PRINCIPAL'S NEWS

School Sports Day

It was very disappointing that we were forced to postpone our sports day that  was scheduled for yesterday.  Much preparation goes into this day, and I thank Peter Zammit for the inordinate amount of hours he dedicated to organising the day.  We have not yet scheduled alternative arrangements for this event, but will inform everyone as soon as we have confirmed a date.

Senior's Camp

We wish all of our senior students and teachers all the best as they head off for Camp tomorrow.  The campers will be going to Gundiwindi Lodge in Silvan (in the Yarra Ranges - beautiful beautiful countryside!!). Lauren and Brittany will be attending the camp for the three days, whilst Georgie will attend on Wednesday (Sarah Coffey will be in Junior G), I will attend on Wednesday and Thursday morning, and Peter and Kate on Thursday and Friday. I most sincerely thank all of the teachers who are attending camp and enabling our students to experience and enjoy this event. It is no small feat to be 'on deck' day and night with 33 (very excited) childen - I THANK THEM ALL!!  

St Joseph's Day

On Sunday March 19 we celebrated the Feast Day of our Patron Saint, St Joseph.  At this celebration we also shared a community blessing for the children who are receiving a sacrament (either Reconciliation or First Eucharist) this year.  Thank you to the parents who joined us for this event, and thanks to Bernadette Harney, our Religious Education Leader, for preparing the celebration.

Another element to the day was the blessing of our new statue of St Joseph that has been placed in the Secret Garden.

Harmony Day & Ride2School Day

Please see the Wellbeing section of this newsletter for a great recount and some spectacular snapshots of these two recently celebrated school events.

Easter

This year we will once again be holding a whole school Easter Celebration at 9:00am on Holy Thursday - the last day of term.  In previous years we have held our Easter celebration in the school yard, however the weather forecast is looking rather dreary and wet so our celebration will be held in the Church.  Each class will be participating in a story telling activity centred on an element of the Easter Story. 

The children have been busy preparing for this celebration and we hope that we have many parents, grandparents, special people present to share this event with us.  Again, I thank Bernadette Harney for her coordination of our Easter Celebration - it will undoubtedly be a wonderful occasion.

End of Term 

I cannot believe that we are already facing the end of Term One.  It amazes me how quickly a term can go by!  I would like to thank our wonderful staff for an amazing start to 2023, and a brilliant term of learning and teaching.  Term Two will commence on MONDAY APRIL 24 preceding the ANZAC day holiday.  Many parents have explained that they have booked a holiday up to and including ANZAC day - in which case their children will be absent on the Monday.  This is a totally understandable situation, however as the day is a gazetted school day, St Joseph's will remain open.  We have not scheduled staff professional development on this Monday, as we have our first school closure day pre-booked for Friday, May 12 (week three).

I hope that all our families have a wonderful Easter and share some quality family time over the term break.  The children will finish for the term at 1:30pm on Thursday, April 06 and may wear casual clothes to school on this day.

NEW INITIATIVES for TERM TWO

Soccer Clinics - Wednesday mornings 8:00am

Soccer clinics will be held each Wednesday morning in term 2.  Clinics will be at the courts on Westbourne Grove, and children will be escorted back to school at 8:40am.  Please see Kathryn if you would like more information or if you're having issues enrolling your child.

Code Club returns...

Next term we will be re-commencing our partnership with 'CodeCamp'.  This is an after-school learning opportunity that we are offering to our students. Sessions will be held from 3:15-4:30 each Tuesday, commencing in week 2.

Participants will use the school Chromebooks - so do not need to supply their own personal devices.

Expression of interest have been sent home - please contact the office if you missed it and would like a form.

Mad on Music  

Mad on Music will be offering Keyboard lessons for children in grades Prep and Grade One.  Lessons are held on a Tuesday during school hours.

Some important Community News to share...

ST JOSEPH’S NORTHCOTE PRIMARY SCHOOL PAST PUPIL RECEIVES OAM

On Australia Day 2023 Christine Bailey (nee Dutton) was acknowledged with the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for her decades of support to music and theatre organisations in Tasmania.

Christine grew up at 22 Northcote Street, Northcote and completed her entire primary education at St Josephs in years 1957–1963. During that time, she received piano lessons from the nuns and took part in the musical curriculum of the time. Singing was a major part of the curriculum which included school concerts and the school choir singing regularly at masses, benedictions, requiems and sacraments. Masses were said in Latin and Christine learned to sing the mass in Latin from grade three.

