Matthew O'Brien, Principal

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

Confirmation

Congratulations to the Year 3 children who celebrated the sacrament of Confirmation last week.  Thanks to the families and the teachers for supporting them in their preparation.

School Uniform

Following the School Advisory Council meeting last week, I am pleased to inform our community of a simple adjustment to our School Uniform Policy.

From Term 3 all children will be able to wear their sport uniform any day of the week.

Among other things, the reason for this change are:

• The new Child Safe Standard #5: Diversity and Equity
  “In particular pay particular attention to the needs of students with disability, students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, students who are unable to live at home, international students, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and gender diverse, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ+) students.
• Success of Foundation students in sport uniform this year
• Promoting activity and comfort at school (particularly for girls)
• Affordability for families.

Please note that we have already taken the “Boys” and “Girls” subheadings off our uniform policy and simply have summer and winter options.

Reports and Parent Teacher Interviews

The written reports will be published Friday 17th June and available for you through PAM after 4pm. Report folders containing work samples will be sent home with your child/ren on the same day.

Parent teacher interviews will take place on Monday 20th and Tuesday 21st June.  The reports and interviews are designed to provide a comprehensive description of your child’s progress in academic achievement, social emotional learning as well as their work habits. The interviews are an opportunity to discuss this progress and to develop your understanding of your child’s next stage of learning.

The interviews are scheduled for 10 minutes. Should you think that more time is required please contact the classroom teacher via email.  Parents who have participated in a PSG this term are not required to book an interview.

We are pleased to be able to welcome parents back on site for these interviews; however, many families acknowledged that phone interviews were convenient for them, so we are offering a choice of phone or in person interviews.

Please allow 10 minutes between interviews.

Bookings are now open via PAM.

Selection of Sport Teams

Last week saw the first round of winter sport (see below for a full report). In the past St Joseph’s selected their “best” teams from Year 5 and 6. This has resulted in some Year 6 students missing out because they were deemed not good enough and replaced by Year 5 students. Selecting the “best” team increased our chances of winning. I believe that primary school sport should be focussed on inclusion (even at the expense of winning) and that as many children as possible should be able to represent their school in their chosen sport.

I have amended our procedures so that Year 6 students will be selected first even if Don Bradman himself is in Year 5. Even with this amendment children missed their chosen sport, some in football and many in netball. We are a large school and we are exploring the possibility of entering more teams. 

Some argue that we should be preparing children for “real life” where they will face rejection and disappointment. I disagree, I see one of the roles of primary school, in partnership with parents, is to fill children with so much confidence and self belief that they will never be deflated no matter how many holes the rest of the world pokes in them.

In these days of diminishing sport participation in our youth we can encourage children to begin or continue a sport by exposing them at primary school level and do all that we can to avoid any child feeling as though they are not good enough.

Although our current Year 5s are on the cusp of this decision and were unable to play this year they will be the beneficiaries next year when more of them are able to represent our school.

This procedure will also apply for basketball (Year 4 and Year 6) and cricket later in the year.

PSA - $10,000 Business Bonanza Raffle

How would you like $10,000 worth of vouchers to spend at businesses in Warrnambool?

Or if you own a business;

How would you like a new customer with up to $10,000 ready to spend?

And just when you thought it couldn’t get better;

How would you like to be the seller of the winning ticket and get you Family Fee paid off for 2023 (at least $1,375 based on the 2022 fees)?

Well, that is the excitement of our major fundraiser for this year.  We are currently inviting local businesses to sponsor ($300) the raffle which places them on the prize purchasing list.  If you own a business and have not yet received a package or know of anyone (even outside the St Joseph’s community) who might like to be involved please contact Cathy at the office.

Early next term each family will be asked to sell 4 x $25 tickets so that means there are only 1600 tickets available.

Meeting Tuesday 7th June at 7:30pm in the Staffroom

Tonight, we are holding an important meeting to decide upon the future of The annual St Joseph’s Fair. Everyone is welcome regardless of your prior experience in the fair. Over the journey many parents have recognised that it is through the fair that they have come to meet many other parents. I see this as a great opportunity for our newer families who have not been able to fully engage over the past few years.  Come along! Adrian Benson, PSA Chair.

Regards
Matthew O'Brien, Principal

Happy Birthday to children celebrating their birthday this week.

Sophie Dubyna, Noah Daffy, Neve Edwards, Tessa Eagleson, Bethany Moran, Xavier Smith, Hannah Beaumont, Rielle Murfett, Mae Flett, Bodhi Harman, Daisy Martin, Bel Wiese, Sibella Evans, Jack Kitto, Tommy Stuart and Oscar Lawlor.

Last week some Year 3's had the experience of making their confirmation sacrament. Some children felt nervous while others were excited about confirmation. It took about an hour to complete. It was lots of fun.

Father John laid his hands on our heads and blessed us then he drew the sign of the cross on our forehead with special blessed oil. There were 3 students that read Prayers of the Faithful in each group.

At the end we took some group photos with Father John and received a certificate. We all had a lot of fun.

