Matthew O'Brien, Principal

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

St. Joseph’s Primary School acknowledges and pays respect to the traditional custodians of this land that lies within the Maar nation; we remember both past and present generations who have walked this land. We gather here today as a Catholic school community in this very special place.

St. Joseph’s is a place of respect where we can dream, learn, share and care for one another.

May we always recognise that we walk together in creating a more just Australian society.

National NAIDOC Week celebrations were held across Australia last week. It is bad luck for schools that this important celebration usually falls during the holidays. At St Joseph’s we recognised and celebrated the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in our classrooms the last week of Term 2.

I hope that everyone had a restful and enjoyable break and am looking forward to the challenges and opportunities that Term 3 will bring.

Matthew O'Brien, Principal

Happy Birthday to children celebrating their birthday during the holidays and this week.

Stella Cust, Nova Gainey, Zoe Morris, Billy Main, Harriet Crute, James Mugavin, Maxwell Sheen, Poppy Main, Claudia O'Donnell, Margot Murphy, Logan Jones, Zavier Nelson, Grace Saker, Declan McMurray, Jasper Cox, Arlie Harman, Lola Katrianto, Archer Koch, Jobe Moloney, Tully Moloney, Archie Harle, Poppy Kelson, Luca Wrightson, Adelin Dance, Jasper Schultz, Nancy Pham and Abbie Wrightson.

Premier’s Reading Challenge Update

Congratulations to the following students who were the first 10 students to complete the Challenge.  The following students will receive a badge to wear on their uniform with pride. Be sure to congratulate them when you spot them in the yard.

• Liam Hose
• Harriet Crute
• Elizabeth Fitzgerald
• Louis Kenna
• Olivia Finnigan
• Harry Leach
• Anastasia Suringa
• Sibella Lewis
• Georgia Perry
• Aster McDonald

There are only 54 days left to complete the Challenge!  If your child is yet to start logging their books online, please email me for any assistance.

elloyd@sjwarrnambool.catholic.edu.au

Good Luck!

Save the date

Our annual Book Week Costume Parade will be in Week 8 this term on Friday 6th September. This is a bit later than the official date which offers you the chance to borrow costumes from friends and relatives who may have already had their Book Week at other schools. There is no expectation to spend any money on costumes, as I also have many options for students to borrow from the Library for the day too. This year’s theme is ‘Reading is Magic!’

Book Reviews

Disco Volunteers

We require volunteers for both Junior and Middle/Senior Discos. 

Please complete the linked form if you are able to assist.

Volunteer numbers are capped, please consider volunteering for the Middle/Senior Disco if you have children attending both discos.

First Eucharist is a Sacramental Program for Year 4 students who have been Baptised and Confirmed.

Under the lead of Father Bill, we are trialing a combined Parish Parent Information session and a combined Parish schools Eucharist preparation Day.

Please complete this form and make a $20 payment for the booklet and iron on transfer through CDFpay.

A kit containing the materials and information to prepare your child for the Celebration of First Eucharist will be provided to your child. Parents work through this booklet at home with their child (rather that the previous Family Groups after school).

Key Dates

The next PSA meeting will be held at 7:30PM on Tuesday 23rd July, one week earlier than originally scheduled.

All welcome.

The Permission to Administer Medication form needs to be completed for short term and long term medication that children may require at school. This form can be completed electronically from the app SZApp from the tile Permission Medication.

In regards to times of medication, it is easier on the staff and most importantly your child to coincide with a bell at either recess/lunch times. We have found that the bell is a prompt for your child and staff and has less interruptions to the day. These times also maintain the children's confidentiality, with less disruptions to the child in regards to being called or required to leave the classroom.

Recommended times are:

• 11:20am - End of recess
  
• 1:00pm - Start of eating time/lunch
• 2:35pm - Between session 5 and 6

Sharing of food items in the classroom

As our school community grows we have more students enrolled who have been diagnosed as having food allergies or intolerances. To support all needs we have procedures for the sharing of food items in the classroom. At times some classrooms will have a shared morning tea, lunch or afternoon tea. This is a supervised event and all families are advised of this via a letter sent from the classroom teacher.

