PRINCIPAL'S NEWS

Miss Jaclyn is always busy keeping abreast of our socials and sharing the terrific 

SCHOOL CLOSURE DAY

This Friday, Nov 28, we will have our last School Closure Day. On this day, our staff will beundertaking important planning and preparation for the 2026 school year. This dedicated time allows our team to review programs, organise class structures, and ensure we are well-positioned to provide the best possible learning environment for our students in the year ahead.

CAROLS EVENING / Christmas Market

🎄✨ Our Christmas Carols and Christmas Market are fast approaching! Please join us on Thursday, 4 December, for a festive community evening.

We will begin with our Christmas Market at 5:00pm, proudly hosted by our Prep classes, followed by Carols at 6:00pm. 

Families are encouraged to bring a picnic basket along with a rug or chairs, and settle in for a relaxed and joyful night in the school yard.

It promises to be a fun and festive evening for all — everyone is welcome! ⭐

ST JOSEPH'S CHRISTMAS EVE FAMILY MASS

Each year the Parish celebrates Christmas with a family Mass on Christmas Eve. The Mass is on the 24th December at 6.30pm in the church.

This Mass is prepared with children and families in mind, and we hope to involve many of our students in various ways throughout the celebration. We are seeking children who would like to read or dramatise the Gospel.

We also urgently need a parent (or parents) to volunteer to help coordinate this. The role involves running a single practice in the church before the Mass. Children dress as angels or shepherds, and process into the church to place the statue of the baby Jesus in the crib on the altar. Costumes are provided, or children come already dressed. 

This is a wonderful family celebration with very little commitment—just one practice!  Please let me (Mary) know if you are able to help out!

CHRISTMAS GIVING TREE

A heartfelt thank you to everyone for contributing to our Giving Tree. Your generosity has been overwhelming, and it will make a real difference in the lives of children in need this Christmas. 🎄💝

All donations will be collected by St Vincent de Paul next Friday, and we are so grateful to our wonderful school community for helping make Christmas brighter for those less fortunate.  There are still a few angels for collection.

Thank you again for your kindness and support! ✨

🎨ART SHOW 

A heartfelt thank you to Ms Louise and Ms Jaclyn for the incredible Art Show. It was a truly amazing evening, with outstanding student artwork on display and a wonderful atmosphere created by the huge crowd who came to celebrate our young artists.

The silent auction was a tremendous success, raising $3591.00 which will go directly to the Arts Department to support resources and supplies for our students.

We are deeply grateful for the enormous amount of extra time, care and planning that both of you dedicated in the lead-up to this event. Your passion and commitment to the arts shine through in everything you do, and our whole school community appreciates your exceptional work.

There was an incredible amount of organisation behind the scenes — a huge thank you to Jaclyn and Louise for their amazing effort and dedication!

STAFFING 2026

We are delighted to welcome Amaya Salgado to our Junior Team in 2025. Amaya is an experienced educator with a strong background in junior classrooms, and we are excited for the knowledge, energy and fresh ideas she will bring to our community.

Amaya will be working alongside Aoife, Brittany and Kate Velden, and we look forward to the contributions she will make as part of this vibrant and collaborative team.

We warmly welcome Amaya to St Joseph’s and look forward to supporting her as she settles into her new role.

FAREWELL TO FR PETER

We bid a fond farewell to Fr Peter, who will be leaving us to take up a new parish in Ferntree Gully and Belgrave.  His last day with us will be 10 December.

We are sad to see him go, as he has been a wonderful addition to both our school and parish community. His warmth, guidance, and support have been greatly appreciated by all.

We wish Fr Peter all the very best in his new role and thank him sincerely for his time with us. 🙏✨

PREP ORIENTATION

Last week, we were delighted to welcome our 2026 Prep students for their orientation session. We have 31 new Preppies joining us next year, and it was wonderful to see how excited they were and how beautifully they settled into the activities.

During the session, the children met their Grade 5 buddies (our current Grade 4s), who will support them in their first year of school. Our big buddies were just as excited about the Preps starting as the Preps themselves, and it was lovely to see those first connections forming.

We are very much looking forward to welcoming them and their families to St Joseph’s in 2026.

SCHOOL DISCO -– Friday 5th Dec 🎉💃🕺

This is an SRC initiative!  The SRC have organised this event as a way of saying a big thank you to all our students for their fundraising efforts and generosity throughout the year. 

The disco will be held during school hours, and we’re looking forward to a fun and festive celebration with everyone. 🎶✨