Sophie Timpson, Mia Neave and Audrey Wolff, Year 3 students

Year 1 Botanic Gardens Visit

3:30pm - 6:00pm, Monday 20th June, 2022
3:30pm - 6:00pm, Tuesday 21st June, 2022

Parent Teacher Interviews will be held on Monday 20th and Tuesday 21st June.  They will be conducted either in person or via the phone. Parents can choose which methods suits them best.

Bookings are now open via PAM.

Please leave 10 minute between interviews.

Sacred Heart, also called Sacred Heart of Jesus, in Roman Catholicism, the mystical-physical heart of Jesus as an object of devotion. In addition to a feast, now celebrated on the Friday of the third week after Pentecost, devotion includes acts of consecration and honour given to the image of the Sacred Heart.

Prayer

Dear God pray for each one of us, so that we get involved in life and grow weary in the service to others, especially to the poor, recognizing that, what we do for them, we do for Christ. Lord, in your Mercy. Amen

Community Donation

Our school supports our community as part of the Feast of the Sacred Heart. As well as praying for the poor, children are invited to take action by bringing to school warm blankets, toiletries e.g. toothbrush, toothpaste, handwash, hairbush, deodorant, socks, hair ties, crayons and colouring books. Children may also bring non-perishable food items. 

Donations can be sent to the school with your child and/or placed in the collections tubs at school. 

Over Term 3 we are running a raffle aimed at supporting local and school connected businesses.

We have sent letters to many businesses to see if they will be involved, however if you are involved, manage, own a business that has not received a proposal letter and you are interested please email Cathy Duynhoven on cduyn@sjwarrnambool.catholic.edu.au

We have attached a copy of the business proposal to this newsletter as well.

For parents we will ask each family to sell 4 x $25 tickets, with there being one prize of $10,000 worth of vouchers selected from the participating businesses only (the winner can choose to have 1 voucher of a maximum of 10 vouchers from different businesses). 

The seller of the winning ticket will also have their 2023 Family fee (at least $1,375 based on the 2022 fees) credited off their school fee account.

Our 2021 Annual Report to Community is available in the school foyer and on the St Joseph's Primary School website for families that are interested.

In accordance with St Joseph's Acceptable Use and Cyber Safety Agreement, it is it is a requirement that mobile phones and personal electronic device (such as smart watches) should not be brought to school.

We understand that from time to time students may bring a device for use before or after school. If your child brings a phone or device they are required to sign them into the Library office prior to school and collected at the end of the day. These are stored in a locked cupboard.

Please remind your child of this process.

Please come along to our community meeting on Tuesday 7th June. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss and decide on the future of our school fair. In order to proceed with the Fair for 2023 and beyond we need to reinstate the Fair Committee. The Fair Committee meets monthly in the year leading up to the fair then more frequently as the fair nears. The Fair Committee is largely made up of stall coordinators e.g. cake stall, fill a basket, food, rides, devonshire teas, market garden etc. and an executive who oversees the coordination of the event. In all the committee is about 20 people strong.

We are particularly reaching out to past coordinators to attend the meeting to share their expertise.

The fair requires the commitment of our whole parent community. Every family is asked to donate goods and to volunteer their time across the fair weekend. 

Please indicate your attendance at the community meeting to begin shaping the 2023 Fair.

Please note that should the PSA think that we do not have the personnel to run the fair then it will not proceed in 2023.

Adrian Benson PSA Chair

Our PSA is holding a Pie Drive this term, in conjunction with Alex Luu from Gallo Bakery and Take Away. Alex is one of our many St Joseph’s Primary School business owners.  All orders can be made through CDFPay Online Ordering system.

Orders will close at 3:00 pm on Monday 20th June, 2022.

Orders will be delivered to school

Foundation to Year 3 - Wednesday 22nd June

Years 4, 5 and 6 - Thursday 23rd June

Pies and pasties all come in a pack of 4 and party pies are sold in a pack of 12.

Types of Pies and Pasties available are:

• Party Pies (Pack of 12) $14.50
• Meat and Veggie Pasties (Pack of 4) $14.50
• Plain Pies (Pack of 4) $14.50
• Family Meat Pies (one pie) $14.50
• Cheese and Bacon Pies (Pack of 4) $16.50
• Mushroom Pies (Pack of 4) $16.50
• Onion Pies (Pack of 4) $16.50
• Pepper Pies (Pack of 4) $16.50 
• Curry Pies (Pack of 4) $16.50

Left over property from Year 3 Kangaroobie camp.

Please collect from D2 by Friday 19th June after which it will then be donated to charity. 

NCCD is the National Collection of data for Children with Disability. This body collects information from St Joseph's about the levels of disability funding that a child may be eligible to access in a school environment.

Online Enrolment

Online enrolments are now available and can be completed and submitted electronically. 

For this process go to our school website and select the Enrolment tab. Complete the Enrolment Enquiry to add your details for reminders and updates.  

Under the Enrolment Tab you will also notice an Online Enrolment Form - select this and away you go. A tip with this one is do not use a phone or ipad to complete the form, any laptop or desktop computer will work fine. 

You will also need to make sure you have your child's documentation (birth, immunisation, baptism certificates and any specialist reports) loaded onto your device, either by taking a photo or scanning and uploading as you will be able to upload all of that as well.  

School Canteen Support