School Canteen Support 

Term 2 concludes at 2:30pm, Friday 28th June 2024

Note the early finish time of school for all students on the last day of term.

Country buses run to an earlier timetable.

Students who use the town bus system should check the timetable for the route that they use.

Matthew O'Brien, Principal

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

Mass for Our Community, Mini Vinnies Pyjama Day Fundraiser

Bringing Hope and Faith to Our Community: Support St. Vincent de Paul and Celebrate Mass with Us.

As we continue our journey of faith and service at St Joseph’s, you are invited to support our Mini Vinnies group as they raise funds for and awareness of the St. Vincent de Paul Society and the important work they do in our community. 

The St. Vincent de Paul Society has been a source of hope for countless individuals and families in our community, providing essential support and care to those most in need. This winter, we are holding a pyjama and movie day to support their work. Your generous donations will help provide food, shelter, and other critical assistance to those facing difficult times. Together, we can make a meaningful difference in the lives of others and embody the spirit of compassion central to the Catholic tradition. 

Celebrating Mass Together: Mass is the cornerstone of our Catholic faith, where we come together as a community to worship, reflect, and pray. We invite all members of our school community to join us on Friday at 10am at St Joseph's Church.  

How You Can Help:

• Donate: Contributions of any amount via CDFPay to our St. Vincent de Paul fundraising efforts are greatly appreciated. Your generosity will directly impact the lives of those in need.
  
  
• Attend Mass: Join us for mass at St Joseph’s on Friday morning. Your presence uplifts our community and reinforces our commitment to our faith.

Together, we can make a positive difference to the lives of each other and our community. 

Netball

Congratulations to the St Joseph’s Netball team who won the Greater Western Sports Regional final on Friday. The team now moves to the State Final to be held next term.  

Holidays

Thanks to everyone who has contributed to the success of the term as it has been filled with learning growth and challenges. I acknowledge and thank our staff for their ongoing efforts and wish them a well-earned rest. Thanks to all of the children for their enthusiasm and willingness to “have a go” at new things, try and then try again. 

I hope that everyone enjoys a happy and safe holiday. 

Matthew O'Brien, Principal

Happy Birthday to children celebrating their birthday this week.

Milla Delaney, Rylan Hunter, Dylan Thomas, Darcy Thompson, Nyla Daffy, Lottie Petalas, Catherine Vu, Audrey Hunter, Hudson Foster, Harry Newbury, Peri Maddern and Lucy Porter.

On Tuesday 18th June firefighters came to school and gave us information about fire safety.

We learnt about good and bad fires and always needing an adult nearby. We then got to look at different tools the firefighters use in emergencies. We also got to see the firefighters use the water cannon and squirt water up in the air.

The best part was the axe and the water cannon. 

Jimmy Edis and Lachlan Gladki, Year 1 Students 

This term the Inquiry unit of work for Year 2 has been a History unit.

Students have been learning about the past, local history and changing technology. 

Part of this unit involved an excursion to Flagstaff Hill for a detailed investigation. We learnt about the Shipwreck of the Loch Ard and got to see some artifacts from shipwrecks along our coast including the very famous Loch Ard Peacock statue. 

The students all enjoyed exploring the village noting how different our lives are now. As we walked around we noticed that the paths were different, inside homes and shops looked very different. It certainly didn’t look like what we see in Liebig Street now. We found out that water didn’t just come out of taps like it does now. The students really enjoyed going up into the Lighthouse and looking through the Lighthouse Keeper’s cottage. 

Each class had a session in the classroom which was very different from our experience at St. Joseph’s in 2024! It was interesting to dress up in clothes that children wore to school in the 1800s and sit in straight rows. The students found it hard not being able to talk to anyone except when the teacher asked a question. They had to call the teacher ‘Ma’am’ and she made everyone write the alphabet on the slate boards, making sure everyone used their right hands. This was very hard for some who normally write with their left hand. Ma’am even demonstrated the strap and we had some very brave volunteers who went out the front to pretend to be in trouble. 

