PRINCIPAL'S NEWS

Miss Jaclyn is always busy keeping our socials up to date and sharing the terrific things happening at our school.

FETE – A Fabulous Day 🎉

A huge thank you to Olivia and her incredible team for delivering such a fabulous fete! It was a sensational day and a wonderful celebration of our school community. 

The day was perfectly timed and beautifully paced, with no lulls or quiet periods. There was a wonderful buzz and energy throughout the entire event, and it was fantastic to see our families, students, parish community and wider community enjoying themselves together. 

Importantly, the fete really reflected who we are as a school – a boutique fete for a boutique school!  It was warm, personal, community-focused and full of the wonderful spirit that makes St Joseph’s such a special place. 

The fete raised an impressive $20,000! 💰👏 This is a fantastic outcome and will make a valuable contribution to our school priorities.

Property for a Purpose 🏡❤️

Another brilliant addition to our fete this year was ‘Property for a Purpose’, which added significant value to our fundraising efforts and raised a whopping additional $12,500! 

This brings our overall fete fundraising total to an incredible $33,500! 🎉🎉

A HUGE thank you to Paul and Christine Rodighiero and Nelson Alexander for their generosity and for making Property for a Purpose possible. We are incredibly grateful for their support of St Joseph’s and their willingness to partner with us in such a meaningful way. 

Importantly, these funds will go directly towards the development of our courts area, creating an improved space for our children to play, learn, connect and enjoy. 

This is a wonderful example of fundraising having a real and lasting impact on our students, and we are so grateful to everyone who helped make it happen. 

A sincere thank you to everyone who contributed their time, energy and generosity. 🙏 Events like this don't happen without an enormous amount of behind-the-scenes work, and the effort of our staff, parents, volunteers and parish community was very much appreciated. 

A special thank you to our wonderful organising team, Olivia Triandos, Emma Pullen, Susie Bates and Sarah Duvnjak-Zaknich for the incredible amount of time, energy and effort that went into making the day such a success. There were countless meetings, hours of planning, organising and problem-solving behind the scenes, and your commitment and enthusiasm is truly appreciated.

Our planning committee would like to pass on the following message:

It takes an incredible amount of time, energy, generosity and teamwork to bring a fete together, and we are so grateful to every single person who contributed in some way. Whether you were planning in the lead-up, setting up, running a stall, entertaining the crowds, cooking, donating, cleaning up or jumping in wherever you were needed, please know that your efforts were truly appreciated.

There were so many people who went above and beyond, and we want to give a special shout-out to some of our amazing volunteers:

• Steph Sturrock – for taking on the Choc Toss and keeping the fun going!
• Eleanor Kanellakis – for being absolutely everywhere and helping wherever she was needed!
• Deb Verrocchi and Sarah Lunardi – for setting up and manning the snow cones for four hours.
• Jane Ward – for looking after the cakes and for all her help with the Main Fete Committee over the past year.
• Vanessa Lania and her entire family – for running the hair and face painting and bringing so much fun to the day.
• Rachael Maguire and Jess Andrewartha – for running the treasure stall.
• Gian Romanin – for running footy /handball all day long.
• John Karr – for making souvlaki all day long.
• Miss Louise and "Mr Louise" (Simon) – for all their help and support - from the Art Stall to the silent auction display set up in the shelter shed.  (The children's artwork was OUTSTANDING)
• Miss Georgie and the School Choir – for coordinating the choir and generously allowing us to use her Prep room for the Silent Disco.
• Sarah Constantino – for her family’s incredibly generous donations to the Silent Auction and for working across multiple stalls throughout the fete.
• Jeremy Silver – for pitching in across multiple stalls all day.
• Mimi Gobena – for keeping the memories alive by running the photobooth.
• Steve Kirley – for putting in a massive stint on the Souv stall.
• Parthena and Sam Cutrone – for helping with so many things throughout the day and leading up to the event.
• All our bar and BBQ crew – for keeping everyone fed, watered and happy.
• Our set-up and pack-up crew – for all the hard work before and after the crowds arrived. We know how much goes on behind the scenes, and we couldn't do it without you.

• To all the families who supported the Silent Auction with generous donations, including:

  * The Hunt Family - for their generous donation of an antique jewellery piece 

  * Lynn Hale and Geraldine Ahern (Parishioners) - for their generous jewellery donation 

  * The Auf Der Heide family - for the generous donation of a weekend away in Daylesford

• All the kids who helped – whether working at stalls, lending a hand or helping clean up. It was wonderful to see you get involved and support our community.

   

  A huge thank you also goes to all our volunteers from the Academy of Mary Immaculate and the Parish. Your willingness to give your time and energy is what makes events like this possible.

