om until the he 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 over 40 years of Catholic Education

Dear Families and Friends,

2025 Catholic Education Week

This week we celebrate Catholic Education Week (CEW). This annual event is held to promote the special ethos of Catholic schools and to highlight the great things that take place in Catholic schools every day. The theme for this year’s celebrations is : ‘Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you’ (Isa 60: 1).

Catholic education strives to make a difference in the lives of those in our schools and in the wider community by challenging young people to live out the message of Jesus and walk the way of the gospel to reach their full potential as compassionate, contributing, life-giving members of society.

Today Mrs Sulivan, Mr T, Tyson, Talia, Lachie, Lux, Ritesh and Keith travelled in the St Patrick catherdal for the annaul St Patrick Day Mass and Concert in the Park. It was a wonderful celebration with the Principal Celebrant being Archbiship Peter Comensoli

There are 331 Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Melbourne that educate around 115,000 students and employ more than 16,000 teachers and staff, and most will celebrate Catholic Education Week in some way.

As a Catholic system, we have much to celebrate and be proud of.

Harmony Day

We are excited to announce that our school will be celebrating Harmony Day on Thursday, 27th March! While Harmony Day traditionally falls today the 21st of March, due to a busy calendar, we will be holding our celebration next Thursday 27th March.

We look forward to a wonderful day of unity and celebration. We encourage all students to wear a touch of orange eg. hair ribbons, socks, hat, t-shirt. Students will also participate in the classroom activities related to Harmony Day.

Follow the Dots

This week many parents asked me as to the purpose of the dots, which we painted on the pathways during the working bee last weekend. The dots have been painted to help with safe, calm and orderly movement around the school. When moving as a class around the school, the red (pink) dots require the students to wait outside the classroom until the teacher directs them to enter. The yellow dots are to assist with paths or travel around the school, especially to the back oval, front oval and PAC, requiring the students to stop at designated yellow dots as directed by the teacher. The dots are to help create safe, orderly and calm paths of travel around the school - so far they seem to be working.

We are also asking that the area outside the Prep/Year 2 classroms be a walking zone, especailly after school. This area can become very congested with pedestrian traffic moving both ways. If we walk and be patient, we will all get out safely.

I can . . .

It's great to see almost ever student now carrying their own bag into the corridor in the morning. By now they should be able to carry their own bag into the classroom and unpack their own bag.

Keep up the great work.

Caritas

Thank you to the St Justin’s community for your generosity with donations towards Caritas

The RE Captains and Social Justice Team helped count Caritas boxes today and

the classes that has raised the most money this week are:

1st place - 6SL $71.45

2nd place - 3WM $59.25

3rd place - 2SI $52.95.

The overall school total so far is $472.25.

Thank you for your generosity and support let's keep donating and see how much we can raise over the next 2 weeks.

P&F Meeting Change of date

Please note: Change of date for next weeks P&F Meeting from Tuesday to Wednesday 26th March 7:30 – 8:30pm

Easter Raffle

A friendly reminder that Tuesday 25th March is Easter Egg donation day for our annual Easter raffle. Student who donate to this course are able to wear Casual Clothes on this day.

Open Day

Thanks to all who were able to help with our Open Day. Visitors were very impressed with:

Our confident, articulate Year 6 leaders who conducted tours throughout the day and to the following students for staying back after school last night - Tyson D, Elexis D, Aria S, James D, Gabriella C, Lachlan D, Lux M, Taj P, Dominique P,
Khiara S and Andrew S
Our beautifully presented school, including the grounds and clean, open and bright classrooms
Our calm and engaged students
Our friendly staff and parent helpers - Meg E, Amanda E, Monita S, Marielle K, Sally C Loren I, Sharon C and Melinda C
Pretty much everything really.

Thanks again to everyone for your amazing support. We know that such a feel cannot be created for one day; it's something that we continue to build on every day. We are very blessed.

Enrolments 2026

We are currently processing Prep enrolmets for 2026 . To be considered for first round offers, we are asking all enrolments to be completed by Friday 28th March. This includes all existing families requiring a place for Prep 2026.

Application are now online. If any current school families require an enrolment application for 2026 click on the link below:

https://www.sjwheelershill.catholic.edu.au/enrolments

Click on "Apply Now"

Working Bee

Thanks to those who were able to attend our working bee last Saturday. Whilst we didn't have a big turn up, we were still able to achieve some mulching and cleaning up around the school grounds . Whilst Working Bees are a great time to get things done, they are also a terrific time to catch up with others and share a few laughs. Thanks again to everyone involved – much appreciated. Our next working bee will be held next term – keep an eye out for the invite.

🐔🚨 CHICKEN HELP NEEDED! 🚨🐔

Dear St Justin’s Families,

This is an emergency! Well… not really. But we DO need your help! The holidays are coming, and while we’re absolute experts at strutting, clucking, and looking fabulous, we’re not so great at refilling our own water or keeping the veggie garden alive. (Seriously, have you ever seen a chicken hold a watering can? It’s not pretty.)

So, we’re on the hunt for kind-hearted humans to feed us, check our water, and keep our veggie patch thriving while school is closed. In return, we promise to greet you with our best chicken chatter, throw in some curious pecks (all friendly, we swear), and give you major bragging rights as an official Holiday Hen Hero. 🦸‍♂️🐔

Holiday Chicken & Garden Care

📅 Dates: Saturday, 5th April – Sunday, 20th April

📍 Where: Our deluxe, five-star chicken coop at St Justin’s

📧 How to Sign Up: Email chickens@sjwheelershill.catholic.edu.au by Thursday, 27th March, with your mobile number.

Even if you can only spare a day, we’d be eggstatic! Bonus points if you visit multiple times (or bring snacks - we’re not picky, as long as it's not bread).

Cluckingly grateful,🐔 The St Justin’s Chickens 🥚

School Safety

As we work to create a safe environment for us all, a reminder to parents that supervision of students commences at 8:40 am and concludes at 3:45 pm. If any child needs supervision outside of these times, please contact MACSEYE. Whilst we would never leave a child unattended, I would hate a child to be left at school or arrive early and there is no one here. Please also note that side gates into the school will be locked at 9.30am and unlocked at 3.00pm. If you are running late, please enter via the school office and sign your child in. All visits to the school must enter via the school office. We appreciate your support.

As always, thank you for your ongoing support.

All the best,

Pat

Mr Patrick Torpey

Principal

Easter 2025