Principal News #2

Some general reminders and 2024 Staff:

• Our end of year 3-6 swimming carnival will now take place on Friday 1st of December at Ashburton Pool. Martin and Lauren O'Grady will send out further information closer to the time.
• The end of year family picnic and class carols is now confirmed for Thursday 7th of December, beginning at 3.30pm. Again, more information to follow.
• The final day of the school year for our Year 6 students is Thursday 14th of December, with their graduation celebration starting that evening at 6pm in the hall. School concludes for all other students on Friday 15th of December at 1pm.
• Please ensure fee accounts are settled before the end of the year, or ensure alternative payment arrangements are made with Martin and Isabelle.
• A reminder about dogs on school grounds: whilst we are a dog-friendly community, we do have students who are very afraid of dogs. If you do bring your dog to school it must be kept on a leash at all times, and an adult must be holding the leash- children cannot be in charge of dogs on school grounds. A couple of weeks ago we had an off-leash dog take 'a number 2' in the prep lockers...not nice for the teacher to have to clean up and certainly not safe for our children. Please be thoughtful when bringing your dog to school.
• If you are interested in taking up a position on the School Advisory Council, please email Martin with an expression of interest: martin.earl@sjmalvern.catholic.edu.au

Classroom Teachers 2024

We have a few changes to the staffing list for next year and the following are the staff allocated to each year level as we grow from 9 to 10 classes:

We are thrilled to welcome Siobhan O'Dwyer back to the team following her maternity leave, as she joins Clare in Year 6; what a great combination for our 6s!

We say farewell to three of our classroom teachers, Jasmine Victoire, Kate Bascombe and Celia Williamson. We thank all three for their contributions to our junior team and our school community over the last two years, and we wish them the best of luck with their new endeavours in their new schools.

We welcome Niki, Meghan and Luisa to the junior team, and we also look forward to our current sports teacher, Lauren, taking a Year 3 grade alongside Kirsten. Our interview process for the 2024 teachers was a rigorous one, with a regional representative from MACS sitting on the interview panel and being integral to the hiring process. We are sure you will make the new staff members feel very welcome at St Joseph's.

Our current Prep students will move into Year 1 without any changes to their class lists; we feel there are enough changes for our little ones to get used to a new teacher and it makes sense to keep the grades as is for one more year. They work exceptionally well together and we know this will continue into Year 1!

Our current Year 2 class lists are almost finalised for Year 3 2024, with significant input from all teachers involved with this cohort and in conjunction with a preference list from each child.

The classes for our 2024 preps will be communicated to parents before the end of the year.

All current students from Prep to 5, including new students joining our school, will spend the morning with their new teacher during our moving-up morning on Monday the 11th of December. 

Captaincy speeches from our current Year 5s will take place at 12pm in the hall on the same day, with all parents welcome to come along.

The full staff list, including Learning Support Officers and Specialist teachers, will be shared by Martin before the summer holidays.

That's all from me for the time being, and I thank all of you for your support this year. A special word of thanks to our School Advisory Council and Parents and Friends Association. As Principal, I am deeply appreciative of all you do and the volunteering has been 'next level' this year...I'm sure 2024 will also be a great one at St Joseph's and I look forward to seeing you all in the new year.

Take care,

Michelle