Filter Content
- Message from our Principal
- 2024 Upcoming Event Dates
- Religious Education
- Child Safety and Wellbeing Policies
- Arrival and Departure Routines
- Emergency Management - Bushfires
- Meet our Staff
- Teaching & Learning - Staff Professional Development
- Medical Profiles & Emergency Contact Details
- General Information
- Parents and Friends
- Public Notices
Dear Parents, Guardians and Carers,
We have had a great start to the 2024 school year. Our new classrooms are being well used and enjoyed by everyone across the school, especially Year 1 and 2 students. We have welcomed many new families and look forward to meeting everyone at the family barbeque on Thursday evening.
Families who have children preparing for the Sacrament of Reconciliation were treated to an information session with Father Elio Capra last week. Father Elio is well known for his humour and uplifting sessions. We wish these families well as their children prepare for this beautiful peaceful sacrament.
This week marks the beginning of Lent. Lent is the time when we have 40 days of preparation for Easter. Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent. We will be having a parish Mass here at St Joseph’s School on Wednesday morning. Year 6 students will be attending a leadership day in Sale on that day so they will have a liturgy at school on Tuesday to receive the ashes and mark this special time.
Please ensure your child brings a drink bottle to school for water. The coming days are going to be very warm and we all need to keep well hydrated. On days of extreme heat, the students will remain indoors for break times.
I look forward to meeting you all over the coming weeks.
Kind regards,
Roslyn Joyner
Principal
2024
Term 1
Wednesday 31 January - Wednesday 27 March
Thursday 15 February Welcome Family BBQ
Sunday 18 February Commitment Mass for the Sacrament of Reconciliation
Wednesday 21 February Athletics Carnival
Mon 26 – Wed 28 February Year 6 Sovereign Hill Camp
Tue 12 – Wed 13 March Parent & Teacher Interviews
Wednesday 13 March School Photos
Mon 18 – Wed 20 March Year 5 Camp Rumbug
Tuesday 19 March St Joseph’s Day
Friday 22 March Easter Raffle – special assembly at 2:30pm
Wednesday 27 March Last day of Term 1 for students
Term 2
Monday 15 April – Friday 28 June
Friday 26 April Pupil Free Day
Tuesday 11 June Pupil Free Day
Term 3
Monday 15 July – Friday 20 September
Wednesday 14 August Pupil Free Day
Term 4
Tuesday 8 October – Tuesday 17 December
Monday 4 November School Closure Day
A reminder that there is a commitment Mass this Sunday, 18th February at St. Ita's Church in Drouin at 10.30am for families who have not yet attended a commitment Mass.
If you have any questions, please feel free to email Liz, the Sacrament Coordinator: Warragul.sacraments@
Ash Wednesday Mass
Parents and friends are welcome to attend our Ash Wednesday Mass, this Wednesday at 9:30am in our School Hall.
A message from Deacon Mark
Which program am I with?
Jews in Jesus’ time saw illness as punishment for some kind of sin or unfaithfulness but Jesus wasn’t having any of that! His message is that God doesn’t see them that way but instead Jesus is especially devoted to the ill, marginal, unwashed and unwanted above everyone else. He came nearest to those who were seen as God’s forsaken, touching the lepers (Mark 1:40-45) whom no-one else would touch, assuring them of the Father’s boundless love and restoring their dignity. “Of course I want to (cure you)!”, he says. And does so.
Beyond the crippling physical effects of bodily disease, the overwhelming tragedy of these sufferers is the shame and humiliation of being shunned as dirty and repulsive. Ostracism and exclusion from normal lives and participation in community activities and events eroded their dignity. We meet such people in the streets of our towns today.
Jesus Program: Caring lovingly for the unwashed and unwanted. Catholic icons like Saint Teresa of Calcutta, Saint Mary McKillop, Pope Francis and other Christians and non-Christians have made Christ-like care their life’s work. Ambiguously Christian, Eric Blair (aka George Orwell), the profoundly influential author of Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty Four, lovingly served the dirty, shunned and unwanted, those with horrendous skin conditions; cleaning and binding disgusting ulcers and wounds, restoring dignity to the ostracised.
