After very careful consideration, the staff have set the  class structure for 2024.  The structure is:  F/1, Gr 1/2, Gr 3/4, Gr 4/5 & Gr 5/6. 

If your family’s enrolment situation at St Joseph’s is changing in the future, we would appreciate you letting us know. An accurate indication of student numbers assists us enormously in our planning for 2024.

Recently St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School supported the 2023 Day for Daniel annual event. Everyone was encouraged to wear red to create awareness about child safety.  ‘Child Safety is Everyone’s Business’. The students engaged in a range of different activities    to help learn safe and protective behaviours around personal safety. This event also encourages and supports parents to engage in conversations with their children around safety and protective behaviours.

Christmas Raffle
We are running a Christmas Raffle this term. To ensure our raffle is a success, we kindly ask families to please donate items to go towards the prizes. A tub for donations is in the office. Your support is greatly appreciated!
Tickets will be available soon and the raffle will be drawn in the last week of school.

Colour Run
This year’s Colour Run will be on Friday the 1st of December. Information on fundraising and details of the event are being finalised and will be available soon.

Healthy Lunches
We continue to offer a healthy salad roll lunch day each Wednesday. Please place orders on CDF pay by noon each Tuesday and a freshly made salad roll from Bella’s Bakehouse will be delivered to students for lunch on Wednesday. ($1.20 from each order goes to P&F fundraising)

Halloween Disco
The Halloween Disco last Wednesday was a fantastic night and it was great to see so many students in fantastic costumes come along to dance and have fun. Thank you to everyone who volunteered to help and to everyone who stayed to help pack up. The success of these events depends on help from the school community. It is great that there are so many people willing to put their hands up to help, it is greatly appreciated! Finally, a special thank you to Narelle and Andrew for their huge effort in setting up and organising the night!

The Australian Government has put out this 60 second media ad that talks about preventing child sexual abuse.  It says clearly that conversations with our kids have the power to prevent child sexual abuse.  Every talk brings us closer to a world without it.  Let's end child sexual abuse - one talk at a time.  Please watch and re-watch this 60 second campaign.  If we are all aware of child sexual abuse, it is less likely to happen.

A SPECIAL REPORT: Discussing War & Conflict

Children are frequently exposed to distressing news through the 24-hour news cycle and social media. These experiences can provoke anxiety, especially in young minds still forming their worldviews. Parents and caregivers should be mindful of overexposure to such content as it can lead to symptoms similar to post-traumatic stress disorder. Children’s responses to trauma can vary, from being strong emotional reactions to being indifferent. It can leave an emotional imprint that can affect a child's behaviour and perception of danger.

Children need reassurance about their safety as they navigate uncertain times. Tailor conversations to your child's age and emotional maturity. Younger children benefit from simplified explanations focusing on peace, empathy, and cooperation, whilst older children can delve into historical events, root causes of conflict, and the complexities of international relations.

Before discussing these topics with your child, it is also important to assess your own emotions and comfort level. By staying calm and providing physical comfort will help your child regulate their own emotions. In challenging times, compassionate adults play a crucial role in helping children cope with anxiety and providing hope and understanding in our complex world.

This Special Report provides guidance on how to tackle this difficult topic and helping children understand there is still hope in our complex world.

We hope you take time to reflect on the information offered in this Special Report, and as always, we welcome your feedback.

If you do have any concerns about the wellbeing of your child, please contact the school for further information or seek medical or professional help.

Here is the link to your special report:
https://trafalgar.catholic.schooltv.me/wellbeing_news/special-report-discussing-war-conflict

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.