Dear Parents, Guardians and Carers,

The excitement of Christmas is approaching! We have held off as long as we could to mention the “word” however Sunday is the First Sunday of Advent, the official time of waiting, hoping, and preparing for Christmas, so….all is well and all will be well.

I do love this time of the year at school. Students have an air of joy and excitement. It is wonderful to see them so happy and alive. Although there is much to do at a school level we cannot help being influenced by this joy as well.

Please take notice of the upcoming events, especially graduation, end of year whole school Mass and Carols on the oval. Bring a picnic if you feel like it and enjoy our carols.

Final assessments have been completed and reports are being written. They will be sent home during the last week of term.

The swimming carnival for years 3-6 will be held next week. This is always a highlight on our calendar. We hope to see some of you there.

Today the years 3 /4 students participated in a Science incursion. There was much excitement when I went into the hall to see them creating their boats and racing them along the water course. Great fun and great learning!

We are saying farewell to Fletcher Kennedy our Education Support Officer on Dec 6^th. Fletcher has been with us for three and a half years and is well loved by the students and staff. Goodluck Fletcher as you move on to other opportunities and thank you for your hard work and calm manner that you have always shown.

Best wishes,

Ros Joyner

Principal

Term 4

Tuesday 8 October – Tuesday 17 December

Monday 2 December                                     Year 1/2 Excursion to Twisted Science

Monday 2 December                                     Foundation 2025 Library Session Group 1 2:30-3pm

Tuesday 3 December                                     Foundation 2025 Library Session Group 2 2:30-3pm

Thursday 5 December                                   Year 3 - 6 Swimming Carnival

Friday 6 December                                         Year 6 Day Out to Gumbuya World

Friday 6 December                                         School Assembly

Tuesday 10 December                                   End of Year/Graduation Mass at 9:15am

Tuesday 10 December                                   Orientation Session for 2025 11:45-1:30pm

Thursday 12 December                                 Year 6 Graduation Dinner

Monday 16 December                                   Carols on the Oval 6pm for 6:30pm start

Tuesday 17 December                                   Last Day of School for 2024 – 3:20pm finish

2025

Term 1

Thursday 30 January – Friday 4 April

Thursday 30 January                                      First day of School for all Students

Friday 4 April                                                     Last Day of School for Term 1 – 2:20pm finish

End of Year and Graduation Mass

Parents, families and carers are most welcome to come along to our End of Year and Graduation Mass at which we will give thanks for the year, farewell our graduating grade 6 students and hand over the reigns of leadership to our grade 5 students.

Date: Tuesday 10^th December

Time: 9:15am

Place: School Hall

Everyone is most welcome to join us for morning tea after the Mass.

Christmas Masses

2024_CHRISTMAS_MASSES.docx.pdf

Bishop Greg Bennet's Advent Message

Christmas Eve Mass - Nativity Enactment

A message from Deacon Mark

Above The Lunacy

Astonishing, rapidly changing and challenging though the world is, Jesus teaches us to get it all into perspective. (Luke 21:25-28, 34-36) Unregulated social media hysteria and general lunacy on the margins of the internet might disorient us and make us wary of the foundations we have relied on for centuries.

But if we stay awake and watch ourselves as he urges us in the gospel, lest our hearts “be coarsened with debauchery and drunkenness and the cares of life” (Luke 21:34), standing erect with our heads held high, confidently facing whatever challenges we encounter, we thrive! The First Sunday of Advent readings are about stepping off into the unknown, not fearfully, but in eager anticipation of God, who delights in the faith and love we do have, incomplete though it may be. Advent is our opportunity to journey even deeper into his love and his presence. 

We journey, wide awake, through both spiritual and earthly dangers and the evils of the world, aware that Christian faithfulness lifts us above them all. Last week I encouraged graduating 18-year-olds to confidently take on the world, but the principle applies to us all. Enjoy the world we find ourselves in; the Creator’s gift to us! Throw ourselves into it enthusiastically; meet and relate to an amazing variety of people; discover and become passionate about all manner of fascinations and make vital contributions to the world; make it a better place!

Always, the world is going to be a bit crazy (and rarely as crazy as it is at present), but if we pause to reflect prayerfully on God, the centre of the universe, of which we are but a tiny part, who knows and loves each one of us absolutely, infinitely and intimately, we get it into perspective. Jesus should be our constant, our centre point, our stillness, our stability amid the fast-paced world that seems to swirl around us.

Deacon Mark Kelly

The bushfire season is upon us and normally runs from October until April.

As St. Joseph’s is located in a high-risk bushfire area, the school will be pre-emptively closed in the event that the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) issues a Catastrophic Fire Danger Rating (FDR) which is the highest level of fire danger. This will apply when the warning is issued for our weather district tof the school (West and South Gippsland - Region).

