Matthew O'Brien, Principal

Dear Parents, Guardians, Staff, Students and the wider St. Joseph’s Primary School Community,

God whose breath hovered over creation,

God whose breath brought wet clay to life:

Be in each grounding breath that we take, The rise of our belly,

The fall of our chest. Be in the kind word we extend,

the offer of help, the note of concern.

Be in the prayer that we whisper, and the laugh that we share,

so that even in a time of chaos, we might breathe into life a new creation.

Amen.

Smooth Start

Thank you again to everyone for their cooperation and great spirits in beginning the year.  Particularly our senior students who have settled in very well and, being older, set the tone and culture of our school. One of the highlights has been the “Buddy Program” between the Foundation students and the Year 5 students.  Each morning these children sit together outside to eat their snacks and have a chat. This program certainly seems to bring the best out of everyone and the Year 5s are to be congratulated for the kindness and care they show their new buddies.

Reminder for Foundation Literacy Interviews

Bookings are now open via PAM for the Foundation Literacy Interviews which begin this Wednesday and run for the three weeks. 

Parent Teacher Interviews

Parent teacher interviews are scheduled for Monday 21st and Tuesday 22nd of February between the times of 3:40pm - 6:00pm. These meetings are an opportunity to discuss your child with their teacher. Bookings for the interviews are now open on the Parent Access Module (PAM) found on the school website and the school app. If you need any help in managing this system please contact our friendly office staff.

In preparation for the meetings each teaching team has developed a set of questions for our consideration. These will be emailed to you early next week. 

School Board Members

Our school board meets once per term with the first meeting to be held on Wednesday 2nd March, 7:30pm.

Our 2022 School Board members are:

• Mark Koch (Chairperson)
• Peter Furphy (Deputy Chairperson)
• Chris McGrath
• Donna Monaghan
• Melissa Happ
• Joel Saywell

Foundation, Staff and New Student Photos

Individual photos will be taken of all of our new students this Thursday 10th February. The class photos will be taken in May along with the individual photos for the rest of the school.

Tennis Court Loop

A reminder of the new system for pick up at the tennis court and thank you to all of the families for their understanding. 

• Children will gather at the clubrooms end of the tennis courts and only enter cars from this end.
• The rest of the area will be roped off.
• Children enter into the left hand door of the car
• Children will not cross the loop to walk to the parking bays. If parents park they may collect their child from the pick up area and walk them to the car.

Introducing

Zoe, Layla and Kayne are our three trainees for 2022. They all completed Year 12 at Emmanuel College in 2021 and are working here at St Josephs during their gap year whilst undertaking a Certificate 3 in School Support. You will see them each day “manning the gates” to welcome and farewell the children.

I hope that they enjoy their time with us this year.

Regards
Matthew O'Brien, Principal

Happy Birthday to children celebrating their birthday this week.

Millie Hughson, Hamish O'Kane, Leo Rees, Mack Rees, James Robson, Leo Van Ginneken, Ari Coolahan, Greta Farley, Harry Brooks, Sage Fleming, Bella Blackmore, Moses McCann, Campbell Johnson and Harley Kane.

Swimming trials are for those children wanting to compete in swimming. You will only qualify for the next stage if you participate in the scheduled swimming trials.  

Once the trials are completed swimmers will be selected to represent the school at Division Swimming and notified. 

Closing date for submitting this form is strictly 3pm, Friday 11th February, 2022. Entries will not be accepted after this date and children will therefore not be considered for selection to the division swimming finals.

Matthew McMillian, Physical Education and Sport Co-ordinator

What does PSA stand for?

Primary School Association.

What is the role of the PSA?

It is a forum for all parents to become involved in the life of the School. It’s where we work to provide, improve and maintain the amenities available for the school students, including equipment and maintenance of School Buildings and grounds.

To provide opportunities for social meetings between parents, and promote a spirit of union and good fellowship. The PSA runs and supports several events throughout the year to raise money for the school and to support our school community.

What do we do?

• Mother’s Day Stall
• Hot Cross Bun Drive
• Father’s Day Breakfast
• Pizza Days
• Art Activities
• Canteen support

Who can attend?

Anyone and everyone. In 2022 the PSA will meet face to face with meetings held in the foyer of our school Hall.

How often do they meet?

Tuesday evening, Week 3 and Week 7 of each term. 8 meetings per year! Meetings commence at 7:30pm.

• Tuesday 15 February, 2022 
• Tuesday 15 March, 2022
• Tuesday 10 May, 2022
• Tuesday 7 June, 2022
• Tuesday 26 July, 2022
• Tuesday 23 August, 2022
• Tuesday 18 October, 2022
• Tuesday 15 November, 2022
• DATE TBA: Parent Committee Thank you evening

How can I help?

Come along to the meetings, contribute to the discussion, share ideas, support events that enrich the school community.

We really need our school families to support this group.  

It’s only 8 meetings per year!

Hope to see you there, better still bring a friend!

In accordance with St Joseph's Acceptable Use and Cyber Safety Agreement, it is a requirement for parents/guardians to discuss the agreement with their child/ren and accept the terms. This agreement is to ensure that all students that have access to the school’s digital resources are aware of their responsibilities and agree to abide by the school’s Acceptable Use and Cybersafety Agreement. The agreement covers the student’s use of technology equipment (such as computers, hand held devices, cameras, printers), and digital platforms (such as Internet, networks and email. social media, apps, and software).

Permission is required for each child in your family from Foundation to Year 6.

To access this agreement:

1. Login into your PAM account
2. Select the red bell icon in the top right corner (you will then see the agreement)
3. select YES for your child to agree to abide by the Acceptable Use and Cyber Safety Agreement and Use Technology Equipment at St. Joseph's Primary School for the 2022 school year.

This is required to be accepted by Friday 11th February, 2022

To all families that park and collect children from Queens Road, a reminder that the vacant land adjacant to the creek IS PRIVATE PROPERTY and we ask school families to please NOT park there while waiting for your children to be collected.

Please remember the Aquazone car park is available as well as along Queens Road.

Sharing of food items in the classroom

As our school community grows we have more students enrolled who have been diagnosed as having food allergies or intolerances. To support all needs we have procedures for the sharing of food items in the classroom.  At times some classrooms will have a shared morning tea, lunch or afternoon tea. This is a supervised event and all families are advised of this via a letter sent from the classroom teacher.

This ensures all children's individual needs are met and catered for.

To ensure the inclusion of all students please adhere to the routine for the sharing of food items within the classroom.

Celebration of Birthdays

At St Joseph's we celebrate children's birthdays as a school by presenting the child with a Birthday Certificate at our whole school assembly. Each classroom celebrates birthdays in different ways. Some classes have a special chair for the day or a badge to wear, most classrooms have birthdays displayed in the room.

For the purpose of an individual child’s celebration or birthday we are now advising an lemonade icy pole or Zooper Dooper be a recommended option for these occasions.  It is not compulsory to celebrate all birthdays through the classroom.

Icy poles can be dropped into the school office. Please label with child's name and room number and let the classroom teacher know. Average classroom numbers are Foundation (23), Year 1 (21), Year 2 (23), Year 3 (21), Year 4 (26), Year 5 (26) and Year 6 (25).

Warrnambool Library

Warrnambool Calisthenics Club