From the Principal

 We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land on which our school stands, 

the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation.

Dear Families and Friends,

Monday, 8th August, is the feast day of Australia’s first saint, Mary MacKillop.

Mary MacKillop is also known as Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop. She is Australia’s only saint.

On Monday, all classes will participate in a liturgy to acknowledge the wonderful life of Saint Mary of the Cross. Extracts can be found on the Education in Faith page.

Confirmation 

Last weekend our Year 6 candidates continued with their preparation for Confirmation by attending one of the four Commitment Masses as part of our usual weekend Masses. At the Commitment Mass, candidates handed Fr Andrew a pledge, outlining what they will be committing to when receiving their Confirmation. They will also read the pledge as a group after Communion.  

This weekend, they will again attend one of the four Masses to receive their Confirmation Medal. The Medal will then be attached to their stole, which will be worn during Confirmation. Confirmation will be held next Thursday.

Please keep our Confirmation candidates in your prayers. 

For more information, head to the Education in Faith page.

Celebrating 100 Days

On Monday our Preps celebrated 100 days of school. On arrival, you could be excused for thinking that we were celebrating Grandparents’ Day, for our Preps and teachers had dressed as if they were 100 years old. Following our whole school presentation, our Preps participated in a number of “100” activities – a great day had by all. A BIG thank you to our four Prep staff for organising a memorable day for our students.

Thanks to the Preps (and their families) for being a wonderful part of our community. We’re really glad that you’re here.

Thanks for those that were able to join us for a  "cuppa" in the PAC.

Congratulations

We were delighted to hear the news that Mrs Wickens and her husband Michael, are expecting a little baby boy in January - congratulations to them both. We wish Mrs Wickens and her husband all the very best as the begin a new and exciting journey together.

Arrival Times

As you would be aware, we are experiencing high levels of absenteeism at the moment for various reasons. To help with the attendance recording procedure, we ask that:

• any student arriving after the bell to please make their way to the office to receive a late pass. The pass will then be handed to the teacher, who will mark the roll accordingly. 
• If, for any reason, your child will be absent from school, can you please notify the office before 8:45am via:

1. the Skoolbag App, 
2. phoning the office (9561 7644) or 
3. emailing the office office@sjwheelershill.catholic.edu.au

Whilst you are also welcome to email your child's teacher, letting the office know directly will ensure that your child's absenteeism is record in a timely and accurate manner. For more information please refer to the Attendance Policy on our website.

School Attendance

One of the building blocks for a successful education begins with students coming to school on time each and every day.

We understand that sickness, family holidays and appointments which cannot be made outside school hours are acceptable reasons for not attending school. However, arriving late, leaving early or missing school on a regular basis is not acceptable and can have a major impact on a child’s future – a student missing one day a fortnight will miss four full weeks by the end of the year. By Year 10 they’ll have missed more than a year of school.

There is no safe number of minutes or days for missing school – each day a student is late or absent has a cumulative effect and puts them behind, which affects their educational outcomes.

Remember, every day counts. If your child must miss school for an extended period of time, please speak with your child’s classroom teacher as early as possible. Current legislation states that parents can be fined for not sending students to school without an acceptable reason.

If you’re having attendance issues with your child, please let your classroom teacher know so we can work together to get your child to school every day.

Early Arrivals

Please be aware that supervision of students commences at 8:40 am and concludes at 3:45 pm. Students should not be left at school outside of these hours, unless previous arrangements have been made. Usually staff are here well and truly beyond these hours, but they often have other commitments – meetings, planning, etc. I would hate for any child to be left here unsupervised. If you are running late, please don’t hesitate to let us know. If you require supervision outside of these hours, please contact Camp Australia.

Professional Learning Days

You may have noticed in the dates ahead that we have two Professional Learning Days scheduled for this term. Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS), our governing body, has authorised an extra day to accommodate for lost professional learning over the last few years. The days we have chosen for our Professional Learning are:

• Wednesday 17th August 2022 - focus on Inquiry and the 2 Year Plan.
• Thursday 1st September 2022 - focus on Religious Education Planning and Catholic Social Teaching

Ongoing professional learning is essential for St Justin's to keep abreast of the latest in education. Please note there will be no school on these days.

Volunteers

Please note that all volunteers at St Justin's must have a Working With Children Check:

Emergency Preparedness

On a regular basis, we conduct Emergency Management Responses (Evacuation Drills and Lock-downs). In case of a lock-down, all students, staff and visitors would be asked to remain in their rooms (if safe to do so) and await further instructions. In the case of an emergency evacuation, students, staff and visitors would evacuate either to the back assembly point (back oval) or the front assembly point (top basketball court) and wait for further instructions. There may be times however (hopefully not), when the school/parish site is considered unsafe and there is a need to move off the school grounds. Our two external evacuation points would be:

• Columbia Park, Jells Road, Wheelers Hill or
• Mulgrave Reserve, Garnett Road, Wheelers Hill.

Next week, you will receive an Operoo notice from us to seek your permission to conduct an Evacuation Drill off site to one of the above locations. No date will be issued on this form as this will allow us to conduct a drill at a time deemed suitable. Parents will be notified when the drill is about to commence, via Skoolbag.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Have a great weekend.

Take care and stay safe.

Pat

Mr Patrick Torpey

Principal