Her secondary education was at Santa Maria College where she completed years 7 to 12. During those years she was a member of both, the Junior then Senior School Choirs. These choirs sang at many school functions and performed every year at the Dandenong Competitions and, on a few occasions, won major prizes.

Throughout Christine’s early years both her parents provided music in her life. Her mother, Marie Dutton often sang through the day but especially when her father, Alan Dutton was playing the family piano. Christine remembers many a happy sing-a-long.

In 1975 Christine married a Tasmanian and moved to St Helens on Tasmania’s east coast where she raised her three sons and managed the family’s fish processing business. 

In 1987 her previous years of choral singing led her to join a newly-formed local choir in St Helens. 

Then in 1989 a local jazz musician invited her to sing with his band at the local pub and she has continued performing with this band Nice ‘n’ Easy around the state. In her early years in Hobart, she was invited to join three musician friends to make up a quartet that the drummer named Bailey’s Blokes (apparently not Christine’s choice – Ha Ha). She also sits-in with other musicians at various festivals.

In 1990, she began assisting the Co-ordinator of the Suncoast Jazz Festival in St Helens, becoming its Programmer by 1992 and continuing in that role until the festival closed in 2006.

In 1993 Christine moved to Hobart where she still lives. That year she joined the Hobart Jazz Club and took on the role of Secretary. This year she will celebrate 30 years on the committee having held all executive positions and in 2014 was made a Life Member.

In 2005 she established the annual Hot August Jazz Festival under the banner of the Hobart Jazz Club and continues as its leading Co-ordinator each year. (Hot August Jazz is a 12-hour festival which has grown to incorporating over 60 bands with a total of more than 300 musicians, in 13 venues across three city blocks). It is a very popular festival with Tasmania’s jazz musicians and attracts a large audience.

In 2014 the Longford Jazz Festival started in the north of the state and Christine was asked to take on the programming and has done so each year since – this year will be the 10th festival.

Christine’s theatre involvement in Hobart began in 1998 and she has worked on over 70 productions (too many to name) in various capacities. Over those 25 years she has worked as Production Manager for more than 30 shows, half of them being major musicals staged at Hobart’s Theatre Royal. Her production management also included 10 Hobart Comedy Festivals from 2002–2012. The Theatre Council of Tasmania was inaugurated in 2014 and Christine was invited to be part of the Community Theatre judging panel for its first five years, three of those as its Convenor.

Most of this work has been voluntary as she worked full-time for the State Government up until her retirement in December 2014.

Her formal investiture will take place in May at Government House Tasmania. We congratulate Christine and are pleased that her tireless contribution to music and theatre in Tasmania has been recognised by all of Australia.

Information provided by Kathleen Maynes

PARENT-TEACHER INTERVIEWS

Parent-teacher interviews will be held on Tuesday April 04 between 2:00pm and 7:45pm.  A note has been sent home with your child, and a form posted on Skoolbag detailing how to make an appointment.  Parent-teacher interviews allow you opportunity to talk with your child's teacher about your child’s progress  (academically, socially and emotionally), raise any issues your child may be experiencing and make plans with the teacher about how you can both support your child throughout 2023.

We hold our Interviews towards the end of term 1 as by this stage your child's teacher will have collected and utilised valuable data informing us of where your child sits on the Learning Continuum.

Please find the time to make an appointment; attending parent-teacher interviews shows your child that you’re interested in their learning and life at school.

PLAYGROUND SUPERVISION & PARKING

The school yard is supervised from 8:30am each morning, and until 3:30pm each afternoon.  Before and after school the adventure playground is 'out of bounds' as it is not an area specifically supervised by a teacher on duty.  We also ask that there are no 'running games' in the morning as this can be quite problematic when we have prams, toddlers and school bags in the yard.

Please be vigilant when dropping off, and especially picking up your children. The area in front of the school on James St is a ‘Kiss and Go’ area only and not a designated parking area. We ask that you do not leave your car unattended in the ‘Kiss and Go’ zone as it is a 2min ‘drop-off’ area only. Parking in this area causes congestion along James St and puts our children at risk when cars are double parked and children are moving in and out of traffic on the street. The safety of our children is paramount and we ask for your support in adhering to the existing parking restrictions.