Filter Content
Dear Parents, Guardians and Carers,
This week many of our students have been participating in the NAPLAN testing. Each year at this time I wonder about how this “one day snapshot” of achievement is an accurate reflection of ability and more importantly how the results impact on a child’s self-esteem and hence, their feeling of self-worth. It is so important to help our children understand that a score or grading is not a measure of them as a person. So many of our students shine in other areas apart from literacy and numeracy. We just need to remember our sports days, swimming carnivals and school productions. Some are great at Italian and other languages. Others thrive in our STEM classes. We also have some amazing artists. Yet there is no similar national “grading” system for these, thankfully. All of our beautiful children have unique gifts and talents. It is our job to recognise them and acknowledge them whenever we can.
On Friday May 6th, St Joseph’s school was delighted to be able to once again welcome people for a Mother’s Day celebration. It was wonderful to see so many mums arrive and warmly greet friends that they hadn’t seen for a while. The students proudly performed an item of song, poetry, drama or dance and the delight in seeing their mothers in the audience watching them was obvious. Thanks to everyone who attended and we hope you enjoyed your special afternoon tea.
The Foundation students have moved into their new classrooms, enjoying the fresh open spaces. Special thanks to the P and F for the purchase of new furniture for these rooms as well as the beautiful new 3/4 furniture. Your financial support goes a long way to helping the children enjoy an attractive classroom environment which leads to further engagement in the classroom.
Warm Regards
Ros Joyner
Principal
COVID, the Flu and Staff Shortages
Although COVID numbers have dropped off the radar in the media, we continue to see a surge in infection numbers of both COVID and influenza in our community. Unfortunately the current strain of influenza is proving to be quite debilitating. As a result, we have experienced staff shortages across our school in the past few weeks. Our school has been lucky to have a wonderful group of casual relief teachers who have filled in for many of our staff. However at times, if a teacher cannot be sourced for the day, your child may be sent to a different classroom to complete activities for part of or the whole day.
We will all need to be cautious over the coming weeks and months. We ask that if your child is experiencing any cold or flu-like symptoms that you consider keeping them home until the symptoms pass, encourage them to have good hygiene practices (wearing masks, washing hands and sneezing/coughing in elbows). We have an ongoing supply of Rapid Antigen Tests for families to access to monitor for COVID-19, please see the school office if you need more RAT kits.
Friday 20 May - Andrew Chinn Concert @ 2:00pm
Tuesday 24 May - West Gippsland Division Cross Country
- School Assembly at 2:40pm in School Hall
Friday 27 May - Grandparent’s Day
Monday 30 May - Senior Winter Sport
Thursday 2 June - Gippsland Regional Cross Country
Tuesday 7 June - Division Winter Sport
- School Assembly at 2:40pm in School Hall
Friday 10 June - School Closure Day
Monday 13 June - Queen’s Birthday Public Holiday
Tuesday 21 June - School Assembly at 2:40pm in School Hall
Friday 24 June - Last day of Term 2 – 2:20pm school finish
Monday 11 July - First day of Term 3
Thursday 14 July - State Cross Country
*Please note that many of our school events are scheduled for a Friday, so our School Assembly will be held every fortnight on a Tuesday instead.
*Please note that dates are subject to change in accordance with DOSCEL recommendations
Andrew Chinn Concert
We are very excited to be welcoming Andrew Chinn to our school on Friday 20th May.
Andrew worked as a classroom teacher in Catholic Primary Schools for nearly twenty years before moving into his full time music ministry. Andrew has visited more than 1000 Catholic primary schools, performing in 3000 concerts across Australia, New Zealand, the USA and Canada sharing his music and his faith with children, teachers and parents. He has released 11 CDs, 5 DVDs and 6 picture books, which are used widely by teachers and catechists in the faith development of children.
Andrew will present workshops with each year level throughout the day and then with the assistance of selected students, he will perform a concert to the whole school at the end of the day beginning at 2:00pm.
Andrew’s passion is palatable, he has amazing talent, the children love his music and his ability to remember names is extraordinary.
We look forward to welcoming Andrew.
Catholic Education Week
27 May to 3 June
A message from Deacon Mark
If You Were Accused
A colleague of mine years ago had a poster above her desk which read, “If you were accused of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?” Good question!
