Term 1, Week 2

Dear Families and Friends,

Welcome to our first newsletter for 2026!

We truly could not have asked for a better start to the school year at St Joseph's Elsternwick. Each day it has been a joy to see families filling the playground at drop-off and pick-up, reconnecting and building new relationships. Most importantly, the students have returned happy, settled, and ready to learn. They have transitioned beautifully into their new learning spaces, and we commend them highly for their positive attitude and readiness for what promises to be a terrific year ahead.

New School Fence

We are delighted to share that our new school perimeter fence has now been completed, and we are simply thrilled with the result. The fence significantly enhances the safety and security of our site while also complementing the overall aesthetic of our school grounds. We sincerly thank Mark Evans (parent) and the School Advisory Council for their support in getting this important project across the line. The feedback from parents (and students!) has been overwhelmingly positive.

A Key Criteria to a High Performing School: Order & Calm

As Mr Daffy and I have spent time walking through classrooms and shared spaces, it has been wonderful to see such a strong and consistent focus on routines and expectations from day one. This has set a high standard across the school and is a credit to both our staff and our responsive students. The collective tone, behaviour, and sense of calm has been exceptional, and in my experience, the strongest I have seen at the beginning of a school year. I encourage all parents to read Mr Daffy's Deputy Principal News for his reflections on his first week and a half at St Joseph's.

Our New (Super!) Preps

Like all classes across the school, our Prep students have made an outstanding start. We sincerely thank Miss Nardella, Miss Dillon, and Mrs Shea for the care, preparation, and expertise they have shown in settling students so confidently into the routines and expectations of St Joseph’s.

Thank you also to our Prep families for trusting the process and supporting the morning drop-off routines. We have been amazed by how quickly our Preps have adapted, settling into learning blocks with confidence and already demonstrating independence. While the teachers put tremendous effort into preparing for their students, much credit also goes to families for the thoughtful transition conversations held in the lead-up to school. These conversations truly matter and have helped children begin their school journey feeling confident and secure. Families should be incredibly proud.

Our Preps have been touring the school and chatting with myself, Mr Daffy, plus Fiona and Amanda in the office. It has been such a delight to have them visit!

Prep and Year 5 Buddy Program

Our Prep and Year 5 buddy program commenced on the very first day of school, with our Year 5 students stepping into their mentoring roles with enthusiasm and maturity. For many students, this relationship becomes one of the most treasured parts of their primary school experience, and our Year 5s have been bursting with excitement at the opportunity to finally be a big buddy.

This week has included shared lunches, outdoor play, and time spent building connections. The buddy program plays a vital role in supporting our Preps as they settle into school life, and it has been wonderful to see these relationships already flourishing.

Our Year 6 School Leaders

Our Year 6 students have excelled in their first week, and we are greatly looking forward to working closely with them across the year in their leadership roles. We have been extremely impressed by the maturity and pride they have shown. At our first School Assembly today, students received their much-anticipated Year 6 rugby jumpers. These iconic jumpers are worn with great pride and symbolise the leadership, responsibility, and sense of belonging that comes with being our senior students.

In addition, our Year 6 students were fortunate to welcome Josh Burns MP to St Joseph’s today, ahead of their upcoming Canberra Camp in Week 4. Josh spent time speaking with students about his role as a Member of Parliament and the workings of government, in addition to answering their questions about life in Canberra. We thank Josh for his generosity in engaging so thoughtfully with our students, and for taking the time to support their learning at this important stage of their primary school journey. We also extend our sincere thanks to Miss Shanahan, Mr Jansson, and Mr Sandler for providing such a strong and successful start to the year, and for setting our Year 6 students up so confidently for the learning, leadership and responsibilities that lie ahead.

Staffing 2026

We extend a warm welcome to our new staff for 2026 - Luke Daffy (Deputy Principal), Amanda Johnson (office administration), Courtney Mand (Year 1 CM), Jack Capicchiano (Year 3 JC), Alexandra Freeman (Year 4 AH), Kyle Moldrich (Year 5 KM), Sarah Lockett (Visual Arts). We also welcome Erin Absalom (P-4 Music) back from Maternity Leave. The positive impact of our 2026 team is already being felt across the school, and we are thrilled with the strength and cohesion of our staff. A very special acknowledgement goes to Alexandra Freeman as she officially begins her teaching career at St Joseph’s! In my professional opinion, there is no better place to start. Alex has had an outstanding beginning, and we are very fortunate to have her as part of our community.

