ST JOSEPH’S PRIMARY SCHOOL TRAFALGAR

Independent, collaborative And innovative learners

Newsletter No. 1. 17th February 2017

Dear Families Welcome to the 2017 School Year! It is great to be back. We warmly welcome our new students and families. Opening School Liturgy It is very important to gather in our church as a school community to mark the beginning of the year. Thank you to the families who were able to participate and thank you to Fr Bernie, Ms Lucy O’Connell, and the teachers for organising it. Refurbishment WOW! WE LOVE IT! Now that we have fresh, clean and inviting classrooms, we plan to have a more positive and invigorating approach to our learning! Next, we plan to soften the front of the school with some landscaping and garden. If you would like to know more or would like to contribute some ideas, please feel welcome to ask me or send me an email. Term 1 Interviews went well. I would like to thank the staff for staying back late both Tuesday and Thursday nights to allow for this. We know building positive family relationships enhances children’s learning, so we are off to a good start. Parents & Friends (P & F) As the new Principal, I’d like to personally invite all our families to be a part of our P & F organisation. It is a great way to meet other parents and to help fundraise for the school. Our first meeting is next week Tuesday February 21st at 9am. It usually only goes for an hour and we plan the year’s work. Please feel especially welcome! Open Water Learning Experience Life Saving Victoria is running an Open Water Learning day at Lake Narracan on Friday

February 24th. Our Gr 5 & 6 students will be attending. The program is focused on keeping our children safe when in and around water particularly open water environments. Practical survival and rescue strategies will be delivered. The program will ensure that our children have the tools to ‘be aware and be prepared’ before visiting our local waterways. ‘Helping Your Child With Reading’ Information Session Monday February 27th 9.10am in library. We know that regular reading at home makes a big difference to a child’s ability to read. We would like to support you in this important job. Mrs Glenda Mynard our literacy lead teacher, will deliver some helpful strategies. This session is aimed at parents with children in Foundation and Gr 1 & 2, but of course all parents are welcome. Sacraments are special blessings along our faith journey. There are seven Sacraments in our Catholic Religion: Baptism, Reconciliation, Eucharist (First Holy Communion), and Confirmation, Marriage, Holy Orders and Anointing of the Sick. This year we celebrate two Sacraments: Term 1 Reconciliation in Gr 3 and Term 2 Eucharist (First Holy Communion) in Gr 4. There is no Confirmation this year as last year the Gr 5 & 6 children celebrated Confirmation. All classes will be learning about Reconciliation this term with the Gr 3s having a particular focus on the Sacrament. In addition to school instruction there will be a parent and child workshop on Thursday March 2nd at 7 pm in preparation for the celebration of the Sacrament on Thursday March 16th at 7pm.

58 Waterloo Road, Trafalgar 3824 Ph. 03 56331151 E: office@trafalgar.catholic.edu.au Website: www.trafalgar.catholic.edu.au

Life Education Van will visit our school in week 8 of this term (Thursday March 23rd and Friday March 24th) More information to follow. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Church season of Lent. Lent is a time of preparation for Easter; we try to prepare our hearts for Jesus’ resurrection. We do this by trying to pray more and to think of others and try to do nice things for others. As a school community, we will participate in the Parish Mass at 9.30 on Wednesday March 1st. Everyone is welcome. We have had a fantastic start to the year. On a personal note, I’d like to thank everyone for their sympathy wishes on the recent passing of my beautiful Mum. She was 91 years old and a huge inspiration to me. Whilst I feel deeply sad, I know that she is at peace with God. Thank you for your understanding and support. I do feel very much part of our community. May God continue to bless and guide us in our learning. Trish Mulqueen PRINCIPAL

PARENTS AND FRIENDS – NEWS The parents and friends will be holding their first meeting for 2017 on Tuesday

the 21st February, 9am. Everyone is most welcome.

LANEWAY – NO PARKING

Please DO NOT Park in the laneway from 8.30 – 9.30am and 3.00 – 4.00pm. The lane way needs to have a smooth traffic flow during these times. If you need to get out of the car and come into the school you must park at the other side of the Church where there are ample parking spaces.

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

FEBRUARY Tues 21st P & F Meeting (9am) Fri 24th Grade 5/6 Open Water Learning Experience – Lake Narracan Mon 27th ‘Helping Your Child With Reading’ session* 9.10am In the Library

MARCH Wed 1st Ash Wednesday Mass 9.30am Thurs 2nd RECONCILIATION workshop 7pm Mon 20th St Joseph’s Feast Day & School Photo Day Thurs/Fri 23rd & 24th Life Education Van (School) Fri 31st Last day of term – Early dismissal 1pm

COMMUNICATION VIA OUR MOBILE PHONE APP

Our school has a great App which reminds parents on any important happenings in our

school. To download, go to the App store and

search for St Joseph’s Trafalgar. Then in notification settings click ‘allow notifications’

with the ‘alert’ style. For iPhones, this is found in Settings, Notifications then scroll

down to St Joseph’s. If you require assistance, please contact the

school.