For many “new Catholics” or “neophytes” across our diocese and the world, our recent Easter Vigil was the culmination of a lengthy period of discernment about joining the Catholic community. Quite counter-culturally, these people have put their hands up and proclaimed, “I want to be a Catholic!” “Wow!” is my response, “Come on in!” Many (including neophytes in our local parishes) report that they have been inspired by Catholic Christians they have encountered in their daily lives. And we welcome them, celebrating too our separated Christian brothers and sisters, longing for the day when we will all be completely one. That is what this gospel is all about! (John 17: 20-26)
John’s gospel depicts Jesus asking the Father that his followers “may become completely one so that the world may know that you have sent me …” (Jn 17:23) This is a sobering thought for Christians – that our behaviour, our example of unity or disunity, reflects directly on how the world sees Jesus.
If those we work and school and play with don’t see the face of Christ in us, then we have to question our Christianity. If we are harping and carping and divisive within ourselves and in our relationship with other Christians we are a poor example. There are very real differences and divisions amongst us, but if we allow these to mask the many and much greater things that unite us we do a disservice to Christianity.
Hopefully for each of us individually and for all of us collectively there is enough evidence to convict us of being Christians.
Deacon Mark Kelly
Middle School
Senior School
Sport
Upcoming Dates
Tuesday 24 May - West Gippsland Division Cross Country
Monday 30 May - Senior Winter Sport
Thursday 2 June - Gippsland Regional Cross Country
Tuesday 7 June - Division Winter Sport
Thursday 14 July - State Cross Country
*These dates are subject to change in accordance with DOSCEL recommendations
St. Joseph’s Cross Country 2022
It was a great afternoon at the Geoff Watt Memorial Athletics Track for our Cross Country. The Students tackled the course that is run on the paths surrounding the athletics track.
Congratulations to the first placed competitors, their Cross Country Champion Medallions will be presented at the assembly on Tuesday, 7th June.
Best of luck to the top four finishers for each age group who have qualified for the S.S.V. West Gippsland Division Cross Country to be held at Chairo Christian School, Balfours Road, on May 24th. Permission forms will be available on PAM later this week.
8/9/10 Year Olds 2km |
Girls | Boys |
Xanthe Dalton | Lenny Barake |
Charlotte McKenna | Joseph Faithful |
Sinead Juster | Billy Bridger |
Lexi Borthwick | Zac Robinson |
11 Year Olds 3km |
Girls | Boys |
Mia Gilcrist | Beckham Bremner |
Niamh Juster | Adam Garvey |
Evelyn Blackwood | Seth Milne |
Harper Webster | Hunter West |
12/13 Year Olds 3km |
Girls | Boys |
Zaria Dalton | Ky Bannister |
Libby Faithful | Campbell Moore |
Neave Cunningham | Rykin Moore |
Lily Huggins | Ryan Taylor |
Thank you to the parents that were able to lend a helping hand and the Staff supervising the students marshalling and on the course.
Mother's Day Cabaret
The Mother's Day Cabaret was held on Friday 6th May in St Joseph's School Hall. It was a lovely celebration for our mothers and special people with afternoon tea and entertainment for all to enjoy.
Aussie of the Month - April 2022
Isabella is a diligent and respectful student who shows kindness and a willingness to help others when needed. She is a role model for her peers in the way she dedicates herself to her learning and the positive behaviours she displays both in the classroom and on the playground. Isabella is quiet by nature but contributes her thinking, understanding and ideas to the class discussions. She always shares her friendly smile as she enters the room.
Congratulations Isabella for your dedication to your learning and for being a valued member of the classroom.
All orders have been processed for Book Club Issue 3. Items will be distributed to students once they arrive at school. Thank you to all our families for your support.
National Simultaneous Storytime
National Simultaneous Storytime will be held on Wednesday May 25th at 11.00am. This year, we’re excited to be reading ‘Family Tree’ by Josh Pyke and Ronojoy Ghosh.
About 'Family Tree'. It started with a seed, and that seed was me. And, over time laughter filled my garden...
A heartfelt celebration of family, community and seasons of life to cherish and to share.
National Simultaneous Storytime is an important annual campaign that aims to encourage young children to read and enjoy books as well as teach them the value of literacy. Every year a picture book, written and illustrated by an Australian author and illustrator, is read simultaneously in libraries, pre-schools, childcare centres, family homes, bookshops and many other places around Australia, New Zealand and the world.
