Public Holidays and School Closure Dates

• Monday 21st April - Easter Monday Public Holiday
• Tuesday 22nd and Wednesday 23rd April - Full School Review
• Thursday 24th April - Professional Development Day
• Friday 25th April - Anzac Day Public Holiday
  
  
• Thursday 1st May - May Race Day Public Holiday
• Monday 9th June - Kings Birthday Public Holiday

Term 2 Commences Monday 28th April

Term 1 concludes at 2:30pm, Friday 4th April 2025

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

Country buses run to an earlier timetable from 2:30PM.

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,

The Fast Life

Fast from judging others;
Feast on Christ dwelling in them.

Fast from fear of illness;
Feast on the healing power of God.

Fast from words that pollute;
Feast on speech that purifies. 

Fast from discontent;
Feast on gratitude.

Fast from anger;
Feast on patience.

Fast from pessimism;
Feast on hope.

Fast from negatives;
Feast on encouragement.

 Fast from bitterness;
Feast on forgiveness.

 Fast from self-concern;
Feast on compassion.

 Fast from suspicion;
Feast on truth.

Fast from gossip;
Feast on purposeful silence.

  Fast from problems that overwhelm;
Feast on prayer that sustains.

Fast from anxiety;
Feast on faith.

Amen

Thank you Mrs Brown

Di began teaching at St Joseph’s in 2000 and has been an inspirational teacher and colleague. Di has the wonderful gift of making those around her (children and adults) feel like they are the most important people in the world at that time. She is a great listener and who works with others to develop their ideas. Her art room is a class of creativity, fun, learning and inclusivity.  As a true teacher Di always looks to bring out the best in others.

She is very accepting of everyone, working hard to find out a special something about each child. A little passion or interest, particularly for those children on the fringes or margins.  Her leadership of the Mini Vinnies team here at St Josephs has engaged our children in outreach work that supports our community and allows our children to push their comfort zones. She is passionate about supporting children to understand that a part of our Catholic faith is a call to action. In this area Di leads by example with her many community commitments.

Di is a joyful person who looks for the funny side of things. Her presence lights up the classroom and the staffroom.  It is always easy to find her in the staffroom because her table always seems caught up in raucous laughter.

Thank you Di for being such a wonderful person at St Josephs. We wish you every happiness as you move into your next exciting chapter.

Staffing Update

Caitlin Symons has been appointed to the Arts team Wednesday and Thursday. Caitlyn brings expertise and passion in drama (Holiday Actors) and music (singing and piano) to complement our Arts team.  We look forward to formally welcoming her next term.

Japanese Visitors

Thanks to all of the families that opened their homes and hearts to our visitors from Doshisha Elementary School last week. Having 28 international guests in our school was inspiring for our children and added a cultural enrichment to our community.

Thanks to Mrs Lee for all of her organisation, in getting the crew here and away safely. It was touching to see the hugs and tears in the loop on Thursday morning as the kids farewelled each other.

Trivia Night

Thanks to everyone who supported the trivia night.  A great night was had by everyone involved. A special shout out to the team who put the night together.

Sarah Porter, Lisa Crute, Laura Thompson, Nicole Goldson and Kate Palmer Baulch and our quiz Masters Dan O’Keefe and Brett Gladki (just a couple of battlers) and Lauren, Mia and Lisa for the beautiful flower arrangements.

The team raised $6,800 and as Brett said every dollar we raise makes that playground higher. It will be the Luna Park of Warrnambool!”

Tattler Newspaper Launch

This week the first edition of the Tattler was published. This newspaper is written and edited by the Year 6 team. The editing team plans to publish an edition each term and invite children to submit articles and photos. 

Meredith Jones, Logan McGennan, Archie Gardner, Mia Neave and Matilda Houston

Painting And Carpets Upgrade

Visitors may have noticed that the school is being prepared for a facelift over the Easter break. The foyer and corridors will be painted and pin boards replaced. Further painting will take place in the winter break and carpets will also be replaced. Thanks to Cathy for her planning and organising of our tradies to get the job done while the children and staff are off site.

Holidays

Finally, I hope that everyone has a safe and happy holiday and I look forward to seeing what excitement Term 2 will bring us. 

Matthew O'Brien, Principal

Happy Birthday to children celebrating their birthday this week.

