Principal's News
Dear Parents, Carers, and Families,
Winter is here!
As we head into winter, we have certainly noticed a change in the weather, with cooler mornings and crisp days becoming part of our daily routine. Our school trees are looking particularly beautiful at this time of year, with the trees adding colour, character, and a wonderful seasonal feel to our environment.
It has also been lovely to see our students proudly wearing their winter uniforms and coming to school well prepared for the colder weather ahead. Whether wrapped up in their jumpers, puffer vest, pants or tights on chilly mornings, our students continue to represent St Joseph's with great pride and care.
As the season changes, we encourage all families to ensure that students come dressed warmly in their full school winter uniform.
Parish News and Invitation to Parish Luncheon
Please take a moment to read the Parish News page in this week’s school newsletter.
All members of our community are warmly invited to join the Parish for the Parish Luncheon on Sunday 28 June, from 12:30pm to 3:00pm at Malvern Town Hall.
This special gathering will be a wonderful opportunity to come together as a community, and hear Fr Gallacher share a keynote address on the Mission of the Parish in the Catholic Church. His reflections promise to inspire and encourage us as we continue to grow in faith and service together. We would love to see many of our families and parishioners there. Please find the link to this week's Parish Bulletin:
World Environment Day
Today, our school focused on World Environment Day reflecting on this year's important theme: Ending Plastic Pollution. Our Sustainability Leaders, Benji, Daniel and Alexander, helped to raise awareness of the theme and encouraged students to consider how their everyday choices can contribute to a cleaner and healthier environment.
This year's theme encourages us all to think carefully about our use of single-use plastics and the small but meaningful changes we can make to protect our planet for future generations. As a school community, we remain committed to fostering sustainable practices and empowering our students to become thoughtful stewards of our world.
Our beautiful Year 1MJ students led our assembly this morning. The students retold the Story of Creation so thoughtfully and confidently, sharing their learning through song, reading pieces, artwork, and the gorgeous headbands they had carefully created and proudly wore. Each child contributed a special message about God's Creation and the importance of caring for God's creation and protecting the world around us.
A special thank you to the students and teachers Ms Martin and Ms Jackson of Year 1MJ for leading such a thoughtful assembly. Their message beautifully connected with our focus on World Environment Day and reminded us all that caring for the environment is a shared responsibility and an important way that we honour and care for God's creation.
Tree Planting in Gardening Club
As we celebrate World Environment Day this week, Mr Butler and the students in the Gardening Club were busy planting new trees in our secret garden.
This hands-on activity provided students with a wonderful opportunity to contribute positively to our environment while learning about the important role trees play in supporting biodiversity, improving air quality, and creating greener, healthier spaces for our community.
The students demonstrated great enthusiasm and teamwork as they carefully prepared the soil and worked together to ensure each tree was given the best start. Through experiences such as these, our students are developing a deeper appreciation for environmental stewardship and learning how small actions can make a meaningful difference to the world around them.
We thank Mr Butler for his leadership of the Gardening Club and for inspiring our students to care for and protect our environment. We look forward to watching these trees grow and flourish in the years ahead.
Mr Butler also kindly organised a beautiful table of fresh herbs and lemons from our garden for members of our school community to enjoy. This thoughtful gesture highlighted the many rewards of caring for our garden spaces and provided a wonderful opportunity to share the fruits of our students' hard work with others. We thank Mr Butler for his generosity and for helping to foster a strong sense of sustainability, connection, and community within our school.
Working Bee- Save the Date
In the spirit of caring for and improving our school environment, our next Working Bee will be held on Saturday 18 July.
A SignUpGenius notification will be sent to families next week, providing parents and carers with the opportunity to nominate a task or area they would like to assist with on the day. Whether it is gardening, painting, tidying, or general maintenance, every contribution helps make a positive difference to our school grounds and facilities.
Working Bees are a wonderful way for families to come together, connect with one another, and contribute to the ongoing care of our school. We are incredibly fortunate to be part of a community that generously gives its time and talents for the benefit of our students.
We thank you in advance for your support and look forward to working alongside many of our families as we continue to create a welcoming, vibrant, and well-maintained environment for all.
National Reconciliation Week
Last week, our Fire Carrier Leaders, Spencer and Nicholas from Year 6, confidently led our school assembly and shared thoughtful reflections on the significance of National Reconciliation Week.
Through their presentation, they helped our school community deepen its understanding of reconciliation and the importance of building respectful relationships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous Australians. Spencer and Nicholas encouraged us to reflect on our shared history, acknowledge the ongoing journey towards reconciliation, and consider how each of us can contribute to a more just, inclusive and united future.
