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Matthew O'Brien, Principal
Dear Parents, Guardians, Staff, Students and the wider St. Joseph’s Primary School Community,
ReLATE - Reframing Learning and Teaching Environments
Our staff spent yesterday further developing our understanding of informed educational practices. Interestingly we had to move the presentation online as our presenter Ben Sacco from MacKillop Family Services had been impacted by the floods in Maribyrnong.Our day focussed around student and staff mental wellbeing and the conditions required for self-regulation.
St Joseph’s School Advisory Council
Mrs Donna Monaghan (Deputy Chairperson)
I’ve enjoyed being a member of the School Advisory Council for the past two years.
It is a friendly group and has been a great learning experience for me. The SAC has given me a greater understanding and appreciation for the work the school staff, students and wider school community do.
It is also a great platform to provide a parent opinion to the school. Yes – this is a plug for any parent to consider joining!
Our family has loved our time at St Josephs. Ella and Fletcher are both in Year 6. My husband, Leigh and I are very proud of them as School Leaders.
Outside of motherhood, I operate a building and interior design practice ‘Form & Function Building Design’, however my dream job is to sip champagne and choose the names of paint colours for Dulux.
Mr Chris McGrath
I’m Chris McGrath
We have three children. Eve is in Year 6 at St Joseph’s and Meg and Archie at Emmanuel College after completing their primary schooling at St Joes.
I have been a member of the School Advisory Council since 2020 after conversations with previous members who recommended being part of the SAC.
I have always been a willing volunteer for school activities however find being a member of the SAC very fulfilling. As a member of the SAC, you can provide input and contribute to the future planning and direction of the school. I would encourage all parents to consider being part of a passionate and welcoming group of people.
School Advisory Council Members
Our current Chairperson is Mr Peter Furphy, our Deputy chairperson is Mrs Donna Monaghan. They are joined by Mr Chris McGrath, Mrs Melissa Happ, Mr Joel Saywell. Liz Noonan is our staff representative.
Over the next few weeks we will be publishing short biographies of these members.
The School Advisory Council meets once per term, usually in week 5.
How our School Governance works
Under our DOBCEL Governance model the role of the local School Advisory Council is to:
- assist with stewardship of the Catholic vision, ethos and culture of the school
- provide strategic advice and support to the principal on matters relating to school operations and ongoing improvement
- fairly represent the views and needs of the school community
- assist with promoting the school and Catholic education generally in the local community
- have what is best for the students at the heart of all advice it offers.
As outlined in the DOBCEL Governance Charter, SAC members do not have any financial or non-financial decision-making powers.
The School Advisory Council is intended to:
- provide a voice for members of the school community
- actively support, in collaboration with the local parish, the Vision and Catholi Identity of the School
- provide input into and support for the strategic planning and directions
- actively support and promote child safety practices including the National safeguarding principles for Child Safe Organizations
- provide input and contribute advice i the processes of school improvement and school review
- support the Principal in meeting his/her responsibilities and accountabilities for educational outcomes, effective stewardship of resources, and annual reporting
- actively support the Principal in the encouragement of family engagement
- support the ongoing sustainability of the SAC and its members in its succession and learning.
Ongoing members of our School Advisory Council include Mr Matthew O’Brien as our School Principal, and Cathy Duynhoven as our School Business Manager. We also then have up to 6 parent members representing our school community and one staff member.
Each member will serve a two-year term with the limit of two consecutive terms, being a maximum of four years.
At the end of this school year 3 of these members will finish their tenure of 4 years and we are seeking expressions of interest from our parent community to fill these vacancies to commence in 2023.
If you are interested in joining the School Advisory Council please email Cathy Duynhoven on cduyn@sjwarrnambool.catholic.edu.au stating your current role and interests, and what you believe you could bring to this committee. If you have any questions and would like to discuss this first you may call either Cathy or Matt O’Brien for an informal chat first.
Loose Parts Play
Last week we opened the Loose Parts Playground with the assistance of our Year 4 and 5 Peer Mediators. The area was extremely popular and a high degree of excitement in ingenuity was present.
We would like to thank McNeils for donating tyres, Reece Plumbing for PVC pipes and connections and Mark Conlan for the wooden off cuts.
Our Parents School Association have paid for the concreting and boxes and the project has been led by Kara Wolff and Di Brown.
National Water Week Poster Competition
To help celebrate National Water Week 2022, primary school students were invited to explore their own water stories and imagination, looking to the past, present and future to create a poster that reflects what it means to them.
