Dear Parents and Guardians,

Thank you to all our families for their wonderful support of our Carols evening last Thursday. It was a fantastic evening for everyone to enjoy the dulcet tones of our students and staff and to catch up again with friends and family.

As this is our final newsletter for 2022 l would like to thank all our families for their wonderful support this year. After a challenging two years of COVID-19, it has been wonderful to have an uninterrupted year at school. We are all very grateful that students have had a great year of learning.

School Advisory Council

A big thank you to our School Advisory Council for their work this year. We continued to meet regularly via teams and this year ratified our Terms of Reference, resubmitted our building grant, launched the new website and started discussions on events for our community in 2023. A special thank you to our retiring Board members: Vanessa Rendina, Vanessa Bonnaci and Romina Nicolazzo. On behalf of the school community, l thank you all for your valuable contributions to our school community.

At our Annual General Meeting on Tuesday evening, new members were elected to the School Council for 2023. Congratulations to Jessica Mazzone, Melisa Bagnato and David O’Brien.

Good luck to our departing Year 6 students

Thank you and good luck to all of the Year Six students. I would like to extend a very warm congratulations to all of these students on behalf of our community and wish them every success for next year at secondary school.

We have several families whose child finishes this year and will be ending their association with St Joseph the Worker and some families leaving the area. We are saying goodbye to the following families: Alonso, Barbaro, Battagello, Delos, Dogra, Hazelwood- Smith, Karam,Mitris, Mohammed Shaffry, Nicolozzo, Rattol, and Tannous. To our Year 6 students and departing families, we say thank you! Your contributions to our community are greatly appreciated. I thank you for your support and wish you all the best for the future.

Staffing

Next year we welcome six new staff to our school: Teresa Malvaso, Chloe Dewar, Mary Leos, Ivana Elice, Chelsea Parsons and Anabelle Selvaggio. We still have one vacancy and l have advertised for another teacher. I will update families when this position is filled.

Student Leaders

Congratulations and thank you to this year's Student Leaders. You have all done a wonderful job representing and connecting all students. Congratulations to our newly elected leaders for 2023. I am confident that you will continue the example set by this year's leaders and continue our school tradition of setting an excellent example for all in our community. Please note our new School Captains can be found further on in our newsletter.

Best Wishes

I would like to also acknowledge and thank the staff who are leaving St Joseph the Worker this year; Jacqui Causer, Monique Symss, Stephanie Asgadi and Maureen McArdle.

We thank Jacqui for sharing her enthusiasm and passion for teaching and learning with our community during the last five years. Jacqui is always an enthusiastic member of staff, and we wish her continued success at her new school next year.

Special thanks to Monique for her dedication supporting the students in her two years at St Joseph the Worker. Monique’s calm and sensible approach to supporting the students in her care has been valued by all in our community. We wish Monique well at her new school in 2023.

Thank you to Stephanie for your dedicated classroom teaching at St Joseph the Worker. Many students have enjoyed working with Stephanie both in the classroom and in her previous role as IT leader. Best wishes Stephanie at your new school next year.

Maureen McArdle is retiring from teaching at our school this year. Maureen has worked at St Joseph the Worker for thirteen years and taught for over 35 years. Maureen has been an asset to our school with her gentle nature, kind disposition and high expectations for all students in her care. On behalf of our school community, we thank you Maureen for your diligent professional work teaching students in your care and wish you much happiness with your family in retirement.

On behalf of everyone in our community, l thank you all for the wonderful contribution you have all made to the life of our school community and we wish you the very best for the future.

Thank you Morning Tea

Next Tuesday, 13th December, we have invited all parents who have volunteered to support our community in many ways to join our annual “Thank You’ morning tea in the hall at 10.30am. Please RSVP via the invitation.

End of Year Mass

On Friday 16th December, we will be celebrating our End of Year Mass where we give thanks to God for the year that has passed, and to celebrate the many wonderful events and achievements throughout the year. It has been another extremely successful year at St Joseph the Worker Primary School, and we have much to be grateful and thankful for. Parents are very welcome to join us for mass at 12:00 p.m.

Finally, and most importantly - I would like to thank all of our students who have worked so hard this year and continue to make our job a pleasure. It is our great privilege to work with the children and I wish them a very enjoyable break.

I would like to thank all staff, students and parents for all your amazing support. It is a great privilege to be principal of this wonderful school!

I would like to express my gratitude to all the staff for their enormous efforts this year. I know that all parents are very grateful for the hard work and dedication of the staff. We are very fortunate to have such great teachers and support staff and I thank them for all that they have done. They are a tremendous group of people who work extremely hard and show great care towards the students. I wish them a very well deserved and restful break.

Special thanks to our students for another year of working together to achieve their best. As a staff we are in a privileged position to support the development of our students and to share their learning milestones and successes.

Special thanks to each and every one of our parents for the trust you place in us and for your support and assistance in so many ways. I am so impressed with your generosity and enthusiasm. Your support in classrooms, school events, our art show, parents and friends, attending excursions - is very much appreciated by myself and all of the staff and students. Your contributions have ensured that we are able to work in an effective partnership with you in the education of your children.

I would like to thank Father Manny for his outstanding leadership of our Parish. We are very lucky to have such a wonderful Parish Priest and I thank Father for his ongoing support, and guidance of our families and our staff.

This is the final newsletter for the school year which concludes next Friday December 16th at 1:15 p.m. Students are free to wear casual clothes on this last day of school.

On behalf of Father Manny and the staff, I wish everyone at St Joseph the Worker a very happy Christmas and God's blessings for a peaceful New Year. Have a safe and happy holiday.

Maria Barnes

School Leaders - 2023