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- Principal's Report
- Prayer
- Prep Neighbourhood
- 3/4 Neighbourhood
- District / Divisional Swimming
- Introducing our SRC Representatives
- STEAM
- Easter Raffle
- Project Compassion 2021 - Be More
- New Enrolments 2022
- Finance Information
- Conveyance Allowance Term 1 2021
- Diary Dates
- Parish News
- Dalyston Football Netball Club
- Wonthaggi Power - Junior Football
- Get Active Kids Voucher Program
Dear Parents, Guardians and Caregivers
We were very grateful to be able to have our Parent Teacher and PSG meetings last week with many parents opting for face to face interviews. The interviews were extremely well attended- thanks to all the parents! The teaching staff were very keen to meet/talk with you and share information about your child/ren so we are better placed to support each child in their learning. Thanks also, to all the parents for cooperating with the COVID restrictions and guidelines and to all the staff who helped things run smoothly, particularly Tracy Allan.
We celebrated ‘Ash Wednesday’ Mass last Wednesday (after it was cancelled the week before) with the Grades 3-6s and Father Darren distributed the ashes to the 1/2 students in their classrooms. Thanks to Father Darren and Belinda O’Brien (our Religious Education Leader) for organising this.
At yesterday’s assembly the Student Representative Council members for 2021 were presented with their badges. Mr Travis Newton coordinates this group which will meet regularly to give students a voice, strengthen student-teacher relationships and help drive initiatives across the school. This year the SRC will focus on sustainability. Mr Newton noted that there were over 80 applications for this group which were of a very high standard. We are thrilled that the students have expressed this enthusiasm and congratulate them all for having a go.
We welcome Ms Janelle Croatto to our staff. Janelle has been employed through the Tutor Learning Initiative, initiated by the Victorian government to support students whose learning has been disrupted as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Janelle will work with selected students, this term on reading, to help accelerate their progress after the impact of COVID 19 and Remote Learning. Janelle will join our team of classroom teachers, support teachers and Education Support Officers in targeting the needs of students and providing appropriate support for their learning.
This week we have a school closure day on Friday when the staff will be participating in a professional development day with a focus on Writing. We have been using the Big Write approach for a few years now and it is time to refresh and deepen our knowledge around how to engage and motivate students to write and help them identify and achieve their own writing goals. We have quite a few new staff members so these precious days spent together as a staff help us to build a cohesive, whole school approach and consistent understanding.
I hope you all enjoy the long weekend!
Joanne Coldebella
Acting Principal
Lord Jesus
Open our eyes and hearts
so that we may be able to discern
Your work in our midst and be able to
see your features in every person who
enters our lives today.
Amen
The Prep children have been very busy learning the name and sounds of all the letters in the alphabet. This week we are focusing on the letter 'a', Ally Alligator. In maths we are learning lots of new games that help us with learning our numbers and counting.
We have also been making a class prayer mat with Susanna, it was lots of fun because we got to put paint on our hands. Mrs Martin and Ms Egan have been so impressed with our writing. We are trying really hard to write our own sentence that starts with a capital letter and ends with a full stop.
Prep Team
Hi 3/4 Families!
In the 3/4 neighbourhood we have been very busy!
In reading we are using our comprehension strategy of finding the main idea from a text. We have also started our reading group rotations; during these sessions we might use Study Ladder, read on Epic books, our own novel, write letters to our teachers about our reading, research on KidsNews and use My Literacy on Essential Assessment.
For our maths we have been working on using Google Classroom to ask a question, collect data and represent data on a graph. Next week we will begin our unit on Place Value.
During our writing sessions we are writing to persuade, by using lots of strong, emotive language, literary devices such as rhetorical questions and exaggeration. We are also showing great success in using paragraphs and identifying proper nouns in our writing.
Our learning intention for Integrated Studies is to understand how we can grow to be happy and healthy by knowing when we can trust health messages, how we can eat a healthy balanced diet and participate in activities that develop our identities.
In Religion we are learning about the season of Lent. We attended Ash Wednesday Mass this week and have been researching Project Compassion. Some of our Grade 4’s are also starting to prepare for our Stations of the Cross for the last week of term.
