Matthew O'Brien, Principal

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

Arts Week

Only artists can envision something as inspiring as Arts Week and dream up an event as spectacular as Illuminate Night. But turning that vision into reality requires more than imagination—it takes dedication, collaboration, and an extraordinary amount of hard work.

The Arts team has not only brought that vision to life but also showcased the very best of our school to the wider community.

We are sincerely grateful for the many weekends, evenings, and holiday hours that have gone into this project. I would like to publicly acknowledge and thank Kath McMeel, Michelle McIntyre-Hand, Cara Chisholm, and Caitlyn Symonds for their generosity, creativity, teamwork, and unwavering commitment.

A special thank you to Kath, who led the team with great care and took on the significant task of coordinating both the week and Wednesday night’s special event.

Congratulations to you all on an outstanding achievement.

Thank you to all staff who contributed their time and effort in the lead-up to Arts Week, throughout the week itself, and on Wednesday night. We are mindful of the many demands on your time and truly appreciate your generosity and support.

A special thanks to Tom Wormald for his time, skill, and flexibility.

We’d also like to acknowledge Cathy, Kellie, and Alecia—whose behind-the-scenes work often goes unnoticed but is absolutely vital. Whether it’s adjusting plans, managing communications, coordinating logistics, collecting resources, or handling payments, they do it all. This week, with Father’s Day, Arts Week, two camps in preparation, and the major raffle, the load was immense. Yet, as always, they ensured things ran smoothly, everyone felt supported, and no detail was overlooked.

Father’s Day Breakfast

Another big thank you to everyone involved in the Father’s Day Breakfast. It was another spectacular success with the hall being packed for most of the morning. Special thanks to Erin O’Grady for her leadership in this event, the PSA and all of our volunteers who enable the morning to run so smoothly. The day is so much richer thanks to our sponsors: Piccolos Coffee, Woolworths and Harvey Norman.  I hope that all of our dads had a happy Father’s Day.

Community Raffle

Congratulations to Estella Roberts (Year 3) who won the $10,000 raffle prize drawn on Friday. Estella and her family get to choose to spend their winnings at one or more of our sponsoring businesses. A holiday, car, coffee, flowers, pergola, paving… the list is endless. Congratulations and happy spending. 

A big thanks to Cathy Duynhoven who coordinated the raffle and to all of our sponsors who continue to support our school so generously.

This year we have made an incredible profit of $34,500. And the beauty of this raffle is that all of the money generated stays in our community. Thanks to everyone who supported the raffle by purchasing their tickets and good luck next year.

Matthew O'Brien, Principal

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Happy Birthday to children celebrating their birthday this week.

Ollie Gynes, Manny Ndagurwa, Elise Perry, Judd Coffey, Logan Amundsen, Sophia Furphy, Taliyah Rukani, Ava Toohey, Ellanorah Whitehead and Denis Shepeliuk.

Monday 6th October, 2025

In Week 2 of Term 4 we will be asking students to write four "good fit working partners" for 2026 classroom placements.

We ask that parents start having conversations with their child/ren regarding who these partners may be.

Be mindful that a "good fit working partner" does not always mean their best friend, but a friend that they work well with.

A Celebration of Hard Work

A huge congratulations to Layaara in D3 for creating an amazing narrative piece. Layaara has blown everyone away with not just her language choices and the idiomatic inclusions (which are extraordinary), but her ability to set the scene and build the story. We are so proud of Layaara and her efforts in writing and can’t wait to see what she produces next!

Well, what a week! Many wonderful activities happened over the week with many happy smiles and engaged students especially in the Jon Madin workshop.

We thank God for the break in the weather so that the night walk was able to go ahead. It was amazing to see so many people braving the cold and rain to be part of our great night.

Thanks for a great week. Thank you to our helpers and volunteers during our week and especially to our amazing Arts team.

Kath McMeel (Arts co-ordinator)

Thank you to these volunteers and helpers during our arts week program.

• Joan Symes
• Emmanuel College Art department
• Susan Finnigan
• Nicole Finnigan
• Di Brown
• Daisy Ye
• Andrea Welsh
• John Flett and the rock and roll club
• Jon Madin
• Garry Price and the School Choir
• Tilly Chisholm
• Ebony Molan
• Shaun McIntyre
• Nicole Saker
• Jeff Vizon, Liz Noonan and Hands on Learning team.
• Pat Zaunbrecher, Lorraine Blackmore, Robyn Hickey, Jan Milnes and the Embroiderer’s Guild, South Western Branch.
• PSA

Thank you to these Local Businesses for Supporting our Night Walk.

The PSA will be running their annual fundraiser to raise additional funds for the Art Department.

Magnets $14

6cm Round with a Matt Finish with Artwork that children design during their Art class.

Keyring $14

4.5cm Round with Artwork that children design during their Art class.

Orders are now open via CDFPay at a cost of $14.00 and close at 3pm on Friday 10th October.

Orders will be delivered in plenty of time to use these items as Christmas presents.

Note: Our Art teachers will endeavour to ensure your child has completed the necessary artwork. However, if your child has been absent for an extended period of time for holidays or sickness they may not have completed their artwork.

A Conversation Can Change A Life

R U OK? inspire and empower everyone to meaningfully connect with the people around them and start a conversation with those in their world who may be struggling with life.

You don't need to be an expert to reach out - just a good friend and a great listener.

Use these four steps and have a conversation that could change a life:

• Ask R U OK?
• Listen
• Encourage action
• Check in

Circle of Security Parenting