Dear Parents and Guardians

It was wonderful to see so many parents attend assembly yesterday. I was impressed by all the students and how confidently they talked about their learning and l thank them for their efforts working together to do their best learning throughout the term.

As this is the last newsletter of the term, I would like to thank everyone for their support and understanding in working together to test your child regularly and isolating them when they show symptoms. Your efforts have helped keep our school safe and ensure that learning continued.

A big thank you to our students who have been amazing this term. Even with the cold weather, we have continued to ensure that classrooms were warm yet well ventilated. By working together, we have been able to look after the safety and wellbeing of everyone and continue to engage in our learning.

I would like to acknowledge the wonderful efforts of our staff who have worked together to ensure that students remain in classrooms working with their peers all this term. Excursions, incursions, a visit from dancers, together with sporting events have supported the students in enjoying all school life again. I thank all staff for their continued professionalism this term and their dedication to ensuring students and their learning remain our priority.

Congratulations Fr Manny

This Saturday, 25th June Fr Manny Bonello celebrates the important milestone of 39 years as a priest. On behalf of our school community l congratulate Fr Manny and thank him for the wonderful work he does in leading and caring for our community.

Child Safety

In July 2021, the Victorian Government announced new Child Safe Standards to further strengthen child safe environments and protect children from abuse. Schools, as child safe organisations always have the best interests of children at heart. The Child Safe Standards matter and are very important because they aim to keep every child safe and free from child abuse.

The Child Safe Standards recognise that all children are vulnerable and they require schools to take steps to prevent child abuse and build a culture of child safety. Staff worked together on our recent school closure day to discuss the new standards and how we will work together implement these standards. Further information about the standards can be found further on in our newsletter.

School Reports

Our mid-year school reports were sent home yesterday. We hope all families were able to celebrate the children's effort and achievements over the last six months. Please remember that all students have experienced two years of interrupted learning. Teachers are focusing on specific areas of need for every child and are putting in place the necessary programs and resourcing to support every child’s learning needs. We will continue to work closely with you to support your children.

Staffing updates

Sandra Dabbous leaves our community today and I would like to take this opportunity to thank Sandra for the contribution that she has made to our school as a classroom teacher and thank her for the care and dedication that she has shared with her students, staff and our community. On behalf of St Joseph’s Community, I wish Sandra all the best for her future endeavours.

I also would like to take this opportunity to thank Josie and Rosa for stepping in and supporting the teaching of Italian during the first semester. We greatly appreciate your work ensuring our students continued deepening their understanding of the Italian language. Lina will be working Tuesday and Wednesday again next term.

We still have two positions to fill in our staffing. I have re-advertised and hope that we may receive some applications. We have a contingency plan in place if we do not receive suitable candidates for these positions and will update families in due course regarding this contingency planning. Whilst I appreciate that these circumstances are not ideal, and it is my hope that we will be able to secure a quality replacement staff for Term 3, I trust that you will appreciate the School’s efforts to prioritise the continuity of learning for our students. We are proud of how we have worked together to overcome the challenges of the last two years and will continue to do so to deliver a supportive and empowering learning environment for all students at St Joseph the Worker.

Drop off and pick up procedures

Beginning Monday, 11th July, we will be opening only the main gate and hall doors for the morning drop off. P-2 will continue to walk in via the hall and Year 3 -6 students can enter via the double gates. At the end of the day, the double gates will be open for Prep students and students in Years 3 – 6. Students in Year 1 /2 will continue to exit via the gates near the oval.

Playgroup resumes

Beginning Monday, 18th July, St Joseph the Worker Playgroup resumes again onsite in our school hall. Further details will be provided to families regarding play group at the beginning of Term 3.

CSEF APPLICATIONS

If you have a Health Care Card, please fill in the attached CSEF application form and email it to the school on marisa.paras@sjwreservoirnth.catholic.edu.au

Link to CSEF Application Form https://www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/about/programs/health/CSEF-Application-Form-2020.pdf

If you have already submitted a CSEF form for 2021, you do not need to resubmit this form.

Parent Helpers

It is wonderful to see parents helping out in classrooms again and l thank them for working together to support the learning in classrooms. Thank you for your support during Term 2, the students and teachers appreciate the assistance you provide in the classroom. We look forward to your continued support in Term 3.

School Fees

Thank you to the families who have paid their fees in full. For those paying instalments, please ensure that your regular instalment will cover your fees for the year. It is important that all school fees are paid in full by the end of Term 3 to enable our school to meet its financial obligations. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you would like to discuss your account or contact Marisa if you require assistance to set up a direct debt payment plan.

Student Illness

Our school continues to be impacted by a variety of illnesses including COVID, flu and gastro and we are still experiencing a higher than usual rate of absenteeism from students and staff. Fortunately, we have been able to avoid disruption to our students' learning. Please continue to closely monitor your child’s health and do not send them to school if they are unwell. If your child is unwell at school, parents will be contacted and required to come and collect them. Thank you for your continued support in keeping our community safe and minimising the spread of illness.

Please remember:

RATs continue to be required by students who are household contacts to attend school (five negative tests over a seven-day period) or who have symptoms.
Families must continue to notify the Department of Health and the school if their child returns a positive RAT result. Additionally, you should inform us if any of your children are household contacts.

Casual Clothes Day

Thank you to all our families for their generous support of casual clothes day. We greatly appreciate your assistance in supporting our sponsored student, Vivian. Your contribution ensures that Vivian is able to continue attending school and hopefully, a much brighter future.

I wish all families a safe and enjoyable holiday. Thank you for the ongoing support of our school. We are a great community where we work together in partnership to support our wonderful students.

We ask St Joseph to continue to bless our wonderful Parish and School Community.

Maria Barnes

National NAIDOC WEEK celebrations are held across Australia in the first week of July each year to celebrate and recognise the history, culture and achievement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Naidoc Week is an opportunity for all Australians to learn about First Nations cultures and histories and participate in celebrations of the oldest, continuous living cultures of earth.

2022 Dates