Anti-Jesus Program: Excluding from their love and the community’s care those who don’t fit a particular work ethic or moral code, class, ethnicity, race or gender profile. Those (including erstwhile Christians) who by act or omission, directly or indirectly, shun, ostracise, berate, deprive, neglect and humiliate the poor, unwashed, lonely, ill, frightened or fleeing are following the anti-Jesus program.
Jesus is our model and guide. His followers must bind and comfort where we can, support the experts who can do what is beyond us and, as citizens and taxpayers, ensure our governments wisely and compassionately spend our resources.
Deacon Mark Kelly
St Joseph's Warragul is committed to creating an environment where the safety, wellbeing and participation of all children and young people is paramount.
Please read through our Child Safety and Wellbeing policy.
Families are always encouraged to provide feedback to the school around additional ways to keep children safe. If you have any feedback or suggestions, please contact the school office.
Our Child Friendly version of our Child Safety and Wellbeing policy was completed last year. This version of our Child Safety and Wellbeing policy uses simple language and is easy for our students to follow. Students have had an opportunity to review this version of our policy in the first few weeks of the year. It is timely to read through the document with your family.
Maintaining a safe environment for our students and families is a priority of our school and particular arrival and departure routines are in place to keep everyone safe. Please read the following information to ensure you are well informed about our before and after school routines.
Carline
Burke Street Gate
The Burke Street Gate is open from 8:30am each morning and is supervised. The gate is open for children walking to school using the crossing. In the afternoon, the gate is reopened. Student will only be allowed to exit the gate and turn left to use the crossing.
It is prohibited to park on the grass area of Marist Football Oval and have students exit the Burke Street Gate and turn right. The bus driveway is extremely unsafe to cross at drop off and pick up times.
Walkers
Each afternoon, a staff member safely walks a group of students around the Marist Sion bus bowl to the Marist Sion office area. Here, students can then continue on their way safely to the Marist carline or continue to rejoin the footpath along Burke Street. As you can imagine and most likely have experienced, the traffic on Burke Street at drop off and pick up times is extremely chaotic. We discourage students walking along the Marist football field side of Burke Street and then darting unsafely across the street further down from the school. If your child walks to and from school, speak with them about safe walking practices, utilising crossings and safe passages.
The bushfire season is upon us and normally runs from October until April.
As St. Joseph’s is located in a high-risk bushfire area, the school will be pre-emptively closed in the event that the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) issues a Code Red Fire Danger Rating warning for the weather district in which this school is located (West and South Gippsland - Region). A decision is made at 12:00pm the day before if possible, and will not change regardless of changing weather conditions. If possible, three-days notice may be given to families about the closure. When a school is closed in response to bushfire risk, no one will be permitted on site. This is a part of our emergency management plan for St. Joseph's and every effort will be made to give you advanced warning of a closure.
As the school year began, our staff participated in a professional development day delivered by Dataworks USA and presenter Larry Federico from America. Larry presented key learning in Explicit Direct Instruction (EDI), our preferred teaching method when delivering new content to our students. Delivering explicit and direct instruction to students ensures that new learning and content is structured, unambiguous and clear. This is our second year working on EDI lessons and Larry further educated staff on lesson development and delivery.
At the beginning of each school year, we remind parents and carers that it is time to review your child/ren's medical profile on PAM. Any changes in medical needs should be communicated to the school to ensure that we provide the most up-to-date care for our students. If emergency contact details have changed or emails, phone numbers need updating, please contact the office to provide the updates necessary. The most efficient way to provide these details to the office would be to email - info@stjwarragul.catholic.edu.au
If your child is affected by Anaphylaxis or has any allergies and requires an ASCIA Allergy Plan developed by your child's doctor, please provide information and a copy to the office. In addition, Asthma plans may need updating, please ensure that these are also current. If your child has medication stored at our school, please check with the office that the medication is still in date and there is ample supply.
