Welcome to the start of Autumn.  Our foundation students are settling into school life really well.  Here they are pictured at school:

Sacrament of Reconciliation

One of the most important things that we do in a school year, is to prepare students for the Sacraments.  There are seven Sacraments in our church (Baptism, Reconciliation, Eucharist, Confirmation, Marriage, Holy Orders and Annointing of the Sick).  At school, we prepare students for Reconciliation in Gr 3, Eucharist (First Holy Communion) in Gr 4 and Confirmation in Gr 5 or 6.  This year we have 12 students who are preparing for the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  The parents have already attended a parent education evening in Warragul and the families have attended the Commitment Mass in our church last Saturday, where Fr Bernard welcomed them as part of the parish family. 

Other Reconciliation preparation sessions include:

Thurs Mar 2nd Reconciliation Parent & Child Workshop Warragul 4pm or 7pm

Thurs Mar 16th Second Reconciliation Parent & Child Workshop Warragul 4pm or 7pm

Wed Mar 29th SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION 7pm our church All families are welcome.

Lent

Ash Wednesday started the church season of LENT.  During Lent we reflect on our lives and try to change the things we need to change in order to lead more meaningful and purposeful lives. This prayer is taken from The Australian Children's Prayer Book and it is simple and meaningful.  You might like to share it with your family.  I find reading a simple, short prayer before a special meal can be really positive. 

LENT PRAYER

Loving God, as we begin this season of Lent

we pray that over these 40 days,

we will open our minds and hearts

to recognise and respond to the needs of others. 

Help us to be kind to those around us,

especially friends and family. 

Through prayer, fasting and giving to those in need,

may we be ready to enter more fully

into the days of Holy Week.  Amen

Athletics Program

We have been lucky enough to acquire the services of an expert athletics coach for a 4 week program.  This program is well underway and will finish next week.  It is funded through the Sporting Schools Program. Our expert coach helps the students and teachers to prepare for our Athletics Carnival which will be on Tuesday March 21st at the Joe Carmody Track.  The students will compete against each other in our Sport Color Teams (red, blue, yellow and green).  This is such a fun family day.  Taryn is already thinking and planning for it.  If you are able to help in any way on the day please let Taryn know.  We really need lots of help on the day for the timetable to run well. 

Icy-poles are available on Fridays in Terms 1 & 4   $1 each

May God continue to guide us and bless us in our learning together

Trish Mulqueen

Principal

Shrove Tuesday is next week February 21st.  The Christian tradition of Shrove Tuesday (also known as Pancake Tuesday) is about using up all the sweet spreads and ingredients in the house to make pancakes, so then we won't be tempted to eat the sweet ingredients in Lent, which starts the very next day. You might like to share this background story if you enjoy pancakes on Tuesday with your family. 

Next week, on Ash Wednesday,  we start the church season of Lent.  Lent is a time of reflection in our lives.  Everyone is invited to Mass in our church on Ash Wednesday at 10am. At Mass we receive the ashes (that is, a sign of the cross is traced on our foreheads to remind us of our commitment to God).  

God knows what is in our hearts and is inviting us  into a deeper relationship with God. We are challenged to identify that thing in our lives that we need to change. Lent is a time of prayer, penance and almsgiving (acts of kindness).  It's about giving our life more meaning.  On Friday 24th March we will meet together as a faith community to participate in  our Lent Liturgy.  It will be in the church at 3pm. You are welcome to join us.

And to embrace uniqueness.

Freedom to cut ties with greed

And feast on love. 

Freedom to abstain from over indulgence

Freedom to leave behind selfish thoughts 

And to focus on the needs of others.  

Freedom to fend off insecurity 

And to embrace grace. 

Lord, at this time of Lent,

Thank you for the freedom you bring.  Amen

Lent culminates in the church season of EASTER.

Each year our Gr 5/6 class dramatizes the Easter Story and every year it is particularly well done and very thoughtful and moving.  We are hoping to really promote it this year as it is the story of our faith.  It will be presented on Wednesday April 5th in our church at 2.15pm.  We hope you are able to join us.  After this we will come back to the Mary MacKillop Room and draw our Easter Raffle. 

Child Safety is paramount at school.  We have reviewed and updated our Child Safety and Wellbeing Policy for this year.  The School Advisory Committee have reviewed it as well.  Please find this policy attached for your information and reference.

The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) assesses literacy and numeracy skills that are essential for every child to progress through school and life. Students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 participate in the annual NAPLAN tests in reading, writing, language conventions (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and numeracy.

The tests provide parents and schools with an understanding of how individual students are performing at the time of the tests. NAPLAN tests are just one aspect of a school’s assessment and reporting process; they do not replace ongoing assessments made by teachers about student performance.

NAPLAN tests also provide schools, education authorities and governments with information about how education programs are working and whether young Australians are meeting important educational outcomes in literacy and numeracy.

The NAPLAN information for parents and carers brochure provides information specifically for parents and carers.  This brochure is available in 16 languages see the website for this information. 

Students in Grades 3 & 5 will be completing these tests in the week of Wednesday March 15th to the 22nd of March. 