As Fire Carrier Leaders, Spencer and Nicholas play an important role in promoting awareness, understanding and action within our school community. We are proud of the leadership they demonstrated and the meaningful way they encouraged students and staff to engage with the message of National Reconciliation Week.
We thank Spencer and Nicholas for sharing their insights and for inspiring us all to continue walking together on the path of reconciliation with respect, understanding and hope.
Spencer Year 6:
National Reconciliation Week is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared history and to celebrate the rich cultures, stories, and contributions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. It encourages us to reflect on the past, deepen our understanding, and work together to build respectful relationships and a more united future.
The week is held each year from 27 May to 3 June and marks two important events in Australia's history: the 1967 Referendum and the Mabo Decision. These milestones remind us of the importance of fairness, respect, and recognising the rights of First Nations peoples.
This year's theme, "All In", reminds us that reconciliation is everyone's responsibility. It encourages each of us to take action, no matter how small, to create a more inclusive and welcoming community. By showing kindness, respect, understanding, and a willingness to learn from one another, we can all play a part in strengthening reconciliation and ensuring that everyone feels valued, respected, and connected.
This week all classes have been learning about reconciliation. As fire carriers Nicholas and I are leading an initiative for our school to have an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flag displayed at the front of our school with the Aboriginal flag. We are also looking forward to welcoming an Indigenous Artist who will be creating murals around the school.
And lastly about our Fire Carrier leadership roles - our school is continuing to work with the opening the doors foundation through the Fire Carrier program, we are doing this by doing our colour fun run fundraiser, and we would deeply appreciate a small donation such as a dollar or two to help us continue towards our goal of getting our flags put up.
Nicholas Year 6
Reconciliation week is a time where we focus on relationships, healing and truth-telling between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. National Reconciliation week began in the early 1990s as a week of prayer, and it is held between the 27th of May up until the 3rd of June. Its primary focus was to foster reconciliation, healing and to build respectful relationships between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people.
This year’s theme for 2026 is All In. It is a call for all Australians to commit wholeheartedly to reconciliation every single day. Together as a nation, we honour the bravery, courage and hardship of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
This week, our class has been learning all about Reconciliation week, and our school is currently working towards raisingmoney to put up an Aboriginal Flag on our flag pole, and also putting murals around the school. As Fire Carriers, myself and Spencer will lead the Colour Fun Run fundraiser, and we would deeply appreciate a gold coin donation to help us continue working towards our goal.
Across the school each of the classes have had a focus on learning about Reconciliation.
Prep - As part of National Reconciliation Week, we shared the picture book For 60,000 Years, which celebrates the strength, resilience and continuing culture of Australia's First Nations peoples. Through the story, students explored the importance of family, culture and connection to Country and were introduced to the Stolen Generations in an age-appropriate way. Following our discussions, students created family portraits using grey lead and watercolours. They then outlined their artwork with fine liner and labelled family members using Wurundjeri language.
Year1MJ - We watched a short video that helped the children understand the meaning and significance of National Sorry Day. As a class, we reflected on the message and engaged in a thoughtful and respectful discussion about the importance of acknowledging the experiences of the Stolen Generations and working towards reconciliation.
Following our discussion, the students created a National Sorry Day artwork to take home and share with their families.
Year 1C - In Year 1, we read Somebody's Land by Adam Goodes. This sparked rich discussions about the significance of the land and the night sky for First Nations Peoples, including how they have been used for storytelling, navigation, and the passing down of knowledge across generations. Students then created a night sky artwork and completed the sentence stem, “The night sky is important to First Nations Peoples because…”, reflecting on their learning and understanding.
Year 2C - As part of Reconciliation Week the Year 2 students participated in creating Indigenous Inspired Artworks. Students explored the importance of storytelling, symbols and connection to Country through art, while learning about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. They thoughtfully used patterns, colours and symbols to create meaningful pieces that reflected respect, understanding and reconciliation.
Year 2H - In response to Sorry Day, the students reflected on when they have given an apology and received an apology. This was related to the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
Year 3DB - During National Reconciliation Week, students in Year 3DB completed a reflection activity exploring the meaning of reconciliation. They wrote about what they had learned regarding respect, healing and walking together, before creating a symbol to represent reconciliation. Students also connected this learning to our Catholic faith by reflecting on how Jesus teaches us to show kindness, forgiveness and work towards making things right with others.
Year 3BD - On a blank piece of paper, 3B students were asked to write down something they had learnt about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. They then had to cut the paper into five or six random pieces. In Their books, they had to try and glue the message they wrote back together. Then they were asked:
- Examine your construction - What is different about it? What is the same?
- Could you make improvements to it?
