Filter Content
Matthew O'Brien, Principal
Dear Parents, Guardians, Staff, Students and the wider St. Joseph’s Primary School Community,
Congratulations to all of the children for their efforts and achievements this year. I hope that you have a Merry Christmas and wonderful holiday.
Year 6 Graduating Class
Congratulations to all of our Year 6 students who are formally graduating at our mass and ceremony this evening. Graduations are a time for looking forward and for looking back. I hope that all of these children can look back at their time here with joy and are proud of their achievements. As I look forward I am heartened that our world, with all its challenges, will be in the safe hands of these intelligent, loving people. Thanks to all of you for your unique contribution to our school. May your next chapter be challenging, fun and rewarding.
This year are also farewelling 51 families whose partnership with St Joseph’s is coming to an end. Thank you for your contributions to our school community.
|
Addinsall (Sienna) |
Agrawal (Manan) |
Akoch (Gano) |
Anderson (Meg) |
|
Armitstead (Rose) |
Batt (Edie) |
Benson (Zoe) |
Black (Millicent) |
|
Brereton (Cale) |
Brooks (Harry) |
Brown (Sophie) |
Cannon (Lachie) |
|
Cook (Toby) |
Cottee (Eamon) |
Dunphy (Amelia) |
Duynhoven (Maya) |
|
Fleming (Sage) |
Gibson (Jack) |
Howland (Lucy) |
Howlett (Erin) |
|
Hughson (Blake) |
Hunt (Jonny) |
Jenkins (Rupert) |
Kane (Zeta) |
|
Lawlor (Stella) |
Madden (Charlie) |
Mammone (Bella) |
McCosh (Tyler) |
|
McGovern (Archie) |
McGrath (Eve) |
McInerney (Sarah) |
McKenzie (Ellie) |
|
McMeel (Leo) |
Monaghan (Fletcher) |
Monk (Poppy) |
Mugavin (Nicholas) |
|
Mugavin (Oliver) |
Murfett (Rielle) |
Newton (William) |
Northeast (Charles) |
|
O’Brien (Jack) |
O’Keefe (Abbey) |
Paradza (Tanaka) |
Roberts (Blair) |
|
Rouse (Lucas) |
Russell (Sophie) |
Taylor (Evan) |
Thompson (Sophie) |
|
Thring (Stuart) |
Uren (Theodore) |
Van Zelst (Pippa) |
Winnell (Emma) |
I would particularly like to thank Donna Monaghan and Chris McGrath for their contributions on the School Advisory Council and Adrian Benson for his service to the PSA as our Chairperson.
Thanks and Merry Christmas to the St Joseph’s Staff
To our teachers, Learning Support Officers, Tanya in the canteen, our maintenance team; Sharyn, Andrew and Wally and to Cathy, Alecia and Kellie in the office, thank you for your love, care and dedication this year. Our school is a wonderful place to work, learn and grow largely because of the atmosphere you create. On behalf of all of our families I wish you a Merry Christmas and a restful and safe holiday.
To all of our families, may your Christmas and summer break be everything that you hope for; quiet and relaxing or packed with excitement and energy or a combination of the two. Most of all let us all stay safe and well to return next year full of optimism and enthusiasm.
Merry Christmas.
Farewell to Leaving Staff
Lyn Hyland
This week we are celebrating the wonderful career of Lyn Hyland who begins her well earned retirement at the end of this week.
Lyn began teaching at St Patrick’s Port Fairy in 1981 an incredible 41 years ago. Lyn had some time off whilst she raised her family and made the move across to St Joseph’s in 1997 where she has become a permanent fixture at our school. In 2010 Lynn completed a Graduate Diploma of Librarianship through the University of South Australia and over recent years passed on her love for literature through our school library. Lyn is a musician of note and a vibrant contributor to our parish through her organ playing.
Lyn is a calm, gentle, welcoming and committed teacher. She is concluding a remarkable career. Her contribution to St Joseph’s, our community and your children cannot be measured.
On your behalf I thank her for all she has given to our community through her life as a teacher. And I wish her every happiness in the next phase of her life.
Tom Beks
Tom began teaching at St Joseph’s in 2015 and is an enthusiastic and valued member of staff. His classroom is characterised by a fun and vibrant atmosphere. Tom is moving to St John’s Dennington where I am sure he will become a wonderful asset to the school community. Tom has been really proactive in seeking new challenges to continue to develop himself professionally. In his time at St Joseph’s he has undertaken Religious Education Leader and Learning Leader roles. I wish Tom every success at his new school and hope that he finds the joy there that he has brought to his classroom at St Josephs.
And who knows, we may see Tom back here in the future.
Jenny McInerney
I would like to thank Jenny for her contribution to the staff and to the children in D4 this year. Jenny has been a long time part of our school having taught here in many capacities as far back as 1994. Jenny’s classroom is full of challenge and support. She has a particular affinity for those children who need a little extra help. Thanks Jenny for all you have given this year.
Layla Monk, Kayne Brereton and Zoe Ritchie
Our 3 Trainees Layla Monk, Kayne Brereton and Zoe Ritchie and conclude their work with us this week. These three outstanding young people have been amazing in the care, support and friendship they have shown our children.
No task has been too big or too small for them to do. They have been flexible, highly reliable and most of all shown maturity and initiative beyond their years. They have brightened the staffroom with their energy and banter and I have admired the way they have welcomed and farewelled the children each day. I wish each of them every success and happiness wherever they go in the future.
