Parents and Friends and to Miss Lea, Mrs Loadman, Mrs Interligi, Mrs Snell and Fr Andrew for their wonderful support. I'm sure there will be many more enjoyable gatherings over the years.

Catholic Education Week - 15th - 22nd March

Catholic Education Week will be celebrated in Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Melbourne from 15-22 March 2026. This annual event is held to promote the special ethos of Catholic schools and to highlight thegreat things that take place in Catholic schools everyday.

The theme for this year’s celebrations is, “Christ beside me: Walking in the footsteps of Saint Patrick”. This year’s theme celebrates the significance of Saint Patrick, the patron saint of our local Churchin Melbourne. Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, our mother Church, is named after the saint of Ireland.

Catholic Education Week is an opportunity for all Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Melbourneto celebrate their Catholic identity, the pivotal role they play within their local community and thestrength of the sector. Catholic education strives to make a difference in the lives of those in our schools and in the widercommunity by challenging young people to live out the message of Jesus and walk the way of thegospel to reach their full potential as compassionate, contributing, life-giving members of society.

There are 335 Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Melbourne that educate around 150,000students and employ more than 20,000 teachers and staff, and most will celebrate Catholic Education Week in some way.

Our school is planning several activities during the week including Whole School Assembly Monday, Catholic Education Week Prayer, Week 4 Lenten Prayers, Harmony Day Reflection and our Year 6 Captains will attend Mass at St Patrick's Cathedral.

Creative Arts Exhibition 2026

We also proud to announce that some of our students had their artwork selected for the

MACS Creative Arts Exhibition, which is also held during CEW

The artworks were created during the 2025 school year, so the year levels listed below reflect the students’ year level at the time the work was produced.

The exhibition celebrates the creativity and artistic talents of students from Catholic schools across the Archdiocese of Melbourne.

The Creative Arts Exhibition will be open to the public at Celtic Hall, Catholic Leadership Centre, 576 Victoria Parade, East Melbourne during the following times:

Sunday 15 March | 11:00am – 4:00pm
Monday 16 March | 10:00am – 4:00pm
Tuesday 17 March | 10:00am – 4:00pm
Wednesday 18 March | 10:00am – 4:00pm
Thursday 19 March | 10:00am – 4:00pm
Friday 20 March | 12:00pm – 7:00pm
Saturday 21 March | 11:00am – 4:00pm

Families and members of the wider community are warmly invited to visit the exhibition.

Congratulations to our selected artists:

Year 1 (2025) – Shape Stacked Sculptures - Corey, Willow, Isaac, Sabrina, Jade, Loukas, Sam
Year 2 (2025) – The Fish Collection Sculptures - Leo, Piper, Ivy
Year 5 (2025) – A Field of Mushrooms Lino Prints - Izaac, Aydin, Anahera, Mila, Adele

We are incredibly proud of these students and their wonderful creative achievements and the way they represent the creativity of our school community. Thanks to Mrs Mulholland for not only delivering a great Visual Arts prgram, but for taking the time to nominate students for the Creative Arts Exhibition.

Important Dates

Whilst we have most dates in the calendar, some dates include:

Monday 16th March - NAPLAN Year 5 Conventions Of Language 9.30am
Monday 16th March - Whole School Assembly 2:40pm PAC
Tuesday 17th March - NAPLAN Year 3 Conventions Of Language 9.30am
Wednesday 18th March - NAPLAN Year 5 Numeracy 9.30am
Thursday 19th March - Parent Helper Session
Thursday 19th March - NAPLAN Year 3 Numeracy 9.30am
Friday 20th March - Ride to School Day
Friday 20th March - Sausage sizzle Orders Due
Friday 20th March - Harmony Day - everyone is invited to wear a touch of orange.
Friday 20th March - Harmony Day Bake Sale
Friday 20th March - NAPLAN catch up session
Friday 20th March - Year 6 Captains attending mass at St Patrick's Cathedral
Saturday 21st March - School Working Bee

Please refer toDates Ahead for a full list of important dates in Term 1

Harmony Day

Open Day

Our Open Day is planned for Thursday 26th March, running from 9am-7:00pm. This is a great opportunity for new families looking for a school for their children for 2027 to come along and see what St Justin's has to offer. We would love some volunteers, parents and students, to help run this day - we require at least two parents all throughout the day to meet and greet and then some volunteer students from 3:30pm - 7:00pm to help with tours.

