From the Principal

Mr Torpey

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,

Saint Justin's Feast Day - Saturday 1st June

On Saturday the 1st June is the Feast Day of St Justin, our Patron Saint. This year our school will celebrate St Justin's Feast Day on Friday 31st May with a whole school Mass at 9:15am - everyone welcome. It is a time to celebrate belonging to the school and parish family of St Justin’s. We pray that St Justin will continue to inspire us to have courage in our faith journey.

First Eucharist

This term our Year 4 students will receive their First Eucharist. This weekend, Saturday 25th May and Sunday 26th May, students will attend First Eucharist Medal Mass, which will take place during one of our four Parish Masses. First Eucharist will be celebrated on Saturday 8th June 6.00pm Mass, Sunday 9th June 10.30am Mass and Sunday 9th June 5.00pm Mass.

Thanks to Mrs Snell for presenting a very personal First Eucharist Family Workshop last Tuesday - very much appreciated. Please keep our Year 4 students in your prayers as they continue on their faith journey.

Professional Learning 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 to continue supporting our students at St Justin's.

School Absences

As the wintery conditions set in, so do the reports of coughs, colds, flu and Covid. Can we please encourage parents to keep their children at home whenever they display the symptoms of being unwell. Thank you for your cooperation.

Notification of student absences

We take the opportunity to remind all families that student absences should still be reported to school via Audiri prior to school commencing to assist our teachers and staff in meeting their duty of care to our students for accurately recording the whereabouts of all students on school days.

We appreciate your support with this advice.

nForma Student Medical Details

A reminder that all parents of students with medical conditions must update nForma Medical before close of business 30/5/2024 due to the impending cancellation of Operoo for our school.

PLEASE NOTE: Students with medical conditions who do not have nForma MEDICAL updated will unfortunately not be able to attend excursions, incursions, sporting activities, camps, special food days or other activities until such time as their medical information is updated.

National Volunteer Week

This week we celebrate National Volunteer Week (20th-26th May). This year the theme is ‘Something for Everyone’ – and nothing is truer than the volunteers within the St Justin’s Community – there is certainly something for everyone, especially if you look and ask.

National Reconciliation Week

National Reconciliation Week commences this Monday. National Reconciliation Week is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia.

National Reconciliation Week (NRW) started as the Week of Prayer for Reconciliation in 1993 (the International Year of the World’s Indigenous Peoples) and was supported by Australia’s major faith communities. In 1996, the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation launched Australia’s first National Reconciliation Week.

In 2001, Reconciliation Australia was established to continue to provide national leadership on reconciliation. In the same year, approximately 300,000 people walked across Sydney Harbour Bridge as part of National Reconciliation Week-and subsequently across bridges in cities and towns-to show their support for reconciliation.

The dates for National Reconciliation Week are the same each year: 27 May to 3 June.

These dates commemorate two significant milestones in the reconciliation journey— the successful 1967 referendum, and the High Court Mabo decision.

Student-Led Conferences

We wish to thank everyone for their participation in the Student-Led Conferences. A huge thank you also to our teaching staff who have worked so positively with the students to make these conferences happen.

School Fun Run - Thank you

Thank you to our wonderful Parent Helpers. Briana R, Jackie, Juliet H, Kelly D, Kerry S, Maria, Melinda I, Narelle R, Sharon C and Vanessa.

As a school we couldn’t hold this kind of event without your support!!

Working Bee

Our working bee for this Term will be held on Saturday 1st June from 1:00pm - 4:00pm. There are a variety of tasks to complete, all of which help keep our school safe, tidy and well presented - something I think we are all proud of. We would love to finish at 4:00pm with a sausage sizzle. Again, we encourage everyone to come along, even if only for an hour or two – many hands make light work. Register via Audiri - resources and forms.

St Justin's 40th Anniversary Celebrations

Thanks to everyone for your contributions to our 40th Anniversary Celebrations. So far we've identified that we currently have three students at school whose fathers are pictured in the inaugural photo taken in 1984. We have also had shared with us a copy of the original letter from the then Parish Priest of Good Shepherd, to the Archbishop, recommending that the name of the new school to be built in Wheelers Hill be "St Justin's".

Celebrations of our 40th Anniversary are being planned for October. If you have any memorabilia, photos or stories they would like to share with us, please contact the office or email office@sjwheelershill.catholic.edu.au.

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.