Dear Parents,

As we come to the end of our school year, I would like to say thank you for the welcome and acceptance you have shown towards me this year. I have had a terrific first year here at St Joseph’s and am very grateful to be part of this community. As I reflect over the year, I can’t believe how eventful it has been.  Some of the highlights for me this year have been winning the playground grant, our school musical, ‘Just One More’, the combined Masses with Holy Family at the Cathedral, the FFL team making it to the National competition, the Year 6 retreat, the Kindy Picnic in the Park, our Working Bee, the completion of a new toilet block, the public speaking and maths and spelling bee competitions, the school disco and of course, all the incredible learning that has taken place!

I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to all those families and friends who have volunteered their time, services and gifts with us here at St Joseph’s.  Without your support we would not be able to achieve all that we do or as well as we do it.  Our volunteers help out with things as varied as Library borrowing and canteen assistance, shovelling dirt and rocks at working bees and organising or lending a hand at fundraisers and barbecuing sausages; they help out in the classrooms and on excursions; with Playgroup and craft activities and as chauffeurs and team managers and coaches.  The list of tasks is immense, and the staff and students are so very grateful to all of you for your help and assistance.

I would also like to offer my sincere thanks to the wonderful staff I have the privilege of working with. Our teachers, support staff in classes and the office are all amazing and incredibly hard working. Their passion for children and learning is obvious every day and it is a joy to come to work in such a positive place each day.  They always have the children’s best interests at heart and it is wonderful to be part of such a caring community.

I would especially like to offer my sincere gratitude to our leadership team.  Renata Powell, Stephanie Colvin and Nicole Charnock undertake their leadership roles with great passion and they have been a wonderful support to me over the course of this year.  A leader of any organisation or team cannot be effective without the assistance of a support network and I am very appreciative of all they have assisted me with this year.

My final thanks I wish to extend goes to all our students.  Thank you for being the well-mannered, caring, happy to learn group of young people that you are.  You have all grown in so many ways this year, not just in size, and you should be very proud of yourselves.

Christmas Concert

What a fabulous night we had on Wednesday evening with our family picnic and Christmas Concert.  The varied musical pieces that, put together, told the story of Jesus’ birth and showed us all that celebrating the birth of Jesus with friends and family is what is important at this time of the year. The simplicity of the night – sausage sandwiches, music, simple costumes and good company was, I believe what made it such a good evening.  Thank you so much for coming out and helping to share the spirit of Christmas with our St Joseph’s family.  Events like this that are supported by parents mean a lot to the children and help to strengthen our community.  Thanks also to the small, but incredibly hard working team of parents who cooked and prepared our sausage sandwiches, and especially to Meagan Boyle for all the organisation that went into this and to Nathan Zervos for the donation of the bottled water.

OOSH

For those parents who were unable to attend the meeting last Monday evening I would just like to confirm that there will be an OOSH service here at St Joseph’s in 2020. It is also hoped that a vacation care program in January will be provided. I understand the difficulties that many of you are experiencing through not having final confirmation of what is happening and will do my best to obtain this. As soon as I receive details about both of these services, I will forward them to you. At the moment there are information and enrolment packs for St Nicholas OOSH that can be collected from the school office. Parents were informed on Monday evening that anyone who has had their places for next year confirmed by KCA will have a place for 2020. Please keep your ‘confirmation of place’ email for verification purposes.

Playground Update

After a lot of discernment, we have now appointed a contractor for revitalising our playground. Site meetings have been undertaken and contracts issued. This means that once we break up for the holidays they will come in and fence off sections of our playground and begin to transform our dusty paddock. Throughout the month of January if you pass by the school grounds you will be able to view the progress of this project. It is going to be so exciting coming back to school next year to a totally different environment!

If anyone knows of a house or any other accommodation that the 4 contractors could stay in for most of the month of January please contact the office with details. Many thanks.

Staffing

As we are still finalising staffing for next year, I am unable to share with you which teachers are taking the different classes for 2020. We will share this information with you prior to the ‘step up’ session on Monday 16th December. The ‘step up’ session is a chance for your children to step up to the next class and where they get to meet their new teacher and their new cohort of classmates.

End of Year Arrangements

School for 2019 formally finishes for our students on Wednesday 18th December.  If your child will be commencing their holidays earlier than this date, please inform the office.  This is necessary so that the children’s book work and belongings can be sent home with them. 