Please send an email to the office or register via the link below if you can help out: office@sjwheelershill.catholic.edu.au

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Cl7o6TK_U7yuKIYVFNEB5Hb8SLcy9bPu/edit?gid=1455325126#gid=1455325126

Parents and Friends

The Parents and Friends (which is all of us) have been busy organising a number of events and activities. As always, some of these events and activities are organised to raise funds, others are simple organise to bring our community together and celebrate friendship, learning, togetherness, connectedness and much more. Some events include:

Harmony Day Bake Sale: Friday 20th March
Working Bee: Saturday 21st March (1:30pm - 4:30pm)
Sasuage Sizzle Hot Lunch - Friday 27th March (orders need to be in by Friday 20th March)
Easter Bonnet Parade: Thursday 2nd April - students are asked to make their own simple bonnets to help celebrate Easter and our creativity. Our Visual Arts Captains presented some examples to student this week.
Hot Cross Bun Morning Tea: Thursday 2nd April (orders in by Monday 30th March)
Easter Egg Raffle: Thursday 2nd April (casual dress day on Friday 27th for Easter Egg donations)
Morning with Mum: Friday 8th May (more details to follow)
Trivia Night: Saturday 30th May (more details to follow)
Kiosk Friday: Every Friday in the Undercover Area

For more information, access the Parents and Friends page in this newsletter.

It certainly is a busy time but as always, it's great to see so much happening. If at any stage you would like to help out, please reach out to the Parents and Friends or come to the meetings. Please remember, all volunteers need to be a registered with the school - once you have your Working With Children Check / VIT, just call the office and make a time to meet with Mr T. Once registerd, please sin in at the office and get a lanyard when volunteering.

Working Bee

Our first official working bee will be held on Saturday 21st March 2026 from 1:30pm-4:30pm. The main objective is to have the school looking spick & span before our Open Day which is on the following Thursday. Jobs include:

New Softfall into the Senior Adventure Playground (it wouldn't be a working bee if we didn't do this job).
Dusting cobwebs.
Tidying the garden beds (especially at the front of the school).
Adding sand to the sandpit.
Staining the timber chairs around the Wheeler Wing.
Paint yellow lines.
Planting plants - including the vegetable garden.
Install a watering system in the hot house - (a plumber would be handy).
Plan for future projects including the installation of a new fence and replacement of front retaining wall and cubby playhouses out front.
If anyone can weld, we have a small welding job to do (small gauge)
And much more.

As always, our working bee will finish with a sausage sizzle and drink. Everyone welcome.

Mr T is happy to conduct Volunteer Interviews on the day - just bring your completed paper work along (Volunteer application forms are available from the office).

Please register your interest via the nforma app

Existing Families - Enrolment for 2027

We are in the process of preparing our enrolments for 2027

Application are nowonline. If any current school families require an enrolment application for 2027 click on the link below:

https://www.sjwheelershill.catholic.edu.au/enrolments

Click on "Apply Now"

We respectfully request that these applications are completed by Friday, March 20th 2026, so we have an idea of our numbers for 2027 before we offer places to new families.

Ride2School Day

Join students across Australia participating in National Ride2School Day on Friday 20th March 2026 and help children build healthy habits, independence and confidence on the journey to school. Students are encouraged to walk, ride or scoot to school. It’s a fun and healthy way to start the day, build confidence and help create a calmer, safer school gate for everyone.

Please note:

A Bike / Scooter parking zone will be set up on the basketball court - students will be able to leave their bikes / scooters there for the day.
Our Parish Mass starts at 9:15am
All participants are reminded to dismount at the front gate and wheel their bikes / scooters up to the parking zone.
STRICTLY NO E-Bikes Or E-Scooters please

Creative Arts Exhibition 2026

Academy Uniforms

Please refer to the St Jutin's Uniform page for more details.

Student Absences

We take the opportunity to remind all families that student absences should be reported to school via nforma or phoning the office prior to school commencing by 8:30am.

Student Absences are to be reported in the following way:

Leave a message via Student Absence on 9561 7644
Report Absence via nforma

Please refer to the MACS Responding to Student Absences flowchart below which has been issued to all schools. We appreciate your support with folowing the correct procedures as we do not want to unnecessarily burden the Police with Welfare Checks that are not required. We are certain that they have plenty of other work to do!

Sacrament Dates 2026

Please refer to Education in Faith for 2026 Sacrament Dates.

As always, thank you for your ongoing support.

All the best,

Pat

Mr Patrick Torpey

Principal