Dear Parents and Friends,

Congratulations to our students who participated in the Sacrament of Reconciliation last week. It was a special and reflective Sacrament for these students. I would like to thank Father Eugene for leading this Sacrament and Trish Shaw for her organisation of the Sacramental preparation and evening.

IT Changeover

Once again, I thank you for your patience and understanding with this changeover. The main issue was communicating with you, our parent group and class groups. Moving forward staff will be emailing groups from our SIMON/ PAM platform. If you have any changes to email addresses, we ask that you update these via PAM, or contact the office, as these email addresses will be the ones receiving emails.

Closure Days 2024

Our closure days for the remainder of 2024 have been finalised. The purpose of closure days is to focus on staff professional development, in line with our Strategic Plan, Annual Action Plan and Compliance Requirements. In line with the agreement, Catholic Primary Schools in Victoria have nine closure days to allocate annually. Some of these such as the first and last day of the school year and reporting writing day are part of the agreement. All other days as mentioned are in line with professional learning and our strategic planning.

Closure Days 2024

Staff Day- Confirmed: Monday 28th January, Term One, Week One

Teacher Wellbeing Project & First Aid: Monday 4th March, Term One, Week Six

Catholic Identity: Monday 19th August, Term Three, Week Six

Pedagogical Practices (Mathematics): Friday 16th August, Term Three, Week Six

Pedagogical Practices (Mathematics): Monday 9th September, Term Three, Week Nine

Pedagogical Practices (Mathematics): Monday 7th October, Term Four, Week One

Report Writing: Monday 4th November, Term Four, Week Five

Curriculum 2024 Planning: Monday 2nd December, Term Four, Week Nine

Staff Day: Friday 20th December, Term Four, Week Eleven

School Council Bio – Rachael Castricum

About Me:

Hi, St Joey’s families,

I am Rachael Castricum, mum to Max (Grade 4) and Annabelle (Grade 3). I have been part of the school board since 2017 when my husband Shane and I moved our family to Beechworth from Melbourne. Shane and I both grew up in Harrietville and decided to move back to be closer to our families after 20 years of living in the city. We love living in Beechworth and really value the friendships and connections that we have made through St Joe's.

Why I Am On/ Value the School Advisory Council:

St Joseph's has been a great school for our family. We highly value the approach to inclusion and support and the values that are linked to social justice. I decided to join the board so that I could support and endorse the work of the St Joseph’s leaders and teachers. I am a teacher myself, and although I work in government secondary education, many school settings share the same experiences and challenges. I was really interested in learning about how the school operated and wanted to meet engaged, like minded parents. I have been on the Advisory Board for 7 years now and I feel very connected and invested in the school as a result.

What do you love about St. Joseph's:

What I love about St Joe’s is the friendly and supportive community that is at the heart of our great school. I love that there are opportunities for kids with all different kinds of abilities to flourish and try new things. I love that there is a culture of high expectations and plenty of support to help us (parents too!) get there. I love that every teacher knows all my kids, my kids know all the teachers, and the kids all know each other. I now work as a teacher at Beechworth Secondary College, and what is really special for me, is that I get to see our St Joe’s kids continue to thrive and grow as they move through our local high school. It is such a privilege.

Prayer