Dear Families

On Monday we celebrated our Dads in our families.  The wonderful P&F cooked eggs and bacon for us to enjoy breakfast with Dad.  We had a short Prayer Service in the Mary MacKillop room and then we chose an activity to do with Dad.  Some families enjoyed sporty activities like table tennis or bat tennis or footy, while other families enjoyed inside activities like games or drawing.  Overall it was a great celebration.  Thank you Dads!

Ms Ryan's Send Off

Today we said Goodbye to Ms Ryan as she is leaving to have her baby.  The staff put on a special morning tea for her and as a tribute to her, we all wore pink!  Emma Poore, together with the students, organised a Baby Shower for her at 2pm.  It was lots of fun. Here are some photos:

Sports Dress Up Day

Next week on Thursday 14th September we are having a Sports Dress Up Day.  Everyone is invited to wear clothes that represent their favourite sport.  Of course, it could be your favourite AFL team, and Collingwood is an especially good team to come dressed in, but it doesn't have to be AFL, it can be whatever sport you like.  The P&F are organizing a special sports day lunch and you need to put your order in on CDFpay by Monday.

Last day of term

Remember Thursday 14th September is the last day of term and students will be dismissed at 3.30pm.  There is no school for the students on Friday, this is a professional learning day for the teachers. 

End of School Term Prayer

Dear God, at the end of this school term

we are so thankful for all the good things that have happened to us

and our class this team. 

We thank you for all we have learned over this term,

for our teachers, parents, and all who have taught and guided us. 

We thank you for our friends and all that we have shared together.  Amen.

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

We wish you all peaceful and safe holidays.

Trish Mulqueen

Sports Day Lunch
On Thursday the 14th of September we are having a special lunch day to compliment Sports Dress Up Day. We are offering pies, sausage rolls and milkshakes. Please place your orders on CDF pay before 12noon on Monday the 11th of September to ensure you don’t miss out. It is important we have final numbers in advance as this helps us to run the day smoothly.

Healthy Lunches
We continue to offer a healthy salad roll lunch day each Wednesday. Please place your orders on CDF pay by noon each Tuesday and a freshly made salad roll, from Bella’s Bakehouse, will be delivered for lunch on Wednesday.

Comedy Night Recap
Our Comedy Night last Friday was a great success! Four hilarious comedians put on an excellent show! We had games, raffles and fantastic live music that complimented the event beautifully. The money raised will go towards new playground equipment for our students to enjoy!
Thank you to everyone who came along and supported the night! It was a lot of fun!
We would like to thank Gavin for playing live music for us, he did a wonderful job!
Thank you to Mia for organising and running the games so well!
Congratulations to Emma who won the major prize of $500 and very generously donated it back to the school! Thank you Emma!
We would like to thank the Baldassa family and Bella’s Bakehouse for supporting the raffle. We had lots of great prizes to be won on the night thanks to your generosity!
Finally, a huge thank you to Narelle who took on the task of organising the night. Narelle did an amazing job and made the night the success that it was. Thank you!

Father’s Day
We hope all fathers had a wonderful Father’s Day over the weekend. There was an excellent turnout for the Father’s Day Breakfast on Monday morning. Thank you to all the volunteers who came to school bright and early to help cook up a mountain of bacon and eggs!

Next meeting
Our next meeting will be on Tuesday the 3rd of October at 3pm at school.
We will be discussing our planned events and activities for term four including a Halloween Disco and Colour Run at school!
If you would like to get involved, please come along to the meeting, you will always be welcome!

Parents and Friends hope all families enjoy the upcoming school holiday break before returning to a fun and busy term four.

Recently the Mini Vinnies team at St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School organised a school Talent Show to showcase the student’s talents.  Students were encouraged to enter and then perform their item in front of the school community.  The Mini Vinnies team organised this event as a fundraiser.  It was so much fun and we were especially proud of all the students who entered the competition.  Thank you so much to Learning Support Officer, Jess Cross, for helping the students to organise the show.  Congratulations to the winners:

In the Junior Section:  1st pize Lola, Zarah & Evie dancing to Classic by MKTO; 2nd prize Olivia singing with Tahlia backing, and 3rd prize Sienna & Charlotte danced to 'Party in the USA'.