Student of the week

Congratulations to the following students:

F/1 S - Ava Harvey F/1 B – Ruby Myrteza

2/3 – Jye Dubelaar 3/4 – Rheanna Dunston

5/6 – James Snape

ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION At St Joseph’s we pride ourselves on being an environmentally friendly school. We aim to reduce our waste by delivering this newsletter solely in electronic format. Please drop into our office to update your email if necessary and we request that you only receive a hard copy of the newsletter if you do not have internet access.

MUSICAL INSTRUMENT LESSONS –

TERM 1, 2017

Welcome Back to All existing 2016 Musical Instrument Students, for a short 7 week Lesson Term Lessons will recommence Wednesday 15th February*, with all Students being contacted beforehand.

*Term 1 Newsletter & Accounts will be given out then, with Full payment due by Fri 24th February* I may have a few places for New Students, so if you would like more information regarding your child/children having Piano-Keyboard, Guitar, Singing or Recorder-Flute lessons, please contact me Directly: via my Mobile Phone Number or Sing Play Strum Facebook Page (see details below) *Discounts for Families – more than 1 child *Payment Plans available Thank you Joanne Wolsley Music Instrumental Teacher St. Joseph’s Primary, Trafalgar

Art Room News A big welcome to all our new

students who had their first

Visual Arts Lesson for the

year.

I request that all students

from years 3-6 download Pic

Collage, and free App on

their IPADs. This will be

valuable in documenting

students’ progress

throughout their school year,

thank you.

Mrs Grass

IMPORTANT NOTICES FROM THE OFFICE: CONVEYANCE ALLOWANCE You may apply to claim this Government Allowance if:

You live more than 4.8 kilometres from our school and we are the closest Catholic school to your place of residence

You live more than 4.8 kilometres from our school and you cannot access a bus.

You access a bus and live more than 4.8 kilometres from the bus stop. You must lodge a new application each year. Application forms are now available from the school office and must be completed and returned to the school office by Friday 3rd March, 2017. Late claims cannot be accepted.

VICTORIA GOVERNMENT - Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF)

The Victorian Government’s $148 million initiative to ensure all Victorian students can take part in school trips and sporting activities. The Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) commenced in 2015 for four years and provides payments for eligible students to attend camps, sports and excursions. CSEF applications are now open for 2017. Families holding a valid means-tested concession card or temporary foster parents are eligible to apply. $125 per year will be paid for eligible primary school students, with $225 per year paid for eligible secondary school students. Payments will go directly to the school and will be applied to the student’s fees for any applicable CSE. Application forms are now available from the school office and must be returned by Monday, March 27th, 2017.

Eligibility Criteria 1: To be eligible for the fund, a parent or legal guardian of a student attending a registered Government or non-government Victorian primary or secondary school must:

on 30th January, 2017 (Term 1) or on 18 April 2017 (Term 2) a) Be an eligible beneficiary within the meaning of the State Concessions Act 2004, that is, be the holder of a Veterans Affairs Gold Card or be an eligible Centrelink Health Care Card (HCC) or Pensioner Concession Card (PCC) holder, OR b) Be a temporary foster parent, and; c) Submit an application to the school by the due date. Parents who receive a Carer Allowance on behalf of a child, or any other benefit or allowance not income tested by Centrelink, are not eligible for the CSEF unless they also comply with one of (a) or (b) above. Shared custody The CSEF system only allows one application per student. Parents in shared custody situations are encouraged to make decisions as to who applies for the CSEF. Schools should not be put into the position of arbitrating in decisions such as this. If the parents cannot decide between themselves who should apply, they should be encouraged to resolve the dispute through the Family Court, or contact the Department’s CSEF Helpdesk for more information on Ph: 1800 060 970. Applications for parents or legal guardians Parents or legal guardians are required to complete a CSEF application form and lodge it with their child’s school for processing. Application forms should be completed and lodged with schools as soon as possible in term one, as payments are made from March onwards. Application forms are available for download on the CSEF website or printed copies are available at schools.

Applications for both CSEF and Conveyance allowance are attached to this email.

GARDEN CLUB NEWS

Thank you to all who contributed to our

new ‘cap art’ displays over the holidays.

It really does add an exciting element to

our school garden. With a few additions,

it will be complete.

Can I also thank everyone who watered

the garden over the Christmas break, it

was most appreciated.

The Garden Club will recommence in

March and everyone is welcome to

assist.

Kylie Earhard

We warmly welcome all new

students to our school for 2017 and

our new leaders in Grade Six…