Recently at St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School, the community celebrated and honoured their Grandparents.  The students invited their Grandparents to a Prayer Service in St John’s Church to thank God for their Grandparents and to ask God to bless their work and their roles in our families.  After the prayer service the families went back to the school for afternoon tea.

The students were excited to have their Grandparents in the school and the Grandparents felt proud and valued in our families.

Crazy Hair Day

Recently our students conducted a fundraiser for Catholic Mission Work.  The children were encouraged to donate a gold coin, for the privilege of coming to school with crazy hair. The crazy hair designs were extraordinary and included unusual and creative designs, even a Coke bottle in the hair.  The money was collected and sent to Catholic Missions to support  families who are less fortunate.

A Day For Daniel
This is a reminder that tomorrow we will be participating in
the National Day for Daniel. This day is about promoting and talking
about Child Safety. All children are invited to wear red to school this Friday to
show that we promote Child Safety. Conversations both at school and at home
about Child Safety are key tools to help children identify and respond to
times when they do not feel safe.
We hope to see lots of red on Friday.

Grade 3 & 4 Camp

This year, as a one time special, we are able to offer the students in Gr 3 and 4 a free camp to Allambee.  The camp will take place in week 10, leaving on Monday December 5th and returning on Wednesday December 7th. We are able to fund the camp through the Positive Start Government Program which was established post COVID and aims to give students opportunities to make up for the lost opportunities during COVID times.  As I said, this is a one time opportunity and we are very grateful to Imelda and Roman Cathomen for making this opportunity happen for us.  We will be sharing Allambee Camp with St Joseph's Primary School in Korumburra. The  scheduled cost of the camp was charged to your school fee account at the beginning of the year and now will be reimbursed to your account so that there is no cost for the camp.  More information is available to the families on PAM.

There is a new Agreement for teachers that addresses a number of workload issues and it specifically covers school camps. We appreciate that the students (& teachers) will  be especially tired after camp and are asking families, if they can, to keep their child home for a rest day on Thursday December 8th. This will enable staff to have a rest day as well and give them the time in lieu that they are now entitled to. If however your child needs to come to school that day we will of course accommodate them in another classroom as the Gr 3 and 4 teachers will be home.  Thank you for your understanding in this matter. 

Victorian Child Safe Standards Continued

In the newsletter we are explaining the new Child Safe Standards and we are articulating how we act this standard out.  Today we are explaining Child Safe Standard 8 and 9.

Child Safe Standard 8 - Staff and volunteers are equipped with the knowledge, skills and awareness to keep children and young people safe through ongoing education and training.

 In complying with Child Safe Standard 8, at St Joseph’s School we ensure:

• that staff and volunteers know the process to report Child Safety issues.
• that staff and volunteers are trained to recognise indicators of harm to children.
• that staff and volunteers receive training and information about building a culturally safe environment here at St Joseph’s.

All of this training is undertaken in regular Staff Professional Learning meetings and in online Mandatory Reporting modules.

Child Safe Standard 9: Physical and online environments promote safety and wellbeing while minimising the opportunity for children and young people to be harmed.

In complying with Child Safe Standard 9, at St Joseph’s School we ensure:

• that staff and volunteers identify and mitigate risks in the online and physical environments.
• that students and parents sign the Technology Usage agreement.
• that parents, staff and volunteers sign the school’s Code of Conduct
• that Risk Management Plans are completed before any school excursion or camp to try to eliminate potential risks to children.

Thank you to all the families who supported our Learning Expo. So many families visited our school and celebrated our learning.  The students and teachers were extremely proud of their efforts. 

At the Learning Expo the student’s showcased their learning.  The school’s Japanese Language program was highlighted and the students were able to demonstrate their learning by speaking and reading in Japanese to their parents.  The Science program and the RRRR (Rights, Resilience and Respectful Relationships) Program were also highlighted.

Students very importantly displayed and talked to their quality work in Literacy and Numeracy.

The St Joseph’s School Art Program continues to impress and at this Learning Expo the students unveiled their ‘big cow’ that they have designed and painted. Every 30 minutes they playfully unveiled the cow with the song ‘Who let the cows out,’ followed by dramatic music.  Everyone was suitably impressed with the magnificence and size of the cow. In classes individual students painted cows on canvases, sculpted cows out of clay and made paper bag cows. It was very mooving! He, he.

Celebrating our achievements in learning is very important.  Learning is fun and our Expo really demonstrated this.  It is great to be proud of our efforts and work, and very rewarding to present it publicly to the community. 

Research shows that one of the most important protective factors in the lives of young people is a close relationship with a supportive adult. With the mental health of today’s young people being at an all-time low, it is simply not enough to parent effectively. Parents need to familiarise themselves with practical skills, knowledge and strategies when it comes to raising children.

Many parents today are over-protective, resulting in children being less independent, unable to problem-solve or self-regulate. Parents are failing to set clear boundaries, which is unfortunately making kids feeling less secure. There is too much pressure on kids today. Parents fill their days with too many activities in an effort to avoid their child’s boredom.

