Dear Parents and Carers,

It has been another busy week in the life of St Joseph's, with the preparation for Easter and the wind down for the end of term quickly approaching.

This week we have celebrated St Joseph's Day and Catholic Education Week. Year 6 students attended St Patrick's Day mass last Friday at St Patrick's Cathedral in Melbourne, followed by a celebration in the park with all of the other schools in Melbourne, and on Wednesday this week we came together as a school to celebrate mass and St Joseph, our patron saint. With a casual clothes day thrown into the mix it has been an exciting week for our students.

As we wind down for the term, there are a few additional events that are occurring next week.

Wednesday:

Upper Yarra Athletics Carnival year 3-6

Foundations attending Mass

Thursday:

8:45am Easter Hat Parade and Easter Raffle drawn, awards and last assembly for the term (SPA Centre 8:45am - 9:30am)

3pm finish to the school Term. We will resume school on Monday 15th April.

Plumbing works

As some of you may have noticed, over the last few weeks we have had some significant plumbing works completed to repair ageing pipes and a leaking fire hydrant. Anthony has worked extremely hard in keeping the disruptions to classes to a minimum and we thank him for his extremely hard work in preparing the site for the plumbers. As the works continue, some areas of the undercover area and space outside the student toilets will be out of bounds for students, staff and parents. Alternative arrangements have been made for students to access the toilets via the interior doors and for the 1/2 children to access the classroom from the interior door only. We are hoping that a majority of the work will occur over the holiday period.

Neurodiversity Week 18-24th March

Every brain is unique and every individual brain works in different ways. Everyone has their own way of thinking and interacting with the world around them.

This week is Neurodiversity Celebration Week. It is where we acknowledge and celebrate the uniqueness of each student.

What is Neurodiversity?

Neuro - comes from the nerves

Diversity - a range of different things

Neurodiversity is an umbrella term for neurological conditions such as Autism, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, ADHD, Dyscalculia, Dysgraphia, DLD (Developmental Language Disorder) and Tourettes.

This week also coincides with Harmony Week, where we are celebrating and accepting each other's differences. Many of the classes this week have in some way celebrated Harmony Day and completed activities celebrating the uniqueness of each child. Please read the class contributions for further information.

Enrolment Applications for Mount Lilydale Mercy College

Families of year 5 students who wish to have their child enrolled at Mount Lilydale Mercy College for 2026 must have an application placed with the college by Friday 10th May 2024. If you need assistance with this task, please contact Sharon Elderhurst at the College on 97354022 or via email registrar@mlmc.vic.edu.au.

If you are wishing to enrol your child at Mount Lilydale Mercy College, enrolments are open from year 4. Please see the College website for enrolment applications. https://www.mlmc.vic.edu.au/

PSG meetings

Thankyou to all families who have taken part in PSG meetings this week. We thankyou for your contributions to the goals for your children and we look forward to catching up with other families in Term 2.

Easter events

Thankyou for every family's contribution to the upcoming Easter Raffle for the P and F. The money raised will go towards improvements for the playground. The Raffle will be drawn immediately after the Easter Hat Parade in the SPA centre at 8:45am Thursday 28th March.

Please have your raffle tickets and money into the office no later than Wednesday next week.

School Holiday events

Please click on the links below to see what is on in the Yarra Ranges over the holidays and also what is on in Melbourne over the holidays.

As this is the last newsletter for the term, we wish all of our St Joseph's families and friends a very Happy Easter and safe holidays and we will see you all back at school next term.

Kind Regards,

Katie Vranken

Enrolments are now open for 2025