Principal's News

Celebrating an Eventful Couple of Weeks!

Dear Parents,

I hope this newsletter finds you well, as we take a moment to reflect on the exciting events and achievements that have taken place at St Joseph's Primary School over the past couple of weeks. It has been a bustling time for our school community, as we approach the end of Semester One.

We begin by extending our congratulations to all our students for their efforts and sportsmanship during the School Athletics Day. 

Despite it being the first day of winter, we were blessed with beautiful weather that added an extra sparkle to the event. The sun was shining brightly as our children showcased their athletic talents with great enthusiasm. We were particularly delighted to see the colourful accessories worn by the children, which added a vibrant and festive atmosphere to the carnival. They truly brought the spirit of the day to life! 

We would like to acknowledge the Yellow team for their exceptional performance, securing the Athletics Shield in a highly competitive contest. Well done to all the teams for their spirited participation! Thanks to Miss Birch for overseeing the organisation of the day and also a big thank you to staff and parent helpers for ensuring the day ran smoothly for our children. It certainly takes a village to run a carnival!

Move it, make it, swing it, shake it! (aka a Physics Excursion)

This week, our students from Prep to 6 had the opportunity to explore the world of physical science during a captivating day trip to TwistEd. The students engaged in hands-on activities and experiments that expanded their understanding of scientific concepts taught in the classroom. We express our gratitude to Clare and Marta, our level leaders, for organizing this enriching excursion. We would also like to extend our appreciation to the staff and parents who volunteered their time and support, ensuring the success of the day. The students returned with smiles on their faces, a clear indication of a great day out!

Staff Leave

Miss V will be on leave from Wednesday of next week as she visits family overseas and during her absence, she will be replaced by Miss Birch and Mrs. Jackson, ensuring that Prep V is in very safe hands. Miss Cleere has already begun her leave as she flies out to Ireland today, excited about being reunited with her family. Additionally, Miss Briely will be taking some well-deserved long service leave to travel around Europe with her family. We wish all our staff members a rejuvenating break and look forward to their return.

A highlight of this week has been the YMCA All Aboard Skateboarding program, which has been embraced by our students with great enthusiasm! Led by experienced instructors, these inclusive and accessible skateboarding workshops provide children and young people with the opportunity to learn and develop their skateboarding skills. The program focuses on fostering confidence, skill development, injury prevention, skate park etiquette, and equipment maintenance. We are grateful to Miss Birch for organising these lessons, which have been thoroughly enjoyed by our students. We may see an increase in skateboards on Christmas wish lists this year!

Sporting News

A huge well done to Callum in Year 4, who recently competed at the Beachside Division Cross Country event at Bald Hill Park, Clayton and secured an impressive 2nd place in the U9/10 Boys category. Congratulations, Callum! We wish him all the best as he progresses to the Southern Metro Regional event on Wednesday, 14th June. Additionally, Callum has been invited to join the State Swimming team—an outstanding achievement indeed!

Dendy Lightning Premierships: Next week our Year 5 and 6 students will compete in the 3 Dendy lightning premierships over 3 consecutive days: 14th Soccer; 15th Netball; 16th football. All students will participate in at least one event and we would like to thank Malvern City Football Club for assisting on Wednesday and also thank you to the Year 12s from De La Salle, who will be running a coffee van during Friday's football and also umpiring during the day.

Thanks also to Mr Cleary for organising the three days and for representing us at the Dendy District network. Good luck to all students who are participating and remember to have lots of fun and be great representatives of our school! 

Friendship Fair 2023

As is the tradition at St Joseph’s, Term 2 will end with the much-loved Friendship Fair. Ably led by our SRC students, the children will come together in support of St Jude’s Tanzania, and raise funds through their stalls and activities. 

The day will begin with our Instrumental Music Concert and school assembly in the hall at 9 am, and all parents are welcome to join us for this part of the day.

Following this, the children will set up and run, their stalls- assisted (but not micromanaged) by the staff. The day will conclude with the St Joseph’s Annual Talent Show, which will be held in the De La Salle performing arts centre behind our school. 

We will have the children return to school for our usual pick-up time of 3.30 pm.

Reminder for the day: casual clothes and spending money of up to $10

Thanks to our SRC, Mrs Carman and staff for organising the day and what a lovely way to end the term.

Over the years, the friendship fair has provided the funding for St Jude's student, Eli, to access the high-quality education on offer at St Jude's; it was with great delight that we received the photographs of Eli at her graduation and we also received this letter from the school: 

Dear Students, teachers and parents at St Joseph's Primary,

Our 9th Form 6 graduation was successful and a day to be remembered by everyone.