We discussed: Even though we have reconciled our message and put it back together, it still needs work and it isn’t exactly the same. The power of reconciliation is the effort of coming back together and trying to make amends by acknowledging wrongdoing and working to fix this. Our paper won’t ever look the same again, nor can we rewrite history and change the things that have happened. The important idea is, we have started the journey to reconcile by building our paper back together, whilst still being aware that there are things to fix.
Year 4P - As part of their learning, our students engaged respectfully in conversations about National Reconciliation Week, exploring its rich history and the vital sequence of events that shaped the week into what it is today. They learned that NRW is about much more than just ‘saying sorry’ - it is about actively building connections and relationships to create a better future for all.
To reinforce their learning in a fun, collaborative way, students tackled a dynamic cloze activity based on these historical milestones. Successfully completing the fill-in-the-blank passages provided them with the crucial clues needed to solve a custom crossword puzzle. It was a fantastic session filled with meaningful discussions, teamwork, and active learning!
Year 5/6 - For National Reconciliation Week, we took a creative leap 50 years into the future to write visionary letters from a fully reconciled Australia in the year 2076. Using a blend of writing, art, and technology, they imagined a nation where First Nations languages, leadership, and cultures are deeply woven into everyday life.
King's Birthday Public Holiday- Monday 9th June
There will be no school for children on Monday 9th June as it it is the King's Birthday Public Holiday.
School Closure Day - Tuesday 9th June
On Tuesday 9th June, St Joseph's will have a School Closure Day as our staff join with colleagues from St Roch's and St Mary's schools within the Parish of Malvern for a shared Faith Formation Day. This special opportunity will allow staff from across our parish schools to come together in prayer, reflection, learning, and faith development. The day will be led by our Parish Priest, Father Gallacher, and supported by our Parish Seminarians, Patrick Harris and Anthony Wright. Together, they will guide staff in exploring and deepening our understanding of faith, mission, and our important role in nurturing the spiritual growth of the students entrusted to our care.
As a Catholic school community, opportunities such as these are invaluable in strengthening our shared commitment to Catholic education and fostering connections between the schools within our parish. We look forward to sharing in this meaningful day of formation and returning enriched in our faith and renewed in our commitment to serving our students, families, and parish community.
This date is timely as it affords families an extra long weekend with the King's Birthday on Monday 8th June.
Junior Joey's Playgroup- Monday 8:30am-10am
Our school was once again buzzing with excitement on Monday as we welcomed families and children to Junior Joey's Playgroup. It is always a joy to see our youngest learners engaging in play, exploration, and discovery as they begin to build connections with our school community.
A special thank you to our Junior Transition Leader, Ms Niki Liolios, who thoughtfully prepares a range of engaging experiences each week that spark curiosity, creativity, and imagination. Through these activities, children have opportunities to learn, interact, and grow in a nurturing and supportive environment.
More than just a playgroup, Junior Joey's is an opportunity for children and families to develop a sense of belonging and familiarity with our school. These early connections help children feel comfortable, confident, and excited about their future learning journey, while also providing families with opportunities to build relationships and become part of our welcoming community.
The laughter, conversations, and friendships that fill the room each week are a wonderful reminder of the importance of community and connection. We are grateful to all the families who join us and look forward to continuing to support our youngest family members as they take their first steps into school life.
Parents and Friends Meeting
This week, our Parents and Friends Committee gathered to discuss a range of upcoming community events and initiatives. Conversations focused on preparations for next week's School Disco, our much-anticipated Art Show in Term 3, and several other community and fundraising opportunities planned for the remainder of the year.
We are incredibly grateful to our P&F Exec Team- Stef B, Angela L, Jess G, Hayley B and Angela N and all other members for the time, energy, and enthusiasm they generously contribute to our school community. Their dedication to creating opportunities for connection, celebration, and support enriches the experience of all our students and families. We sincerely thank them for their ongoing commitment and look forward to seeing these exciting initiatives come to life.
It was wonderful to welcome some new faces on Wednesday! We had a fantastic turnout, and there was a real sense of excitement, enthusiasm, and positivity throughout the meeting. It was lovely to see members of our community coming together, sharing ideas, and building connections.
We are always grateful for the support and involvement of our families, and new members are warmly welcomed. If you would like to become involved or join us at our next meeting, we would love to see you there. Your ideas, perspectives, and contributions help strengthen our school community and make a positive difference for our students.
School Disco Friday 12th June
The excitement is building, with only seven more sleeps until our students take to the dance floor for this year's School Disco! This much-anticipated event is always a highlight on the school calendar and provides a wonderful opportunity for our children to come together and have fun.
