PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE
Matthew O'Brien, Principal
Dear Parents, Guardians, Staff, Students and the wider St. Joseph’s Primary School Community,
Advent
This coming Sunday is the first week of the Advent season. This season is celebrated over the four weeks leading up to Christmas. At school each class will display an Advent wreath on their prayer table and use this as a focus each morning. The church has traditionally assigned four virtues to each of the four Sundays in Advent: hope, peace, joy, and love. These virtues will also be a focus in each classroom as we prepare for Christmas. December is a great month filled with catch ups, break ups, graduations, transitions and family get togethers. As we begin this month of celebrations I will leave you with some wise words that Fr John wrote in the Parish Bulletin this week:
“May we not crowd but give space to ourselves and to one another in these uncertain but hectic times.”
State Champions!
Congratulations to the Year 4 girls basketball team who won the state final yesterday in Melbourne. To be crowned as the best primary school team in the whole of Victoria is a remarkable achievement and our school community is proud of the team. Special thanks to Layla Monk and Matt Mc Millan for coaching and for the support of the families for coordinating the transport and accommodation of the team.
The Year 4 boys team also made the state finals which is also an achievement to be proud of. This team success follows on from our Year 6 boys and girls team who also competed in the state finals last week. Congratulations to all of our representatives. I hope that you have all enjoyed the experience of representing St Joseph’s with your friends.
Art
My office has had a new batch of art works displayed, there are photos in the newsletter. I receive lots of comments from visitors about the children's creativity and I find their artwork gives me a smile and is a good reminder of the purpose of our school in supporting children to flourish in all aspects of their lives.
In visiting the art room I have noticed that many children have had the opportunity to work with clay in this term. Like everything they have had varied levels of success. I used to enjoy clay when I was at school, I think it was because I could always just roll my mistakes up and start again. I never created a masterpiece but what I did learn was a greater appreciation of those people who can create with their hands.
Our art program (visual and performing) is so important to the development of our children. It is a time for children to create, to think outside the square and to express themselves. For some lucky ones it will become a career, for others a hobby, for the rest of us, we can learn to appreciate art and enjoy the talents of others.