A decision is made at 1:00pm the day before if possible, and will not change regardless of changing weather conditions. This will help limit confusion and help families plan for how their children will be cared for when their school is closed.

Where possible, four (4) to seven (7) days’ notice of a planned closure will be provided. However, experience indicates that a Catastrophic FDR may be forecast at short notice. Parents, guardians, and carers should expect that in some instances less than four (4) days’ notice may be provided. No one will be permitted on site when this notice has been issued.

When an Extreme Fire Danger Rating has been issued, the school may close and remote learning enacted - students will join their class online through Google Meet.

This is a part of our emergency management plan for St. Joseph's and every effort will be made to give you advanced warning of a closure. 

Join us for a Christmas Celebration on the School Oval

Monday 16th December

6pm for a 6:30pm start

Food and drink can be purchased from Franklin and the Bean. Some of the items available are:

- Hot & Cold Drinks

- Milkshakes

- Hot Dogs

- Grazing Boxes

Upcoming Events

Thursday 5 December    Year 3 - 6 Swimming Carnival

The swimming carnival is a platform for students to experience competition swimming and have an opportunity to qualify for the 2025 school swimming team.

The Senior Swimming Carnival is held at the Warragul Leisure Centre.  All children in grades 3-6 are expected to attend. See program attached below (note that there are no times against the events).

There are 25m, 50m and 100m races available for students to participate in. Only the 50m and 100m races are qualifying events for S.S.V. competition. There will also be land based novelty events held throughout the day.

Student's race in their age groups. Please talk to your child about the events they would like to take part in and their ability. 

If you have any concerns, regarding your child and swimming, please inform your classroom teacher or Mrs Megan Spencer.

Please ensure that all medical details for your child are up to date on PAM, this includes Medicare Number, Ambulance Cover etc. 

All children are required to wear their school sports uniform or house colours. They must bring their hat, bathers, towel, goggles etc. in a separate carry bag. Please ensure all your child's items are clearly labelled. Sunscreen will be readily available on the day.

Students are to bring plenty to eat and drink. Water is available for refills. Students are not permitted to access the canteen.

It will not be necessary to dismiss children from the Leisure Centre. If this is unavoidable, please inform your child's classroom teacher at least 24 hours in advance. Student's will not be dismissed without prior consent.

In the event the Carnival needs to be postponed, trials will be held in early 2025.

A risk management plan has been developed by Staff for this program and is available for parents to review on request. 

In an emergency during the program you can call the school office or the school mobile 0484 844 741.

Our final Book Club issue for the year has been distributed to all students this week. 

There are some exciting offers in this issue.

• A creative colouring competition students can enter for a chance to win family passes to see the DOG MAN MOVIE, coming to cinemas in April, 2025
• The final $5 promo code for the year can be redeemed on all lssue 8 LOOP orders, and spent on Issue 1, 2025
• A reminder to everyone who ordered from Issue 7 to spend their $5 promo code on this Issue

If you wish your order to be a gift, you can use the gift function in the LOOP. These orders will be delivered to school as usual and parents will be notified when they are ready for collection. 

The URL for the Dog Man competition was unfortunately misspelt. Here is the correct URL:

https://scholastic.e-newsletter.com.au/link/id/zzzz673523d95d9e3193Pzzzz5a9c82661a6ae827/page.html

Thank you to all families for supporting Book Club throughout the year. We have been fortunate to purchase many new books for the library and resources for the classrooms. 

All orders need to be finalised by Monday, 2nd December. This will allow time for orders to be delivered before the end of the school year. 

Overdue Reminders

Exciting news!

The 2025 booklists will now be managed by St Joseph’s Primary School. This means that parents/carers will no longer need to organise their child’s booklist supplies - a new levy will be introduced and the classroom teachers will order and manage the supplies. These supplies will be ready to go for the beginning of the school year. You may notice a difference in year level booklist levies - this is determined by the supplies selected by the classroom teachers and if your child requires an InitiaLit workbook (Phonics program in Foundation to Year 2). Additional information will be shared closer to the end of the year.

Dear Families,

2024 School Fees

As the 2024 school year is rapidly coming to a close, all School Fees still owing are now due for payment.

Concession Cards

Could all parents who are holders of a Concession Card please forward a copy to Kitty.  This can then be taken into account when processing the 2025 School Fees.