Emma McDonald also concludes her time with us at the end of the year. Emma has been a regular on our CRT list in 2022 and in the latter part of the year she has worked part time in our junior school. We are lucky to have such talented and flexible teachers to be able to call upon.
Wally Sledziona has been supporting Sharyn and Andrew in cleaning since part of the way through last term. Wally concludes this year and I thank him for his work with us.
Student Reports
School reports will be released on PAM via the School App after 4pm on Thursday 15th December, 2022.
I have read through the reports and commend the children on their progress
Please take the time to read through these documents carefully. They contain a deal of information about your child’s social, academic and behavioural development. If there is anything that requires clarification or discussion please feel free to contact the classroom teacher.
To access your child’s report:
- Log into PAM
- Select your child
- Open the Profile Menu drop down options
- Click the Assessment Reports tab
- Download 2022 Semester 2 Timetable
Rapid Antigen Tests
We have a surplus of RATS which need to be distributed or destroyed after the summer break. The RATs are still well within their use by date. Please use the ordering function on the school app to place your order.
End of Year Arrangements
School concludes at 3:25pm on Friday 16th December, 2022.
Beginning of Year 2023 Arrangements
Office Opens: Monday 23rd January
Australia Day Public Holiday: Thursday 26th January
Staff Begin: Friday January 27th January
Students Begin: Monday 30th January
Regards
Matthew O'Brien, Principal
Happy Birthday to children celebrating their birthday this week.
Ebony Green, Maddison Howell, Percy Pappin, Oliver Moloney, Jordan Parker, Charlie Woonton, Daniel Wakely, Lachlan Cugley, Finn Clifford, Luna Gibbons, Finn McMahon, Mia Neave, Turner McCaskill, Neave Goodfield, Aylah Petalas, Pippa Ward, Ned Van Rooy, Nicholas English, Macie Shaw, Indiana Henry, Erin Howlett, Gus Kenna and Brodie Manson.
Over the last couple of weeks, many classes have been lucky enough to visit our new local Library. Students had a guided tour of the amazing building with many students signing up as new members! They learnt all about the huge variety of resources that are available to them for free. They will be holding some amazing School Holiday programs and also running a Reading Competition throughout the Summer. We encourage all families to become familiar with this fantastic resource so that we can continue to instil a love of reading as a life-long skill!
Check out their website for Opening Hours over the Christmas break:
https://library.warrnambool.vic.gov.au/
In conjunction with the Warrnambool Library, our students also participated in an Art Workshop at the Warrnambool Art Gallery. They learnt about a local artist whose work features on the walls of the interactive children's section of the WAG. Students then created some amazing pieces of work that will be on display in our School Library in 2023.
Mrs Emily Lloyd, Teacher-Librarian
We would like to sincerely thank the 47 businesses that supported our Business Raffle in Term 3. This raffle was hugely successful for our school and for the winning family, Chris, Robyn, Millicent, Isabelle, Eloise and Oliver. They have spent their $10,000 at Welsh's Buildpro, Browns Bakery and donated $1000 of their winnings to Warrnambool Foodshare.
We would love our families to continue to support school sponsors when you can. A full list of them can now be found under our new 'School Sponsors' tile on our App.
Closed for the Holidays
Our Recycle centre is now Closed for the Holidays and will reopen in Week 1 of 2023. Thank you to everyone for using the service this year.
In January 2023, your PAM account will be undergoing a major upgrade to provide greater security and other improved functionality.
During the week of 16th January 2023, your current PAM account will cease to function.
New PAM accounts will then be created by your school, and you will receive an email asking you to create new credentials for a new PAM account.
This will be as simple as:
- clicking on the link provided in the email
- following the prompts to create a new password for your new account.
Your username will be your email address.
Your PAM interface will not look any different, but you may receive an account per parent if you were previously sharing an account with your spouse.
Please refer to the below FAQs for further information:
We have a single, family email address that is used by both parents. Is that still ok?
If the parents both use the same email address, you will only receive a PAM account for one parent.
Example single email:
Parent 1 - Mother - Mrs Joanne Smith - jandcsmith@myemail.com
Parent 2 - Father - Mr Chris Smith - jandcsmith@myemail.com
A pam account can only be assigned to one parent, who can then share their login credentials with their spouse.
I do not have an email address OR have not provided my email address to the school.
Parents with no email address provided cannot have a PAM account
Will any historic data be lost in this process?
While no data will be lost in this process, it is possible that some information may become disconnected from the new account, such as historic letters, historic excursion permission and historic parent notified absences.
You may have to review your personal details (Medicare number etc) if you previously had split access with another parent to your child’s medical information.
You will definitely still be able to access historic student assessment reports and learning area assessment tasks. However, access to historical parent reflections may be lost if the school has chosen to not allow parents to see reflections by other parent accounts attached to that student.
What do I need to do now?
This letter is to simply let you know about the changes that are coming. Right now, the best thing you can do is make sure that the school has your preferred email address on file.
What do I need to do in January?
Be aware that your current PAM account will stop working as of the 16th of January.
Look out for the email later in that week asking you to set up credentials for your new account (this may go to your junk/spam folder).
If any family would like to stock up on RATs before the holiday break, or if you have family that needs them, please order them via CDFPay.
We still have a large supply that needs to be distributed before the end of the school year.
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.