Reports

Semester Two reports go home next week. We encourage you, even though it is an extremely busy time of the year for everyone to make the time to not only read your child’s report but to sit down and talk to them about it. Let your children know what you are proud of them for and also let them know what you think they need to work on next year. Engage them in this discussion with you. Ask them what they are most proud of in regards to their learning and what they will have as a goal for their learning next year.  This way you know the goals they want to set for themselves and before school goes back next year you can remind them of this and talk to them about how they could make these goals happen. If you leave the report discussion until after the holidays the children have moved on from this last year and it is too hard for them to take their minds back. If you think you will forget their goals over the holidays why not write them down so you can refer back to them when you and your children are making your ‘Back to School’ preparations. Please contact your child’s teacher to make an appointment or telephone interview time if you would like to discuss their report or alternatively you may wish to make an appointment early next term with their new teacher and bring along this report to refer for discussions around where or how to go forward.

Medical Action Plans

If your child has a medical action plan it is a requirement that this be updated annually. We ask that over the holidays you meet with your child's medical carers to write a new plan and on return to school please arrange a time to come in and explain the plan to both office staff and the class teacher.

Summer Holiday Reading

Just because it is holiday time does not mean it is "NO READING TIME".  In actual fact it is probably the opposite.  There are far more times and opportunities for the children to read over the holidays than school time and for them to really engage with texts.  I'm sure Santa has on his list, books or magazines for every one of our children! Please encourage your children to read over the holidays. It is not meant to be a chore. Why not make time to read together as a family over this break time.  If your children do not read at all over the holidays it is a common thing for them to drop back 2-4 reading levels when they return to school. This is a loss of 1-2 terms worth of reading progress. Do you really what your child to spend the first term catching up on where they left off at the end of this year? If not, please ensure that regular reading of 'anything' is occurring.

Uniforms

The new sports polo shirts arrive at Lowes this month. Once we have received confirmation that they are in stock we will share this with you.

In preparation for next year we ask that you read the following information about footwear.

Shoes

In 2020 the existing school policy in reference to footwear will be enforced. This means that for both girls and boys black leather school shoes are expected to be worn. These may be lace ups, Velcro or ‘Mary Jane’ style shoes. The subject of footwear has come up at several recent P&F meetings which has led to research and discussions with the school leadership team. We have decided to continue with the black leather footwear for the summer and winter uniforms rather than a black trainer style shoe. Choosing to stay with the traditional black leather shoe means that there is a greater variety of shoes out there for all children that can accommodate the different sizes, characteristics and needs of their feet.  Clarks’ Daytona style, for example, has 184 different fittings available.

“Putting kids into the wrong fitting shoes is a recipe for foot and leg problems. Aside from each foot having a unique shape and function, children's feet are in constant state of change due to growth and stress from sports and play. This means an incorrect shoe fit can alter the way a child's foot moves and develops, says podiatrist Joseph Frankel.”

The following links explain what to look for when purchasing school shoes and how to care for them.  The one common piece of advice is to have your children’s feet professionally measured when purchasing the shoes.

https://www.choice.com.au/babies-and-kids/education-and-childcare/education/articles/school-shoes

https://clarks.com.au/facts-for-parents/

https://www.cwfootandankle.com.au/single-post/2017/01/05/Back-to-school-What-shoes-does-the-podiatrist-buy-his-kids

https://shoesandsox.com.au/blog/product-care-guide/

In regard to sports shoes the children need to wear predominantly white trainers.  Skate shoes or ‘athleisure’ shoes are not acceptable as they do not provide the adequate safety and support to your children.  Again, sports shoes can be lace ups or Velcro. Please ensure that laces are white.

I am aware that it is easy purchase trainers of many varied colours but it is also possible to purchase predominantly white trainers relatively easy as well.  Stores such as Myer, Athlete’s Feet, Foot Locker, JD Sports, David Jones, Williams, Target, Big W and Rebel all sell them and in a quick online search I found that they range in price from $25 to $180.

Some of the various brands that I have found who have white trainers include: Nike, Adidas, Ascent, Asics, New Balance, Lacoste, Converse,  Lonsdale, Fila and Grosby.

Examples of Black Leather School Shoes

Examples of Predominantly White Sports Shoes

If all white cannot be found, then predominantly white is required with a minimal additional colour.

The additional colour needs to be royal or navy blue

Important Dates