Principal’s News

Dear Parents and Carers,

I hope you are managing to stay warm and dry with this current weather. Winter has really settled in after a bit of a slow start.

New Flags and Poles

On Wednesday St Joseph’s welcomed the member for Casey, the right honourable Aaron Violi to our school. Aaron joined with our staff for lunch, then met with the whole school to present new Australian, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flags for our newly installed flag poles.  We are very grateful for the time Aaron spent with us and for providing us with the three flags to fly.

Sadly, the rain cut proceedings a little bit short so we had to move under cover for Advance Australia Fair.

However, the rain cleared soon after, allowing us to get some photos together in front of the new flags.

Welcoming Yasemin and Adera

This week we warmly welcomed another two students to our school. Their names are Yasemin and Adera. Both children have settled in really well and are making great connections with their classmates. It has been nice getting to know them and finding out about their special interests and talents. I know you will all make them and their families most welcome at our school.

Victorian Registrations and Qualifications Authority (VRQA) Review

On Monday we will be welcoming Mr Scott Stephens from the Victorian Catholic Education Authority (VCEA) to St Joseph’s to conduct an on-site visit as part of our VRQA Review. Scott has already completed a Desktop Review of our policies and procedures documents and will be looking at how these are enacted in our school. The purpose of his visit is to ensure compliance with VRQA minimum standards. He will identify whether there is any non-compliance and will provide this to us in a report following the review. We will then be given three months to put rectification measures in place to address any non-compliance. His feedback so far, during the Desktop Review has been very positive. We will keep you up to date with the progress and outcomes of this school improvement process.

School Advisory Council (SAC)

The SAC met on Tuesday, 18 August and discussed, among other things, the placement of Pupil Free Days throughout the year. 

Schools currently have four school closure days to acquit Time-in-Lieu to teachers for the extra hours spent at work beyond their scheduled 38 hour week. This includes the many hours I request teachers to attend events such as camps, parent-teacher interviews, night meetings, etc. It does not include the many hours of unpaid overtime teachers spend correcting work, planning lessons, etc after hours, on weekends and during school holidays. Schools are also required to provide staff with four Professional Learning Days during which we skill staff in the areas of focus in our School Improvement Plan. 

A question has been raised with the SAC by one of our parents about the placement of these days throughout the year. Concern was expressed about these days, adjoining Public Holidays and School Holidays. The parent finds it difficult to get leave from work on these days. Previously, this has been recommended by many parents, who take it as an opportunity to get away with their families for an extra-long weekend. 

The Advisory Council agreed that we should consult with families to hear more about how parents and carers feel about this matter. We are always interested in listening to the voices of our families.  Keep an eye out for a Google Survey, which will be sent to you shortly. This will give you a say in the school’s placement of School Closure Days throughout 2027.

Expressions of interest in joining the SAC are warmly welcomed. Please reach out to me in person or via email principal@sjyarrajunction.catholic.edu.au.  I have received an enquiry about this from a parent in the last few days and would warmly welcome more.

Drop Off and Pick Up Reminders

Drop Off and Pick Up Times

Supervision at St Joseph's commences at 8:30am, 15 minutes before the bell rings for the start of the day.  Responsibility for supervising students prior to 8:30am rests with parents and carers.  From 8:30am, Katie and I will be at drop off/pick up area and on the playground to supervise children arriving and playing before the 8:45am bell.  Children return to the drop off/pick up at 3:00pm and are collected by their parents between 3:00pm and 3:15pm. Please don't panic if you are running a few minutes late.  The children will wait for you safely at the office.

Drivers to Remain in their Cars

In order for families to use the Drop off/Pick up Zone, children must be able to get themselves out of and into the car independently.   This allows for the smooth flow of traffic in this area.  If children are unable to do this independently, families are asked to park in the SPA Centre Car Park and walk up the path to collect their children.

Walking to Drop Off or Pick Up your Child

Parents are welcome to walk their children up to the school from the car park in the morning and back to the car park in the afternoon. Parents must escort their children as this area is not supervised by school staff.  Special attention should be paid to the whereabouts of children when walking through the car park.

Staying for a Play in the Afternoon 

Some parents enjoy giving their children a run on the oval after school.  It is also an excellent opportunity for parents to connect.   While this usually goes very well, there have been some incidents between unsupervised children at this time.  Parents are responsible for supervising their children after school and mediating any disputes.

A reminder that the play equipment adjacent to the shade sail area is not to be used between 3:00pm and 3:15pm, even under the supervision of parents.  Children waiting for their parents are often tempted to leave the pickup area and join their friends playing in this area.  This slows the traffic flow and requires staff to leave the supervision area to find missing children playing on the equipment.

Best wishes for the week ahead.

Nick.

Nicholas Boyhan

Principal