   

  Also, a special thank you to our entertainment -

• Nikita Lania
• Anthony Adamopous
• AND OUR VERY FABULOUS SCHOOL BAND - Sunday School!!!!! – Jess, James, Tim, Brendan, Vernon, Rosemary, Adrian, Jane and Olivia

It was a fabulous day, a great success and a wonderful reflection of our St Joseph’s community! 🎉💙

🏆 Sports Day Congratulations! 🏆

What a fantastic Sports Day! It was a wonderful day of competition, teamwork, participation and plenty of St Joey’s spirit. A huge congratulations to Mannix House, our overall winners! 🏆👏

A HUGE thank you to Pierce Rooney for his incredible organisation of the day. As this was Pierce’s first time organising our Sports Day, he did an outstanding job bringing everything together and ensuring the day ran so smoothly. There was a great deal of planning, preparation and coordination behind the scenes, and it certainly paid off!

Thank you also to all our staff and students for getting involved, cheering each other on and making it such a memorable day. Well done, St Joey’s! 💚💛❤️💙

Yarning Conference

Last week, our Grade 5 students had the wonderful opportunity to attend the Darebin

 Schools NAIDOC Yarning Conference, hosted by the Darebin Council Education Network. 

The conference brings together students from across Darebin to learn about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, cultures and truth-telling, guided by First Nations Elders, cultural educators and community leaders. Through engaging, hands-on workshops exploring activities such as art, music, dance, traditional games and Caring for Country, students deepen their understanding of the world's oldest living cultures. 

The experience encouraged our students to listen, reflect and consider how they can contribute to a more inclusive, respectful and just community. We are grateful for this valuable learning opportunity and for the work of Darebin Council in supporting our students to become informed, respectful and compassionate young people. 

Hayley McCrohan has provided some student feedback on the event...

This term, we as Grade 5 students attended the annual Yarning Conference. On Tuesday last week, we went to Bundoora Park and participated in numerous activities for the Yarning Conference. We started the day with speeches from First Nations Elders which involved three students from our school reading a poem in front of the group. We then went on to take part in a painting activity which was led by an elder, where we painted a native tree. Afterwards we started on a small walk between stations including a smoking ceremony, a station where we placed our handprint on a mat, and a didgeridoo and poem performance all delivered by different elders. That concluded our day at the 2026 Yarning Conference, overall it was a fun experience and a great learning opportunity for learning about the First Nations and Aboriginal people as well as the origin of this land.

Grandparents / Special Friends Day 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦

Our inaugural ‘Grandparents' Day Mass’ was a grand success! 

We were absolutely thrilled with the incredible turnout, with the church packed to the rafters as our grandparents and special friends joined us for Mass. It was a beautiful celebration and a wonderful opportunity for our students to share such a special part of their school life with the important people in their lives.

Following Mass, our guests enjoyed spending time in the classrooms with their grandchildren and seeing a little of their school day before coming together to share morning tea. ☕️🧁

A huge thank you to all our grandparents and special friends for joining us and helping make the morning so memorable for our students.

🍎💚 Happy World Teachers’ Day! 💚🍎

This Friday is World Teacher's Day, and we celebrate our incredibly wonderful staff! 

Thank you for the passion, dedication, care and commitment you bring to our school community every single day. The difference you make in the lives of our children is immeasurable, and the way you go above and beyond to support, encourage and inspire every child is truly something special. 

Teaching is so much more than what happens in the classroom. It’s the relationships you build, the confidence you nurture, the challenges you help children overcome and the countless little moments that make such a big difference.

Our school is a very special place because of YOU all. Thank you for the incredible work you do and for living our belief that Every Child Matters and Every Moment Counts. You are an incredible team, and I feel very fortunate to work alongside you! 💚🍎👏

2027 CLASS PREFERENCES 

It’s amazing that we are once again at the time of year when we are beginning our discussions for structures for 2027.  An important component of this is the regrouping of our classes. 

When determining new classes, we consider the following: 

❏ a balanced number of students with social, emotional and academic needs 

❏ an appropriate mix of student role models and class leaders 

❏ a balanced number of boys and girls 

❏ student friendship circles. 

Please make an appointment with me if you wish to discuss any concerns you may have that may impact your child/children’s class placement for next year. This may include particular social nuances with other students or any other extenuating circumstances. 

Please be aware that this is not an opportunity for ‘teacher shopping’ or to discuss a preference for a teacher, but rather an opportunity to share genuine concerns about your child’s learning environment for 2027.  I am currently finalising the staffing schedule for 2027 and will share this with you once it has been confirmed.

If you are not intending to return to St Joseph’s in 2027, please contact the office as soon as possible

 A Reminder – Extra-Long Weekend! 📣🎉

Just a friendly reminder that Monday is a School Closure Day, followed by the Cup Day Public Holiday on Tuesday. 🐎🏆

We hope everyone enjoys the extra-long weekend, takes the opportunity to relax and recharge, and perhaps enjoys a little Melbourne Cup excitement!