Dear Parents,

As we begin a new school year it is timely to reflect on the church’s theme of our Jubilee year - a year of Hope. This theme will guide us, here at St Joseph’s throughout the year, inspiring our learning, growth, and the ways we come together as a community. Just as a Jubilee celebrates resilience and joy, we look forward to seeing our students reach new heights, build lasting connections, and contribute positively to the world around them.

Our opening school Mass on Thursday had this theme underpinning it, of us all as pilgrims on a journey of hope.  The Mass was a beautiful experience, with much reverence, strong voices and an immense feeling of community and tradition. The leadership commissioning ceremony was equally wonderful and we are so very proud of our Year 6 student leadership team and wish them well in their roles this year.

Thanks goes to Fr Greg for celebrating this special occasion with us and for his great words about being welcoming people as well as us all being teachers in our various roles in life, students, staff and parents.  Thanks also to Mrs Leanne Skinner, who in her new role as REC prepared a beautiful experience for us all and for all those who helped with it and came to celebrate with us. 

Principal Professional Renewal Leave

I will be taking professional renewal leave and long service leave from Monday March 10^th and will return on Monday 26^th May. This time away will include a period of spiritual reflection, a type of pilgrimage in the Shetland Islands and Italy, as well as visits to schools in the UK. I am also honoured to have the opportunity to volunteer in Rome for the Jubilee.

During my time away, I will keep you and your families in my prayers, and I kindly ask that you do the same for me. I look forward to returning with renewed energy and perspective.

In my absence, I am pleased to share that Mrs Nicole Charnock will step into the role of Principal. I have full confidence in her leadership, and I know she will have your support as she takes on this responsibility. Mrs Anne-Maree Mantach will teach 1 Blue during this time.

Remi- Therapy Dog

For the time I am away Remi, will also be taking a sabbatical or period of leave.  Since she is officially my dog, though she is everyone’s dog when she is at school, she will be enjoying some down time with relatives until my return.  We know she is smart but not quite smart enough to get herself off to school from Central Coast to Newcastle on her own.  If any of the children feel the need, or just want, to reach out and stay connected with Remi they are more than welcome to, by sharing writing, drawings etc with her.  

Kindergarten 

Kindergarten has been buzzing with excitement as our newest students embark on their educational journey! It's been a smooth transition for all, with our little ones settling seamlessly into the Kinder space.  This morning most Kinder parents came along to see their children in their learning spaces and were very grateful for this opportunity. We extend our heartfelt thanks to all parents for their unwavering support and diligent preparations leading up to this significant milestone. Together, we're providing a nurturing environment where every child can thrive and grow.

School Holiday Upgrades

Once again, over the school holidays work on upgrading our school site took place.  The exterior of the Infants block, including window frames and eaves etc.  along with handrails in that block and hall doors, were all painted.  The air conditioning in the staff room was replaced and solar panels were installed on the Administration block. New carpet and some under floor carpentry work took place in one of the Year 4 classrooms.

Student Absences 

Don’t forget that it is a legal requirement to inform the school, in writing, of your children’s absences.  This can be done via Compass or a written note; either way, please outline what the reason is.  Please explain whether your child is sick, in isolation, attending an appointment, on holiday, refusing to come to school, a family emergency etc. Even on Compass it doesn’t suffice to just indicate they are absent – a detailed reason is required.  

Families are encouraged to travel during school holidays. If travel in excess of 10 school days is necessary, an Application for Extended Leave needs to be completed. Absences relating to travel will be marked as leave on the roll and therefore contribute to your child’s total absences for the year. Please contact the office for details about these leave requests, as there is now an online document. These requests need to be made in advance of the requests leave in order for us to fulfill our mandated requirements around this. On a number of occasions last year we only received the requests a couple of days before departure.  If this occurs we will not be able to issue you with a leave approval certificate and this will be reflected on your children’s attendance records. This is also significant as legally you are meant to carry with you the school issued certificate and can be asked for it at airports, ports etc. 

Canteen

We are very happy to announce that thanks to the generous support of the P&F we now have a brand new oven installed in the canteen.  It will require some time to learn how to use it but I am sure Donna Mansour and Kristy Hatherly , our two canteen staff members, will soon master it.  We look forward to seeing what new additions will be made to the menu over the coming months.