2024
Term 1 Wednesday 31 January - Wednesday 27 March
Term 2 Monday 15 April - Friday 28 June
Term 3 Monday 15 July - Friday 20 September
Term 4 Monday 7 October - Friday 20 December
Zooper Doopers
Super Zooper Dooper Thursdays are back!
Lunch Orders
- are every Wednesday and Friday
- can be placed using the Flexischools app
- are delivered to school for the first break at 11:30am
- can be placed until 11:00pm the night before from a full menu
- can be placed until 9:00am on Wednesday and Friday mornings from a limited menu
School Uniform
During Term 1 and Term 4, all students are required to wear a school hat when outdoors, including breaks, outdoor learning tasks and PE sessions. If you are looking to purchase a school hat, please speak to the office or drop into Beleza in Warragul. All students should be in their full summer uniform, including correct socks and shoes. Wearing the school uniform correctly demonstrates school pride and identity. Please ensure your child has the correct uniform on the correct days. We appreciate your support.
Lost Property
Rapid Antigen Tests are available from the school office.
Please note that if your child tests positive to Covid-19, it is strongly recommended that students:
- Who test positive to COVID-19 should stay home and isolate for five (5) days;
- Should not attend school after five (5) days if still symptomatic;
- Who are symptomatic but have not tested positive should not attend school until their symptoms resolve;
- Parents, guardians or carers advise the school of the COVID-19 positive test result.
To assist with limiting the spread of COVID-19 and other illnesses, parents, guardians and carers should be strongly encouraged to ensure that their child(ren) remain at home if they are unwell, including if they have tested positive to COVID-19.
Absences & Holidays
In Victoria, it is compulsory for children and young people aged 6–17 years to attend school.
Parents are legally required to ensure their child attends school every day and to provide an explanation for their child's absence from school unless an exemption from attendance has been granted or an exception to their attendance applies.
Absences
If your child is away sick or away due to a planned absence or appointment, please ensure you advise the school office. Student absence text messages are sent out if your child is marked as absent without a reason. In some cases, if you email your child's classroom teacher, they may be away and may not be able to check their emails to forward to the office. It is imperative that you notify the office through one of the following methods:
1. Log into PAM (Parent Access Module) and register your child's absence;
2. Email absence@stjwarragul.catholic.edu.au
3. Phone the office on 5623 2943
When sending an email, you may wish to "cc" your child's classroom teacher so they are aware of the absence too.
Holidays
If you are planning an extended holiday (a week or more) during the school term, please email info@stjwarragul.catholic.edu.au addressing your intentions to our Principal, Mrs Roslyn Joyner.
Parents and Friends - Welcome
On behalf of our wonderful Parents and Friends Committee (P&F), we extend a warm welcome to the 2024 school year to all of our families- new and existing. We are looking forward to an exciting calendar of events this year and thank you in advance for your support.
The P&F aims to support our school through fundraising, providing enjoyable activities for the children and contributing to a sense of community across our school family.
We look forward to seeing you at our first event for the year, the Welcome BBQ. This will be held this Thursday 15 February from 6pm on the school oval. Please bring a picnic rug/ chairs and your own drinks (no alcohol please), with BBQ food supplied. Please RSVP at: https://www.trybooking.com/COZJX
Join us on Facebook
We welcome all families to join our P&F Facebook page, a great place to ask any questions you might have and to engage with our school community - please search 'Parents and Friends of St Joseph's Primary School Warragul'.
Second Hand Uniforms
We have racks of clean second-hand school uniforms, available for a gold coin donation.
View these in the hall at assemblies or contact the P&F Committee on stjosephswarragulpandf@gmail.com or the school office.
P&F Meetings
P&F meetings are generally held on the first Friday of each month (except during school holidays) at 2.00pm (or 1.30pm on assembly days) at the school. Our next meeting is scheduled for Friday 1 March.
If you would like to be involved, we would love to have you! Please reach out to us via email stjosephswarragulpandf@gmail.com, send us a message through our Facebook page or just turn up.
NOTICEBOARD