Principal's Message...

Dear parents,

Well, what a week we are having so far! We have quite a few staff and students away this week and our prep class is somewhat diminished with well over half the class unwell. The winter 'lurgies' are certainly settling-in so I ask if your child is unwell that you please keep him/her at home.

Given the very high number of absences with both students and staff we have decided to postpone our SCHOOL PHOTOS that are scheduled for tomorrow. School photos will now be held on Wednesday June 8.

We hope that this alleviates the stress that many of our families are feeling about missing out on Photo Day - especially for our Prep families. (Today there are 17 preps away - we hope they all get better very soon!!!)

On a brighter note, I'd like to acknowledge some recent events that brought our community together. Last Friday we held our annual Mother's Day Breakfast - with a difference. Given that we are not able to use our Multi-purpose room we celebrated our breakfast in the shelter shed area outside.

Carmel and the staff, with the assistance of our senior students, decorated this area to the point of being beyond recognition.

Thank you to the staff and students who assisted with setting-up, serving and cleaning up!! There was a delicious 'spread' and the morning was a wonderful chance to give a little back to our Mums who give so much to our school.

Another recent community event was our Working Bee which was held on Saturday. I'd like to send out the hugest THANK YOU to those who braved the inclement weather and lent a hand. You may have noticed that there is now fresh mulch in the garden area along James St and on the Adventure Playground, our garden areas are looking much less 'overgrown' and we managed to fill a 6m bin with rubbish collected from nooks and crannies all around the school yard. A special thank you to Mick McCrohan who coordinated the event and spent the remainder of the weekend sanding and painting the gates to the outside toilets. Thank you so much to Mick and rest of the crew!!

It is these events that make St Joseph's such a positive and thriving community - one which I am very proud to be a part of.

WELCOME...

This week we welcome Emmerson Clarke and Sophie Burgess back to St Joey's. Emmerson and Sophie are past students who are completing a week of work experience. Welcome to both of you!!

WALK TO SCHOOL DAY

This Friday, May 20, is Walk to School Day. Please see the 'Wellbeing' section of this newsletter for more information.

GREAT NEWS for the JUNIORS....

Mr Zammit has extended his lunchtime CODE CLUB to now include the Junior students in grades one and two.

Lunchtime Code Club is held every Thursday and will be held in the Senior Community space. The club will last approximately thirty minutes and will start at 1.30 and go on until around 2pm.

CROSS COUNTRY

Next Tuesday a select group of students will be competing in the District Cross Country Event. The following children have been training hard for the event, attending early morning training sessions with Mr Zammit and Ms Tess on a Friday morning.

Elliot Becroft James Thomas Xavier Smith Jordan Fernandez

Oliver Armstrong Zia George Maria Parisis Amelie Brunton

Klara Nakic Zach Wright Julian Zammit Josh Tame

Saskia Thomas Elise Jones Zahra Lania

WORKING WITH CHILDREN CHECKS

Now that we are able to once again head out on excursions we will be asking for parent volunteers to assist on the day. If you wish to volunteer you must have a current Working with Children Check and provide the school with a copy.

A FEW UNIFORM REMINDERS

Thank you to the families who have transitioned to our winter uniform. Please keep in mind that Beanies are available from the front office ($10 each) and there is now one of the new school coats on display. These coats are an optional uniform item but are extremely good quality and worth a look...

I would also like to remind families that nail polish should not be worn to school and I ask the finger nails are kept short.

For more information on school uniform see the 'School Uniform' link on this newsletter

COVID UPDATE

RATs will continue to be distributed to you as they have been throughout this school year for the remainder of this term.

However, from Monday 23 May 2022, we do not recommend that your child complete a RAT twice a week as previously advised.

RATs will 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.

The ongoing supply of RATs to families in our school will ensure that parents and carers have tests should they need them if their child is a household contact or has 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.

SAVE THE DATE

NEWS from THE PREPS