Volunteers
Thank you to those that volunteered to shelve books in our library but more are still needed. If you have some time to spare and would like to assist please contact Bernie via email. No experience necessary.
SAVE THE DATE:
St Joseph's Grandparents Day Extraordinaire!
Friday May 27th at 10:00am
Morning Tea and entertainment provided.
Please share this date with your grandparents and special friends.
Please note the change of time than previously advertised.
The schedule of the day is as follows:
10:00am to 11:00am - classes entertain the grandparents in the hall
11:00am to 11:15am - morning tea in the hall
11:15am - 11:30am - grandparents are welcome to greet the children on the playground.
Please register the grandparents for this event via the following trybooking link:
https://www.trybooking.com/
Weather permitting, parking will be available on the oval - entry will be at the gate via the school entry alongside the Marist-Sion College oval.
We would really appreciate it if families could send a plate of food for morning tea to school with your child. These can be delivered to the hall.
Gippsland Water
Construction of Water Main Information
Absences & Holidays
In Victoria, it is compulsory for children and young people aged 6–17 years to attend school.
Parents are legally required to ensure their child attends school every day and to provide an explanation for their child's absence from school unless an exemption from attendance has been granted or an exception to their attendance applies.
Absences
If your child is away sick or away due to a planned absence or appointment, please ensure you advise the school office. Student absence text messages are sent out if your child is marked as absent without a reason. In some cases, if you email your child's classroom teacher, they may be away and may not be able to check their emails to forward to the office. It is imperative that you notify the office through one of the following methods:
1. Log into PAM (Parent Access Module) and register your child's absence;
2. Email absence@stjwarragul.catholic.edu.au
3. Phone the office on 5623 2943
When sending an email, you may wish to "cc" your child's classroom teacher so they are aware of the absence too.
Holidays
If you are planning an extended holiday (a week or more) during the school term, please email info@stjwarragul.catholic.edu.au addressing your intentions to our Principal, Mrs Roslyn Joyner.
LOST PROPERTY
Please ensure all student belongings, especially jumpers and jackets are named!
PAM is our main platform for correspondence. It is important that you register with PAM and verify your email so you can receive all communication.
Please note that Operoo is no longer being used by our school.
PAM Instructions
- Ideally parents should have received an email – check your junk/spam folder. If you locate the email in your junk/spam folder – you should make it ‘Not Junk’, then follow the link to verify your email address and set your password.
- If you cannot find the email, please contact our office on 5623 2943 or info@stjwarragul.catholic.edu.au and we can help you.
- Once you have been provided with your username and password, go to a browser on your preferred device (phone or iPad) and enter the following web address:
http://pam.stjwarragul.catholic.edu.au
- Use the provided Username and password to login.
- Once logged in, you will need to verify your email address by clicking on the link at the top of the screen:
- This will send an email to your nominated email address. Click on the link in the email to complete the verification process.
- Once the email address has been verified, you can use this as your username.
- Finally, go to the main menu at the top right side of PAM, select ‘My Settings’.
- Enter your preferred password in ‘Change Password’ fields (new password will need to be entered twice), then update password.
- It is recommended that you save this webpage to your home screen and it will appear on your phone screen with the following icon:
Mother’s Day Stall
We hope all the mum’s and other special people enjoyed Mother’s Day and receiving some little treasures from our stall. Thanks to our P&F committee for running the event and to all families for your continued support.
P & F Meetings
At the last meeting, positions for the year were appointed. Our Co-Coordinators, Caitlin Juster and Gabrielle McBain along with Treasurer Jess Youlden agreed to continue in their roles, with Emma Robertson offering communications assistance. We are well supported by a fantastic P&F Committee who help with our events and activities.
The next P&F meeting will be held on Friday 3 June at 2.00pm in our new home in the former Foundation classroom at the school. Due to school requirements, attendees will be required to show proof of triple Covid vaccination. For those unable to provide this, we can also have a Zoom dial in option.
If you would like to be involved, we would love to have you, please reach out to us via our Facebook page ‘Parents and Friends of St Joseph’s Primary School Warragul’ or email stjosephswarragulpandf@gmail.com or just turn up on the day.
NOTICEBOARD