This ensures all children's individual needs are met and catered for.

To ensure the inclusion of all students please adhere to the routine for the sharing of food items within the classroom.

Celebration of Birthdays

At St Joseph's we celebrate children's birthdays as a school by presenting the child with a Birthday Certificate at our whole school assembly. Each classroom celebrates birthdays in different ways. Some classes have a special chair for the day or a badge to wear, most classrooms have birthdays displayed in the room.

For the purpose of an individual child’s celebration or birthday the school permits an lemonade icypole or frozen Zooper Doopers as recommended options for these occasions.  It is not compulsory to celebrate all birthdays through the classroom.

Icy poles can be dropped into the school office. Please label with child's name and room number and let the classroom teacher know.

Numbers required

• Lemonade Icypoles - 3 boxes of 8
• Zooper Doopers - 1 bag of 24 (allow 2 days for freezing)

Uncollected left over icypoles/zooper doopers will be redistributed.

A reminder that we require all families to login to PAM and update their child's Medical Information if their child's medical details have changed. 

This information assists with our electronic permission forms. 

Please follow the instructions below to update a medical profile for each of your children by:

1. Click on link to PAM (found on our webpage or SZapp)
2. Click on student (if more than 1 child, this will need to be done individually)
3. Click on Medical Profile (blue writing to the left of screen)
4. Check all questions and select Edit Details for updates to be made.
5. Once you get to the end of the questions please confirm by clicking on the Green “Update Details” Box found at the bottom right of screen.

As a parent/guardian you are able to access your child/rens medical profile on PAM at any time to update as needed.

If you have any queries or require your PAM login details, please do not hesitate to get in contact with the office.  

Our 2nd Hand Uniform system allows for parents to puchase and sell items all year round with options to purchase online.

Items for second hand sale can now be dropped into the school office at any time of the year.  

Uniform items MUST be:

• current uniform items only
• very good to excellent quality
• washed and free of stains
• have any naming labels crossed out
• labelled with either the printable Pricing Label template or similar.

Items that are NOT suitable are:

• school bags more than 2 years old
• library/book bags
• stained or torn clothing
• non-current school uniform
• sports shorts without the school logo
• shoes
• secondary school uniform items.

Unsuitable items will be returned to the seller/donator.

Pricing of Uniform Items

Price uniform items accordingly and receive 70% of the amount (when the item is sold) with 30% of your sale going to the school’s PSA.

Items are kept in the second hand uniform shop until they are sold. We will notify via text of any monies to be collected, this may be after a family has left the school.

Alternatively you can donate items to be sold. We will label and price donated items. 100% of these sales go to the school's PSA.

Refer to suggested pricing guide linked below.

Purchasing of Uniform Items

Parents are able to complete an online form indicating the uniform item and size required and it will then be sent home with your child or made available for collection.

Payment to be made in cash the following day. Items can be returned if they aren't the correct size or quality.

A reminder that only students that are registered to travel on specific country buses can use this service.

The service is not to be used for sports training/work/social purposes.

Parent/Carers are to make their own arrangements in this regard.

A letter from the Australian Smile Group is being sent home with all children this week containing information regarding onsite dental services being provided at our school by their qualified Dental Health Team.

The dental van will be onsite at the school starting on Monday 5th August. 

If you wish your child to participate in this program please complete and return the form to the school office by Tuesday 16th July.

Note: This is a service provided by the Australian Smile Group and is NOT compulsory.

With the strengthening of The Child Safety Standards, we need to be mindful of students travelling in private cars with staff members.  With this in mind, if you are friends, or family, of any staff members at St Josephs Primary School, and you require them to drive your child/ren home from school we will need to get written permission from you. 

This can be done by completing this online form at any time  https://form.jotform.com/241680647401050

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.

School Canteen Support