Principal's News
Dear Parents and Carers,
We have all enjoyed a fabulous week of learning and fun at St Joseph’s this week!
From our Book Week Celebration Day, to HOLT Athletics, and our first Orientation event (Teddy Bears’ Picnic) for our 2027 Prep students, we have certainly had a busy week.
We have managed to fit lots of learning in across the week; however, it is always lovely to enjoy these celebrations, events and extra-curricular activities as part of school life.
Book Week - What a Fabulous Week!
It has truly been a wonderful celebration of literature and fun across our very special annual Book Week this week! This year’s Book Week theme, ‘Symphony of Stories’, celebrated the wonderful world of books, stories and imagination.
Our Book Week Celebration Day took place on Tuesday with children and staff coming dressed as their favourite book characters. It was so lovely to see the creativity and enthusiasm of our students as they embraced the spirit of the day.
Throughout the week, our students were immersed in stories, explored the shortlisted children’s books for 2026 and shared their love of reading. It was a wonderful opportunity for our school community to come together and celebrate the magic of books, stories and imagination.
We sincerely thank our Literacy Leader, Ms Amanda Jackson, for her planning and to our teachers for their dedication, creativity and enthusiasm in making Book Week such a special and exciting celebration for our students.
We hope you enjoy the photos below from across the Book Week celebrations. Please take some time to enjoy Amanda Jackson's page in this newsletter which focusses on the Book Week learning across the week.
Book Week Book Swap
Our annual Book Swap was held on Wednesday, and it was wonderful to see so much enthusiasm and excitement from our students. It was lovely to see the children bringing along their much-loved books and then having the opportunity to choose a new book to take home and enjoy.
A very special thank you to Ms Amanda Jackson for organising this wonderful event and creating such a positive experience for our students.
Thank you also to all of the children who participated and brought along their books to share. Your generosity has helped promote a wonderful love of books, reading and sharing within our school community. We hope everyone enjoys their new books!
HOLT Inter-School Athletics
From our sensational Senior Leader and HOLT Coordinator David Prowse -
Congratulations to all of our wonderful athletes who competed at Holt Athletics on Monday. The sportsmanship and overall enjoyment of the day were evident through the many smiling St Joseph’s faces.
A special thank you to our wonderful parent supporters for getting behind our athletes and making the day such a positive experience. We would also like to extend a huge thank you to parents Daniela C and Mel L for their fantastic support in the Long Jump pit. Thank you also to all the parents and carers who came along to support and cheer our students on- we truly appreciate your attendance at these events!
Overall, St Joseph’s Malvern finished 4th overall, which is a fantastic first-up result in our new District. We are incredibly proud of the effort, enthusiasm and sportsmanship demonstrated by all our students.
Beachside Division qualifiers will be announced in the coming days once the final results are received. Parents of students who qualify will then be contacted with further information.
A huge shout out once again to the entire Athletics team for their efforts this week, you were all superstars We extend a huge congratulations to the following students, who qualified in the Top 2 overall in their events to move on to Beachside Division Athletics on Friday 9th Oct at Duncan McKinnon Reserve).
Track Qualifiers:
Harry B, Pip, Harry W, Chelsea, Wolf, Harry S, Spencer, Fabien, Will B and Cooper!
Field Qualifiers:
Cooper, Ari, Bennett, Gus and Harvey!
We look forward to having you represent Holt at the Beachside Competition.
A huge congratulations to all our athletes, and thank you to everyone who helped make the day such a memorable one! Please take some time to read David Prowse's page in this week's newsletter which has more information and photos for you to enjoy.
School Values in Action at St Joseph’s
At St Joseph’s, we value students who show our school value of kindliness through their words, actions and care for others. Our students demonstrate this school value by including others, offering help, showing empathy and treating everyone with respect and compassion. These small acts of kindness help to create a welcoming, supportive and caring school community where everyone feels valued and included.
This week Amalia and Holly demonstrated our school values of strength and kindliness to parents and students in our school community.
Excellence in Learning
It is always a pleasure to have students visit me to share their learning achievements and to see excellence in learning in our classrooms. Congratulations to all students who continue to do the best every day.
2027 Prep Orientation 1 - Teddy Bear's Picnic
This week, we welcomed our very special 2027 Preps for their first Orientation session – a Teddy Bears’ Picnic!
It was so lovely to see the children enjoying this special time together and beginning to build friendships with their fellow Preps. There were lots of smiles, excitement and fun as they took part in their first experience of Prep life at St Joseph’s.
We would like to thank our wonderful Prep teachers, Ms Niki Liolios and Ms Chloe Nashed, for ensuring this was such a special and memorable experience for the children.
We can’t wait to welcome our 2027 Preps back for their next Orientation session!
