Principal's Message
Dear families
We had the best St Joseph's Day ever yesterday on Wednesday March 19th. We had a special lunch provided by our P&F and we had a fun activity day. Jordyn from Kinect2Dance visited our school and ran five class dance workshops. Later in the day, we gathered in the Mary MacKillop Room for a prayer service celebrating St Joseph and then each class performed their dance. Wow! It was fantastic! The dances were great and the students really concentrated to perform their best. It was a great presentation and we all had a great day. Happy St Joseph's Day!
New School Leaders
Our new Gr 6 Student Leaders are Owen Yeats and Harry Westbury. Congratulations! We look forward to your leadership.
Mobile Phones and Smart Watches
Please remember parents that student personal mobile phones, smartwatches and/or other electronic communication devices are not permitted to be used during school hours.
We strongly encourage students NOT to bring these devices to school. If you think your child needs a phone, it is to be kept in their bag all day as it is not to be used at school. If your child is playing with the device, the device will be put in the teacher's drawer and your child needs to remember to get it before they go home (it is your child's responsibility to remember to take their device home).
Student smartwatches are ONLY to be used for telling the time during school hours. Smartwatches must have ‘school mode’ enabled which limits the smartwatch to telling the time with no other functionality. Student smartwatches that are not able to be restricted to telling the time only, with no other functionality, must be handed to the teacher at the beginning of the school day and collected at the end of the school day. It is my opinion that primary school students do not need a smart watch, it is much better to teach them to tell the time using an analogue clock.
We strongly encourage students NOT to bring these devices to school. If you think your child needs a phone, it is to be kept in their bag all day as it is not to be used at school. If your child is playing with the device, the device will be put in the teacher's drawer and your child needs to remember to get it before they go home (it is your child's responsibility to remember to take their device home).
Student smartwatches are ONLY to be used for telling the time during school hours. Smartwatches must have ‘school mode’ enabled which limits the smartwatch to telling the time with no other functionality. Student smartwatches that are not able to be restricted to telling the time only, with no other functionality, must be handed to the teacher at the beginning of the school day and collected at the end of the school day. It is my opinion that primary school students do not need a smart watch, it is much better to teach them to tell the time using an analogue clock.
School Buses
There are no school buses operating on the last day of this term, that is, Friday April 4th. If your children usually travel to school on a school bus, you will need to arrange other transportation for this day. Remember also, we finish school on the last day of term at 1pm.
2025 School Saving Bonus (SSB)
The School Savings Bonus is a State Government initiative designed to assist
families with cost-of-living pressures. Under this funding, each eligible student is
entitled to a $400 bonus for application towards activity levies and uniform purchases
from approved supplier. Within our school, all CSEF applicants are eligible to receive
this funding. All families who have a Centrelink Health Care Card and have not
applied for CSEF in the past are encouraged to contact the school office and initiate
an application this year. Please refer to the below link for more information:
https://www.vic.gov.au/receiving-school-saving-bonus#non-government-school-
information
The School Savings Bonus is a State Government initiative designed to assist
families with cost-of-living pressures. Under this funding, each eligible student is
entitled to a $400 bonus for application towards activity levies and uniform purchases
from approved supplier. Within our school, all CSEF applicants are eligible to receive
this funding. All families who have a Centrelink Health Care Card and have not
applied for CSEF in the past are encouraged to contact the school office and initiate
an application this year. Please refer to the below link for more information:
https://www.vic.gov.au/receiving-school-saving-bonus#non-government-school-
information
May God continue to bless us in our learning
Trish Mulqueen