Dear Parents and Guardians,

We have had a wonderful start to the school year. All classes have settled and are working well and have quickly established their classroom routine. I have been particularly impressed by how well our students have remembered and been following our school rules, both inside and outside the classroom. A great effort by our students.

Our School Rules

Every member of our school community has a right to fully participate in a Catholic learning

environment that is safe, supportive and inclusive. Everyone deserves to be treated with respect and dignity. We believe students learn best when they feel safe and happy in a caring, supportive and engaging environment. We foster positive, tolerant and respectful relationships.

At St Joseph the Worker we:

· follow directions

· listen to the speaker

· speak appropriately

· keep our hands and feet to ourselves

· take care of property and the environment and

· move safely.

Communication

Effective and timely communication is very important. Our newsletter is online via our website and available for all members of our community to access. We also use our Skoolbag app to keep parents informed regarding events and news related to our school. All school events are listed on the calendar. From next week, all notes that are sent home will be uploaded to the school app so if you misplace one, it can be easily located on the app.

Working together

Effective home school partnerships rely on positive relationships being established. One way that this happens is through good communication between teachers and parents. The teacher’s main job is to teach the children so they may not always be available to speak with parents. For minor concerns, parents can ‘catch’ a teacher after school. However, for important issues, it may be necessary to set aside a time to meet. I encourage parents to communicate with teachers via email or preferably to make an appointment or MS team meet with the teacher so that concerns can be addressed appropriately.

Parents should note that if you are sending an email, teachers may not be able to respond immediately as they will be busy with their teaching responsibilities. Parents should expect an answer to their email within 24 hours’ time and only within business hours. Teachers will not respond to emails before 8.30am and after 5.30pm.

Curriculum Overview

Curriculum overviews will be shared with families in the week beginning Monday, 14th February via the skoolbag app.

We feel it is important that you know what’s happening and exactly what your child is learning across the curriculum areas so that you can work with us in supporting their learning. We are so fortunate to have excellent teachers at St Joseph the Worker who do a wonderful job providing an engaging curriculum for our students.

Parent Helper Sessions

At this stage, we are not running Parent Helper Sessions. We hope to invite parents to these sessions in March and will continue to update families regarding this.

Prep Enrolment 2023

At this stage, due to the current Victorian Government restrictions, we are unable to proceed with our planned School Open Days until further notice.

At this stage, the first Open Day will take place in early March 2022.

Please check in to this site for updates and more information. Alternatively, please contact the front office on 9469 7800 or anna.amerena@srprestonwest.catholic.edu.au

As we have had a number of enrolment enquiries for Prep in 2023, I have included some information for families who may wish to enrol their child for next year.

· Please collect an enrolment form from the office or download it from the website.

· Our school tours will be shared with the community as soon as possible. If you are interested in joining a tour, please contact the office and leave your details and we will contact you when tours are allowed to proceed.

· 2023 Enrolments close at the end of Term 2

· Existing families are guaranteed a place, but please remember to submit an enrolment form.

When submitting your enrolment application, please provide copies of

· Birth Certificate

· Baptism Certificate

· Immunisation certificate (can be provided later if not complete)

COVID Safe Reminders

We continue to implement their COVID Safe Plan and safety measures as per the Catholic Education Commission Victoria school operations guide. Do not come to the school if you are unwell.

Keep your child home if they are not well and get tested.
If you enter the school to visit the office, please ensure you wear a mask when you enter the building.
If you are coming to the school, you will be required to check via our QR code, located at the office.

Most families have received their RA tests and we will share further RA tests with families next week.

We are all looking forward to working with you and your children and to having a wonderful year at our school.

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

Regards

Maria Barnes