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Matthew O'Brien, Principal
Dear Parents, Guardians, Staff, Students and the wider St. Joseph’s Primary School Community,
The Tree!
The magnificent art installation that now dominates our hall is an example of how great we can be when we work together.
Like all trees, this one started with a seed. That seed was an idea from one of our parents in the Primary School Association. Over the course of a few meetings the seed was planted and the idea began to grow. The PSA threw their support behind the project and Andrea Welsh enlisted the St Joseph’s Art Team of Cara Chisolm, Di Brown and Jo Barfus McCoy.
And from there the seed began to grow.
Every child in the school, all 620 of them, designed an individual piece of art to be etched onto their leaf.
Through many trials and designs the tree was finally drafted and fittingly for our school it is modelled on the majestic Moreton Bay Figs from the Botanic gardens. Andrew Suggett, local artist, was co-opted by the team to paint Warrnambool landmarks as features in the backdrop. Finally, the leaves were added to complete the picture.
At the assembly last week, I tried to convey to the children that this tree is only so wonderful because of the contribution of each of us. Each leaf, although good on their own become a masterpiece when put together.
So it is with a school, a family, a choir, a team or a class. Together we can be so much more.
Finally, it is important that we thank and acknowledge some of our community who have enabled this piece to come together. Andrea Welsh planted the seed, Adrian Benson and the PSA watered it (with financial support). It was our Art team, Cara, Di and Jo who tilled the soil and laboured and it was our children whose creativity has brought the tree to life.
My hope is that many years from now, these children (maybe with their children or grandchildren) will visit St Joseph's, find their leaf and be satisfied that they have contributed to a masterpiece.
School Advisory Council
New School Advisory Council Members and Parent School Association Chairperson
I am pleased to welcome Tracey Harris (Alexis-Year 4 and Ollie-Year 2), Claire Nailon (Greta-Year 5, Frank-Year 3 and Tom-Foundation), Jess McCarthy (Olivia-Foundation and Will-Year 2) and Andrea Welsh (Louie-Year 3) to the School Advisory Council for 2023. I thank these parents for volunteering to support our children by sharing their expertise through this group. They will join Mel Happ, our chair (Jessica -Year 4) and Joel Saywell (Oscar-Year 4) next year.
Leon Senchenko is our new PSA chairperson. Leon (and Jasmin) have Jackson in Year 1 and Nicholas in Foundation. I am very appreciative of Leon volunteering for this role and look forward to working with him in 2023 and beyond. At the recent parent break up Leon noted that his election was a little like the Seven Bradbury gold medal win. Then he smiled and observed that with Bradbury there were others in the race!
2022 Final Assembly
Everyone is invited to attend our final assembly next Thursday, beginning at 11:30am. At this event we will be entertained by our choir, join together in a Christmas liturgy, farewell staff and most importantly celebrate the contribution that our Year 6 children have made to our school. We will also present several awards including Pippa Rae School Spirit Award and the MacKillop Wellbeing Award.
Orientation Day
A reminder that everyone will be moving up to their 2023 classes next Tuesday 13th December. We will celebrate this day with a shared sausage sizzle lunch.
Choir Concert
I had the pleasure of attending the school choir’s morning recital last week. Thanks to all of the parents, grandparents and siblings who enjoyed the show. A special thanks to the parents who have brought their children to school each week at 8:00am for choir practice. The children are so lucky to have Cara Chisolm and Gary Price to lead them as they have such expertise but more importantly an enthusiasm for sharing their love of music.
Regards
Matthew O'Brien, Principal
Happy Birthday to children celebrating their birthday this week.
Brody Dubyna, Riley Nunn, Naish Beechey, Sophie Hose, Jack Schrama, Rahni Clegg, Hank Gladman, Louis Kenna, Havana Myroniuk, Eve Brown, Baxter Maddern, Davy Nuske, Bella McDonald, Hugo Van Rooy and Chloe Vu.
We have come to the end of another year in the Library. It has been another very busy year with new books, technology, Book Week and borrowing!
The Library system has processed just under 50,000 circulations for 2022! Amazing borrowing everyone.
A big thank you to those who have supported the Library over the year, whether it was covering books, returning lost books or helping children with borrowing. We were pleased to have the Library Assistants back full time again this year. These Year 5 and 6 students are an invaluable part of our Library and make life easier for Emily, Maureen and myself. They will be officially thanked at Assembly.
We also have been lucky to have the support of our trainees this year in the Library - Zoe, Layla and Sophie - thank you!
Another thank you to all the staff for their constant patience and support as we manage our learning resources.
As we come to the end of the year we need books to be returned. We are hoping to have all books returned by the end of this week.
The Foundation, Years 1 and 2 classes have finished their borrowing for this year and the Years 3-6 will finish up at the end of this week.
If you and your children wish to borrow over the holidays our new town Library is a fantastic resource. Most of the classes at St Joesephs have visited the Library over the last month. A great way to spend some time over the holidays!
Merry Christmas and enjoy the holidays!
Emily Lloyd, Maureen Bourke, Lyn Hyland
The recent School Library fundraising campaign we held last week at Collins Booksellers came to a total of $1,711.20 in purchases from our generous school community. This results in a credit of $342.24 credited back to our school account for us to spend on new Library Books for our school!
We are so grateful for your support and look forward to an even better Book Fair next year.
Mrs Emily Llloyd
Christmas Mass Times
24th December (Saturday)
5:00pm St Joseph’s
6:00pm Our Lady Help of Christians
6:00pm St Pius X
6:00pm St Patrick’s, Port Fairy
(Outdoor Mass at St Patrick’s School)
6:30pm Infant Jesus, Koroit
8:00pm St Joseph’s
8:00pm St Anne’s (Purnim)
25th December (Sunday)
9:00am Our Lady Help of Christians
9:30am St Patrick’s, Port Fairy
9:30am St Joseph’s
It is lovely that children at times choose to give Christmas cards to their friends at Christmas time.
We encourage students to NOT include chocolates or candy canes with their cards in line with this sharing of food guidelines.
Nature Play, Botanic Gardens
Live, Work or Play in the Botanic Area? Then pop by the Nature Play space at the Botanic Gardens
2:30PM-5:00PM, Friday 9th December
Stop by our South West Sport – Green Space Activation, an active play space with family friendly activities for all ages to enjoy.
Check out the local Botanic Local Area Traffic Management projects being delivered by Council and the Community in the coming year- we would love to hear your thoughts.
https://www.warrnambool.vic.gov.au/keeping-everyone-moving-inner-north
WCC Youth Services
