PRINCIPAL'S NEWS

Out-of-School Hours Care

It's with much excitement that I welcome Leapkids to St Joey's.  Ali and his wife Nadia were busy setting up over the holidays, as they will be using the Multipurpose Room for before and after-school care.  Access will now be via the double doors in the undercroft. This move of rooms will provide the students with a larger space and enable them to use the inside toilets, and the Leapkids staff will have access to our kitchen to provide breakfast and delicious afternoon snacks.

The room looks fantastic, the activities are engaging and the sessions are very well-structured.

We encourage all families to register with Leapkids so that you will have the convenience of before and after-school care at your fingertips.  If you require more information go to their website https://www.leapkids.com.au or contact Kathryn in the office.

Staffing News

This term we welcome Ashlyn Keane back to St Joey's.  Ashlyn is returning from parental leave and will be taking on the role of Learning Diversity and Wellbeing Leader.  Ashlyn's days will be Monday, Tuesday and Friday.  Please see Ashlyn's contribution to this Newsletter in the 'Wellbeing' section.

We also welcome back Bernadette Harney, our Religious Education Leader, who took some extended leave last term.  Bernadette's days are Monday and Tuesday.

Laura Irons and Abbey Arbone are joining our staff this term.  Laura will be teaching Middle K (soon to be Middle L) when Kirsti commences her parental leave, and Abbey is teaching Junior S (now Junior A).  We're excited to welcome Laura and Abbey to our team and are eager to collaborate with them in delivering an exceptional learning and teaching program for our students.

Important dates and events for this term.

On Friday July 21 we invite all of our Grandparents, Elders and Special Friends to a special morning at school. Our visitors will be welcome to have a look around the school and join their grandchildren in their classroom.  We will then be providing a special morning tea in the multipurpose room.  A note will be sent home today asking you to indicate numbers so that we can cater accordingly.  This is a great opportunity for the children to share their school day with the special people in their lives, and we hope for a huge attendance!

We are also hosting a Grandparents, Elders and Special Friends Mass on Saturday July 22 at 5:30pm.  Again, we hope to have lots of grandparents, parents and children attend this Mass.  Our Middle students are hosting this celebration, and are busily preparing with Ms Bernadette and their teachers, and will have a special gift for all our Grandparents on the day.

Hooptime for our Middle and Senior students will also be held this term.  A note will be sent home today with our Middle students (Seniors later in the term) asking for volunteers.  Hooptime requires quite a few parent helpers, so please, if you can pop your name down to score or coach one of our teams we would be most grateful.

This term we will be hosting the annual BOOK WEEK PARADE and activities day.  The dress-up day will be on Friday August 25 and this year's theme is 'Read, Grow, Inspire'.

As a prelude to Book Week, the Scholastic Book Fair will return to St Joseph's this term.  This is a great opportunity to purchase a gift for Christmas, or to build your home library.  The Book Fair will commence on Thursday July 20.

Our school closure day for this term will be Friday August 18.  

Please be sure to check the 'Term Dates and Calendar' section of this newsletter for all of the events that will be occurring this term - the above events are but a mere snippet of the term's activities!