St Joseph's Primary School Trafalgar eNewsletter

Dear Families

This weekend we start the Church season of Advent. Advent is a time to prepare our homes and hearts for Christmas.

The word ‘advent’ means ‘coming’. Lighting the candles on the wreath symbolises the coming of light (Jesus) into the world. The first candle (violet) represents hope, the second (violet) peace, the third (rose) joy, and the fourth (violet) love. The central white candle is lit on Christmas Day and represents Christ. The Advent wreath helps us keep our thoughts focused on the coming of Christ at Christmas.

This Advent, help us to learn, act and pray for a more just and fair world – a world full of hope, peace, joy, and love.

Gr 2 Camps Program

On Thursday November 16th the Gr 2 students had their camping style activity at school. The students stayed back at school at 3.30 and got changed into casual clothes. We had afternoon tea and then participated in a number of camping activites eg sack races and ball games. Then we had pizza for dinner and watched a film together. The students were picked up at 7pm. Thank you to the teachers for organising this great activty.

Gr 1 Camps Program

On Thursday November 23rd the Gr 1 students participated in their Camping Program. They too got to stay longer at school, so that when everyone else left school at 3.30 they got to change into casual clothes and had a healthy afternoon tea at school. They had great camping style activities on the oval and then we walked to McGregor Park and had a BBQ. We all had so much fun. Thank you to the teachers who organised and ran this event after hours.

Color Run

Weather permitting the Color Run will go ahead as planned tomorrow. Families please remember to pack old white clothes for your child to change into at lunchtime for the Color Run. Please also remember a towel and another change of clothes for your child to go home in. It is lots of fun and very messy!

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Vic Kids Eat Well

A big thank you to families for helping your child support our 'Real Deal' Challenge, this is where we each try to have 2 serves of fruit or vegetables at school for our fruit time at 10am and 2pm. Each class is recording the number of serves we consume and we calculate an average score and then the class with the highest average score wins a free 100% sugar free icy pole on Friday. The aim of this challenge is to promote healthy eating and living.

Orientation

We are welcoming 15 new Foundation students for 2024. We are conducting three orientation sessions to help in transitioning to primary school.

We have already had the first orientation session that also included a Parent Information Session. The next two orientation sessions are:

Tuesday December 5th 9am to 11am

Tuesday December 12th 9am to 11am (Statewide Orientation Day)

A Few Reminders: Remember icy poles are sold on Fridays in Term 4 and Term 1. (Remembering our Vic Kids Eat Well healthy eating message, the icy poles have NO SUGAR). The money raised goes to supporting local charities.

Also remember school hats are compulsory in Term 4 and Term 1. If you're child forgets their hat, there are usually spares in the classroom or sick bay, and failing that they may have to stay on the back verandah and play.

2023 School Fees

School Fees are now overdue. Please ensure your account is settled before December. If you are experiencing financial troubles please ring the office to talk to Trish or Lucy and organise a payment plan.

Healthcare/Pension Card

If you have a current healthcare /pension card, please make sure the office has a copy as this greatly reduces your school fees.

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

Trish Mulqueen

Remember to order a calendar for only $25.00 on CDF pay.

All profits will go to the Visual Arts budget for our 2024 Discovery Day Extravaganza.

Orders close on Sunday December 3rd.

Beautiful artworks created by every student!

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Our Mini Vinnies team are holding 2 fundraisers as we near the end of the year. One fundraiser is the Guess the Lollies in the Jar Competition. There will be 2 jars, one for the junior classes and one for the senior classes. Each guess is $1 and students can have more than one guess. The Mini Vinnies group will be coming around to the classrooms at snack and lunch time next week for students to have a chance at guessing how many lollies are in the jar. The money from this fundraiser is going to Catholic Mission which supports people in third world countries.

Our second fundraiser is the Advent Coin Line. Advent is a time for giving to others who are in need. On Monday 11th December we are encouraging all students to bring in as many coins as they can (silver and gold) and at 9am we are gathering outside to see which class can make the longest Coin Line!!!!! All donations will go to St Vincent De Paul to help families in need during this christmas season.

