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

St Justin's Primary School - Celebrating 40 years of Catholic Edcaution

Dear Families and Friends,

Welcome back to Term 2. I hope you all had a safe and Holy Easter. We have had a great start to the Term and it promises to be another busy one! Whilst we have most dates in the calendar, some dates include:

Thursday 25th April - Anzac Day (Public Holiday)
Friday 26th April - School Closure
Friday 3rd May - Maths Day
Friday 10th May - Mothers' Day Celebration (2.00 -3.30pm) - more details to follow
Monday 13th May - SLC/Interviews 3.30 to 5.30pm
Tuesday 14th May - SLC/Interviews 3.45 to 5.30pm
Thursday 16th May - SLC/Interviews 3.00 to 6.00pm
Friday 17th May - School Fun Run

Please refer to Dates Ahead for a full list of important dates in Term 2.

Congratulations Fr Andrew

Congratulations to Fr Andrew who celebrated his 27th Anniversary as a Priest on

Friday 5th April. We are blessed to have such a wonderful Parish Priest. The Parents and Friends are in the process of organising a gift on behalf of our community.

ANZAC Service

Thursday 25th April is ANZAC Day - a time when we not only acknowledging the men and women who have represented their countries during times of war, but also a time to pray for world peace. As Thursday is a public holiday, next Wednesday we will conduct an ANZAC Service at 9:05am in the PAC - everyone welcome. We also have a guest speaker from the Defence Forces who will be coming to speak to the students after the service.

Our Year 6 Leaders have commenced support for the ANZAC Appeal - over the next few days, students will be selling items for the ANZAC Appeal. For sale will be:

ANZAC Day hat badges - $2.00
Blue bag tags - $4:00
Blue wristband - $3.00
ANZAC Appeal pin - $2.00.
ANZAC Cove Appeal Pins - $10
ANZAC Stickers - $1

All donations go to the RSL ANZAC APPEAL to assist in providing for War Veterans and Dependents, Care of the Aged, Family Welfare, Vocational Guidance and Hospital Home Visiting.

Professional Learning Days

Friday 26th April 2024

Thursday 13th June, 2024

As previously announced, on Friday 26th April 2024, after ANZAC Day, there will be no school on this day.

On Thursday 13th June, 2024 we have planned a Professional Learning Day, with a focus on our School Improvement Plan (SIP) and our Annual Action Plan (AAP). The SIP was developed last year as a result of our School Review and is implemented over the next 4 years. The AAP is based on the goals of the SIP and are reviewed yearly. The day will be supported by a team from the Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS) Eastern Region Office.

Please note that these days are not taken lightly - they are essential for us, in supporting our students at St Justin's.

Cross Country

On Thursday morning, students from years 3-6 braved the wet and cold conditions to take part in the 2024 cross country.

There were some amazing performances throughout the morning but most importantly the best thing by far was seeing everyone try their best and support their friends in all of the races.

The top 10 runners from each race will now represent the school in May at the District Cross Country Carnival. We wish these students the best of luck.

Our final points standings for the carnival were:

Blue - 324

Green - 324

Red - 304

Gold - 221

Thank you to all of the staff and parents who volunteered on the day.

Parking

With the onset of winter weather, traffic congestion around the school will certainly increase. Can I please ask all drivers to 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.

Please also be mindful of the two-minute parking zone - it was never designed for parents to park and run down to the school to drop off or pick up. Please stay with your car so you can move off quickly when necessary.

A reminder also that parking on the school/parish grounds is for staff and those attending Mass in the mornings. It should certainly not be used for drop off and pick up. All students are asked to walk to their prior arranged pick up zone - with winter, please consider a waterproof jacket or an umbrella. Parents are more than welcome to accompany their child/children in the mornings and after school.

Your cooperation is greatly appreciated by all members of our community.

Winter Uniform

Most of us now would be well aware that the AFL Football season is well and truly underway. It’s hard to turn on the television or read the paper without seeing one of the 18 clubs represented. Without listening to the television or reading the newspaper article, we can easily identify which team is which simply because of their uniform. The uniform is a powerful symbol indicating which team a player belongs to.

Likewise, our school uniform is a powerful sign that we belong – we belong to the St Justin’s community and we too, should be proud. Please ensure your child is wearing the correct school uniform.

Winter
Option 1	Option 2
Grey Pants or Shorts	School Winter Tunic / Grey pants
Blue shirt (L/S or S/S)	Blue shirt (L/S or S/S)
School jumper and/or Bomber Jacket	School jumper and/or Bomber Jacket
Grey socks	Grey socks / Grey Tights
All Black shoes	All Black shoes

P.E. Uniform

St Justin’s Polo

St Justin’s Sport shorts

St Justin’s Tracksuit Pants/Top

White sports socks

Sports shoes

St Justin’s Hat

Optional Uniform

St Justin’s Bomber Jacket

St Justin’s School Jumper

St Justin’s Rugby Top

St Justin’s Scarf

St Justin’s Beanie

Hair ties are to be in school colours of maroon, light blue or white. All long hair must be tied back. No nail polish is to be worn.

Winter Uniform Orders

To order you can purchase directly from Academy Uniforms shopfront. They are located at 2/810-818 Princes Highway, Springvale and their operating hours are

Tuesdays - Thursdays 09:00am – 5:00pm and Saturday mornings 09:00am – 12:00 noon.

Alternatively you can order over the phone on 9574 1314 or you can order online via https://www.academyuniforms.com.au/

Select “ORDER ONLINE”

Choose “St. Justin’s” from the drop down list

Enter the Password “Wheelers Hill”

Instagram

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.

Have a great weekend.

Take care,

Mr Patrick Torpey

Principal

Premier's Reading Challenge