5 February 2019

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Message

Michael Gray, Principal

Dear Parents, Guardians, Students, Staff and our Wider School Community;

We did it! 2019 and St. Joseph’s is Ready for Everyone!

Twins: Mack and Leo Rees, 5, are looking forward to learning to read as they started school last Friday. (Warrnambool Standard Photograph Permission 1/2/19)

Welcome to 2019! Wonderful to have all back ready for a year of learning, friendship, faith and adventure!

Our summer work teams have been very busy over the break. Preparation for the new year commenced with planning and student grouping late last year. This great work has been completed by our teaching and administration staff. Following on from this work our grounds and maintenance teams, along with many commercial contractors, have completed professional work to ensure our school is clean, neat, safe, stimulating and ready for our enthusiastic and wonderful student body.

A highlight for me was the exceptional engineering work completed by Niflex (Local Company and Matthew Goodall a school family). Matthew’s work has ensured our playground equipment was renewed, cleaned and re-installed to a very high standard. This work has already been appreciated by many of our students. Well organised and safe engaging play spaces support fun and socialisation at school.

Key to school readiness for a child is the brilliant work of families. Uniform, classroom equipment, lunch, advice, chats and boundaries all help a child feel safe, supported and ready.

The challenge now is also with our students; they all have a wonderful opportunity to engage with their learning, make connections with others, try their best, seek support as needed and help each other.

Special thanks to:

• Our School Plant and Equipment Team: Andrew, Sharyn, Nigel, Oliver, Harvey, Luke, Brady, Sam, Josh, Thomas, Oliver, Aiden and Lachie. This team have mulched, repaired, cleaned and moved equipment across our school to ensure our environment is first class.

St. Joseph’s Grounds Team about to spread garden mulch!

Important Opportunities

Our Choir Co-ordinator, Japan Cultural Tour and Home Stay Teams, Sports Co-ordinator and Community Co-ordinator have all put together exciting opportunities for parents and students.

These opportunities are summarised below and further information included in this newsletter.

• Choir Expression of Interest for 2019, Grade 3 and above.
• Hosting a Japanese Student from our partner school in Kyoto in March this Year.
• School Representation in either Athletics, Swimming, Bowls or Tennis, 9 years and above.
• Community Co-ordinator (Catherine Lee) has two opportunities for parents to contribute to school life. a) Classroom Co-ordinator, please discuss with your child’s classroom teacher if interested. b) Community Conversation: Tuesday 5th March in the evening. Details to come in future newsletter.

In finishing this first news update if there is anything we can clarify, provide or share please let me know. My school email is principal@sjwarrnambool.catholic.edu.au Have a great week.

Regards,
Michael Gray, Principal.

Annual School Fair

Sunday 24th March

Our Annual Fair is one of the highlights on our School Calendar.

The first Fair Coordinators Meeting will be held at 7:00pm on Monday 11th February 2019 in the staffroom at school.

2019 Important Dates Calendar

Our 2019 Calendar is available on the SZapp and our website.

You will find dates for:

• School Terms and Holidays
• Parent Teacher Interviews
• School Photos
• School Closures
• School Sports and School Sport Victoria events
• Sacramental Programs
• Middle and Senior Camps

We encourage parents to access the calendar and write relevant dates on their calendar at home. Please access the calendar on a regular basis to keep up to date with important school dates that relate to your child and year level.

Administration

2019 Family Fee Assistance

In 2019 the Catholic Education Office, Ballarat will still be offering their Family Fee Assistance Package to families who are holders of a Health Care Card.

You can apply for this assistance by collecting a form from the school office and returning it to us along with a copy of your healthcare Card. The assistance package is worth $780 per family.

Camps, Sports and Excursion Fund

Families may also be eligible for the Camps, Sports and Excursion Fund (CSEF). The CSEF is applicable to all year levels not just those that attend a camp. This can be used to cover various items that are part of our school fees.

Direct Debit or Credit Card Deduction

It is not too late for families wishing to set up a regular direct debit or credit card deduction for their school fees. Forms are available from the school office.

Queries

If you have any questions regarding your school fees or require any assistance, please contact Cathy Duynhoven on 5561 1343.

Parent Teacher Interviews

Monday 11th February and Tuesday 12th February

This is an opportunity for parents to meet with their child’s classroom teacher. The interviews run for 10 minutes. You need to allow 10 minutes between individual interviews to allow time to move between classrooms.

The purpose of this interview is for Parents to share important information about their child with their teacher. Information that is often useful might include hobbies/Interest, after school activities, learning concerns or family arrangements.

Bookings will open today and are made through the PAM system. This can be accessed via the SZApp or our website.

Parents are encouraged to make their own bookings using their provided login details. Contact the office if you have any difficulties.

Foundation and New Students photos

Foundation students will have their photo taken by our school photographers, MSP Photography, on Friday 8 February. Personalised individual order forms for these photos have been sent home with these children. Spare copies are available at the office.

On this day MSP photography will also take photos of any new students in other year levels. These photos are used for the PAM and our school’s library system.

