Week 4, Term 2

Dear Families,

Our students have had a busy fortnight, which included visits from Project ROCKIT, Maths Olympiad for Years 4, 5 and 6, 'Ol School Day' for our Juniors, Year 6 Interschool Sport, the Mother's Day celebrations, Orrong Road Kinder visits for Year 4, an excursion to Sovereign Hill for our 5s and 6s, assembly presentations, and rehearsals for Mary Poppins JR. Despite this full and robust program, we congratulate the students and staff for remaining composed and focused, embracing everything before them.

It's important that we acknowledge the investment and coordination between our staff, parents and students. Bringing all these activities, experiences and events to life, while also managing a classroom, a leadership role, a program within the school, or work commitment, requires a significant amount of time and energy. These opportunities are not only memorable, but play a vital role in developing well-rounded, confident and compassionate young people. At St Joseph’s, we believe that learning happens everywhere, and we are deeply grateful for the collective effort that ensures our students can thrive both inside and outside the classroom.

Staff News

On Monday, we welcome Tom Hartney back from parental leave. I know that everyone will be delighted to see him and hear all about his time at home with baby Summer.

Principal's Conference

Next week, I will be attending the South Central Catholic Principal's Network conference in Broome. My time away will include visiting remote primary schools in Derby and Beagle Bay, and immersing ourselves in learning about faith, culture and community from an Indigenous perspective and within Indigenous communities. In my absence, Tom Hartney and Alannah Harrison will be in charge. I know you will all support Tom and Alannah, and I look forward to seeing you upon my return.

St Joseph's Parish and Holy Cross Parish Amalgamation

We are pleased to share that St Joseph’s Parish and Holy Cross Parish have officially amalgamated and are now known as The Parish of St Joseph’s, Elsternwick and Holy Cross, Caulfield South.

To celebrate this special occasion, a community luncheon will be held at St Joseph’s School Atrium on Sunday, 29th June 2025 at 12.30pm. All families from school are invited to attend, with more details will follow in the coming weeks.

As part of this exciting new chapter, we invite all members of our community to contribute suggestions for our new Parish Prayer and designs for a Parish Logo. Submissions can be emailed to the Parish Office elsternwick@cam.org.au by Friday, 30th May 2025. We look forward to your ideas.

For us at St Joseph’s Primary School, while this does not change how we operate as a school, it does signal a meaningful opportunity to strengthen our connection with the wider parish community and continue growing together in faith and partnership.

Sovereign Hill Excursion Year 5 and 6

To support their learning in our History unit the Year 5 and 6 students spent a fun day exploring and interacting at Sovereign Hill. Please make sure you read Miss Shanahan's Senior School News for all the details.

Mother's Day Celebrations

It was another overwhelming success as we celebrated the annual Mother's Day and Special Friend's Breakfast last Friday. We sincerely thank our Year 3 and Year 5 parents for supporting this fabulous day and acknowledge the tireless contributions of our precious mums, grandmothers and friends at St Joseph's. The generosity of our families reflects greatly on our thriving school community.

After our breakfast, the gorgeous Year 3 students presented a beautiful and incredibly thoughtful assembly for our families. We acknowledge and celebrate the role of 'Mum' can be played by many people - mums, dads, step-mums, grandmas, aunties or special friends. Coupled with many laughs and a few tears, our students clearly articulated the sentiments of all our students - they love their mums/special people and are grateful for the significant role they play.

A special mention to Miss Dillon, Miss Stanley and Mrs Pepper for preparing the children for this assembly. Simply amazing!

We thank our dedicated helpers, as events such as these would not happen without the assistance of our wonderful and generous community:

Year 6 Mother's Day Leaders: Poppy, Lara Rose, Charlotte, Liam J, Ava S, Pen and Jamieson C

Mother's Day Stall: Year 5 Parent Reps - Louise, Sophie, Lucy and Katie plus helpers.

