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, an emerging as we continue to proudly live and learn on their land.

Dear Families and Friends,

Catholic Education Week

This week we celebrate Catholic Education Week (CEW). This annual event is held to promote the special ethos of Catholic schools and to highlight the great things that take place in Catholic schools every day. The theme for this year’s celebrations is ‘In the Light of Christ’. Part of the celebrations included the Mass of St Patrick for Schools and Concert (which some of our Year 6s attended) and a Visual Arts Exhibition.

Catholic education strives to make a difference in the lives of those in our schools and in the wider community by challenging young people to live out the message of Jesus and walk the way of the gospel to reach their full potential as compassionate, contributing, life-giving members of society.

There are 331 Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Melbourne that educate around 114,000 students and employ more than 16,000 teachers and staff, and most will celebrate Catholic Education Week in some way.

As a Catholic system, we have much to celebrate and be proud of.

Reconciliation

Congratulations to our students who last night, received the Sacrament of Reconciliation for the first time. It was a wonderful celebration.

This is a very special time in the children’s lives and we ask that you keep them in your prayers as they continue on their faith journey. We thank the parents of these children who prepared them at home and supported the work done at school by their teachers.

The Church season of Lent, a time of prayer, penance and almsgiving is particularly appropriate for our students to be receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation for the first time.

Enrolments 2025

We are currently processing Prep enrolmets for 2025 . To be considered for first round offers, we are asking all enrolment packs to be completed and returned to school by Tuesday 26th March (end of Term 1). This includes all existing families requiring a place for Prep 2025.

Parking

A reminder to all drivers to please be considerate when parking, ensuring that we park close to the curb and close to driveways, leaving enough room for others to park behind, if possible. We should never park over driveways – not only is it the law, but it is also disrespectful to our neighbours. Safety in and around the school is a responsibility we all share. If parking in the 2 minute zone, please stay with your vehicle – the 2 min zone was never designed for drivers to park and run down to the school.

Collecting Students during the School Day

We have had many enquiries as to how to arrange collection of students during the course of the day for appointments. Our preference is that appointments are made outside of school hours as every hour out of school is less learning time. We understand that there are some times where this is not always possible. Please ensure that you notify your child’s classroom teacher via Audiri or via email to advise them the following:

Pickup Time (Outside of Recess (11:05am- 11:45am) & Lunchtime (1:20pm – 2:00pm) as it is a challenge to get the students off the playground!
Advise whether your child will be returning after their appointment or if they will need to take their school bag home with them.

Once you have arrived at school to collect your child/children, it is a legal requirement that you sign them out via the iPad at the office. You do this by choosing “Sign Out” and then “Student”.

You must then wait for your child who can ONLY be collected from the Administration (Office) area.

Now on Instagram

SJ's Aerobics Team

Use of Photographs

Thanks to all the families who have completed the permission forms to use (or not to use) photos. As many of our families have requested that photos not be used, especially on Social Media (which includes our newsletter which is published online) it will be very challenging to use group photos in the future. Our newsletter may look a little different, but I'm sure it will still be a great read.

Please remember that if at any stage you take a group photo of students, it should not be published online unless permission has been granted.

Where's Mr T

Can you find Mr T? He's hiding somewhere in the newsletter.

Have a great weekend.

Take care,

Mr Patrick Torpey

Principal

International Day of Happiness

Wednesday 20th March