St Joseph's Primary School Trafalgar eNewsletter

Dear families

Happy Halloween and Happy All Hallows' Day. People often ask about whether Halloween has a place in our schools. Jim Quillinan (local writer who has a long history with the Catholic Church) writes about the orgins of Halloween and I found it interesting, you might too:

Halloween can be fun for young and old. Some years ago, there was a lot of grumbling about importing this American custom but the smiles and laughter of
the children visiting the homes for Trick or Treat removed many a frown and silenced many a grumble (mine included)......
I wonder how many know the origins of this day? Halloween can be traced back to medieval Christianity. The word hallow is derived from the Middle and Old English words for holy. As a noun, it was also used for saint so All Saints' Day was also called All Hallows' Day. The evening before that feast day was All Hallows' Eve and that name eventually got shortened to Halloween. During the 4th century, in Rome celebrations honouring the Christian martyrs and saints were held on this day. Various popes over the centuries changed the date until Pope Gregory IV added All Saints' Day to the universal Christian calendar, officially extending the celebration from Rome to churches everywhere. November 2nd became All Souls’ Day on which we remember all those who have died and gone to their place of rest. For Pope Francis, the two celebrations, All Saints’ and All Souls', “remind us of the bond that exists between the earthly and heavenly Church, between us and our loved ones who passed on to the next life.”.......

Today it can be a controversial celebration – some see it as pagan, even promoting false beliefs,promoting a negative culture about death and the
dead, which is at odds with the Christian view. Others bemoan its heavy commercialisation. It can be all of that but it can also be a time for:
• Reflection and prayer as we recall the lives of those we call saints, we give thanks for their courage, their perseverance, their generosity, their example. In Pope Francis’ words: Remembering the Saints leads us to raise our eyes to Heaven: not to forget the realities of the earth, but to face them with greater courage and hope.
• Rejoicing in the goodness of creation, in the joy of being alive, in the gift of family, companions and friends.
• Giving thanks for those who have gone before. We believe that, in some way, we are still connected, still part of their lives and they ours. Pope Benedict wrote: “We believe that the ties of friendship and affection which knit us as one throughout our lives do not unravel with death.” It can be a reminder that we owe so much to those who came before us and Halloween invites us to pray for them, to give thanks for the gift they have been.

A prayer for Halloween Visits:
God of ancient times and God of our times, bless all
the people we will be visiting tonight.
May we be good news to them and may our visit
bring comfort, happiness and laughter.
As we celebrate this special Feast of All Hallows
God, the giver of hope, we trust in you,
and we give thanks for the faith, the hope and the
courage of those we call saints.
Fill us too with joy and peace, so that we may have a
living hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Taken directly from Halloween 'Along the Track' Jim Quillinan 2024

Father's Group

As a follow up to our Father's Day celebrations, Dr Chris Laming is going to run a Father's Group in the Parish Centre on Wednesday Nov 20th 5.30pm to 6.30. Gold Coin donation to cover the hot drinks. It's going to be called 'A Dad's Workshop' and you are welcome to bring a mate. The idea is to support Dad's in their very important role in our families. This workshop is open to all Dads in our community, not just school Dads.

Father_s_Group _pdf219.50 KB

Storytime

On Wednesdays we run Storytime for toddlers and parents. 9.15 to 9.45am. We only have two more Storytime sessions this year. The target audience is 4year old children and younger children are also welcome. We hope to see you at our last two Storytime sessions.

Learning Expo

On Thursday November 7th we will be hosting a 'Learning Expo' at school (please note the change of date). Each student will have a number of pieces of quality work on display. The Learning Expo will start at 2pm for the school classes to walk around and view each other's work. Families are invited to visit the school from 3.30 to 6pm and walk through our classrooms viewing the student's quality work. Our art work, music work and Japanese learning will be highlighted. The tiles that the students have painted in art classes, will also be unveiled each hour for viewing. We think this is a wonderful way to invite our families into the school and to showcase our work. We hope your family can join us sometime.