Elifuraha graduated from Form 6 at The School of St Jude. The Class of 2023 is the ninth-year group to reach this milestone at St Jude's, and all 210 graduates completing their academic scholarships have been changed by the high-quality education you have supported. This event occurred on Saturday, 20th May 2023, and was the biggest group to graduate St Jude's.

On her graduation day, Elifuraha's family proudly shared this moment with her. We took a few photos to mark this wonderful event.

As you have watched Elifuraha grow into a young adult who will lead the way to a new future for Tanzania, we are honoured to share Elifuraha's photos for this event with you. 

The colourful 2023 graduation ceremony featured Maasai dancing, the Form 6 students' Farewell Song, and the presentation of awards to outstanding graduates and staff. To make it even more special, we had visitors worldwide who joined our school community during this year's graduation ceremony.

Completing the final year of secondary school is a milestone in any young adult's life, and here in Tanzania, it is an achievement attained by too few young people. With hard work and the opportunities, you have helped make possible, Elifuraha has accomplished so much during her time at St Jude's. We are so proud of her achievements, and we know you will be too!

We wish to say a heartfelt thank you, as it is only due to the extraordinary generosity of sponsors like yourself that we can fulfil our vision of educating the future leaders of Tanzania. Together, we have been fighting poverty through education.

We look forward to watching Eli's journey post-secondary school, I'm sure she will go on to do great things!

Semester One Reports

As we approach the end of the semester, our teachers have been assessing student work and analysing testing data to prepare the Semester 1 school reports. These reports will provide a comprehensive overview of your child's progress and achievements throughout the semester. 

Our teachers utilise various assessments, including ACER Progressive Achievement Tests (PAT), ACER Torch Test, South Australian Spelling Test, Essential Assessment summative and formative assessments, as well as other moderated assessments and work samples. Through careful analysis, they ensure accurate and meaningful feedback on your child's learning journey. 

Each term the staff come together to collaborate in 

‘moderation’ sessions in English and Maths. Moderation is the practice of teachers sharing and developing their understanding of what learning looks like at various levels; we examine examples of different types and quality of students' work and compare these to the formal standards in the Victorian Curriculum.  

Our analysis considers overall school performance as well as the performances of students from identified priority groups; evidence of improvement/regression over time and, in the case of data from standardised tests, measures of growth across the years of school. Progressive Achievement Tests (PAT) are a series of tests designed to provide objective, norm-referenced information to teachers about their students’ skills and understandings in a range of key areas; our analysis focuses on assessing and monitoring student growth over time and is underpinned by an understanding that students of the same age and in the same year of school can be at very different points in their learning and development. 

Our teachers use all of this data to make an informed decision about where to place a child on the learning continuum associated with each subject in the Victorian Curriculum.

The Semester One report will be a comprehensive reflection of your child's progress and achievements throughout the past two terms and the reports will be released via the parent portal on the last day of term, Friday 23rd June. 

It has been a pleasure to read through the school reports and see academic, social and emotional growth in all of our students this year; I'd also like to acknowledge how well our teachers know and celebrate their students and their achievements.

Parent-Teacher Interviews will be held on Monday, 17th July and this will provide an opportunity for you to discuss your child's report and gain valuable insights from their teachers. We will share the booking link with you soon, allowing you to schedule your preferred time slot. For students on personalised learning plans, additional support group meetings (PSGs) will be organized from Wednesday, 19th July, to Friday, 21st July. These meetings will focus on discussing your child's progress with regard to their PLP goals.

Farewell to Fruit Nest

We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to Christine and Czes, owners of Fruit Nest on Glenferry Road, who have been generous supporters of our school community for many years. We wish them all the best in their new venture in Balwyn and it is good to know their local deliveries will continue.

Reminders and Dates:

The last day of term is Friday, 23rd June, and we will conclude with a cake stall hosted by our Year 3 and Year 4 families—a sweet ending to the term at 3.30 pm.

The staff will return on Monday, 10th July, for a pupil-free day as we embark on Day 4 of the Berry Street Education Model and students will resume classes on Tuesday, 11th July.

 We also invite you to save the date for the P+F big social event, which will be held at De La Salle on Saturday, 19th August. More details will follow, and we look forward to an enjoyable evening of celebration and fundraising for our school.

We hope you have a restful and relaxing long weekend, taking advantage of the King's birthday holiday this coming Monday. 

Finally, I'd like to thank our Preps for a very impressive assembly (production) this morning. We are so proud of their achievements in the first semester of their educational journey and we thank Mr B, Miss V and Miss Jo for all of their care and support of the youngest members of our community. 

Also, a big thank you to Mel, Simone and the uniform team on their latest sale, which raised over $1200 for our school- thank you team!

Have a lovely long weekend,

Michelle