Principal News

Dear Parents and Carers, 

It has been another wonderful fortnight at St Joseph's! Book Week has taken centre stage, with fantastic activities taking place each day for our students. Book Week is a wonderful celebration of the joy and power of reading. It reminds us that books are more than just stories, they open doors to imagination, knowledge and empathy. For children, Book Week is a chance to connect with literature in fun and meaningful ways, sparking a lifelong love of reading that supports their learning and wellbeing, both in and beyond the classroom.

We topped off the special week with the wonderful costume parade last Friday morning. Thank you to the many, many parents and carers who made time to come and cheer on the children while they showed off their costumes. I particularly want to acknowledge the efforts of our parents and carers, who (I have no doubt) worked hard to help their children put their costumes together. We appreciate that our students looked so spectacular due to your support at home. 

I must acknowledge our Year 6 students, who get into the spirit of Book Week every year and prove to us that they're never too grown up to enjoy a dress-up day. 

Thank you to Miss Dusting, Mrs Harrison, Ms Linke and our Year 6 Book Week Leaders, Emma, Imogen, Maya, Allegra, Harriet, Zoe, Morgan and Domenica, for their wonderful work in bringing Book Week to life at St Joseph's. 

I also want to sincerely thank our wonderful staff for embracing the day, dressing up and sharing in the fun with their students.

Staff News 

Congratulations to Maria Crawley and her husband, Mark, on the safe arrival of baby girl Ella! We are absolutely thrilled for Miss Crawley, and send her our very best wishes. Maria, Mark and Ella have settled into their new life as a family of 3.

We also congratulate Plaxy Nardella and her partner, Harry, on the safe arrival of baby boy Lenny! Born on August 24, his due date, Plaxy and baby Lenny are doing very well and are already settled in at home. Prep PN have been praying for baby Lenny every day and cannot wait for Miss Nardella to visit for a special Prep PN 'Show and Tell'. 

Exciting News: A New Playground is Coming!

We are very excited to share that, thanks to the incredible fundraising efforts of our P&F and the generosity of our school community, we have now raised enough funds to replace the blue playground and safety-surfacing in our front playground area!

Planning is now well underway, with students also having the opportunity to help shape the final design. Through our SRC, each class voted on their preferred powder coat and plastic colours, with the most popular selections incorporated into the finished playground. Note: the images below are not the selected colours. The final product will be a mix of blues and pale green. 

This is a significant investment in our school grounds and will provide a fantastic new play space for our students to enjoy for many years to come. A huge thank you to our Parents and Friends, and to every family who has attended an event, purchased a ticket, donated, volunteered or supported our fundraising activities. We cannot wait to see the new playground come to life later this year. 

P&F Footy Match - Tomorrow!

Our next Parents and Friends event is the much-anticipated St Joseph's Footy Classic, taking place tomorrow, Saturday August 30 at Wattie Watson Oval. It's set to be a fantastic afternoon for the whole community, with a BBQ, cake stall, and of course, a friendly footy match. We sincerly thank Ben Gibbs for once again running this wonderful initiative and we are thankful for the many parents who work behind the scenes in the lead up and on the day. The first bounce is at 1pm, and we hope to see the St Joseph’s community out in full support. 

St Joseph's Art Show - Thursday September 10

It is only 12 more sleeps until our highly anticipated Art Show comes to life! Mrs Sarah Lockett, our fabulous Visual Arts teacher, has been working with the students all year to prepare pieces for display, in addition to our classroom teachers who have prepared their own pieces. All families and special guests are welcome to attend, with the doors opening at 5pm on Thursday September 10. Please head over to the 'Art Show News' page for all of the details. 

P&F Meeting 

Thank you to the families who attended our recent P&F meeting and took the opportunity to discuss our 2027 Community Consultation Survey, ask questions and share further feedback. It was a valuable conversation and another important opportunity to hear directly from our parent community.

Your engagement, feedback and continued support of St Joseph's mean a great deal as we work through our planning for 2027 and beyond. We are grateful to everyone who has contributed to the consultation process, whether through the survey, the P&F meeting or conversations with the school.

Planning will continue over the coming weeks, and I look forward to sharing a further update with our community towards the end of term.

Dendy Athletics 

Congratulations to the Year 3, 4, 5 and 6 students who participated in the District Athletics Competition today! We are so proud of all of our students who competed, placing 5th overall. Students who qualify will progress through to the Beachside Athletics day on Friday October 9.  

Father's & Special Men Preparations 

We warmly invite all the special men in our community to join us on Friday, September 4 for a celebration starting at 7.45am. Following breakfast, our Year 3 students will proudly present an assembly item at 9.00am. To add to the fun, students and their families are encouraged to come dressed in their favourite footy/sports team colours for the day, with the children participating in various activities throughout the day. We look forward to celebrating this special occasion with you. 

Yesterday the school was a hive of activity, as our students went shopping for gifts for their Dads/special Men. We sincerly thank our Year 4 Parents and Friends representatives and helpers - Paige, Katherine, Leah, Lauren, Anita, Sarah & Jane plus exceptional Year 6s - Zoe, Maddie, Clem, Evie and Ben! 

We recieved the most wonderful feedback about the Year 6s: 

I just wanted to let you know that we had a few Grade 6 helpers with us for the entire duration of the stall, and they were absolutely fantastic! I told them I would make sure to let you know how wonderful they were.

They helped with selling items, taking orders, counting money and jumping in with any extra jobs that needed doing. They showed such great leadership, were incredibly helpful and made the day so much fun!

How special! We are incredibly proud of our students and the way in which they conduct themselves. 

Mr Daffy - Doing the Work! Part One

Today Mimi and Abi in Year 4 enjoyed their part in the the very popular "Get Mr Daffy to Do Your Work for the Day!" experience, secured by their families at our recent P&F fundraiser.

Mr Daffy headed back to Year 4 and was put straight to work by Abi, Mimi and Miss Freeman. 

Part Two belongs to Mira in Year 1, with her turn coming soon. Date TBC... Mr Daffy, consider this your warning!

Secondhand Uniform Donations

We are calling for donations for our second hand uniform stall, which will run early in Term 4. Items can be delivered to the school office and families are ask to please ensure they have been washed and are in good condition. If you have any questions, please see Anita (Tom Year 4, Zoe Prep) or Jen (Mimi Year 4). 

Little Gems

Congratulations to Sophie and Evie (Year 5, pictured with James, Year 1) who raised money for Project Compassion with their weekend cake stand. Social justice in action - we are so proud and impressed. 

Henry (Prep) played on the MCG at half time during the Richmond v St Kilda match. Go Henry!

Where's Wally? Or, Where's Kyle? Our two 'Kyles', Kael (Year 3) and Mr Kyle Moldrich (Year 5KM) were absolutely delighted to discover they'd dressed in the same outfit for Book Week. 

Charlotte and Elizabeth (Year 2) were snapped on a 'special delivery' to help one of our teachers do some yard cleaning. 

All the best to our parents who are ‘pulling on the boots’ for tomorrow’s footy match. We look forward to seeing everyone there, it promises to be a terrific day for our whole school community.

Our final newsletter for Term 3 will be published on Friday, September 11. It will include a wrap-up of our wonderful Art Show, highlights from the footy match and a celebration of the many activities, achievements and special events that have made Term 3 so memorable.

Until then, we wish all our families a safe and enjoyable weekend.

Claire Tobin

Principal