Matthew O'Brien, Principal

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

 

Feast of St Mary Mackillop, 8th August

Staffing Update

Goodbye, Thank You and Good Luck to Georgia Johnston who is taking 2 years leave with her family to teach in Vietnam.  An exciting adventure awaits Georgia and her family.  We are very grateful for the gifts that she has shared with us and we wish her every success and happiness in this new venture.

Grounds and Maintenance

St Joseph’s school has entered a partnership with Danihers Facility Management Services (this company manages Emmanuel College as well).

I am delighted to announce that Tom Wormald has been appointed as our new Maintenance Manager starting on Monday 11th August. Tom has a wealth of experience that he brings to our school as well as trade expertise and building site experiences.

Mark Riddle has also been appointed two days a week to our grounds and maintenance team. Mark is currently at Emmanuel and will continue working between the two schools.

Taylah Watson has returned to the cleaning and vacuuming team. She will be here 4-7 each day.

Tom, Mark and Taylah are all employed by Danihers Facility Management but are still considered a part of our school community.

Shirley Harris will continue to be employed by us and her hours have shifted to 4-7pm each night.

Peter Edge will also continue to be employed by us and maintain the hall and vinyl surfaces.

We are looking forward to a long partnership with Danihers to continue to maintain and improve our facilities for the safety and pleasure of all. Thanks to Cathy for her oversight in this transition and for the juggling that has been done as we have replaced staff.

Matthew O'Brien, Principal

Happy Birthday to children celebrating their birthday this week.

Caloway Sicely, Jackson Senchenko, Henly O'Grady, Ruby Ryan, Will McMahon, Logan McGennan, and Hudson Moloney.

Last Friday 1st August, we were lucky enough to have 15 Japanese students visit our school for the morning.

The students were visiting Emmanuel and came to see St Joseph's students at work.  They were from Obirin Junior College in Tokyo - Emmanuel's sister school.  Two of our students were part of the host families taking part in the exchange.  Students had a short tour of the school and then were divided up into small groups heading off to the art room, the library, the Year 5 rooms and a Japanese lesson. 

They seemed to enjoy their time here. 

Girls Footy

Last Friday 1st August our amazing year six girls football team travelled to Ballarat to compete in the Regional championships. The girls got off to a great start winning their first game, they competed well throughout the day and finished with two wins and two losses. A fantastic effort at that level of competition. Well done girls.

Lawn Bowls

Thanks to all the students who came along to our Lawn Bowls trials last week, and a big thank you to Casey McGillivray and Jim Guinan for assisting with trials. It was one of the most difficult teams to pick for the whole year. Everyone showed great determination, and those that hadn’t bowled before picked up the basics of the game quickly.

Those that were selected will compete in the Division championships this Friday 8th August at Warrnambool City Bowls Club.

Year 4 and Year 6 Basketball

Well done to everyone who tried out for a basketball team last week, in particular to our year fours who for many of them, was their first attempt at representing the school in sport. Shortlists for the next training session have been put up on the notice board.

Training sessions

Year 4 Boys - Wednesday 6th August at recess

Year 4 Girls - Thursday 7th August at recess

Year 6 Boys - Monday 11th August at recess

Year 6 Girls - Tuesday 12th August at recess

Competition Dates

Year 4 District Basketball – Tuesday 19th August

Year 6 District Basketball – Friday 22nd August

Disco Poster Competition

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.

On Friday, 8th August, we’re inviting all students at St Joseph’s to wear green (casual clothes) in support of Victorian farmers who are doing it incredibly tough due to ongoing drought conditions.

For some regions, it hasn’t rained properly in over three years. There’s no grass to feed animals. Feed prices are soaring. Families are under enormous stress. Yet these are the same farmers who help put food on our tables every single day.

• “Wear Green for Farmers” is a statewide initiative designed to:
• Show farmers they are seen, valued and supported
• Help spread awareness — especially among our children — about where our food comes from and the people who grow it
• Raise funds (if families are in a position to contribute) to help deliver hay and emergency support through trusted volunteer networks like Need for Feed

This day is about solidarity, education and kindness. If you’d like to contribute you can donate directly via the website or the QR code . But most importantly, we’d love to see a sea of green as our way of standing with the people who feed us.

Over Term 3 we are running our raffle again, which is aimed at supporting local and school connected businesses.

This also acts as our major fundraiser for 2025, and hopefully reaching the total needed for our new playground!

We have sent letters and emails 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

A copy of the business proposal is linked to this newsletter as well, along with a link to an expression of interest form that you can complete straight away.

Families will be asked each 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 or a maximum of 10 vouchers from different businesses). 

The seller of the winning ticket will also have their 2026 Family fee (at least $1,445 based on the 2025 fees) credited off their school fee account.

To provide opportunities for social meetings between parents, and promote a spirit of union and good fellowship. The PSA runs and supports several events throughout the year to raise money for the school and to support our school community.

What do we do? Mother’s Day Stall, Hot Cross Bun Drive, Father’s Day Breakfast, Mother's Day Stall, Pizza Days, Art Activities and Canteen support

Next Meeting Date: Tuesday 5th August 2025 at 7:00 pm.

How can I help? Come along to the meetings, contribute to the discussion, share ideas, support events that enrich the school community.