Principal's News
Dear Parents and Carers,
I'm sure all of our families were grateful for the extra day of rest over the last weekend after our very big production week last week. The school closure day was a timely opportunity for all children to have a good rest over the long weekend. Our staff engaged in a very productive day of reflection for our School Review. It was an opportunity for us to reflect on our successes, and to celebrate all we have achieved over the last 4 year school improvement cycle- and there is a lot to celebrate! Over the next few weeks, our staff will continue to work across the 5 spheres - Leadership and Management, Student Wellbeing, Religious Dimension, Learning and Teaching and Community, and provide evidence of our success stories and achievement in each of the spheres for the reviewer. There will be an opportunity for students and families to have a voice in this process when the reviewer visits our school in Term 4.
Prayer
This week our community said a very sad farewell to Mark Whittle, father of Elsie in Year 3.
We thank members of our staff and parents who attended the funeral service to support Heather, Joel, Benji and Elsie. We continue to keep the Whittle family in our prayers.
Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, And may perpetual light shine upon him.
May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed rest in peace.
Amen.
Prep Pilgrimage
In this year of Pilgrimage, in the Jubilee Year of Hope, our beautiful Prep students engaged in a day of pilgrimage with their teachers, and with the Prep children from St Mary's Malvern East, led by Fr Gallacher and Fr Tom.
Please take some time to enjoy the pictures on our Catholic Identity page in this week's newsletter. We thank Ms DeVisser our Religious Education Leader for organising this with St Mary's Religious Education Leader, Anne MacDonald.
Intentions for 2026
Last term we sent out an Operoo notification asking families to notify of us of their intentions for 2026 regarding enrolments. We thank you to the families who completed this for us.
As it would be helpful to have updated and current information, if your child is not returning to St Joseph's in 2026 and you have not already let us know, could you please be in touch with the office as soon as possible. We are currently looking at class structures and staffing for next year. It is important for us to know accurate numbers for each year level so that we can provide the best learning opportunities for the students.
If you would like to have a conversation about your child and their learning needs for next year please do not hesitate to make an appointment with your child's teacher, a member of the leadership team, or myself.
Exciting reasons to keep your child enrolled at St Joseph's....
We offer:
- A small nurturing Catholic Parish Primary school where every child is known, valued and loved
- Exceptional care and wellbeing
- Excellence in learning and teaching
- Outstanding NAPLAN data in both literacy and numeracy in Year 3 and Year 5 - this exceeds the State and National data, as well as exceeds comparisons to like schools with the some demographic data. The longer your child remains in a school where they have exceptional learning and teaching, the more successful their learning outcomes for their future
- High level of engagement norms
This is the St Josephs' difference!
Our 2025 NAPLAN Data
This year our NAPLAN results for Literacy and Numeracy are exceptional exceeding the State Data quite significantly.
We are proud of the teaching and learning at St Joseph's. We continue to lead the way with excellence and we commend our leaders for their instruction and coaching, our teachers for delivering excellence in explicit instruction and engagement, and our students for their effort and hard work as we celebrate these great results.
The following tables compare our School's Mean to the State and National Mean:
MACS Vision for Engagement
What sets a MACS school apart? MACS have elevated explicit teaching of behaviour to a core developmental priority across all of its Catholic schools. At St Joseph's we are pleased to celebrate that this has been a practice for quite some time. Once again, we not only lead the way with learning and teaching excellence, but we are ahead of the game with our engagement norms as well.
Beauty and the Beast Jr. at St Joseph’s!
Here are some photos for you to enjoy from last week's fabulous Beauty and the Beast Jnr production...
More professional photos coming next week!
Production Video On Sale Now:
A Special Thank you Morning Tea for all Production Helpers
In true Mrs Potts style, we raise our tea cups to you all! We would like to thank all our production helpers- parents, carers, grandparents and friends, by hosting a special morning tea for you on Tuesday September 2nd in the staffroom from 8:50am!
Dendy Athletics Carnival
A huge congratulations to all our students who got themselves out of bed last Friday and competed at the Dendy Athletics at GR Bricker Reserve.
Well done to the following students who have progressed through to Beachside on Friday 10th October @ Duncan McKinnon Reserve:
Maximillian - Boys 12/13 100m Dash
Callum - Boys 12/13 800m, 1500m
Emilio - Boys 9-10 Long Jump
Wolf - Boys 9-10 100m Dash, 200m Dash
Evelyn - Girls 9-10 1500m
Wolf, Emilio, Harry B, Ari - Boys 9-10 4x100 Metre Relay
Well Done St Joseph's and good luck to those students above, who will give it another go at Beachside! And a huge thank you to Ms Christie Birch for all her work with the Dendy Sports!
Pyjama Day
We had a very successful Pyjama Day today!! Thank you to our school captain Bridget and her team of senior leaders and the senior teachers Mrs Clare Smith and Ms Siobhan O'Dwyer for all their work in collecting supplies for the Malvern Emergency Food Program. What a wonderful collective school effort. Please take some time to find out more about this on our Pyjama Day page!
St Joseph's Year 4 Students Visit St Mary's College
This week and next our Year 4 students have a wonderful opportunity to experience secondary school life at St Mary's College in East St Kilda. You can hear more about their fabulous experience cooking pizzas and using the science labs on the Senior Update page!
Book Week - Monday 1st September
Next Monday 1st September, we have our fabulous Book Week celebration day! We look forward to seeing you all dressed up in your favourite costumes! The children will be involved in day of literature and fun exploring the theme for this year 'Book an Adventure'
Baseball Fun...