If you have any problems with the fees or questions about the Concession Card, please call Kitty on 5623 2943 or email kbarrett@stjwarragul.catholic.edu.au

A reminder that we ask families whose children are not intending to return in 2025 to send an email to principal@stjwarragul.catholic.edu.au as soon as possible informing of the change. We have a number of enrolment inquiries and are now working on class groupings for 2025, so it is important that we know of any students leaving (apart from the Year 6 students) that may affect enrolments and class groupings for 2025. Our class allocation policy is attached below. Please note from our policy:

St Joseph's Primary School Warragul Class Allocation Policy.pdf

Upcoming P&F Events

2025

• First P&F Meeting for 2025, Friday 7 February, 2pm
• Welcome BBQ, Thursday 13 February from 6pm

P&F- A Year in Review

The P&F recently met over lunch for the final meeting of 2024. We thought we would share our highlights of the year: 

• The Welcome BBQ was a great start to 2024, with a record of over 300 attendees enjoying the warm weather, a snag in bread and a chat with other families, staff and parishioners. Mark Thursday 13 February 2025 in your diaries for the next one!
• Our Easter Raffle this year had great support with 43 prizes awarded at a special assembly on 22 March and we raised over $2,500.
• We were able to ensure the kids had a hand-picked gift for both Mother’s Day and Father’s Day with our stalls.
• Our Disco was held in June, with 240 children dancing the night away over 2 sessions. We had a massive 36 volunteers and 12 staff helping on the night.
• Using our funds from the 2023 Colour Run and other events over the years, we installed a new slide with lookout platform, rock steps and other landscaping on the school’s front embankment. It has been a joy watching the kids playing on this.
• We were finally able to host a very successful social event, a Trivia Night in August. Hosted by Deaksie, 72 people enjoyed a child-free evening and contributed to a profit of almost $3,000.
• We partnered with Lions to serve up hundreds of bacon and egg rolls and sausages for the Father’s Day breakfast.
• Italian Day was made a little bit sweeter with Gelati served up as a treat.
• We served up over 700 meals at the Baw Baw Big Blokes BBQ, contributing towards this massive local fundraiser for prostate cancer and also receiving a $2,000 donation for our school.

We would like to thank the school community for your continued support of all our events and fundraising activities this year. Also, a big thank you to our dedicated and talented committee- we couldn’t do it without you.

If you would like to be part of the fun, please consider joining us in 2025.

P&F - Get on Board

We are on the lookout for some new people to get involved with our Parents and Friends committee.

We meet monthly on a Friday during school terms (about 8 times a year) and help deliver all the wonderful activities outlined above.

Please reach out to us via email at stjosephswarragulpandf@gmail.com, our Facebook page ‘Parents and Friends of St Joseph’s Primary School Warragul’ or chat with an existing member if you are interested - we would love to have you!

Container Deposit Scheme

If you would like to support St Joseph’s Primary School with a donation from your exchange of eligible drink containers, please use partner ID C2000009902, or scan the barcode below.

C2000009902

Second Hand Uniforms

We have lots of clean second-hand school uniforms, available for a gold coin donation.

To check out what is available, just ask at the school office or contact the P&F Committee on stjosephswarragulpandf@gmail.com

If you have any uniforms at home in good condition that your children have grown out of, please consider donating them to the second-hand uniform stand. We are in particular need of some of the new style dresses please.

Term 4  Tuesday 8 October - Tuesday 17 December (3:20pm finish time)

Child Safety and Wellbeing Policy

As members of the St Joseph's school community, we all have a responsibility to keep children safe. To support families with information about the actions our school takes to keep children safe, our Child Safety and Wellbeing policy has been updated, endorsed by our Child Safety Team and shared with our community both here and on our school website. Families are encouraged to read the policy or visit our school website and explore the Child Safety section. 

Victoria’s Child Safe Standards under Ministerial Order No. 1359 require certain roles and responsibilities to be allocated within schools, including the role of Child Safety Champions who supports school leadership to effectively implement their child safety and wellbeing plans. Our Child Safety Champions for 2024 and 2025 are Ros Joyner, Camillo Redi and James McMahon.

Child Safety and Wellbeing Policy

Health Department Alert - Pertussis (Whooping Cough)

The Department of Health, Victoria has issued a health alert, increasing pertussis (whooping cough) cases in Victoria.

Cases of pertussis are increasing in Victoria, mostly affecting children aged 10-12 years. Pertussis is a highly contagious respiratory illness known for causing a cough and can lead to life threatening infections in babies. Symptoms of pertussis may be very similar to other respiratory infections, especially in the early stages, meaning diagnosis by a doctor as soon as possible is important. Please remain vigilant and seek medical attention as soon as possible when symptoms present.

The below exclusion periods apply to diagnosed cases and contacts - 
For diagnosed cases:
 - students diagnosed with pertussis should be excluded from primary schools for a minimum period of 21 days after the onset of cough, or until they have completed five (5) days of a course of effective antibiotic treatment. The treating doctor will complete the required notifications to the Department of Health

For contacts of diagnosed cases:
The exclusion requirement only applies to contacts who meet all three (3) of the below criteria:
- aged less than 7 years;
- in the same class as the student with the diagnosed case; and
- have not received three (3) effective doses of pertussis vaccine.