On Friday we participated in a skills session run by the AFL. We all had lots of fun!
We are very proud of the way our 3/4 students are displaying our whole school positive behaviours 'Be Safe, Be Respectful and Be a Learner'. A reminder that we expect our students to bring their filled in reading Faith Diary each Thursday.
3/4 Team
District / Divisional Swimming
15 competitors travelled down to Cowes on Friday February 19, to compete in the District swimming, our first district event in a year! It looked a little different this year, but as always our students did a sensational job in, and out of the pool.
We ended the day with a lot of ribbons, and four students off to compete at the Division Championships on Friday February 26.
Congratulations to all the competitors, you always make our school community proud.
Congratulations to Ruby-Jean 5th Breaststroke and 4th Freestyle, Piper 4th Breaststroke, Roman 4th Breaststroke and Mille 6th Breaststroke. Who all swam beautifully at Divisions, narrowly missing the opportunity to represent our school at the Regional level.
Introducing our SRC Representatives
The St Joseph’s School community are privileged to have a group of students working together with all students on projects that enhance and complement our studies and school environment.
Congratulations to all these students and thank you Mr Newton for coordinating our SRC program.
Mikaela Piasente, Jillian Wallace, Hayden Bell, Turi Holmberg, Gypsy Dawson,Tamsyn Walsh, Teerawhat Panyo, Ella Brauman, Zoe Diesner, Aaron Mesh, Cooper Davies, Maya Newton, Cathal O'Flynn, Anette Jijo-Cherian.
The annual Easter Raffle has always been an excellent fundraiser for the students of our school.
It has always been greatly supported by the families and school community, which has contributed to the purchasing of books, sports equipment and much more while benefiting our children.
All families have received a book of raffle tickets to sell if you would like an additional book please contact the office. Could raffle tickets and Easter egg donations all please be sent into the office by Thursday March 25.
Thank you for all donations already received.
Project Compassion 2021 - Be More
Every year, countless people turn Lent into a demonstration of faith, love and generosity. You can be a part of this incredible community, who believe that there are simple actions we can all take to 'be more' for our world. Each family has received a Project Compassion box, Project Compassion runs for the 40 day duration of Lent and we encourage families if possible to contribute to this cause. Boxes will also be available in your child’s classroom if you wish to make a donation via their classroom. We please ask that Project compassion Boxes be returned to school no later than Wednesday March 31.
Caritas Australia share stories about resilient souls trying to ‘be more’ for their families and communities. Read their inspiring tales, and see how your generosity makes a difference. Click the image below to find out more.
Prep 2022 Tours will take place on Monday 15, Wednesday 17, Monday 22, and Wednesday 24 March. All parents with children wishing to commence Prep at St Joseph's next year are invited to book a tour through the link below and use booking code 7qsf2 or via the school office.
Just a reminder to families if you have a concession and haven't already done so please complete a concession form and a CSEF application, please remember that all concession and CSEF applications need to be accompanied by a copy of your current concession card. If you have any queries please contact the office or email kcarew@stjwonthaggi.catholic.edu.au
Conveyance Allowance Term 1 2021
What is Conveyance Allowance ?
The conveyance allowance is a form of financial assistance to help families in rural and regional Victoria with the cost of transporting their children to their nearest appropriate school/campus. The conveyance allowance is available to eligible students travelling by public transport, private car and private bus. The conveyance allowance is also available to eligible students whose nearest school is not serviced by a free school bus.
Students attending a government or non-government school must:
• attend their nearest government or non-government school/campus appropriate to their year level at which admission is permissible
• be enrolled at a school/campus outside Melbourne’s metropolitan conveyance boundary
• reside 4.8km or more by the shortest practicable route from that school/campus attended
• be of school age (5 to 18 years old at time of application) and reside in Victoria.
Forms are available at the school office, if you have any questions please contact the office or email kcarew@stjwonthaggi.catholic.edu.au
Friday March 5 will be a school closure day for staff proffessional development.
Monday March 8 is Labour Day Public Holiday.
