Dear Families

Well here we are at the half way mark of the 2022 school year. Last night we enjoyed the best DISCO ever.  Thank you to our wonderful P&F group and the Mini Vinnies team who helped to organise this event.

Sacrament of Reconciliation

One of the most important things we do each year is to prepare our students for the Sacraments.  There are seven Sacraments (special blessings) in our church: 1. Baptism, 2. Reconciliation, 3. First Holy Communion (Eucharist), 4. Confirmation, 5. Marriage, 6. Holy Orders and 7. Anointing of the Sick.  Presently we are preparing students for Reconciliation.  We congratulate Ethan Jamieson and Maycee Shankar who are receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation tonight in our church at 5pm.  Everyone is welcome to join us.  Billy Deppeler is sick this week.  Maycee and Ethan will make a special Chocolate Ripple Cake in the shape of a cross to mark this occasion and they will have a special morning tea on Friday at school.

We pray for these students and their families as they prepare for this Sacrament.

Enrolments for 2023

On Monday and Tuesday we had the Trafalgar Kinder students visit our school.  They enjoyed visiting us and we certainly enjoyed having them at school. If you know any families who have a 4 year old kinder child, you might consider promoting our school to them. Current school families who have a 4 year old Kinder child, we ask that you enrol now for next year please. 

Sacred Heart of Jesus Mass

On the last day of this term we will celebrate the Sacred Heart of Jesus Mass in our church at 10am.  Everyone is welcome to join us. It is important to gather as a whole school community to celebrate our significant Church feast days.  This feast day is about celebrating Jesus' love for each of us.  Traditionally in our church, this is the day that we donate non perishable food in tins or jars to the St Vincent de Paul group who distribute  the food to families who need it. In this way we are supporting the St Vincent de Paul Winter Appeal.

First Day of Term 3

Monday 11th July is a student free day as the teachers have a Professional Learning day about the Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships (RRRR) program. The first day of Term 3 for the students is Tuesday 12th July. 

Book Week

Children's Book Council of Australia celebrate Book Week each year.  This year it is Monday 22nd August to Friday 26th of August.  We have our Talent Show on the Tuesday and Friday will be our Dress Up day for Book Week.  The theme is Dreaming With Eyes Open.  Students are encouraged to come dressed as a character from a book or perhaps something to do with the theme.  We will have a parade at 9am  and families are invited to attend. You might like to start thinking about costumes now. 

I will be taking two weeks Long Service Leave in weeks 2 & 3 next term.  Taryn Maxwell-Garratt will be acting as Principal in my absence.  You will be in very capable hands. 

Remember tomorrow is the last day of term and it is 1pm dismissal.  Happy and Safe Holidays everyone!

The Rights, Resilience and Respectful Relationships program teaches that every human has the
right to live free of discrimination and violence. So far, we have been focusing on Emotional
Literacy and Personal Strengths.  Students have been building their vocabulary and their
understanding of the topics covered so far. The final three topics in this program include: Help
Seeking, Gender and Identity and Positive Gender Relations.
Please note that we are hosting an Open Afternoon for any parents who would like to hear more
about this program on Tuesday July 12th 3.30 to 4pm.  Teachers will be available to chat to if
you would like any further information or explanation about the units.

End of Semester 1 School Reports are now available on PAM.  If you would like a hard copy of your child's school report then please contact the class teacher and they will organise to print off the report. To follow up these written reports we will be conducting Parent/teacher/student interviews on Wednesday 17th August (week 6) of Term 3. More information will come out about these early next term.

Attendance

It is expected that students are present at school all the time.  It is not ok to continually have a day off. This thinking really impacts your child's learning.  Of course, if your child is sick then they must be at home. Family holidays need to be planned for school holiday time. If your child has a medical appointment then please bring your child to school before the appointment or after it, depending on when the appointment is. 

"A boy’s behaviour is learnt through watching their father or other male role model. His physical maturity is at odds with his mental and brain development. Although he may look like a mature young man at 16, he doesn’t yet think like one.” - Dr Michael Carr-Gregg

Over the past 4 weeks the students at St Joseph’s have participated in a 4 week rugby clinic ran by
the defence coach for the Melbourne Storm. Students learnt how to score a T-R-Y TRY! Pass
backwards to team mates and position their hands up as targets for their team mates when passing
to each other. The students learnt how to work as a TEAM (Together, Everyone, Achieves, More) and to make sure everyone is included.

Our Mini Vinnies team are organising this year's TALENT SHOW.  It will be on Tuesday August 23rd at 2pm in the Mary MacKillop room.  All students are encouraged to prepare and enter the Talent Show.  Sabrina has put the item list together and we look forward to the show. This is a fundraising event and it costs $2 for each student to enter the Talent Show.  Sabrina is collecting this money, if your child is entered in the Talent Show could you give your child the $2 entry fee and ask them to give it to Sabrina please.  If families come to watch the Talent Show the entry fee is $5 per family.  If students would like to watch the Talent Show they will need to bring $2 to pay for entry.  

This year we are running our swimming program in the last week of Term 3 at the Warragul Leisure Centre.  It starts on Monday September 12th and finishes on Friday September 16th.  We will go swimming in the afternoons on Monday through to Thursday and on Friday (the last day of term) we will go swimming in the morning (as school finishes at 1pm on the last day). Permission forms have been set up on PAM. Your child is encouraged to either wear their bathers to school under their uniform or bring their bathers (this is a good option if your child has a one piece suit) in a smaller bag to take swimming.  We are looking for parent helpers, especially in the junior classes. All helpers must have a current Working with Children's Check. 

Please see attached timetable. If you are able to help please let your classroom teacher know. 

Some students in Gr 3 & 4 and Gr 5 & 6 have prepared a speech for the Lions Public Speaking Competition. The topic for Gr 3/4 is 'A place other than in your home state, that you would like to visit'. The topic for Gr 5/6 is 'Introduce a Famous Person who lived in the 19th Century'. The students have been supported by school staff and families to prepare for this competition. Our school's final is Friday July 22nd at 11.30am in Room 2. All families are welcome to support these students. We wish them all the best. 

Our School Advisory Committee (formerly School Board) work to support the school programs and decision making in the school. Our work includes participation in policy making and we also consider school uniform issues.  The 2022 Committee includes:  Imelda Cathomen, Ashlee Treyvaud, Dan Towb, Marja Jamieson, Kara Pedemont, Taryn Maxwell-Garratt, Fr Bernard Buckley and myself.  We meet at least 6 times in the school year.  Please see below photos of our School Committee members.  If you would like something discussed at these meetings you are welcome to approach anyone of us and we will follow the issue up. 

Our next meeting is Tuesday July 12^th at 5.30pm at school.

Is there anyone out there who would be interested in running our Garden Club?  In the past we have run our Garden Club at lunchtime and the students have really enjoyed it.  If you are interested you could do it whichever day it suited you, we are flexible.  It involves weeding the garden and planting and attending to the plants. If you are interested you need to have a Working With Children Check.

The Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund is a payment provided by the Department to schools for the purpose of paying costs of camps, sport and excursions for an eligible student.

If you have a Centrelink Concession Card (Health Care Card) which is valid now, you are eligible to apply for CSEF (Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund).

Applying for CSEF also makes you eligible for the School Fees Concession Program. Please note that the office requires a copy of your concession card together with the completed forms. If you have any questions regarding CSEF and the school fees concession program, please do not hesitate to contact the office.

We strongly encourage you to apply as you can receive significant financial help.

Hard copy of forms are available at the school office if required.

Please see the information flyer below.

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

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.