We welcome new families to St Joseph’s Grade 1-6. Families have come from Perth, Murray Bridge, Melbourne, Shepperton and New Zealand.

Senior Reconciliation

Senior Reconciliation is a Sacramental Program for Grade 6 students who have completed their Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist Sacraments.

Please complete the online registration form and make $20 payment through CDFpay (our online ordering system) which can be accessed via the SZapp or our website.

A kit containing the materials and information to prepare your child for the Celebration of Reconciliation will be available to collect at the Parent Information Meeting.

Key Dates

Choir

Elise Smock, Choir Co-ordinator

Students from years 3-6 are invited to join our 2019 choir program. The choir is an extra-curricular program which engages students in a different way to the classroom program and offers positive experiences which raise self-esteem.

The rewards of being in the school choir are plentiful they include developing goal skills and musical awareness, learning new songs to sing, enjoying the activity of performing, gaining confidence and responsibility and fostering connections with students from other year levels.

There are many opportunities for performance within the school and wider community which also contributes to the development of a sense of personal accomplishment and cultivates a positive self-image.

Rehearsals will take place in the foyer of the hall at the new time of 8:15am on a Monday morning beginning the 18th February.

Students are welcome to come along to a few Choir rehearsals at the beginning of the year to see what Choir is all about. There is absolutely no pressure to join during the 3 week trial period but after this time we do ask that a year long commitment be made.

We look forward to a fun filled musical year!

Sports Report Week 2

Andrew McCombe, Physical Education and Sport Co-ordinator

Hello everyone and welcome to the 2019 school year. As you are aware, sport makes a great addition to school life and builds on students skills and fitness. School representative sport enhances these elements of sport and provides practical experiences of competitiveness, teamwork and sportsmanship. For these reasons St. Joseph’s will again provide many opportunities for school representative sport over the year. This Term we start sending representative teams in the following sports:

Term 1 Sports: Swimming, Athletics, Lawn Bowls and Tennis

In planning for these competitions, we ask children and parents to enter an expression of interest in representing the school in swimming and tennis events for planning and trialling purposes.

Please be aware only children who will be turning 9 and above are allowed to register their interest for the swimming sports and children aged 11 and 12 can try out for the upcoming tennis tournament.

Please also note that 9 year olds aiming to qualify for district sports are also competing against 10 year olds and are therefore strongly encouraged to wait until they are in this age group to attend trials. Only those who are exceptionally gifted in a sport should tryout as a nine year old.

Swimming Trials

For those children wanting to compete in the swimming you will only qualify for the next stage if you participate in the scheduled swimming trials to be held on Friday 15th February.

You will not qualify by submitting a form and times as in previous years. Once the trials are completed swimmers will be selected for the division finals and notified afterwards.

Closing date for submitting this form is strictly Friday 8th February, 2019. Entries will not be accepted after this date and children will therefore not be considered for selection to the division swimming finals.

Tennis Trials

For those children wanting to compete in the tennis. Please be aware, only children aged 11 and 12 and above can tryout for this event. Please also remember that the District Tournament will require children to be comfortable hitting and serving the ball across the full size court.

Closing date for submitting this form is Friday 8th February, 2019. Entries will not be accepted after this date.

Catholic Network Japan Study Tour

Planning for the Catholic Network Japan Study Tour in September is well underway and all families who have expressed interest in the trip are requested to pay their deposits by Friday 15th February. The students involved will have received a letter regarding this.

PSA News

Welcome to all families to 2019.

PSA Welcome and Meeting Night

Our first PSA Welcome and Meeting will be held at 7:30pm on Tuesday 12th February 2019 in the staffroom at school. The committee invite all interested parents to come along to find out more about what is happening at the school and contribute to activities run by the PSA. The first 30 minutes will be an informal welcome with the meeting running from 8pm – 9pm.

A parent social night is being organised by the PSA as an opportunity to get to know other parents in a social, friendly environment. More information will follow in our next newsletter.

Canteen News

Our 2019 Canteen Price List has been updated with some price and item changes. We have a new product this year which is Egg and Bacon Quiche.

Prices and items have been updated on the CDFpay Canteen ordering system.

Excursion Permission Form for 2019

The Excursion Permission forms were distributed at your child’s Literacy Interview earlier this week to Foundation and New families. These forms are now overdue.

For all other students the Excursion Permission Forms from 2018 will be utilised this year as we move towards an electronic permission form system. Any medical and contact details can be updated via PAM or by contacting the school office.

First Aid and Student Medication Needs

All families should ensure that the school is aware of their child’s medical needs. It is a requirement that all families complete the medical profile via PAM which is accessible through our SZapp and our website. Medical plans signed by a doctor are required annually.

Working with Children Check

To ensure the safety of all students we remind all families when visiting the school to always come through the school foyer area and sign in.

Please present your Working with Children Check to office staff if you wish to participate in activities with the children. Could people who have not yet presented their card for photocopying at the office please do so. Many thanks.