PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE
Matthew O'Brien, Principal
Dear Parents, Guardians, Staff, Students and the wider St. Joseph’s Primary School Community,
God of princes, God of nurses:
This disease is a great leveller.
It has humbled our rulers and exalted your servants.
Let us note this abnormal way of being:
this proper appreciation of cleaners and supermarket workers, and childcare providers; those in the field and those on the frontline, the ones packaging food and delivering medicine.
And may we remember that in this abnormal you are with us
Amen.
Celebration
This Friday marks the end of remote learning for our whole school community. For the first time since 21st August our whole student community will be together again. We are now looking forward to the day that we can welcome our parents back into classrooms and assemblies.
As we come back together I would like to thank and acknowledge all of our parents and carers who have worked alongside our teachers to provide for our children. I would especially like to acknowledge Candice Grant our Assistant Principal - Teaching and Learning and our Learning Leaders: Andrew McCombe, Mark Gercovich, Tom Beks, Marlie Boyd, Maddy McMurray and Tegan McDonald who took lead responsibility in the weekly publishing of the learning plans.
Staffing Update
Tegan McDonald has been appointed as the Assistant to the Principal, Religious Education Leader and Classroom Teacher at St Patrick’s Koroit for 2022 and beyond. We congratulate Tegan on her new role knowing that she will be a great asset to St Pat’s and that her energy, enthusiasm and dedication will be missed here at St Joes.
Louis O’Connor has generously cut short his leave and returned to B4 for the remainder of this year.
Kate McGrath has returned to E1, the class she taught for the majority of Term 3.
Monica O’Brien will teach five days in E2 an increase from her usual two days.
Masks
As you are aware masks are compulsory for Year 3-6 and strongly recommended for Foundation -Year 2 students. Please ensure that your child’s mask is named and that clean masks are worn. We have a small supply of masks at school for those who forget to bring one but the expectation is that children bring their own masks from home.
Early Arrivals at School
Please ensure that your children arrive at school after 8:30am. There are still a large number of children arriving before 8:30am.
School Closure Day
A reminder that there is no school for any children next Monday 25th October as we have a scheduled school closure day for professional development.
Finally, there has been some conversation and role playing regarding the Netflix drama Squid Game among the students. This series is rated 15+ and is particularly violent. I remind all parents and carers to be vigilant with children’s use of technology. Most importantly, keep the communication lines open so that children feel free to talk about their online world.