The students have been very interested in learning about History this term.

On Friday the 21st June the girl's school netball team travelled to Colac to represent St. Josephs at the Regional championships.

The day started off by a hard fought game against Sacred Heart Colac. We had a rocky first half, however, we came out firing in the second half which led us to winning by 3 points. 

Our second game was against Eureka Ballarat Primary School. Fortunately for us we were able to be on top of the game from start to finish. It was a great team effort with a wonderful turnout. 

After playing these teams we ended up top of the pool meaning that we were in a great position as we were in the Semi Final against the second placed team in another pool which was Ballarat - Stawell. 

We teamed well together and won meaning that we were into the Grand Final. We were very excited and our spirits were high leading into the big game. 

In the final we were playing against Sacred Heart who we had played first up. So we knew that it was going to be a hard game. But we had confidence because we had won against them before and that we could do it again. 

We started off pretty well and kept a lead of about two points the whole game. At half time we were up and at the final whistle we had won 17 - 14. 

This result meant that we were off to Victorian State Final next term. We are all very excited. We and looking forward to it.  i would like to thank Mrs . Grant, Caitlyn Daisy and Marie Claire for helping us throughout the day. 

Written by Ava and Indi, Year 6 students

School photos were distributed via the classrooms on Tuesday 25th June.

Family photos are due to arrive at school mid week and will be sent home with the eldest child.

If your child was absent on Tuesday 25th June their photos are available for collection at the school office.

Contact Glen Watson Photography directly with any queries regarding your order or later orders.

NAIDOC Week celebrations are held each July to celebrate, history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. NAIDOC is celebrated not only in Indigenous communities, but by Australians from all walks of life.

In NAIDOC week at St. Joseph’s we take the opportunity to participate in a range of learning tasks to support NAIDOC and to further enrich students' knowledge and understanding of Indigenous perspectives.

On behalf of the Arts team we would like to thank Joan Symes for all of her work recovering the cubes in the Drama room.

She has done a brilliant job.They look amazing!

Also a big thank you to Naomi Foster and her family for assisting her. Thank you.

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

All welcome.

Thursday 27th June

Students are welcome to wear their pyjamas, Oodie or onesie (no sleeveless tops please).

Slippers are suitable in the classroom but suitable shoes/runners are required in the playground.

It is suggested that children bring a warm jumper or coat for recess and lunch play.

Normal eating times and canteen orders on this day. No sharing of food or lollies.

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

Over Term 3 we are running a raffle aimed at supporting local and school connected businesses.

We have sent letters to many businesses to see if they will be involved, however if you are involved, manage, or own a business that has not received a proposal letter and you are interested, please

• email Cathy Duynhoven on cduyn@sjwarrnambool.catholic.edu.au or
• reply via this link https://form.jotform.com/241687372631057

We have attached a copy of the business proposal to this newsletter article.

For parents we will ask each family to sell 4 x $25 tickets, with there being one prize of $10,000 worth of vouchers selected from the participating businesses only (the winner can choose to have 1 voucher of a maximum of 10 vouchers from different businesses). 

The seller of the winning ticket will also have their 2025 Family fee (at least $1,445 based on the 2024 fees) credited off their school fee account.

The Year 6 leaders have been working on an important project to help the environment and raise money for our St. Joseph’s community. This all started when our Year 6 leaders went to Deakin University and came up with the brilliant idea to start recycling the 10c bottles used at our school, instead of throwing them out. Doing this will not only help the environment, but will also help to raise money for a new playground at St. Joseph’s.

Just a quick reminder, outside every classroom area is one community bin for all the children who have bottles from lunch orders to throw them in that bin in order to start building the new middle/senior school playground.

You can donate your bottles to our cause via this code at any recycling centre.

The easiest way to get the barcode is via the school SZApp.

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.

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.