Mother's Day Breakfast: Year 3 Parent Reps - Kayne, Amber, Sanchia and Sam plus Year 3 parent volunteers, including the parents who were onsite at 7am to serve breakfast - Ben, Sam, Alan, Steve, Michael, Nick, Marty, Kane, Rod, Chris and others!

Interschool Cross Country

Following from the success of the Holt Cross Country event, we have 16 students progressing through to the Beachside Cross Country competition. Congratulations go to the following students:

Tom B, Harvey H, Elsie W, Archie B, Rex S, Maia W, Remy H, Charlie F, Arlo S, Hector G, Arran H, Hamish P, Amir S, Poppy B, Pen A, Lara-Rose V-D

who will be competing on Tuesday 27th May accompanied by Mr Sandler.

Strengthening Teaching and Learning at St Joseph’s

At St Joseph’s, we are proud of the strong and consistent teaching practices already in place across our school. Our staff work closely together to ensure that every student experiences high-quality, evidence-based teaching every day.

This year, we’re excited to be part of a new professional learning initiative called the Playbook Project, led by respected educational leader Bronwyn Ryrie-Jones. The project brings together a group of schools focused on further strengthening their teaching and learning practices.

The focus of our Playbook is to build on our already successful culture of collaboration, shared responsibility, and high expectations. Through this project, we will continue to refine and align the ways we teach, ensuring even greater consistency across classrooms and year levels.

In addition to this, our staff continue to engage in targeted professional learning in specific areas of literacy. Last week, Miss Nardella participated in the four-day Yoshimoto Orton-Gillingham Literacy Training Course. We’re also proud to be hosting Multisensory Education Australia later this term for a highly regarded five-day professional learning opportunity. Two of our teaching staff, Mrs Gleeson and Miss Dillon, will be participating as part of our ongoing commitment to supporting all students with structured, inclusive, research-backed literacy practices.

We already implement structured, evidence-based approaches to spelling at St Joseph’s, and we are now further strengthening the skill set of our staff to ensure even greater consistency and impact across all classrooms. By deepening our knowledge and refining our practice, we’re continuing to give every student the strongest possible foundation in literacy.

School Uniform

We have now transitioned to our winter uniform and remind all families to be mindful of these expectations. School shorts are permitted over this period. A few gentle reminders:

No nail polish.
Hair that is below shoulder length must be tied up.
White socks on PE days, navy socks otherwise.
Sneakers only worn on PE day or as instructed by the classroom teacher.
Students must change their shoes after basketball/tennis lessons.

Victorian Premiers' Reading Challenge

All students are invited to participate in the Victorian Premiers' Reading Challenge this year. Username and passwords were sent home with students last term, alongside log-in instructions. If you would like any additional information about the challenge, please see the website. Please contact Alannah Harrison if you have any questions.

A special mention to Kallum W, Kiran S and Tom S in Year 3 who have already completed the challenge with 114 days to go!

Little Gems

Lily, Charlotte, Zoe G, Morgan and Zoe M (Year 5) spoke to me about the misuse of our rubbish bins and are planning short presentations for all students to educate them on 'which bin?' Well done, Year 5!

Alfie (Year 1) proudly showed off the paintings that he completed in the school holidays. They are simply beautiful!

Our Year 6 netball team had their first game on our new astroturf, playing St Columbas primary school as part of their winter sport competition.

I had to snap a photo of these dear little Preppies, all dressed in the same outfit for 'Ol School Day'. Divine! Please see Miss Mclean's Junior School News for lots more photos and details of this special day.

There were screams of delight when Miss Barry surprised us all with two visits last week. She was back in Australia to attend a wedding. Jane, you are welcome back at St Joseph's at any time!

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend. I look forward to catching up with our community upon my return from Broome.

Thank you to Tom, Alannah and all of our wonderful staff for their support in my absence.

Claire Tobin

Principal

St Mary's College