Pasta Making During Italian Classes
From our amazing Italian Teacher Ms Tanya De Lima -
What an exciting week we have had in Italian. Such an integral part of Italian culture is the love of good food. So of course, we had to make pasta. The children were given an opportunity to make the dough themselves and then attempt to create some popular pasta shapes, such as tagliatelle, farfalle (bow-ties), and even little pasta pillows which resemble gnocchi. We had a wonderful time getting messy. I’m sure with their confidence and enthusiasm, the children will be cooking dinner for the family in no time! Buon appetito!
Staff News
Farewell and Best Wishes to Ms Meg Correy!
We would like to wish Ms Meg Correy a very special farewell as she begins her parental leave. We are so excited for Meg and her husband, Ben, as they prepare to welcome their new baby. This is such a wonderful and special time for their family, and we wish them every happiness as they embark on this next chapter together.
Meg will be greatly missed by our students, families and staff. We thank her for her care, dedication and contribution to our school community and look forward to hearing all about her exciting new arrival. We wish Meg, Ben and their growing family all the very best and hope they enjoy every precious moment together.
Welcome, Ms Zara Boyadjian!
We are delighted to welcome Ms Zara Boyadjian to our school community. Zara will be joining us as our Year 1 teacher and we are thrilled to have her on board.
We look forward to Zara becoming a valued member of our staff and to the enthusiasm, care and expertise she will bring to our Year 1 students. Please join us in giving Zara a very warm welcome and wishing her all the best as she begins this new chapter with us.
Our St Joseph's School Assembly
Once again, it was wonderful to see so many families join us for our school assembly this morning.
This week our sensational senior students presented a very informative and entertaining debate for our school community. We were so proud of their learning they shared about persuasive texts and they were certainly impressive in the way they shared this at assembly today with our school community.
Today we said farewell to Meg Correy for her final day at St Jospeh's before she being her parental leave. Her lovely Year 1 SRCs presented her with a lovely gift made by all the students she has taught over the years that she has been here at St Joseph's. It was also lovely to introduce Zara Boyadjian to our community this morning. Zara will be teaching Year 1C from Monday.
During assembly, students were recognised with STAR Awards for demonstrating our school values of Stay Safe, Try Your Best, Act Responsibly and Respect Yourself and Others. We warmly congratulated these students for the positive choices they make each day and for the wonderful way they contribute to our St Joseph’s community. We also celebrated our school birthdays and we all sang “Tanti Auguri” in Italian sharing in his birthday joy.
Mr Butler announced the winners of this week’s Line Points. Congratulations to our new champions Year 4P , for their fantastic achievement and for consistently demonstrating our school values throughout the week!
It was also lovely to recognise the students who participated in the HOLT Athletics on Monday and to recognise the students who will now progress to the Beachside Competition in a few weeks.
We also finished our assembly by proudly singing our National Anthem together - a wonderful way to celebrate our school community and start the day.
Today I had the pleasure of introducing Ari to our school community as this week's principal's "Who Am I?" A few weeks ago Scarlett, Edie and Gus came in to my office to spin the "Who Am I?" wheel and Ari in Year 4 was selected as this week's student! It was a lot of fun learning about Ari's favourite things which I shared at assembly today. id you know that Ari loves two kinds of pizza- pepperoni, and ham and pineapple and he absolutely believes that pineapple deserves a place on a pizza!
Thank you to all of our families who continue to join us for our weekly assembly - you presence and support for the children makes St Joseph’s such a special place.
Father's Day - Save the Date
Upcoming School Advisory Council Meeting
Next week or School Advisory Council will meet to discuss a number of important matters. At this meeting, I will rely heavily on the advice and counsel of our SAC members as we begin planning for the 2027 school year. Our conversations will include the school’s 2027 budget, the Enterprise Bargaining Agreement (EBA), and the impact this will have on our St Joseph’s school community. I will seek the advice and guidance of our SAC members as we consider and make decisions regarding school fees, class structures, positions of leadership and other important aspects of planning for 2027. These conversations will be an important part of ensuring that we make thoughtful and considered decisions that support our students, staff and wider school community. Our meeting agenda will also include sharing our outstanding NAPLAN data where we continue to be a school of excellence when compared to state and national literacy and numeracy outcomes. We will also focus on our parent/carer communication platforms and maintaining a positive school culture. I am grateful for the ongoing commitment and contribution of our SAC members and value the important role they play in providing advice and representing the voice of our school community.
What's on Next Week...
Staying Connected...
At any time, if you have questions or concerns regarding the wellbeing, care, or learning of your child, please do not hesitate to reach out. We encourage you to contact your child's class teacher in the first instance, or alternatively, one of our school leaders, Dean Butler (Deputy Principal), or myself, Annabelle Marinelli (Principal). Working in partnership with our families is incredibly important to us, and we are always happy to listen, support, and work together to ensure the best possible outcomes for every child.
With warmest regards,
Annabelle Marinelli
Principal