St Joseph's Primary School Trafalgar eNewsletter

Dear Families

Last week we celebrated Catholic Education Week. Our Open Day was a great success and on Thursday the staff hosted a Special Morning Tea for our Gr 6 students. The students thoroughly enjoyed it and we served them hot milo and treats. This activity was about further promoting positive relationships at school.

National Reconciliation Week

Held every year from 27 May to 3 June—is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia.

National Reconciliation Week is an ideal time for organisations, schools, universities, community groups and workplaces to advance understanding of reconciliation within their own places and their own lives. National Reconciliation Week provides a focus for working towards our goal of a just, equitable and reconciled Australia.

New School Leaders

We congratulate Ethan Jamieson and Tom Harrison on being awarded our next Gr 6 Leaders. We look forward to your leadership.

Father's Group

Last year as part of our Father's Day celebrations, Chris Laming (local Men's Health and Wellbeing practitioner) ran a dads' group conversation. It was received especially well. Dads said it was helpful to have an opportunity to talk with other Dads about the delights and challenges of parenthood. Chris is happy to run some more conversations if dads would like this. We're thinking that probably a minimum of 4 in a group could work.
Venue: Parish Centre
Possible dates: 4/6/25; 18/6/25; 2/7/25
Suggested times : Wednesdays at 5.30 to 6.30pm or 7.30pm to 8.30pm.
You can find the Expression of Interest form at this link:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1oFGEcugCuoQsRxVzRttVzffgf7V5N6wffMDaaQC8NnQ/edit

Special Parish & School Film Event

Upcoming Student Free Day

Please remember parents that Tuesday, after the long weekend (ie June 10th) is a student free day. The teachers will be engaging in professional development on Inclusive Education. If you require care for your child/ren this day, then you could arrange this with 'Their Care' as they will be running a whole day program in the parish centre. The Parish Film Event is also on this day at 3pm in Morwell. We hope you can join us for this.

Building Project

We are commencing a building project in the coming weeks. The project will extend the west wall of the old staff room, to make a new staff room with new staff toilets. We will also add another student toilet. R.J. Lowe are our builders. A fence will go up soon around the old staffroom.

New staff member

Hi! My name is Riley Griffin, and I am honoured to be a new member of the Trafalgar St Joseph’s team. I am in my second year of university studying to be a primary teacher myself. I have been a qualified swim teacher for the past 4 years in Drouin and I have been a qualified coach for the past 2 years with the Warragul Swimming Club. My favourite AFL club is the Western Bulldogs and my absolute favourite meal to eat is a good old chicken parmigiana. I am super excited to meet all the students here and don’t be afraid to come up and have a chat.

Sacraments

This weekend seven of our students are receiving their First Holy Communion. We congratulate Evie & Billy Deppeler, Reuben McCartin, Lachlan Asmussen, Lola Carpinteri, Isabella Mencev and Charlie Harte. We pray for you and your families at this special time. Everyone is welcome to join us in our church on Saturday at 6pm.

Mini Vinnies Bake Sale

Thank you so much to all the families who baked for our sale. We were amazed at the amount of food. Thank you for supporting our fundraising efforts. The left over food will be sold tomorrow as well.

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

Trish Mulqueen

School Vision and Mission

At St Joseph's School the Catholic faith is central to all we do. Therefore, we support the faith journey of each individual member of the community, we build relationships that are mutually respectful, honest and open and we make learning meaningful and engaging.

Strategic Intent

We will see purposeful collaboration and consistent expert practices for all students to learn in a safe environment.

The School Savings Bonus is a State Government initiative designed to assist families with cost-of-living pressures. Under this funding, each eligible student is
entitled to a $400 bonus for application towards activity levies and uniform purchases from approved supplier. Within our school, all CSEF applicants are eligible to receive this funding. All families who have a Centrelink Health Care Card and have not applied for CSEF in the past are encouraged to contact the school office and initiate an application this year. Please refer to the below link for more information:
https://www.vic.gov.au/receiving-school-saving-bonus#non-government-school-information

May_2025_Newsletter_3.pdf

May_2025_Newsletter_3 _pdf 1.69 MB

Pie Drive

We are excited to announce we are running a Pie Drive this term. More information will be sent out soon, including the range of pies available and how to order. Orders will be due in by the 13th of June, and the pies will be delivered to school on the 26th of June.

Colour Run

We have postponed the Colour Run to later in the year. We look forward to updating families on the details next term.

In term 2 we will hold our biannual school concert. It is called "Around the World with Grandma’s Dreams" and tells the story of a Grandma and her granddaughter, Jade. Grandma is celebrating her 80th birthday and wishes she could have seen various famous landmarks around the world. Jade and her friends decide to help her and they embark on an adventure of a lifetime.

"Around the World with Grandma’s Dreams" will be held on Thursday 26th June at Lowanna Auditorium. Information about purchasing tickets will go out next week. Each class will perform 2 songs. We look forward to showcasing the amazing talent we have at St Joseph's Trafalgar.

COSTUMES

F/1: Black pants/leggings; Bright colourful t shirts

Gr 1/2: Black pants/leggings; Black t shirts

Gr 3/4: Black pants/leggings; Black t shirts

Gr 4/5: Denim pants or skirts

Gr 5/6: Black pants/leggings; Black t shirts

As part of our school improvement we continually review our school policies and procedures. Please see below our Behaviour Manangement Policy and our Restorative Practice Procedure for your information.

Behaviour_Management_Policy.pdf

Behaviour_Management_Policy _pdf 164.82 KB

BEHAVIOUR_MANAGEMENT_PROCEDURE_Using_Restorative_Practice.pdf

BEHAVIOUR_MANAGEMENT_PROCEDURE_Using_Restorative_Practice _pdf 129.21 KB

In this edition of SchoolTV - Anxiety

Most young people today experience anxiety at some point in their life. Sometimes that slight rush of anxiety that occurs prior to an exam or sporting event, can enhance their performance. However, experiencing too much anxiety, over long periods of time, can be extremely damaging to their health and wellbeing. There is a difference between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ anxiety.

Statistics show, that the psychological health of young people today is far worse than it was a generation ago. This is having an adverse affect on children in both primary and secondary levels. Some of their issues of concern include stress, school, study, body image and friendship.

Parents need to be aware of the warning signs of ‘bad’ anxiety. There are preventative measures parents can implement as well as teaching kids the skills to cope more efficiently with their anxiety.

We hope you take time to reflect on the information offered in this edition of SchoolTV and we always welcome your feedback. If you have any concerns about your child, please contact the school counsellor for further information or seek medical or professional help.

Here is the link to the Anxiety edition of SchoolTV
https://trafalgar.catholic.schooltv.me/newsletter/youth-anxiety

2025 School Advisory Committee Members are: Brett Hicks, Scott McCartin, Lauren Baldassa, Taryn Maxwell-Garratt, Fr Bernard Buckley, Kate Westbury, Megan Shiels and Trish Mulqueen. The Committee met on Wed May 14^th.

The Church/Parish connection was discussed with the film event ‘The King of Kings’ being promoted and the work of the Mini Vinnies team being highlighted. The After School Care Program was reported to be going well with numbers being good at this early stage (generally 2 children in the mornings and usually 3 to 8 children in the afternoons).

Trish reported on the P&F happenings. The Building Project to update staff facilities will start as soon as the building permit is obtained, we hope this will be in the coming weeks. The Committee reviewed the school’s Digital Learning Policy and Mobile Phone & Smart Watch Policy.

If you would like anything discussed at the School Advisory Committee, please see one of our members. Our next meeting is Wed June 18^th.