A heartfelt thank you to our Parents and Friends Committee for the time, energy, and dedication they have invested in organising this special event. Their commitment to creating opportunities for connection and celebration within our school community is greatly appreciated, and events such as these simply would not be possible without their support.
We would also like to extend our sincere thanks to the parent and carer volunteers who have generously offered their time to assist throughout the afternoon and evening. Your willingness to support our students and school community is deeply valued.
The safety and wellbeing of our students remains our highest priority. Only parents and carers have completed the school's Child Safety Induction and provided a valid Working with Children Check will be able to supervise at the event. Members of the leadership team and school staff will also be in attendance to support the smooth running of the evening and ensure a safe and enjoyable experience for all.
We have no doubt that the disco will be a fantastic celebration filled with music, dancing, laughter, and plenty of smiles. We look forward to seeing our students enjoy this special occasion together.
School Assembly
STAR Awards at Assembly
It is always so nice to see so many of our students being the recipients of our STAR Awards! Congratulations to you all for displaying the values of S- Stay Safe, T- Try Your Best, A- Act Responsibly and R- Respect Yourself and Others.
Birthday Awards
We also wish all of our birthday children a very happy birthday! Celebrating birthdays together is always such a joyful part of our week, and it is especially lovely hearing our students sing “Tanti Auguri” to the birthday children at our school assembly. These special moments help create such a warm sense of community and belonging across our school. We hope all of our birthday children have had a wonderful celebration with family and friends.
Who Am I?
Each week one child is chosen from a 'Wheel of Names' in my office as the nominated person for the 'Who Am I?' This week, Xavier (Year 5) and Willow (Year 2) spun the 'Who am I' wheel for this week's who am I after guessing our last student Louis.
This week I had the pleasure of introducing Sebastian P in Prep to our school community! We found out lots of interesting things about Sebby especially that he loves lots of different kinds of food- donuts, broccoli, passion fruit and hot dogs with sauce! He has also has 3 names Seb, Sebby and Sebastian!
Congratulations to Charlie G in Prep for listening so carefully and working out all the clues to work out this week's 'Who Am I?' Charlie G will now spin the 'Who Am I Wheel' to choose next week's 'Who Am I' which will be shared at our school assembly next Friday.
Line Points
This week, Mr Butler spoke with all students about the importance of lining up promptly at the end of each break and moving calmly and quietly into their classrooms, ready for learning.
To support this focus, Mr Butler has reintroduced Line Points across the school. Each day, classes can earn points for the way they move to their line at the end of play time, wait respectfully, and transition smoothly into their learning spaces. This initiative encourages students to demonstrate responsibility, respect, and readiness for learning.
Our first Line Points Champions are Year 3BD, who had a fantastic head start thanks to the excellent lining-up habits they had already established before the competition began. Their consistent effort, teamwork, and positive attitude have set a wonderful example for the rest of the school.
As this week's winners, Year 3BD proudly received the Line Points Trophy to display in their classroom and enjoyed the special privilege of choosing the Friday Disco songs with Ms Carman today.
Congratulations to Year 3BD on a fantastic achievement! We look forward to seeing which class will take home the Line Points Trophy next week as students continue to demonstrate our school values through their actions each day.
Dogs on School Grounds
A friendly reminder to all families regarding dogs on school grounds. To ensure the safety and wellbeing of all students, staff, and families, dogs are only permitted in outdoor areas of the school and must be kept on a lead at all times, under the control of an adult. Dogs are not permitted inside any school buildings at any time, including the hall, corridors, classrooms, foyer, or near main entry doors. If you walk your dog to or from school, please ensure it is securely tied up outside. Please also note that children are not permitted to hold the leash or walk dogs on school grounds or around the playground before or after school - this must always be managed by an adult. These guidelines are in place to support child safety and to ensure a safe and comfortable environment for all members of our school community. We appreciate your understanding and cooperation.
School Closure Days Term 2
Please note the following school closure days in your calendar...
Monday 8 June- School Closure - King's Birthday Public Holiday
Tuesday 9 June - School Closure Day - Staff Professional Learning and Faith Formation with Malvern Parish Schools (St Joseph's, St Mary's and St Roch's)
What's on Next Week
Staying Connected...
At any time, if you have any questions or concerns about the wellbeing, care or learning of your child, please do not hesitate to reach out to your child's class teacher, one of the school leaders, or Dean Butler, Deputy Principal or myself, Annabelle Marinelli, Principal.
I wish you a lovely long weekend with your beautiful families. I hope you have a restful weekend, and if you are travelling, I wish you safe travels.
See you all on Wednesday!
With warmest regards,
Annabelle Marinelli
Principal