School TV is an online parent education resource that we have full access to.  I have included the link here on bullying and it gives lots of information to parents and provides helpful hints and strategies.  Please find time to explore this topic.

https://trafalgar.catholic.schooltv.me/newsletter/bullying

School Photographs for 2023 - St Joseph's School, Trafalgar

Annual school photos will be taken on  Tuesday, 14 March 2023 by Spargo Photography.

Students are to be in full Summer school uniform.

PRE-ORDER ONLINE (orders close at 5:00 pm on the day prior)

See the packages available and place your pre-order online.

To place your order Go to our website or scan the QR code;

www.spargophoto.com.au

Select> School Photo Pack Orders

Enter your School Access Key: 7WVG59YR

Select the pack you want and complete the form.

Sibling photos are available for families with multiple children attending the school.

Sibling photos must be ordered online before 5pm the day prior.

** A complimentary family/sibling photograph is available for families who order an individual pack for 3 for more children at the same school. To be eligible, you must order all the individual packs first and then add the family photograph to the same shopping cart. The discount will be automatically applied.

Place your order online before 5pm the day prior, you do not need to return any paperwork.

If you have any inquiries, please contact us on (03) 5942 5234

Parents and Friends welcome all families back to school and are looking forward to an exciting year!
Our AGM was held last Tuesday. It was great to see many families, both new and old, coming along to offer their support to our school. There is new leadership this year, with Jodie and Jacqui elected to share the responsibility. Our goal for 2023 is to build on the success of last year and raise enough money to purchase new playground equipment for all the students to enjoy.

In Term One, Parents and Friends are looking to offer a weekly healthy lunch day. Students will be able to order a salad roll from a local bakery and have it delivered to school. The details of this are yet to be finalised, but we hope it will be up and running soon!
Later in the term we will run an Easter Raffle and a family photography fundraiser. More information on these events will be available in the weeks to come.

Parents and Friends is a fantastic way to get involved, meet other families and help make a positive contribution to our school community. Our next meeting will be held at 9am on Tuesday the 28th of March. Please consider coming along, sharing your ideas and lending a hand, you will always be welcome.

Next Friday, we are reintroducing our Interest Based
Learning Program. The program will be implemented for
the next 5 weeks on a Friday afternoon. Students are
able to elect an activity to participate in for the five
weeks and these activities will be held in small multi-
aged groups, supported by staff and volunteers from the
Trafalgar community. There are a variety of topics on
offer such as Dance, Rock Painting, Box Construction,
Mindfulness (with Mia Paul), Sport and a handful of
senior students will be helping Miss Ryan write the end
of year concert! At the end of the 5 weeks, students will
reflect on their learning and this reflection will be sent
home as part of our reporting procedure.

In previous years, parents have indicated, via letter, if they do or do not give consent for their child/ren to be photographed and for these photographs to be used without acknowledgement in various publications. This year we will not be sending home a letter for parents to sign, we will assume that requests for photo publications will carry over into 2023.  

If this is longer the case, could you please write an email to Taryn at  tmaxwell-garratt@trafalgar.catholic.edu.au and we will ensure your request is carried out.

To welcome our new school families, we will be running
our buddy program again this year. The parent buddy
program includes being paired up with one of the new
families and welcoming them in to our school
community. This might include: showing them how to get
on dojo, letting them know about special school
celebrations, how to use PAM etc. If anyone is willing to
be a parent buddy, could you please send me a msg via
dojo or an email (cryan@trafalgar.catholic.edu.au).
Thanks,
Cathleen

Conveyance allowance private car travel, or Conveyance allowance multimode travel
What is a conveyance allowance? 
The conveyance allowance is a form of financial assistance for parents/carers to transport children to and from school in rural and regional Victoria. In some locations, students are unable to access free school buses. In these instances, students may receive a conveyance allowance to assist with travel costs. Allowances are available for public transport, private car and private bus. 
If you live more than 4.8km from your closest school you can apply for the conveyance allowance. This is a payment towards the cost of transporting your child to school by public transport, car or school bus
Eligibility
An application on behalf of a student may be submitted if the student is:
• a Victorian resident;
• school aged and enrolled (3) three or more days per week at a school; and 
• attending a school/campus located outside the Melbourne metropolitan conveyance boundary
A student who meets the above requirements may be eligible if they: 
• attend their nearest or designated neighbourhood government school/campus appropriate to their year level, at which admission is permissible, or  
• attend their nearest appropriate non-government school/campus appropriate to their year level, at which admission is permissible, and 
• reside 4.8km or more by the shortest practicable route from the campus attended 
Note: Eligibility is assessed when the School completes your child’s application on the Student Conveyance Allowance System (SCAS). If approved, the allowance payable is based on the one-way distance to make the journey to and from school. No private car allowance is payable if the journey to and from school could be made using a public transport service or contract school bus. For further information regarding the Conveyance Allowance Program see: 
https://www2.education.vic.gov.au/pal/conveyance-allowance/policy
*Multi-mode conveyance allowances
Multi-mode conveyance allowance applies when a student uses more than one mode of transport (e.g. private car and public transport) for a journey between home and school. 
If you fall into this criteria, please call the office on 5633 2169 or 5633 1151 to request your application form.  
Parents should submit their completed application form to their child's school for processing.

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)