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Matthew O'Brien, Principal
Dear Parents, Guardians, Staff, Students and the wider St. Joseph’s Primary School Community,
Reflection
I noticed that today (or yesterday in some reports) that the population of the earth ticked over 8 billion people. I am old enough to still remember 5 billion, when I was born there were not even 4 billion people here. It is extraordinary to think that there are more people alive today than all of the people who have lived and died before us.
As we tick over this milestone the G20 leaders are meeting in Bali to chart a way forward for all of us.
Creator God
Guide those in power to use it wisely.
Give us and our leaders the courage to think beyond our own economies;
To seek genuine partnerships
So that all people can experience the fullness of life,
And that our planet is known to be the common home
For all creation and future generations.
Amen.
2023 Class Groupings
Next year we will reduce our overall class groups down by creating 3 home groups in Year 4 rather than the 4 home groups we have had this year. The reason for this change is both financial and practical. Those who are familiar with our middle school block would be aware that there are only 7 classrooms in that space. Creating a fourth class would mean splitting that group. Also maintaining 4 classes of 20 children creates a strain on our budget which draws resources from other areas.
|
Year |
F |
Year |
Year |
Year |
Year |
Year |
Year |
|
Classes |
4 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
3 |
3 |
4 |
|
Average per class |
22 |
23 |
22 |
24 |
27 |
26 |
26 |
School Fees
This week Cathy Duynhoven has sent out invoices for outstanding balances for 2022 school fees. Thanks to everyone for your ongoing support in this area and please contact us should you require further support or a new payment plan.
Cathy will send out our fee schedule for 2023 in the coming days. The School Advisory Council ratified a small increase to the family fee ($10) and the student levy ($5). This increase will be offset in the senior classes by a discount to the swimming and water safety program due to more generous government support of school swimming programs.
Again, please contact the school if you require support with a manageable payment plan for your family.
School Camp Program
We are making an adjustment to our camps program in 2023 and 2024.
2023 becomes a transition year as we are moving the Kangaroobie camp from Year 3 to Year 4 and introducing the Warra Gnan Camp in Warrnambool to the Year 3 group.
As next year's year 4 group have already experienced Kangaroobi they will also camp at Warra Gnan next year.
Year 5 students will still attend Ballarat and Sovereign Hill and the Year 6 group will continue visiting Melbourne.
The reasons for the change to the Year 3 program is to support wellbeing particularly for those children anxious about staying overnight. This camp provides a “soft” entry to staying away from home. Warrnambool offers a range of outdoor and educational activities including the Sound and Light show, water sports and local cultural experiences. As this camp is so close to home, bus costs will be minimal thus keeping overall camp costs down for families.
Regards
Matthew O'Brien, Principal
Happy Birthday to children celebrating their birthday this week.
Robert Ambrose, Archie Edis, Nellie Edis, Mason Marshall, Sonny Mehmi, Joel King, Max McCallum, Alice Moloney, Eve McGrath, Pia Morrissey, Jackson Porter, Heidi Treloar, Daisy Amor, Ned Coughlan, Bella Gubecka and Oscar Saywell.
As part of their community involvement the Mini Vinnies attended the 'Food Share' warehouse.
The students packed a survival box, which contains enough food for a breakfast, lunch and dinner for a person in crisis.
The Mini Vinnies also learnt about the red bins at the supermarkets. It is hoped that people doing their shopping could donate some non perishable food into this bin.
Tuesday 6th December - Thursday 8th December, Year 6 Beach Safety
Refer to PAM excursion activity closer to the date for classroom dates and times.
Tuesday 13th December, Orientation Day
Refer to information provided from your child's secondary school.
Some secondary schools may have more than one orientation day. Please complete a PAM absence notification if that is the case (St Joseph’s does not access to which students this may be relevant for).
6pm, Tuesday 13th December, Graduation Mass
St Joseph's Church, correct school uniform required. Jumpers are required.
7:30pm, Tuesday 13th December, Celebration at Flying Horse
Mass is followed by a celebration for Year 6 students and their parents/guardians at the Flying Horse at 7:30pm, with ticket sales via CDFPay.
Children attending must have one of their parents/guardians in attendance at this event in line with licensing requirements. Enter via the bistro door and sign in your child. No student will be permitted to enter the establishment without a parent/guardian for the duration of the evening.
Wednesday 14th December, Year 6 Celebration Day
This will be an offsite activity, more details to follow.
11:30 am - 1:00pm, Thursday 15th December, Final Assembly
Our final school assembly will be held in the school hall which includes a farewell to our Year 6 students.
3:30pm, Friday 16th December, Students Last Day
School concludes at 3:30pm for all year levels.
We are looking for volunteers to help out on Saturday 26th November for our Election Day BBQ - cooking and selling split over three shifts
Shift 1 - 8:00am to 10:00pm (set up, cook and sell) FULL
Shift 2 - 10:00am - 12:00pm (cook and sell) FULL
Shift 3 - 12.00pm to 2:00pm (cook, sell and pack up) HELPERS NEEDED URGENTLY
We are also looking for people to cook cakes/muffins/slice etc to sell.
A cake box will be sent home with the eldest child in your family. Extra boxes available at the office or by completing the form below. Items can be dropped off at school on Friday 25th November.
Please complete the form below to indicate which shift/s you are available for or to request extra boxes be sent home.
Please arrive at your nominated time and bring an apron with you.
We appreciate the contribution of our volunteers at our school enormously. Thank you to all our wonderful volunteers for investing such great energy and time into our school this year.
We invite all our volunteers this year to attend a thank you evening. These include committee attendees, classroom and swimming helpers, excursion and sporting volunteers, canteen volunteers, Mothers Day stall and Fathers Day breakfast volunteers, disco committee and helpers on the night, election day bakers and helpers and anyone else who has volunteered their time at our school this year.
Next year PAM (Parent Access Module) will move to each parent having a seperate PAM account rather than one account per family.
All existing Parent PAM logins will be turned off on 16th January 2023. Between then and the new accounts being issued parents will not be able to access PAM for students reports, etc.
Please complete the form to update your families email addresses.
The Warrnambool Combined Health Support Network