Please pray for those who have passed due to the Covid-19 Virus and the anniversaries of Kevin Dwyer, Kevin Jackson, John Malcolm (Jack) McRae, Fr. John Phelan, Fr. Peter Dawson our own loved ones and the Souls who have no one to pray for them. May God’s merciful love shine on them and on their loved ones left behind.
WEEKEND MASS TIMES:
SATURDAY: ST. JOSEPH’S WONTHAGGI 6:30PM
SUNDAY: OUR LADY STAR OF THE SEA, INVERLOCH 9:00AM St JOSEPH’S, WONTHAGGI 10:30AM
WEEKDAY MASS TIMES:TUESDAY 2nd March OUR LADY STAR OF THE SEA INVERLOCH 11:00AM (Followed by the Stations of the Cross.)
Seahaven Aged Care, Inverloch 1:30pm (Father Darren and Sacristan only)
WEDNESDAY 3rd March, Liturgy 9:30am Wonthaggi ( Father attending Clergy Reflection)
THURSDAY 4th March, Mary MacKillop College Mass Leongatha
FRIDAY 5th March, ST. JOSEPH’S WONTHAGGI MASS 9:30am
World Day of Prayer Our Lady Star of the Sea Inverloch 10:00am
St. George’s Wonthaggi 10:30am (Masks must be worn, social distancing respected and tracking recorded)
LENTEN GROUPS: Will be offered from the week commencing 22nd February,2021. If you would like to be part of a group, please contact the Parish Office 03 56 721 111. Strict COVID practices will be necessary.
WORLD DAY OF PRAYER SERVICE 2021: OUR LADY STAR OF THE SEA, INVERLOCH FRIDAY 5TH MARCH 2021 @ 10:00am. If anyone knows of a person who would be a willing guest speaker to talk about Vanuatu or if people have some memorabilia would you please contact Julie de Bondt on 0407 535 032.
Meditation Group: Will recommence following the Lenten Program. Just thought you may be wondering. Such a special activity and will be welcomed back into our Diary.
WORLD DAY OF PRAYER SERVICE 2021: PRAY FOR VANUATU FRIDAY 5TH MARCH 2021 @ 10:30 a.m. St. Georges Anglican Church, Cnr Hagelthorn and McBride, Wonthaggi Contact Jennifer Boer 0431 44 00 73.
Don Bosco Retreat Centre: Lysterfield
Week Lent Easter Retreat with Fr. Peter Varengo 21-26 February,2021
Saturday 13th March: Family Retreat Day
Saturday 20th March: Youth and Young Adult Reflection Day
Friday 26th March: Seniors Retreat Day Further information: donboscoretreats.org.au
PRAYER SHAWL GROUP
If you know anyone who is struggling with life in any way & would benefit from receiving a shawl or rug, please ring Kristine in the Parish Office or come in and see the range available. There is no charge. Also if people wish to donate wool, we would specify that it needs to be 8ply acrylic. Newcomers are warmly welcomed, even just for a cuppa/chat & help with cleaning up.
Further enquiries: Philippa Warby 0408 331 340 and Maureen Maartensz
0407 055 447.
A list of live streams across the Diocese is on www.cdsale.org.au/coronavirus page. This page has listed the Mass times which occur regularly, ie. Don’t change from week to week.
We have been emailing and sending out important communications from the Diocese and if you would like to be involved and receive this information then please contact the Parish Office on 56 721 111 or email your details to wonthaggi@cdsale.org.au.
We are a Child Safe Parish. Any children, young persons and vulnerable adults have a right to feel safe and be safe. If you are concerned about any form of abuse, or believe that someone is at significant risk, you should immediately raise your concerns with one of our Parish Safeguarding Officers. Contact Kristine McRae via the Parish Office: 03 56 721 111 or St. Joseph’s School Safeguarding Officer 03 56 721 052. Take care, we are here to help.
If you are in need of urgent assistance, please phone eithe Father Darren Howie 0356 722 923 or Kristine on 03 56 72111 or 04999 15 784.
Thank you for your patience and understanding
Father Darren Howie Mrs. Kristine McRae
Parish Priest Parish Secretary
St. Joseph’s Parish Wonthaggi