In this edition of SchoolTV, parents will learn what is the best approach for primary school aged children.

https://trafalgar.catholic.schooltv.me/newsletter/positive-parenting 

This term the students from Foundation to Year 6 will be learning about communication and media using Digital Technology techniques.  Students in F/1 and 1/2 will be learning about how to take images of toys from different viewpoints with their iPads, saving their work and using text to enhance the images for a specific audience.  The students in Year 2/3 will be creating Stop Motion animations of lego creatures and other toys.  Students in Year 4/5 will be creating a promotional video of their school community using Imovie and their Ipads.  Year 6 students will be creating a short movie of their school journey using images, videos, text and voiceovers.  

Kathy Grass

Tomorrow we celebrate World Teachers' Day.  You might encourage your child to create a card, or write a letter or simply remind your child that it is World Teachers' Day.  We are grateful to our wonderful teachers for all their hard work at our school and for all the extra hours that they put in.  Thank you!

One of the most important things we do each year at school is to prepare the students for the Sacraments.  Sacraments are special blessings in our faith and aim to help us along our faith journey. This term Alex Jacobs is preparing for his First Holy Communion (the Sacrament of Eucharist).  As part of the preparation for Eucharist, the candidates and their families revisit the Sacrament of Reconciliation, we will celebrate the second rite of Reconciliation at St John’s Church, Trafalgar on Saturday 26^th November, at 10am. Everyone is welcome.

FIRST HOLY COMMUNION MASS will be celebrated on  Saturday 3^rd December 6pm in St John’s Church, Trafalgar.  Everyone is welcome to celebrate with us. We especially remember Alex in our prayers.

2023 School Advisory Committee Members are: Marja Jamieson, Brett Hicks, Scott McCartin, Lauren Baldassa, Ashley Treyvaud, Taryn Maxwell-Garratt, Fr Bernard Buckley and Trish Mulqueen. The Committee met on Wednesday May 17^th 2023.  Church and Parish connection was discussed. The Committee felt it was important to try to support local charities and community projects were possible. P&F activities were reported to the Committee and the great work of the P&F was acknowledged. Child Safety is a standing agenda item and the new School Bus Stop was discussed. The Committee reflected on our school’s s vision statement and discussed how we live this vision out. Members reinforced our catholic core and values and highlighted the work of the Mini Vinnies team. Members highlighted the importance of ‘having a go’  in learning.

If you have any questions/wonderings that you would like the School Advisory Committee to consider please see one of our members and they will put it on the agenda.  

Trivia Night & Auction Night

Tickets are now on sale through CDFpay for this fun and entertaining evening at Trafalgar Bowls Club on Friday 4^th November at 7.15pm. Andrew Deak from 3GG will be hosting the trivia event and we will be auctioning authentic AFL memorabilia and other items. Tickets are $25 per head or $200 for a table of 8 which includes entertainment and nibbles. Invitations are extended to family and friends. Tickets are selling fast, there are only a few tables left.  So if you want to go, act quickly to book. We are still sourcing donations from families or community businesses to auction on the night. If you would like to donate something, please contact Narelle Jamieson.

Colour Fun Run & Colour Slime Spectacular!

Mia Scanlon from You & Mia Fitness and our committee are organising a fantastic colour fun run at school on Friday 11^th November from 2pm – 3.30pm. Children will be sponsored to raise money and there will be prizes for classes and students who raise the most money. Also, the student who raises the most money will get to slime our Principal Mrs Mulqueen and/or have a special lunch with Trish and the leaders!! We are seeking volunteers to come along and join in on the fun! Please help support your children raising funds towards our new outdoor playground.

These plans may yet be put on hold due to the oval being so wet.  More information will come out soon about how students can get sponsorship from family and friends.

2023

March

Thurs 16th                         Reconciliation Parent & Child Workshop

                                         Warragul 4pm or 7pm

Fri 17th                             AFL clinic (all classes)

                                         3.  Interest Based Learning

Mon 20th                           St Joseph's Feast Day Prayer Service church 3pm

Tues 21st                          School Athletics Carnival

Wed 22nd                          Storytime 9.15am

                                         School Advisory Committee 5.30pm

Fri 24th                              AFL clinic (all classes)

                                         4.  Interest Based Learning Program

                                         3pm Lenten Prayer Service in church

Mon 27th                            Gr 6 Young Leaders Day Melbourne

Tues 28th & Wed 29th          Life Ed Program Healthy Harold 

Wed 29th                            Sacrament of Reconciliation 6pm church

Fri 31st                               5. Interest Based Learning Program

April

Mon 3rd                             Easter Carnival 3.30 to 5pm at school

Wed 5th                            Last day of Term 1.

                                        Easter Dramatization in church 2.30pm

                                        School finishes 3.30pm

Thurs 6th                          Pupil Free day. Staff Professional Learning

Fri 7th                               GOOD FRIDAY

Mon 24th                            HOLIDAY

Tues 25th                           ANZAC DAY holiday

Wed 26th                           First Day of Term 2

May

Mon 22 to 26                     Catholic Education Week

June

Tues 6th                            Andrew Chinn (music composer) visit & concert

Mon 12th                           King's Birthday Holiday

Wed 21st                           Last day of term 2 for students

Thurs 22& Fri 23                 Staff PD days in Melbourne (student free days)