Principal

We are well into Term 3 and with that comes longer days. I am certainly enjoying the lighter mornings as a I drive to school. With the recent rain the sunrise is quite stunning. I realise some people, including farmers experienced flooding and loss of crops and livestock. I hope they are doing ok. 

For those who attended today's Years 3-6 concert would agree it was 'amazing'. We will send out a special newsletter next week. This will focus on the Concert and Book Week Parade.

Bishop Rene RCJ celebrates the Sacraments in Shepparton this weekend. I look forward to meeting him and at some stage and welcoming him to St Joseph's Benalla. Please see a letter from Bishop Rene RCJ below.

YOUTH MASS

On Saturday 12th September we will join FCJ and the parish at the 6pm Saturday mass. Please come along if you are free. This will be followed with a sausage sizzle. More details to follow.

On Wednesday, I had the Term 3 Principal Leadership Day at the Dharnya Community and Education Centre in Barmah. It is a great location. We started with a smoking ceremony and prayer. We were made to feel very welcome. When you have an important meeting, the limited distractions were welcome. We often complain about limited phone service, but at times it is not such a bad thing. 

Today, I am in Melbourne for two meetings. I decided to catch the train. I am not sure if my wife enjoyed dropping me off for the 6:32am departure.

Speech Pathology Week recognises the value and impact of speech pathology across Australia. Thank you Arti Shah for helping the St Joseph's community.

Speech pathology in schools - Catholic Education Sandhurst Limited - Main

BOOK FAIR

Our Book Fair held last week in the library raised $3150.60!!  This is a credit held with Scholastic for us to use to replenish our books for our students to enjoy!  Thank you for your support! We are looking forward to Monday's Book Week Parade!

OPEN TOUR Wednesday 26th 12pm

Please pass on if anyone you know is thinking of enrolling. We will provide a number of opportunities to tour and look at what St Joseph's has to offer.

Enrolments 

We are experiencing a rise in ENROLMENTS enquiries for 2027 which is very positive. Enrolments remain OPEN in a majority of year levels for 2026. At the start of the year we had 406 students, currently 420 and we are looking at 434 at the start of 2027. 

If you have a child starting in 2027, PLEASE ENROL NOW. We have started finalising classes for 2027. All Catholic schools in our system will finalise school budgets by the end of Term 3. This includes staffing requirements and class numbers.

CELEBRATING 150 years

Sunday 25th October -2:00pm Thanksgiving Mass

Excursions

Our Foundation (Twisted- Echuca) and 1/2 (Mansfield Zoo) have an adventure ahead of them next week. Thank you, teachers, for organising and we hope you all have a lot of fun. 

All the best for the weekend.

David Keenan (Principal)