In the Senior Section:  1st prize Ava & Summer Comedy Act;  2nd prize Kirah singing 'Someone Like You' by Adele and 3rd prize Scarlett singing 'I'm Ken' from the Barbie film.

And some more pics...

https://trafalgar.catholic.schooltv.me/wellbeing_news/special-report-r-u-ok-day

Catholic schools and parishes within the Diocese of Sale will unite to promote Child Safety Week which runs from 3 to 10 September 2023.

This year, Catholic schools and parishes have shared their innovative child safety projects through a video and resource titled, Child Safety in Action in the Diocese of Sale.

Bishop of Sale, Most Reverend Greg Bennet, opened the video by commending schools and parishes for their valuable work aimed at keeping children and young people safe.

"As Christians, we believe that every person is created in the image and likeness of God. It is our responsibility as a Catholic community to ensure they are valued, respected, and protected. Everyone has a role in keeping children safe.”

Director of Catholic Education for the Diocese of Sale, Mr Paul Velten said the projects complement the extensive work done to build systems that keep children and young people safe in school and church communities guided by the Victorian Child Safe Standards.

“We strongly encourage families, grandparents, and all individuals to actively initiate conversations about child safety with the younger generation in their lives. These conversations are invaluable in shaping their understanding and awareness of this important subject.”

Bishop Greg Bennet concluded the video with a message that it is not just our actions, but also our words and intentions that shape the future.

“May we always choose kindness, compassion, and understanding, for it is through these qualities that we truly bless and protect the innocence of our youth.”

At school this week we looked at 'Australia's Biggest Child Safety Lesson' that is produced by the Daniel Morcombe Foundation each year. We reiterated the important message that 'Child Safety is Everyone's Business'. We reviewed the strategy of 'Recognise, React & Report'. We talked about our bodies and that we have private parts and public parts. We talked about the importance of knowing the correct terms for our private parts and that research clearly shows that children who know the correct terms are empowered and far more likely to speak up if something is not right.  We need to teach our kids that they are the boss of their own body and no one can touch their private parts without their consent.

I have included some parent information here on this very important topic...

Grade 5/6 students: Fenn Towb, Summer Parise, Liana Eerhard, Tahlia Pedemont, Zander Murto, Evie Lowe, and Bryce Varley have been enthusiastically crafting the script for our much-anticipated school concert in November. With unwavering dedication, these talented students have poured their creative efforts into this project during Interest-Based Learning sessions, as well as generously investing lunchtimes and every available moment to bring their vision to fruition. They are eager for their hard work to come to life and look forward to sharing their creation with the school community.

The school concert is on Thursday November 2nd at Lowanna College, Newborough.  Please mark this date in your diaries. 

Konnichiwa, 

On Wednesday September 13th we will have a Japanese day.

Students are invited to wear red or/and white, or to dress up in something Japanese. At the beginning of the day we will do ‘rajio taiso’, the radio exercises that are often done in schools and workplaces each morning. Parents are invited to join us from 9-9:15 and participate in the exercises.

At the end of the day we will do the Japanese festival dance Tokyo Ondo. It is a whole school circle dance. We invite parents to either watch, or even better join in. This will be from 3:15 until 3:30.

Some of the activities during the day will include Japanese cooking, origami, and calligraphy.

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 October 11^th .   Church and Parish connection was discussed.  P&F activities were reported to the Committee and the great work of the P&F was acknowledged especially with the recent successful Comedy Night. Child Safety is a standing agenda item and our continual work with OH&S provides a safe school for everyone. The staff’s commitment  and work in the Social Emotional Learning space helps staff to meet individual student needs better.  The Committee workshopped the idea of what successful Parent Education looks like.  The idea of zoom meetings for busy parents was suggested. The Committee felt the Father’s Day activity at school was successful and wondered about doing more things like that.  The idea of Dads doing lawn bowls with their kids was suggested.

If you have any good ideas for parent education, please feel comfortable to come and have a chat with me.  I am really interested in supporting parents better in this space.

If you would like anything discussed at the School Advisory Committee, please see one of our members.