Newsletter 15, 18th September 2025

Principal's Report

Hello to Families and all in the St Joseph's School Community,

Welcome back to Term Four! I hope the holidays provided a chance for rest, renewal, and family time. Term Four is always an exciting and busy period, full of learning, special events, and preparation for the year ahead.

Catholic Mission Month
October is Catholic Mission Month, an important time in the Catholic Church calendar when Christians reflect on the call to live with faith, hope, and love through acts of service. The purpose of this month is to deepen students’ understanding of mission and encourage them to see themselves as active participants in making a difference in the lives of others, both locally and globally. Our school will be engaging in prayer and classroom activities throughout the month. The Senior Class will organise some activities for Mission Week, 19th-25th October, towards a fundraising  effort to support the work of Catholic Mission. Stay tuned!

Parent–Teacher Meetings
This term, parent–teacher meetings will take place to provide a valuable opportunity for partnership between home and school. These meetings allow teachers to share progress, celebrate achievements, and discuss strategies for ongoing growth. They also give parents and carers the chance to ask questions, offer insights, and strengthen the relationship that underpins each child’s success. We thank you for your continued support in making these conversations a priority.
These meetings are schduled for next week - please jump on PAM and pick your slot. If there is no time that suits your schedule contact the Office for an alternative time slot. 

No School Crossing
The school crossing is currently unsupervised as the shire works to staff the position. I ask all families to be mindful of this as the wellbeing and safety of our community remain our highest priority.

Camps and School Transitions
Term Four also brings important milestones for many students. Camps provide rich opportunities for personal growth, independence, and resilience, and we look forward to hearing the stories and highlights from these experiences. In addition, transition programs for our Year 6 students moving to secondary school, and for our 2026 Foundation students beginning their journey with us, are already underway. These transitions are vital in helping students feel prepared, confident, and excited about the next step in their education. See further information below.

Thank you for your ongoing support of our school community. Term Four promises to be a term of learning, fun, endings and new beginnings!  I look forward to sharing it with you every step of the way!

Warm regards in faith and learning,
Mary

Prayer of Thanks

Prayer of Thanks

Loving God,
We give thanks for the gift of our school community.
For families who support us with love, encouragement, and care.
For staff who bring energy, creativity, and dedication to all they do.
For students who give their best, sharing their talents, enthusiasm, and joy.

As we come to the end of this term, we pray for a safe and restful holiday break.
May it be a time of renewal, joy, and togetherness for all,
so that we return refreshed and ready for the term ahead.

Bless our school, that it may always be a place of learning, growth, and kindness.
Amen.

Important Dates

October 16th - Performance of "BIKE CIRCUS" at Charlton College & visit to Nursing Home
October 19th - Mission week begins - activities to be confirmed
October 23rd - Blast Cricket in Boort - Gr 5&6
October 24th- Celebration of World Teacher's Day
October 27th - SCHOOL CLOSURE DAY - Structured Literacy
November 3rd - SCHOOL CLOSURE DAY - Assessment & Reporting
November 4th - Melbourne Cup Public Holiday
November 5&6th - Sovereign Hill Camp - Gr 3/4
November 10, 11 &12th - Creswick Log Cabin Camp - Gr 5/6
December 11th - First Reconciliation at 6:00pm
December 16th - End of Year Mass, Graduation & BBQ from 6:00pm
December 17th - Final day of Term Four for students

DOBCEL Student-Free Guidelines and Procedures
Student-free days are days where students do not attend school within the gazetted attendance period but are designated for staff professional development, school professional development activities, planning and/or report-writing. Each year, the first day of term one and the last day of term four will be a student-free day in all schools. PLEASE NOTE THE STUDENT-FREE DATES remaining FOR 2025. 
Monday 27 October - Staff professional learning - Structured Literacy
Monday 3 November - Assessment and Reporting 

The Time Machine - a journey through time

                     A fabulous team effort by all at St Joe's! Congratulations - and enjoy the images below!

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Annual School Fundraiser

The annual PnF Fundraiser for 2025 was drawn last night at the School Concert.  The lucky winner was Murray McDonald.

School Camps & Excursions in Term Four

In Term Four, as the weather improves, all students will have the opportunity to experience further school excursions or overnight camps. 

Excursions and camps are an important part of school life. They take learning beyond the classroom, giving students the chance to explore new environments, develop independence, and strengthen friendships. Whether it’s a local day trip or a multi-day camp, these experiences encourage problem-solving, teamwork, and resilience.