It always great to see the successes of our students and staff outodsie of chool . Thsi week we celebrate both Wolf in Year 4 and our Learnign Support Officer Hudson Priamo.
Wolf played in the Little League Under 13 Majors team this season, coached by our very own Hudson. Whilst Wolf's team unfortunately missed out on the finals by one game in the highest division for this age group we congratulate Wolf on his success throughout the season and his passion for baseball! Last Sunday Hudson presented Wolf with the 'Number 1 Pitcher of the Season Trophy' for 2025. The whole team will be cheering on Hudson as he competes in the finals next week. We wish him all the best!
A Very Special Mention to Willow...
It is always heartwarming to share stories that highlight the values we cherish most within our community, especially when those values are exemplified by our youngest members.
Just last week, our wonderful Year 1MD student, Willow, and her dad, Martin, came across a $100 note near the staff carpark driveway.
In a moment that speaks volumes about integrity and character that we hope to nurture in all our students, Willow chose to do the right thing without hesitation. She promptly brought the money to the school office and handed it in, setting a powerful example that honesty is important, no matter how small or young we may be.
It’s not always easy to choose the right path, especially when no one is watching, and Willow is to be commended for being honest and kind-hearted!
Upcoming Swimming Program
In Weeks 8 and 9 this term all students across the school will participate in our intensive swimming program.
School sports uniforms can be worn to and from school throughout the duration of the swimming program. The students will need to bring a swimming bag (separate to their school bag) with the following items included:
- Bathers (can be worn under uniform for quick changing upon arrival)
- Towel
- Goggles
- Swim cap
- Underwear
- Thongs/Crocs
We strongly encourage that all personal items are clearly named, as the children will be responsible for collecting their things before leaving the pool.
We thank all the parents/carers who have volunteered to support throughout the program.
For any further information please contact your child's teacher or Ms Birch directly on christie.birch@sjmalvern.catholic.edu.au
Thank You to our P&F Helpers!
This afternoon, some very wonderful parents and carers, generously gave up their time to fill our sandpit with fresh new sand! A very special thank you to Sarah Shergold for arranging the donation of sand from the fabulous Fulton’s! A very big thank you also to Chris Buick for arranging an apprentice to assist in helping move the sand. We have no doubt the new sand will provide hours upon hours of entertainment for the children.
Father's Day Events
Next Friday we will host a special Father's Day Breakfast from 8am-9am for all our wonderful dad's, grandad's and other special people. This will be followed by a Father's Day Liturgy in the hall. We invite all families to attend this very special St Joseph's event where we will celebrate these very special people in the children's lives.
There is also a final reminder from the P&F, that due to popular demand, the deadline has been extended to book your spot at the Father’s Day dinner. If you have any questions about this please contact Annie Konieczny apkonieczny@outlook.com or Lynnette in the office.
Meet our Wonderful St Joseph's Staff
This week let me introduce our Year 5 and 6 teachers....
Hi, My name is Clare Smith, I teach Year 5 and 6 in the Senior Learning Space and I am also the Senior School Leader. I began my career in the UK and immigrated to Australia in 2013 to start a new life with my Aussie husband. St Joseph's has been my home for 11 happy years and I’ve been teaching for 17 years, although it does not feel that long! I absolutely adore teaching, helping students to grow in ability and confidence across the year is incredibly rewarding and it is a privilege to be a part of our beautiful school community.
At home, I have two daughters, aged 7 and 5. On the weekends, we love spending time together doing arts and crafts or going for walks along the beach and in summer, we spend most days in the pool! I also love to cook with my girls. Recently, we have been learning to make one of my favourite foods, dumplings! Yum!
When I’m not mum-ing, I love to catch up with friends over a coffee or relax and curl up with a great book. My favourite book series at the moment is ‘The Thursday Murder Club’; I am quite excited to watch the film adaptation this weekend! However, will it be as good as my all time favourite movie: Jurassic Park?!
Hello everyone!
I'm Miss O’Grady, and I teach Year 5 and 6 in the Senior Learning Space. I’ve been working at St Joseph’s for two years, and I absolutely love my job. I feel so grateful to be a part of the St Joseph’s community and am passionate about ensuring that every student’s social and academic needs are met so they can be proud and confident learners who love coming to school.
Before teaching in Melbourne, I began my teaching career in regional NSW in a small town called Coleambally. I chose to start there because I wanted to make a difference in a small community that needed more quality teachers. I loved it so much that I stayed for four years.
I’m a big animal lover. In my spare time, I run a not for profit animal rescue called House of Chances Rescue. I'm also a very proud Collingwood supporter and go to the football every weekend with my grandma and my mum. I have two dogs, Joey and Frankie (short for Joseph and Francesca when they’re in trouble!), and I enjoy walking them every morning.
Let's Stay Connected...
If you have any concerns or worries about your child's wellbeing, learning, or friendships, please do not hesitate to have a chat with your child's teacher as your first point of contact.
If you have other concerns, please feel free to touch base with our wonderful admin team, a member of our school leadership, or myself.
For more serious concerns, I encourage you to reach out to me directly, either by making an appointment through the office, or contacting me via my email.
What's on Next Week...
We have another exciting week next week at St Joseph's with our Book Week Celebration Day on Monday. Keep up to date with our weekly events on our School Dojo!
Have a wonderful weekend families!
With warmest regards,
Annabelle Marinelli
Principal