From the Principal
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 Education
Dear Families and Friends,
Fair on the Hill
Well it’s almost here, and with only one more sleep, we can hardly wait.
Our Annual St Justin's Fair on the Hill is fast approaching, with an amazing amount of work already done. Remember it is being held this Saturday 9th November 2024 from 11:00am-4:00pm.
Again, a huge thank you to those of you who have been able to answer the call and help in some way – with over 230 families in the school and 500 + parishioners, St Justin’s Fair on the Hill should be something special; something that we can all be proud of, and I’m sure it will.
Follow this link for more information about the Fair on the Hill.
Visit this line to sign up https://signup.com/go/qgWZHsz
Recognition of Academic Achievement at St.Justin's
Maths Olympiad
Our Year 5 and 6 students have participated in the APSMO Maths Olympiad Competition throughout 2024. St Justin’s scored in the top 25% of team scores this year.
ICAS
A group of students elected to sit the ICAS assessments in English, Writing and Mathematics this year. ICAS is an international assessment offered to students in Year 2-6.
Congratulations to all students who participated, we are very proud of how well you have done!
Click on the link to take you to the results on our Learning and Teaching page.
Remembrance Day - Monday 11th November
On Monday November 11th it is Remembrance Day, which marked the end of World War 1 over a hundred years ago. Although it was a long time ago, today is an opportunity to remember all those who have died in wars and conflicts since then.
In our world today, life is difficult and there is still conflict, but we can help by committing ourselves to creating peace in our own world.
We can recognise that peace begins in our own families, classrooms,
schools and communities, and it begins with us.
Each one of us can make a peaceful world if we really try.
Remembrance Day Prayer - click on the link
Welcome Prep 2025
- Friday 15th November: Prep Transition Session 2 (9:15am – 10:15am)
- Thursday 21st November: Prep Transition 3 (9:15am – 10:15am)
- Friday 29th November: Prep 2025 Orientation morning (9:15am – 12:00pm)
School Closure Day
A friendly reminder of the following date:
- Thursday 28th November - Professional Learning Day -School Closure Day
Planning for 2025
Planning for 2025 is well underway. If you do not require a place for your child in 2025 (except Year 6), please email the office as soon as possible: office@sjwheelershill.catholic.edu.au
Grandparents Day
Stomach bugs
We have had a lot of children reporting to sickbay with vomiting/diarrhoea. Please be mindful of others and help prevent the spread.
How long should you stay off school with gastroenteritis?
Children are most infectious when symptomatic, but it is possible to pass on norovirus both before developing symptoms and after symptoms have stopped. This is why children should not attend school until 24 hours after the symptoms have stopped.
Parking
In the morning, there is a teacher on yard duty at 8:40am. If you wish to drop your child off before 8:40 am, please use the Before School Care service provided by Camp Australia - we would hate for your child to arrive at school and no-one be here to care for them. Whilst there is usually someone here around 8:00am, it’s important to remember that staff are busy preparing for the day ahead or involved in meetings.
After school, a teacher is on playground duty until 3:45 pm (3:30pm 0n Mondays). After this time, students who are yet to be picked up will be taken to the office. We will attempt to ring their parents to make sure everything is ok. If, for any reason, you are running late, just give the office a ring and let us know.
Please note that students should not be dropped off or picked up in the staff car park. In the morning and at the end of the day, the car park becomes a busy place with people walking in all directions.
After observing the 3:30 pm traffic in Grantchester Road, a few important reminders:
- Please observe the 2 minute parking bay. If waiting in this bay, drivers cannot leave their car.
- If waiting for a parking space, please never call your child to the middle of the road. It would be far safer to drive around the block and wait for a parking space rather than wait in the middle of the road.
- Please minimise the space between cars – often we could park more cars if we parked a little closer to each other.
- Never park in the driveways or on the nature strips of our neighbours – this can restrict the view of pedestrians and other road users. It’s also very disrespectful.
- Stay calm and be patient – there are often many parks available after 5 minutes – a short wait in comparison to the waiting room at Monash Hospital.
Whilst these reminders are important to the safety of all concerned, they are the law. I ask that you all follow the rules and remain patient – everyone’s safety is important. After three years, I’ve never seen anyone get frustrated by someone doing the right thing.
Preparing for the thunderstorm asthma season
Every year between October and December, there is an increase in hay fever symptoms. During grass pollen season, there is also the chance of an epidemic thunderstorm asthma event (a sudden increase in asthma cases associated with high pollen and an impending thunderstorm).
People at increased risk of epidemic thunderstorm asthma include those with:
- Asthma,
- A past history of asthma,
- Undiagnosed asthma (who have asthma symptoms, but have not yet been formally diagnosed) and hay fever (who may or may not have asthma).
Having both asthma and hay fever, as well as poor control and self-management of asthma, increases the risk.
To prepare for this season, we ask that students have a current asthma action plan (developed with the treating medical team) and an allergy plan if required − keep asthma medication readily accessible.
The school will endeavour to:
- avoid circumstances in which students and staff are outside in thunderstorms that occur between October and December, especially during the wind gusts that come before a storm,
- designate first aid staff who have completed the relevant asthma training and are confident in administering asthma first aid,
- download the VicEmergency app to receive warnings of high-risk days and potential epidemic thunderstorm asthma events, recording that this has been done in the school’s emergency management plan (EMP)
When renewing EMP, school is to consider how they would respond to an epidemic thunderstorm asthma ‘emergency warning’ during or immediately after dismissal for the day.
Have a great weekend and we look forward to seeing you all next week.
All the best,
Pat
Mr Patrick Torpey
Principal