Two of our St Joseph’s students won first prize in their categories:
Thevlini Sumanapala – First Prize, Years 1 - 2 Category
Yasassri Sumanapala – First Prize, Years 5 – 6 Category
They each won a $100 gift card.
Congratulations to Thevlini and Yasassri.
Sports Update
The Year 6 boys and girls cricket team headed to Brierly last Wednesday to compete in the Cricket Blast. We got through three of our four games before the day got washed out.
Both teams were undefeated at the close of play. The girls team were on top of their ladder and will go through to the next level, the boys were sitting second to OLHC who had a superior run rate.
Face Masks
Current advice from the Victorian Government is available in regards to face masks. Staff and students who wish to wear a face mask should be supported to do so, and schools should continue to make face masks available for staff, students and visitors.
The Department of Health recommends that masks should be worn when leaving home by a person who is a close contact of someone who has tested positive for COVID-19. Additionally, the Department of Health recommends that masks should be worn by a person who has COVID-19 for at least 7 days after a positive test when they need to leave home.
Regards
Matthew O'Brien, Principal
Happy Birthday to children celebrating their birthday this week.
Cara Carlin, Harley Inns, Meredith Jones, Ivy McDonald, Lylah O’Grady, Hugo Wilson, Charlie Lloyd and Ollie Harris.
Scholastic Bookclub
The borrowing power of our students at St Joseph’s Primary School is significantly increased when they have a greater variety of Library books to choose from. Your child will bring home a catalogue for the Scholastic Book Club. This is a fantastic fundraising opportunity where purchasing a book for your child/children gains rewards for our school. These rewards are then used to purchase not only new books for our Library, but also a huge variety of classroom resources and materials.
You might even consider purchasing an early Christmas gift or birthday presents as books for your child. The LOOP function on the App. to purchase books, offers the ‘GIFT’ option which gives us the notification to keep your purchase a secret and it will be held at the front office for your collection. A great option for Christmas presents!
If you would like any help in book suggestions for your child then please feel free to email us:
- Foundation - Year 2 students use lhyland@sjwarrnambool.catholic.edu.au
- Year 3 - 6 students use elloyd@sjwarrnambool.catholic.edu.au
Please remember that there is NO CASH option for purchasing books through this Scholastic Book Club program. We encourage you to use the website and/or the LOOP App. to make all purchases. We are grateful for all your support in building a positive reading and learning culture in our school!
Book club orders are due no later than 5pm on Monday 28th October.
Warrnambool Library and Learning Centre - Now Open
The newly built Warrnambool Library and Learning Centre, built on the TAFE Campus at 8 Kepler Street is now open. It is amazing! A $20 million dollar build. For opening hours please visit: https://library.warrnambool.vic.gov.au/. It is open from 10am to 2pm each Saturday.
This Saturday 22 October there is a Community Open Day to celebrate the opening with fun activities and various celebrations. Please sign up your children as library members to gain free access to so many books, ebooks and audiobooks too.
Election of new chairperson
At our next meeting we will hold an election of a new chairperson for 2023. If you wish to know more about the role of chairperson please contact the school.
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 Room C19 at the school.
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 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!
This term we will be introducing a new form of play. Wheels on Wednesday is an opportunity for all children to scoot, skate, rollerblade and/or ride their bikes during recess and lumch. This initiative is designed to promote participation, physical activity and to introduce an element of risk to the playground.
Identifying and managing risk is an important part of growing up. Just as children’s bodies mature and develop, so do their brains. As children’s brains are developing, so is their ability to identify and judge risks. Children need opportunities to develop their own internal thermometer for risk. In “Balanced and Barefoot”, Angela Hanscom (2018, p. 126) writes, Although letting kids take risks might be scary for parents (and teachers) and even children at first, it is an essential part of growing up. Taking risks allows children to overcome physical challenges and strengthens their senses at the same time. These benefits ultimately make them safer and more resilient in the long run. Risky play also allows children to overcome fears and anxiety and builds strong character. Children need opportunities to fall and make mistakes in order to become more confident and capable when facing future life challenges.
Wheels on Wednesday will begin this Term.
Asphalt areas will be “ball free” to allow for skating, scooting and rollerblading and a separate area for riding bikes.
There are two rules:
- Wear a correctly fitting helmet
- Have fun
Of course, all bikes must have working brakes.
I am hoping that this initiative might also have the follow on effect of more children riding to school.
Take a look through these lost property items.
At the end of the year all lost property is either donated or thrown out.