Students meeting these criteria should be excluded for 14 days after the last exposure to the infectious case, or until they have taken five (5) days of a course of effective antibiotic treatment.

Car Line

Our school is very blessed with a long carline with ample parking. However, we continue to experience some issues during the afternoon pickup. Burke Street is extremely busy from 3:00-3:30pm. If you arrive before school finishes, it is an expectation that you move all the way down the carline and fill all spaces. If the carline is full, take a parking spot opposite the carline and walk to the crossing for student collection. Alternatively, leaving home 5-10 minutes later may be a better option to avoid being stuck in the congestion. Children are supervised in the carline area until 3:35pm, at which time, our carline and Burke Street are clear.

School Crossing

Please remember that the carline is private property and all people using our carline must follow the instructions of the staff managing the area - this is non-negotiable and aggressive or abusive behaviour will not be tolerated. Entering the carline via the exit is dangerous and illegal.

When waiting along Burke Street to enter the school grounds, please do not stop your vehicle on the school crossing. For safety reasons, the school crossing supervisor is not authorised to allow children to cross the school crossing if a vehicle has stopped over the school crossing.

Medical Profiles and Emergency Contact Details

We remind parents and carers that it is time to review your child/ren's medical profile on PAM. Any changes in medical needs should be communicated to the school to ensure that we provide the most up-to-date care for our students. If emergency contact details have changed or emails, phone numbers need updating, please contact the office to provide the updates necessary. The most efficient way to provide these details to the office would be to email - info@stjwarragul.catholic.edu.au

If your child is affected by Anaphylaxis or has any allergies and requires an ASCIA Allergy Plan developed by your child's doctor, please provide information and a copy to the office. In addition, Asthma plans may need updating, please ensure that these are also current. If your child has medication stored at our school, please check with the office that the medication is still in date and there is ample supply. 

Lunch Orders

• are every Wednesday and Friday
• can be placed using the Flexischools app
• are delivered to school for the first break at 11:30am
• can be placed until 11:00pm the night before (Tuesday and Thursday) from a full menu
• can be placed until 9:00am on Wednesday and Friday mornings from a limited menu

The lost property shelves can be found in the multipurpose room. 

Parents are most welcome to come and look in the tubs if students have lost any items of clothing, drink bottles etc...

We have plenty of unnamed bomber school jackets from lost property, mostly new and hardly worn. These can be purchased for a gold coin donation. Children can see Mrs Mulqueen on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday's.

Please note that if your child tests positive to Covid-19, it is strongly recommended that students:

• Who test positive to COVID-19 should stay home and isolate for five (5) days;
• Should not attend school after five (5) days if still symptomatic;
• Who are symptomatic but have not tested positive should not attend school until their symptoms resolve;
• Parents, guardians or carers advise the school of the COVID-19 positive test result.

To assist with limiting the spread of COVID-19 and other illnesses, parents, guardians and carers should be strongly encouraged to ensure that their child(ren) remain at home if they are unwell, including if they have tested positive to COVID-19.

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. Emails or ClassDojo messages may be missed in some instances; if the classroom teacher is teaching or the classroom teacher may be away. 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 or info@stjwarragul.catholic.edu.au 

3. Phone the office on (03) 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 or principal@stjwarragul.catholic.edu.au addressing your intentions to our Principal, Mrs Roslyn Joyner.

If you have any questions or need any clarification, please feel free to contact Shirley or Kitty in the office on (03) 5623 2943.

Despite governments globally moving towards raising the minimum age for social media access due to mounting concerns about the negative effects on youth mental health and wellbeing, there's now an even newer challenge on the horizon - the rise of romantic and companion AI bots. These virtual companions are becoming increasingly popular with young people, raising serious questions about privacy, ethics, and the future of relationships in the digital age.

The rise of AI-powered relationships is offering a new frontier in human interaction. Initially emerging in the gaming world, AI companionship has evolved into mainstream culture, with apps providing personalised experiences that range from platonic friendships to romantic encounters. These interactions can blur the boundaries between real and virtual relationships, creating confusion and potential psychological harm.

Criminologists warn that children as young as 12 are accessing dating apps, often bypassing age restrictions, exposing them to sexual content and predatory behaviour. Researchers have also found that many adolescents are turning to virtual partners for validation, risking unhealthy emotional attachments that can affect real-life relationships.

As AI reshapes social dynamics, it's crucial to stay informed and engaged. While AI can enhance education and creativity, it also presents challenges around privacy, mental health, and misinformation.This Special Report will help you foster an open dialogue and balanced approach to help young people navigate this evolving digital landscape.

Here is the link to your Special Report https://stjwarragul.catholic.schooltv.me/wellbeing_news/special-report-navigating-ai-relationships-au

Peninsula Cinemas, Warragul

Upcoming School Holiday Films