Elouise Flett, Chelsea Kao, Harriet Thompson, Mackenzie Davies, Jackson Rogers, Isaac Rae, Lucas Craig, Zavier Duncan, Greta Lloyd, Chris Vu, Quinn Lilley, Lily Pearson, Milla Riordan and Reuben Riordan.

After three wonderful days at St. Joseph's, Doshisha Elementary School staff and students have returned to Kyoto. They have messaged to pass on their thanks to all of our school community, The students didn't want to leave as they had enjoyed themselves so much and have taken with them, special memories of Warrnambool. 

We are so grateful to our host families, who cared for the students while they were here. This is a big change to family routines, but our host families were very open to providing great experiences for the Doshisha students. Thank you so much. 

The school aims to conduct another trip next year around the same time of year. 

On Thursday 27th March, Rooms F6 and F7 went on an excursion down at the Blue hole in the Hopkins River.

It was a beautiful day and the weather was nice, just a little wind and the water was high.

For fishing we went down to the bridge to see Mr G, Nick and Andrew. We put in some berley to attract the fish. There were a lot of fish under the bridge so we just cast down there and caught lots of fish. We caught and released 89 fish, mainly bream and several big ones. We were using prawns and glassies as bait and it worked really well.

For canoeing Mr El Hage and Anne showed us how to use our paddle and where we were going.

We put on our life jackets and took off around the blue hole with a partner. We had so much fun.

Overall, it was a really great day and we all enjoyed it. We are all so grateful that we could do this activity.

From Oliver Ault and Daisy Brown, Year 5 students

District Athletics

Congratulations to our athletics team who will compete in the district competition on Wednesday 23 April. These students were selected from their performances at our school sports day. Well done and good luck to all.

District Hockey

Congratulations and good luck to our Year 6 hockey teams who will compete at the district competition this Thursday 3rd April.

Mr McMillan - Physical Education Coordinator

Regional Swimming

We started off the day by catching the bus to Horsham which was a two and a half-three hour bus ride. By the time we all got there we were all ready to get out and stretch our legs. We took over Emmanuel’s tent and shared it with Our Lady's. The day went smoothly and everyone had a blast with some people even coming back with medals. Congrats to everyone that competed you all were amazing and a special congrats to Amy Bail for making it to States.  A special thanks to Mr McMillan and Lexi for looking after us and making this day possible and thanks heaps to Neville for driving us up there!

Nina O'Kane - Year 6 student

Wednesday 30th April, 2025

We are looking forward to our school cross country day. Parents, carers and family members are welcome as spectators on the day. Children compete in their event at the nominated time and then return to class. 

Timetable

To be published in the newsletter in Term 2.

Age Determination

Ages are calculated as of December 31st in the year of competition.

What to wear

Sports Uniform

• Navy Blue school logoed shorts
• House coloured Sports polo
• Navy Blue logoed windcheater, vest or coat
• School logoed hat
• White socks (no logos)
• Runners
• Parents may like to pack a change of socks and runners.

No hair colour, sleeveless tops or coloured zinc permitted.

Spectators

Spectators are welcome at our cross country. Enter via the gate near the school hall. Spectators are not to enter the school building (with the exception of the School Hall for toilet access).

Parking

On street and tennis court parking is available. Please obey parking rules.

Photography

Please read the St Joseph’s Primary School Photography Guidelines for Parents and Carers. 

Sign your child out

A reminder that if you are taking your child home early, they must be signed out at the office. If, by arrangement, you are taking another person's child we must receive either verbal or written permission (note in diary) from the child's parent.

Good luck to all of our cross country competitors.

Congratulations to the children who are participating in Senior Reconciliation this will be held at 6:00pm today, Tuesday 1st April, 2025. Can families and students please be ready and seated at this time.  

We will gather together and join in the Liturgy of the Word.  After a reflection students will be guided by a teacher to one of the priests for their individual confession.  After students have had time reflecting they are welcome to quietly leave with their families.

This will be held at St Joseph's Parish Church.

Stole

Parents will have received an iron on Reconciliation transfer for their child. 

Wear the stole with the Baptism and Diocese transfers on the right side.

Year 3 children who have been baptised will have the opportunity to celebrate the Sacrament of Confirmation in Term 2.

Registration

Registration is available online.

Payment

Payment for the program materials etc can be completed via CDFpay.

