News from the Deputy Principal

PSG Meetings

Each term we have PSG Meetings to evaluate and update goals for students who are on the NCCD (funding list) for 2025.  This is an opportunity for teachers and parents to set goals for and with their students.  Meetings usually last approximately 30 minutes.

This term, The PSG dates are Tuesday 25th March and Wednesday 26th March.  An email with PSG booking details will be sent to families next week.  Please let me know if you cannot attend these appointments as we will need to book an alternate time after or before school.

Mental Health in Primary Schools

This week I have begun my training in Mental Health in Primary Schools. This is an initiative from the Victorian Government to build the capacity of school staff, in particular classroom teachers, to identify and support students with mental health concerns in the classroom.  It aims to assist in coordinating targeted mental health support for students by working with regional staff, school wellbeing and leadership teams, teachers, parents/carers, and external agencies and to support schools with creating clear referral pathways internally (within school) and externally (to community services) for students identified as requiring further assessment and intervention.

As part of the phased state-wide roll out, Mental Health and Wellbeing Leaders receive evidence-based training in mental health literacy, supporting student need, and building school capacity, and receive ongoing professional development through Communities of Practice. The training program is developed and facilitated by the University of Melbourne.

At St Joseph's our Mental Health in Primary Schools lead team consists of Nicholas Boyhan, Rebecca Beveridge and myself.  Together, we will be able to build on the wonderful well-being and Positive Behaviours for Learning (PBL) that already exist in our school.

Please stay tuned to the newsletter throughout the year to check in with the Wellbeing Page and the exciting things happening in Wellbeing, Mental Health and Respectful Relationships.

NAPLAN

In the coming weeks, we will undertake the National NAPLAN assessments for year 3 and 5 students.  These assessments cover the areas of Reading, Writing, Conventions of Language (grammar, punctuation and spelling) and Numeracy.

The dates for NAPLAN are:

Wednesday 12th March 9:30 am Writing (both yr 3&5)

Wednesday 12th March 11:30 am Reading (both yr 3&5)

Thursday 13th March 9:30 am Conventions of Language (both yr 3&5)

Friday 14th March 9:30 am Numeracy (both yr 3&5)

If for any reason your child is absent, they will be able to take part in catch up assessments for any assessments they may miss.

Please see below a letter about NAPLAN and a link to the NAPLAN site which has further information for parents.

Parent Handbook

If you did not receive a copy of the last newsletter or you did not get a chance to read the current 2025 Parent Handbook, please read it in the link below.  This contains information about every aspect of St Joseph's School.