Colour Run
A reminder that our Colour Run is tomorrow. Students will need to have a white shirt as well as older shorts and shoes that can get blasted with colour! We recommend wearing sunglasses. We have sunglasses available on CDF pay for $5.
Online fundraising remains open until next Friday, but tonight is the last chance to fundraise for students to be in the running to slime their teacher or Mrs Mulqueen! CDF pay fundraising closes at midnight tonight and cash must be dropped off at the office this afternoon.
Students who have raised $40 or more get their ticket to the Colour Run for free, otherwise it costs $10 and can be bought on CDF pay.
Parents and carers are welcome to come along and watch the fun! It all kicks off at 1:30pm. If you would like to volunteer to help run the event, please let us know and come along a bit earlier.

Healthy Lunches
We will continue to offer a healthy salad roll lunch day each Wednesday until the end of term. Please place orders by noon each Tuesday and a freshly made salad roll from local bakery, Bella’s Bakehouse, will be delivered to students for lunch on Wednesday.

Christmas Raffle
Our Christmas Raffle will be drawn on Thursday the 14th of December. Books of tickets are being sent home with students. More are available at the office. Please fill in the tickets with a name and phone number. Tickets cost $2 each. Please pay for the tickets on CDF pay and return them to the office by the 13th of December.
We kindly ask families to please donate an item to go towards our prizes. Thank you to all the families who have already done so! A tub for donations can be found in the office.

Uniform shop
We will need someone to run the uniform shop next year. If you are interested in helping out, please let Lucy know!

Each year we purchase our book supplies from the Trafalgar Newsagency. Our booklists are live on their website now. You can access here by clicking this link:

https://www.booklists.com.au/trafalgarnews/

Orders need to be in by Friday December 15th and pick up days are Saturday January 27th & Monday January 29th 2024.

SPECIAL REPORT: Starting Year 7

When a child starts high school, they suddenly become one of the youngest and newest kids at school all over again - a small fish in a big pond! The transition between Year 6 and Year 7 is one of the biggest jumps in a child's life and is a very important milestone. This can easily become a daunting time for students and parents alike.

Starting Year 7 poses many new challenges, but also exciting opportunities. It comes with a number of mixed feelings. Some students may be feeling a little anxious about their expectations of starting Year 7 and finding their place in the “big pond”. As your child grasps new skills and engages in new study practices, it is important for parents to be supportive, but also realistic in their expectations. Parents and students can easily become overwhelmed during this time of transition but, there are a number of strategies that can be implemented to start things off on the right foot!

https://trafalgar.catholic.schooltv.me/wellbeing_news/special-report-starting-year-7

We are all invited to the Parish BBQ on Friday December 8th at 6pm in the Parish Centre Garden. Meat will be provided, you are welcome to bring a salad or dessert to share. Last year a few of the staff went to this event and it was a really good time. I'd really like to encourage you to come this year, it is warming to be apart of a larger community.

We wish our Gr 6s the very best in finishing primary school. We have a number of exciting activities to send them off:

1. Graduation and End of School Year Mass, Friday December 8th 2.15pm in the church. We hope all Gr 6 families can join us as the whole school farewells you.

2. Gr 5 & 6 Fun Day, Wednesday December 13th, excursion to Gumbuya Park. No additional cost, as this is covered with the excursion levy.

3. Graduation celebration, Wednesday December 13th, 6pm to 7.30pm in Mary MacKillop room at school. Alimentos catering. $15 per person.

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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.

2023

December

Fri 15 Last day of school for students 3.30 finish

2024

January

Mon 29 First day back for teachers

Tues 30 & Wed 31 Testing days (individual students to come in for testing )

February

Thurs 1 First day of school for all students

March

Tues 12 School Photos

Wed 20 to Fri 22 Gr 5 & 6 camp to Sovereign Hill

Thurs 28 Last day of term