Volunteers

We love to have our families involved in the various services and activities we provide here at St Joseph’s, so if you would like to assist with activities such as excursions, carnivals, canteen, uniform shop, classroom activities and any other activities that may come up, please ensure you have completed all the necessary Volunteers documentation so that you can go on the approved list. 

What you need to do: 

• Go to Volunteer Registration 

There is no longer any need to print off and complete any forms that are in the Volunteer Policy or the Code of Conduct resource that are included on this page. 

• Answer the questions, then you will receive an email explaining about the police check with Verify Now. Complete this process.
• Once we have been informed that your police check has come back, we are able to enlist your services.  We have been told this process can take up to 3 weeks and our past experiences have been even longer (3 months at times). So, if you think you might like to volunteer for something this year, even if is just one activity, we strongly encourage you to start the registration process as soon as possible.

Uniforms

Wearing the school uniform is part of our Positive Behaviour for Learning framework, where the children show care and pride in both themselves. It is also something that you, as parents, agree to support as part of your enrolment agreement.  The adherence to a uniform policy is very often mentioned in enrolment interviews by prospective families as something that they are looking for in a school.  We believe that over the years the St Joseph’s community has worked hard at establishing a comfortable, practical and smart looking uniform for all our students and that it helps in connecting all the students to our community.

Key Points regarding Uniforms:

• Black school shoes (not sports types shoes, without embellishments and of a ‘smooth’ surface)
• White, or predominantly white, trainers with white laces

See Uniform- School Shoe Requirements  

• Shoulder length, or longer, hair is to be tied back and hair needs to be cut in such a way that it does not hang in children’s eyes or is fastened back with appropriate hair accessories. This applies to both boys and girls.
• Jewellery may include plain ‘sleepers’ or studs, without gem stones. Necklaces, friendship bands and anklets are not part of the school uniform.
• Hair accessories that are only in school colours of blue and/or gold are acceptable.
• Temporary tattoos, nail polish and make-up are also not part of our uniform.

In the case of your child not being able to wear the full school uniform at any stage, please follow our policy requirements of providing your child’s class teacher with a brief explanation through a note or email to school admin. Thank you for your support in helping us to encourage and maintain your children’s pride in our school.

P & F 

Our first Parents and Friends meeting for 2025 was held on Wednesday evening, which also include our Annual General Meeting (AGM). Despite only a small group of parents attending we are very lucky to have a keen group who accepted executive positions and are very keen to support the home school connections that have always been strong here.  I am very grateful to the outgoing executive team and for all the hard work and many hours work that they put in to give your children and our families so many wonderful opportunities.  Please see the P&F section of this newsletter for the updates.

Pick up arrangements

In order to avoid costly fines please ensure that you follow the traffic rules for Kiss and Ride Zones. The rule is that you cannot park and get out of your car to walk your child in or to collect them. You are also not allowed to wait in a line of traffic to pick up, if you are blocking a parked car.  You are required to drive around the block and keep the flow of traffic happening.  We understand how frustrating this is, but we cannot do anything about this.  Our suggestions are:  

1. Do not all come right on bell time. If you delay your arrival the cars will flow smoothly through Kiss and Ride and you will not be held up, timewise, any more than you would be, sitting in the queue.  Teachers will not leave students on the footpath on their own, they will be cared for.  
2. Use the services of our school crossing supervisor and let your children walk across the crossing and then down one of the side streets where you will be parked.  They don’t need to cross any major roads on their own and you don’t get stuck in a traffic jam.  This is a particularly helpful practice if your children are in Primary.

Remember to use your laminated name cards – place them on the visor of your car, which is to be pulled down as you approach Kiss and Ride. If you need any more of these cards throughout the year or for extra family members, contact the office.

Pedestrian pickup is in the school playground or at the parish car park gates.  We are continuing to use the one-way system: Enter via the Union St main gate and exit by the parish car park gates.  This system ensures a safer afternoon departure practice for both students and families. We ask that you do not take offence if a staff member asks you to exit via the appropriate gates if they notice this practice is not occurring.

2025 Staff

We hope you find this list of staff names and photos useful over the course of this year. 

Thank you for the preparations you have made to send your children back to school happy and organised. I hope the year has got off to a good start for you all.

Here’s to a year full of hope, discovery, and meaningful connections!

Karen