Key Dates

It was a wonderful night on Friday as the St Joseph’s hall hosted almost 200 attendees at our Trivia Night. The mood was fun and the atmosphere electric thanks to the hardworking group of volunteers. With the very generous support of sponsors  we were able to raise a significant amount of funding for our new school playground. The auction in particular was a highlight, with some wonderful auction items drawing out the most munificent bidding in some tightly contested back and forths.

Congratulations to those who took something home from the excellent selection of raffle prizes available on the night and to the winning team of braniacs. Thanks to all attendees for supporting our fundraising efforts.

The Federal election has now been called for Saturday 3^rd May. With St Josephs as a polling station this is a wonderful opportunity to fundraise as we feed a captive audience their democracy sausages and get them to take home something sweet. More information on how you can assist is in this newsletter including a request prior to the election BBQ for something baked or purchased that we can sell at our cake stall. We will also request parent volunteers to fill a shift for a few hours on the day either flipping snags or assisting with selling our delicious food items.

We will also shortly put out a call for volunteers to assist with preparing for and running our Mother’s Day breakfast event on the 9th May. St Josephs also has a great opportunity around the King’s Birthday Long Weekend to run a BBQ at Bunnings on Saturday 7th June, for which we will again ask for volunteers and items for a cake stall.

The PSA understands that a lot of these events and requests for your support are falling quite close together in 2025 as we fundraise for our new playground. We have intentionally ramped up activities this year to deliver the best playground possible for our St Joseph's students. Thanks for your continued understanding and support of a few hours here and there if you are able to volunteer to help out at our activities. We anticipate that next year our schedule will not need to be as busy.  

Leon Senchenko, PSA Chair

Election Day BBQ

We are looking for volunteers to work on the Saturday 3rd May - cooking and selling split over three shifts

Shift 1 -  8:00am to 10:00am (set up, cook and sell)

Shift 2  - 10:00am to 12:00pm (cook and sell)

Shift 3  - 12:00pm to 2:00pm (cook, sell and pack up)

Election Day Cake Stall 

We are looking for people to cook cakes/muffins/slice etc to sell on Election day.  Items can be dropped off at school on Friday 2nd May or on the morning of Saturday 3rd May. 

Please complete the form to indicate how many cake boxes your require. 

As Mothers Day will come around very quickly after the holidays, we have opened up the online shop (via CDFpay) for children and fathers to start placing orders for their Mothers Day gift. 

Each gift is $5 and students will get to personally select their own gift from the Mother's Day Shop at school.

Choosing Gifts from the Mother's Day Shop

Year 3 - Monday 5th May for Year 3 students (prior to camp) 

Foundation - Year 6 - Wednesday 7th May (orders close 9am)

Additional Gifts/Late Orders - Thursday 8th May

Mother's Day gift purchase is optional for each family, if an order has not been placed, students do not select a gift.

Leftover gifts will be available for purchase if children would like to purchase a second gift for another important person in their life.

Our PSA are holding a Mother's Day Breakfast for our school Mums (or special person). 

Children arrive at school early with their mum and enjoy a breakfast with a choice of BLT roll, Pancakes or Yoghurt, Granola and Berries.

The PSA will provide some muffins and pastries, fruit, juice and hot drinks. After breakfast mums can walk their child/ren to the classroom for a visit.

Orders made via CDFpay

Orders are now open and close at 3pm, Tuesday 6th May, 2025.

Dairy Free, Vegetarian and Gluten Free options are available.

Sorry no late orders.

Volunteers

We rely on the assistance for volunteers on this day and the afternoon prior.

Please complete the volunteer form if you are able to assist with setup on Thursday after school or on the Friday morning for cooking, serving or cleanup.

Enrolments for Foundation students for 2026 are now OPEN.

All applications are to be submitted by 4:00pm on Wednesday 11th June, 2025. 

Enrolments

All of our enrolments are completed online, via the Enrolment/Online Enrolment Form page on the schools website.

You will need to make sure you have your child's documentation loaded onto your device, either by taking a photo or scanning and uploading.  

• Birth certificate
• Immunisation Statement
• baptism certificates
• any specialist reports

Discovery Tours and Information Sessions

Our Discovery Tours and Information session dates have also been set and can be booked via the Enrolment/Tour Registration page on the school website.

• 11:30pm, Tuesday 13th May
• 7:00pm, Tuesday 13th May
• 11:30am, Friday 23rd May
• 11:30am, Wednesday 28th May

Term 1 Roster

School Canteen Support