School Open Days & Tours for Enrolments 2027

Enrolments for Prep 2027 are now open and we encourage all families to submit their applications as soon as possible. The enrolment application is to be completed via our School Website here: https://www.sjelst.catholic.edu.au/applynow

Our Open Days are scheduled for:

Tuesday February 24th
Monday March 2nd
Friday March 13th

Please head to our School Website to book in a time. Our families are our greatest advocates, so keep spreading the good word about our amazing school to your friends and family. Tours are always welcome outside of these hours, so please contact the office at your earliest convenience should you be unable to make one of the above times.

Parent Information Session and Parent/Teacher Interviews

On Wednesday, we hosted our Parent Information Sessions and sincerely thank the families who were able to attend. These sessions provide a valuable opportunity for parents to connect with their child’s classroom teacher and to hear year-level specific information about their child’s learning and experiences in 2026.

Following these sessions, we will host Parent Teacher Interviews for all families next week. Bookings can be made via the following link:

A reminder that students will be dismissed from school at 1.00pm, with interviews commencing at 1.15pm. MACSEYE will be available from 1.00pm for families who require care. To support the smooth running of the interviews, please refer to the discussion points outlined in the confirmation email you will receive upon booking. If you are unable to attend your scheduled time, or cannot attend next Thursday, we ask that you contact your child’s classroom teacher to arrange an alternative meeting.

School Photos & School Uniform

School Photos are booked for Thursday February 26th. Please send your child to school in their full summer uniform. Year 6s will need to also wear their rugby jumpers. If your child has their PE lesson on this day, please pack their runners in their school bag.

At St Joseph's we pride ourselves on maintaining high standards for our school uniform and these standards are maintained by staff and leadership at the school. The students wear their school uniform 4 days per week and sports uniform 1 day per week. When wearing school uniform, it is expected that students will be wearing black leather school shoes, not black runners. Hair must be tied up and back if it is longer than shoulder length. The ribbons / headbands / scrunchies should only be in school colours please. Students are expected to wear the school hat (and no other hat) until the end of April and apply sunscreen every day before coming to school.

Student Mobile Phones / Smart Watches

We ask families to remind their children that all mobile phones and Smart Watches (i.e. any device with cellular capacity) are to be handed in to the classroom teacher at the beginning of each school day. This aligns with the Victorian State Government legislation. Thank you for your cooperation. Parents who need to contact their child can do so by contacting the school office.

Little Gems

One of our beautfiul teachers recieved the below email last week, from an ex-St Joseph's student.

Thank you for teaching me last year, you taught me many skills which will help me going into Year 7. I hope you have a good rest of the school holidays, which only has 5 days left. I went into court yesterday with my mum and I got to see how everything works. There were many similarities and differences to what we saw and learnt about in Canberra. If you hadn't taught me about it I wouldn't be able to spot the similarities and differences. I'll miss the morning roll where we got to tell you about our weekend, it was my favourite part of the day and always made me excited for school.

Know thy impact! Our teachers at St Joseph's are just so special.

Thank you to our Year 1 Parent Reps - Kirsten, Peach, Emma and Laura plus additional helpers, for hosting the Prep Parent Morning Tea. This annual event is held after drop off on the very first day of the school year, and provides a wonderful opportunity for our Prep families to connect.

Miss Shanahan hoisted the new flags that were kindly donated to the school today by Josh Burns MP. We are confident this officially qualifies her as an Aussie now.

Miss Dillon took this photo last Friday afternoon. Our dear little Preppies were just so exhausted after their first full day at school. Bless!

We have started our year with some special visitors, showing off their wonderful work and earning themselves a Principal Award sticker. Keep it coming! We are so proud of our students.

What a wonderful first week and a half at St Joseph’s! Thank you to our P&F and Year 6 Reps Anna, Vanessa, Fiona and Jane, plus helpers, for organising such a wonderful school BBQ this afternoon.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone.

Warmest regards,

Claire Tobin | Principal

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