Dear Parents and Guardians,

As this is my final newsletter for Term One, I would like to take a moment to thank our students for their exceptional efforts this term. We are incredibly grateful for the productive learning environment we have had, and I am proud of the hard work shown by all our students. I am sure everyone is looking forward to a well-deserved rest over the upcoming holidays.

St Joseph the Worker is a vibrant and supportive community where parents and staff work hand in hand to provide the best learning experiences for our students. As we approach at the end of this term, I want to acknowledge the dedication and commitment of our staff, who consistently go above and beyond in supporting our students’ growth and development.

A heartfelt thank you to all our parents for your ongoing support and for trusting us with the education of your children. Whether you have attended our volunteer information sessions, assisted with selling icy poles, helped with the Hot Cross Bun fundraiser, or supported our Welcome event in February, your involvement has been invaluable. We deeply appreciate your contributions.

Together, we create a community that is welcoming, inclusive, and supportive. Thank you for all you do to make our school a place where everyone feels they belong. Your continued support is truly appreciated.

Congratulations to our Prep students on successfully completing their first term of school! Every student has settled in wonderfully, built new friendships, and adapted to the classroom routine with ease. Well done, Preps – you’ve made an impressive start!

Farewell and best wishes, Geraldine

It is with a heavy heart that we bid farewell to our colleague and friend, Geraldine. During her time with us, Geraldine has made a remarkable impact on everyone in our community. As a passionate educator, she has always placed our students at the centre of everything she does.

Students and staff have reflected that they will miss Geraldine’s supportive, understanding and kind approach to everything she does with us.

While we are sad to say goodbye, we are proud of Geraldine’s valuable contributions to our learning community and thank her for the positive impact she has made on our community. We are confident this will continue in your new role as Principal at Mary Immaculate in Ivanhoe.

Thank you, Geraldine, for sharing your talents and dedication with our community. We wish you continued success and fulfillment in all your future endeavours.

Staffing

I have advertised for a new Deputy Principal. Applications close during the holidays and interviews will take place in week 1 and 2 of Term 2. Further information regarding this, will be shared with everyone in Term 2.

Catholic Education Week

Recently St Patrick’s Cathedral was filled to overflowing for the annual Mass for schools, as over 2000 students and staff joined Archbishop Peter to celebrate the feast of St Patrick.

Some of our Year 6 school leaders, along with Kate, travelled to St Patrick’s Cathedral to celebrate mass with many other Catholic schools across our Archdiocese. A highlight of the day was sharing a bus with our Parish schools, St Raphael’s and St Gabriel’s. Special thanks to Kate for organising this for our students.

Stations of the cross ~ Our students supported our parents in finding all the stations and we had placed around the school

I hope families enjoyed walking around our school and participating in our stations of the cross yesterday. This was a wonderful opportunity for our community to reflect together on the events of Holy Week.

Classroom Helpers and Volunteers

Special thanks to all our parents who attended the training sessions for classroom helpers and volunteers led by Cherrie. We have had 36 parents attend our classroom helpers’ course and three volunteers. These sessions this year included unpacking the MACS Code of Conduct for parents and our Child Safety requirements. We thank our community for their support with this.

Sibling Architects

Last week Sibling Architects visited our school and met with staff and a cohort of students to discuss how to improve our school. Our students made many suggestions including connecting the playgrounds, opportunities for calm spaces both in and out of classrooms and opportunities for spaces that are adaptable to many different purposes within our school. Students acknowledged that some classrooms were very noisy and dark and asked for better acoustics, larger learning spaces and calm colours to support students in their learning.

Staff asked for increased break out spaces to support students who are dysregulated, that are always visible to teachers. We also asked for spaces that are functional and flexible in design. We discussed the disconnected landscapes in our school environments with the hard surfaces of asphalt not welcoming or encouraging of investigative play. We discussed the opportunity for inside to outside connection in classrooms, the opportunity for increased shaded spaces outside for both student play and community engagement and updated toilets that are safe for all students.