Learning Expo Poster

Learning Expo Poster 92.48 KB

Lions Club Public Speaking

Lily Harvey represented our school at the Regional level of the competition on October 5th. Lilly did a particularly good presentation. She is pictured here with her certificate. Congratulations Lilly on your marvellous work.

School Reports

At St Joseph's school we believe working together with parents makes a big difference in our students' learning. Communication is a positive part of this relationship. We formally report student progress each term. Additionally, parents are very welcome to make an appointment to see their child's classroom teacher whenever they have a concern or wondering.

Term 1: Parent/Teacher conversations early in the year

Term 2: Written reports at the end of the term

Term 3: Parent/Teacher interviews (week 6)

Term 4: Written reports at the end of term

This term written reports will be available on PAM on Friday December 13th. Hard copy reports will be available on request.

School Fees Concession & CSEF (Camps, Sports, Excursions Fund)

Please find attached 2025 School Fees. If you have a Centrelink Concession Card (Health Care Card) which is valid now, you are eligible to apply for CSEF. 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.

FEE_STRUCTURE_final_2025.pdf

FEE_STRUCTURE_final_2025 _pdf 158.66 KB

New Gr 6 Student Leaders

We congratulate Remy Schelfhout and Collin Roff on being elected as our new Gr 6 Student Leaders. We look forward to your leadership.

Remember this weekend is the extra long weekend. There is no school on Monday or Tuesday.

May God continue to bless us in our learning.

Trish Mulqueen

DOSCEL and St Joseph’s Primary School Trafalgar are committed to complying with the Victorian Child Safe Standards.

Prevention and Response

Preventing and responding to child abuse requires a whole community response to bring about cultural change. The Victorian Child Safe Standards apply to a broad range of organisations that provide services for children, including schools, churches, sporting clubs and youth services. Ensuring we have child safe communities goes to the heart of our faith and core purpose. Therefore, we are dedicated to upholding the values and practices that create safe learning environments for students.

Reporting and Contacts

There are a number of supports available when responding to incidents, disclosures or suspicions of child abuse.

24 Hour Services:

Victoria Police: 000
DFFH Child Protection: 131 278

Support Services:

Child Safety Champions

St Joseph’s Primary School has appointed Child Safety Champions. Each Child Safety Champion is available to answer any questions that you may have with respect to our Child Protection and Safety Policy and the Child Protection Program.

Child Safety Champions are selected based on a number of considerations, namely:

their personal attitudes, experiences and beliefs, for example, a person who is non-judgmental, calm, resilient and demonstrates a high degree of integrity and respect for confidentiality;
their role within the school, for example, a person who has seniority and experience working with complex student and family issues at the school and someone who is readily accessible and available to all members of the school community; and
their personal profile within the school, for example, a person who is approachable, who students and staff trust and who is willing and able to respond to issues personally and sensitively.

It is every individual’s responsibility to protect children and make reports regarding their concerns to the appropriate authorities.

If a person requires support in reporting to the authorities, the school’s Child Safety Champions are your first point of contact. They receive special training that allows them to deal with child protection concerns both sensitively and effectively.

Child Safety Champions

Our Child Safe Champions at school are myself, Taryn Maxwell-Garratt and Jamie Pistrin.

Privacy

At St Joseph's our Camping Program is sequential and engaging.

CAMPS SCHEDULE

GRADE	CAMP PROGAM	COMPLETION TIME	PRICE	SUGGESTED TIME
Foundation	Afternoon tea and games	3:30 - 5pm	$20	23/10/24
Grade One	Afternoon tea Fish and chips in McGregor Park	3:30 - 6pm	$20	30/10/24
Grade Two	Afternoon tea & Games Pizza and Movie night	7pm	$20	06/11/24
Grade Three & Four	Two separate full day camping days (no sleep overs) at Allambee Camp and Mill Valley Ranch	Two different school days 9am to 5pm	$250	Term 4 22/10/24 29/11/24
Grade Five & Six	2 nights and 3 days camp alternating between ü Urban or Beach Camp ü Soverign Hill		Camp levy $380	Term 1
Grade 6	Young Leaders Day in Melbourne	6am to 5.30pm	$72.50	Term 1

We have recently conducted the Foundation and then the Gr 1 Camping programs after school. The students particularly enjoyed their camping activities. Next week, the Grade Two camping program will be on Wednesday the 6th of November. The children will remain at school at 3.30 and get changed out of their school uniforms. They will have afternoon tea at school, followed by camp games and activities, dinner, dessert and a PG movie. They will be picked up from school at 7:00pm.