Students often return with a deeper sense of confidence and connection—not only to what they’ve learned, but also to each other and their teachers. Camps and excursions create memories that last a lifetime and are a valuable way of supporting both academic learning and personal growth.

F/1/2 - a day excursion (to Ballarat Wildlife Park on Thursday 30th October

3/4 - November 5/6 Sovereign Hill

5/6 - November 10/11/12 Log Cabin Camp Creswick

To help boost our numbers and make our overnight camps more affordable, we will join with the students from St Mary's School Donald, as we have done previously. 

Permission forms for the 5/6 Camp have been posted on PAM.

The Flying Bookworm Show

The Flying Bookworm show was a fabulous way to bring to life the junior students' narrative work with fairy tales. The actors focused on thee different fairy tales; Jack & the Beanstalk, The Enormous Turnip and Goldilocks and the Three Bears. We were joined by P/1/2 from St Mary's Donald and some of our younger St Joseph's siblings!

2026 Enrolments Now Open

A place to belong. A place to thrive. A place where every child matters.
At St Joseph's School we are proud to offer a nurturing environment where children grow in mind, heart and spirit.
Inspired by our Catholic tradition, we walk with each child on their unique journey - celebrating who they are and guiding who they are becoming!
Commitment to child safety & well-being
Learning that inspires - explicit instruction and individualised support
A welcoming community celebrating diversity
Living our values everyday- we are safe, responsible & respectful
Structured Literacy
Auslan Language Curriculum
Evidence based data-driven practices
No fees for Prep enrolments
Experience the St Joseph's difference! We invite you to discover what makes our school a truly special place.

https://www.sjcharlton.catholic.edu.au/

Students of the Week

Foundation/1 Class Report

Welcome back to Term 4! 

I hope everyone had a nice relaxing break, enjoying time with families and friends. 

We have jumped straight back into our routines and the children are excited for what’s to come this term. 

We are back into our Phonics sessions and the students are continuing to expand their knowledge and learn new sounds each day. 

In Maths, Foundation and Grade 1 are exploring data concepts and learning how to collect data and create tally’s and bar graphs. 

We are investigating the 5 senses in Physical Science and how these senses keep us safe in the real world. 

I am putting the final steps in place to finalise our excursion for this term so keep an eye out for location and dates.

Enjoy the week and enjoy this glorious weather. 

Katie Brown 

Grade 2/3 Class Report

Grade 4/5/6 Class Report

Week 1 Term 4

It has been great to see all students arrive back at school well rested and safe and sound from their holidays.  Everyone has settled smoothly back into the classroom routines and has participated enthusiastically in this week's learning activities. 

In the area of Writing, students have begun learning how to write informative texts. They have watched a virtual tour of Melbourne Zoo and are beginning to research an animal of their choice. Students will then plan, create, revise and publish an informative text about their animal. We have been playing the game “Battleship” in Mathematics this week with students having to plot coordinates on a cartesian plane. 

In Religious Education our theme this term is “Openess”. Students listened to the story of Jesse Martin who sailed solo around the world and discussed what it is like to be “open” to challenges and new possibilities in our lives. In Science and Technology we are going to be investigating the different forces that make things move.

We are looking forward to a very busy Term Four filled with lots of exciting learning and events to come.

Mr Lanyon

Wellbeing with Mrs Wright

Welcome back to Term 4. I hope everyone had an enjoyable break, catching up on those little things that we enjoy and spending time with family and friends.

Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships

Over the next couple of weeks we will be looking at - 

P - 2 Emotional Literacy - It feels good when people like us just the way we are.

3 - 6 Personal and Cultural Strengths - How we use our personal and cultural strengths.

Child Safety

The care, safety and wellbeing of children and young people is a central and fundamental responsibility of Catholic Education. St Joseph’s School is committed to strengthened practice for the protection of children in line with the Victorian Government child safety reforms.

Child Safety - digital images

Taking Photos/Video Footage
A reminder to parents and family members to please ensure, when at school events, to take photos or video footage of your child/ren only. Please do NOT post photos of children, other than your own, at school events or wearing school uniform, on personal social media pages other than your own. Thank you for your cooperation in using social media respectfully helping to keep everyone in our school community safe online.  

Community News

Acknowledgement of Country

We acknowledge the Dja Dja Wurrung people as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of this land.  We pay respect to Elders past, present and emerging. We thank them for sharing their cultures, spiritualities and ways of living with the land, in this place we all now call home.