Both students and staff agreed that we need to improve our visibility from Wilson Boulevard so that our school has an obvious entrance that is welcoming, shaded and secure for our community.

Both sessions with Sibling were very productive and l look forward to working with Sibling following these discussions around how best to improve our school.

Thank You ~ Sacrament of Reconciliation & Eucharist

Last week, parents of students preparing for their Sacraments of Reconciliation and Eucharist gathered for a family information night at St Raphael’s Church, Preston South. It was a wonderful opportunity for our families to come together with families from our cluster parishes as we prepare to receive these important sacraments. A special thank you to Pauline Cicutto for leading the evening, and to the St Raphael’s community for graciously hosting this event.

School Tours and Enrolments

If you have a child and wish to enrol them for next year, please collect a pack from the office. We have further tours next term, and if families would like to join a tour, please contact Michele by ringing the office or via email michele.hides@sjwreservoirnth.catholic.edu.au

Enrolments close on – Friday 23rd May

St Joseph the Worker Parish Easter Celebrations

Please refer to RE news section for all the important Holy Week and Easter celebrations. Your family will be very welcome at these important events in our catholic church calendar.

School Uniform

Traditionally, at the commencement of Term Two, we move to our winter uniform, however we know that with changing weather patterns, we can often experience continued mild weather in late April and early May. For this reason, we are leaving the decision to parents to choose when their child moves to the winter uniform, so that we can ensure that your child is comfortable at school.

Students must always wear the correct uniform and can wear either the full summer or the full winter uniform to begin next term, but not a mix of both. The school holidays are a good opportunity to ensure that you have the required winter uniform items. Next term, on our first newsletter, we will set a date for all students to be in our winter school uniform.

School Fees

Thank you to all the parents who have paid their school fees in full. For those paying in instalments, the first instalment and the Curriculum Levy are now due. It is important that all fees and levies are paid on time to enable the school to meet our financial commitments. Please contact Marisa if you have any questions regarding your fees.

St Joseph the Worker Feast Day

Thursday 1st May is St Joseph the Worker Feast Day. We will be celebrating with our students on this day beginning with Mass at 9.15 am. Families are invited to join us to celebrate Mass on our school feast day. Further information regarding this day will be provided next term.

Secondary school enrolments

It is that time of year that parents need to start considering a secondary school for your child. Catholic Secondary Colleges: enrolments are open for current Year 5 students.

For Government Secondary Colleges: enrolments are open for current Year 6 students.

Please contact your preferred secondary college to arrange a tour and collect an enrolment form.

Working together

At St Joseph the Worker, we strive to be a safe, supportive and respectful learning community where the wellbeing of all is paramount. We follow Melbourne Archdiocese of Catholic Schools policies and procedures to promote an inclusive and supportive environment for our students where everyone feels safe, supported and respected.

This is a shared commitment grounded in the belief that each person is made in the image and likeness of God. We always seek to provide our students with an education that fosters the whole person. We recognise that as a school we have a significant responsibility to have a safe, respectful and nurturing environment for all. We create this environment to ensure that everyone in our community acts respectfully, fairly and compassionately.

End of Term One & Term Two beginning dates

Term One will conclude today at 3.15pm with 3 Way Conversations commence at 3.30 pm until 6.30pm and continue tomorrow, Friday, 4th April commencing at 8.45 and concluding at 1.15pm.

Term Two commences for students on Wednesday, 23rd April. Please note: the school will be closed for students on Tuesday, 22nd April and on Anzac Day, Friday 25th April.

Also, there will be no 'Out of Hours Care' for Tuesday 22nd April, our new providers MACSEYE will commence on Wednesday 23rd April.

I wish everyone a happy and holy Easter and a wonderful break with your family. Thank you for your ongoing support during a busy term. May St Joseph the Worker bless you.

We ask St Joseph the Worker to continue to bless our wonderful Parish and School Community.

Kind regards,

Maria Barnes

Principal

A Lenten Prayer

Look with favour, Lord, on your household.

Grant that, though our flesh be humbled by abstinence from food, our souls, hungering after you, may be resplendent in your sight.

- Pope Pius V

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