The Grade 3/4s have had their first full day of camping activities at Allambee Camp last week and we will have their second full camping day on Friday November 29th at Mill Valley Camp.

These activities are to help students begin to develop their independence and resilience in a supported and supervised environment.

Live Your Best Life in Love...

Marriage Encounter is coming to Trafalgar…

Every married couple deserves this very special weekend.

Time-out to nurture your most precious relationship away from daily distractions.

The two of you will come away from your weekend feeling more deeply connected

and with tools to help keep the passion alive.

No group sharing is required.

The weekend is based around Catholic values. Couples of all faiths are welcome.

When: 16 - 17 November, 2024.

Venue: St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Trafalgar - November 16-17, 2024.

The weekend commences at 8am on Saturday morning and concludes at ~4:30pm on Sunday.

(Saturday lunch and evening meal and Sunday lunch is provided)

For Information/Bookings: Phone Mercy & James 0409 183 676 or

Email: vicbookings@wwme.org.au Website: wwme.org.au

Gippsland_ME_flyer_for_November_2024.pdf

Gippsland_ME_flyer_for_November_2024 _pdf 80.81 KB

Christmas Raffle

We are excited to be running a Christmas Raffle this term. We kindly ask families to please donate items to go towards the prizes. We greatly appreciate all support families can provide. A tub for donations can be found in the office.

The raffle will be drawn in the last week of term. Tickets will cost $2 each and will be sent home with students soon.

Comedy Night

Thank you to everyone who came along to our Comedy Night last week. It was again a great night of laughs, games and fun.

We were very lucky to have the support of many local businesses who donated items and vouchers for our raffle. We would like to thank Studio Eminence, Traf Massage, Scuba Steve's car wash, Bella's Bakehouse, Traf Pizza, Murphy's Meats and Traf Thai.

A lot of work goes into making the Comedy night a success. Thank you to Mia for organising all the games and helping. Thank you to Ellie and Jacqui for running around organising all sorts of things! Finally, a huge thank you to Narelle, who took the lead in organising the night and made it a success.

In week 9 we will run our 5 day swimming program from Monday December 2nd through to Friday December 6th. The students will travel by bus to Warragul Leisure Centre each day to participate in a 45 minute swimming lesson by trained swimming teachers. This is an important part of the curriculum and it is expected that all students will participate. Please access the information note and the permission 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 the attached timetable. If you are able to help please let your classroom teacher know.

FPVCC_Flyer_General.pdf

FPVCC_Flyer_General _pdf 4.83 MB

November

Tues 19 2. Interest Based Learning

Wed 20 Father's Group Parish Centre 5.30 to 6.30pm

Tues 26 3. Interest Based Learning

First Orientation Session for Foundation 2025

Fri 29 Gr 3/4 full day at Mill Valley Camp

December

Mon 2 to Fri 6 SWIMMING program

Tues 3 Second Orientation Session for Foundation 2025

Fri 6 3pm Advent Assembly and sending off Gr 6s

Tues 10 Third Orientation Session for Foundation 2025

Thurs 12 End of Year & Graduation Mass 2.15pm

Gr 6 Graduation

Fri 13 Gr 5 & 6 Fun Day

School Reports go out

Tues 17 Last day of school 1pm dismissal

Wed 18 to Fri 20 Planning days for 2025

2025

January

Tues 28 First day of school for teachers

Wed 29 & Thurs 30 Individual Testing Days

Fri 31 First day of school for all students

February

March

Fri 3 Student Free day (Staff Professional Learning in RE)