Dear God,

Our St Joseph’s community has endured a lot in recent years,

And through Your guidance and the support of each other we have not just managed, but thrived.

Together we continue to bring joy and wonder to our students, friendship and hope to our families, and recognition and admiration to our staff.

St Joseph’s is a special place, and at every turn we can see and recognise our Christ-centred community.

Thank you for bringing the wonderful St Joseph’s community together.

St Mary of the Cross and St Joseph pray for us.

Amen

St Joseph’s Fete and Family Fun Day

After months of planning and preparation, meetings and Google Docs, ideas and questions… and lots of rain, Sunday was an incredible success on every level!

The sunshine may have provided a brilliant canvas for the day, but it was the time and energy that went in by everyone involved, that made it such an enjoyable event. Thank you to all who volunteered throughout the day, or beforehand, or since, to help plan for and carry off a great fete. Across the entire day it seemed that everyone enjoyed what was happening, whether working on a stall, handing over MORE money for tokens, or even getting dunked, sticky taped or ‘coloured’!

I took a moment during the fete to stand back and to watch for a little, and just loved seeing our community celebrating and enjoying the day. What is most exciting, is that we were surrounded by people new to the St Joseph’ community.

It is important to recognise some of the key people involved in the planning and organisation of the event. Thank you to Caroline Odgers for taking on the huge task of coordinating the fete committee and bringing everyone’s ideas together. Our incredible promotion over recent weeks is thanks to Belinda Ladmore and Sarah Anderson – I don’t think I have seen a Facebook presence like it before! Thank you also to Pip Doogan for her efforts to reach out to the wider Canberra community and to bring attention and support to our fete. Linda Uzubalis brought her calmness and detail to ensure the operations on the day ran smoothly, and Trevor McGee and Cate Signor were committed to ensure the food and grade stalls all ran brilliantly. Thank you also to our P&F President, Rachael Whiteley-Black and Treasurer, Felicity Loftus for their continued support and guidance during the planning and on the day. Finally, a huge thank you to Amy Doszpot, who dedicated the last month to ensuring that all the plans came together on the day!

While I have recongised some, and I apologise if I have missed anyone, the truth is that the day relied on just so many, that we all deserve to be very proud of what was achieved. Thank you to all the volunteers and to all the families that attended.

Our fete could not have gone ahead without the incredible support of our many sponsors. Across the fete and the auctions, through donating items or providing financial support, we had around 65 sponsors and donors! Key supporters were Ray White, Camp Australia, Jim Murphy Cellars, and Lake George Winery, as well as IGA O’Connor and Lyneham who provided almost all of the food and drinks that were sold in many of the stalls across the day. We can’t thank these people enough!

Even though the fete itself is over, keep checking our fete Facebook page with heaps more content, photos and offers to come from the fete. Follow us on https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100085631093137

We are also able to announce the winners of the Chalk Competition advertising the fete. Congratulations to Jeremy and Sophie P (3rd), Matilda G (2nd) and Ben L (1st).

Lastly, there is still the opportunity for you to purchase the St Joseph’s Primary School 2022 Reserve by Lake George Winery on Qkr! These would be a great gift for family at Christmas.

2023 Classes

Today the 2023 Socio-gram is going home with all students in Foundation to Year 5. This is an important aspect to our planning as we begin to look at placing the students into their new classes for 2023. This is always a very carefully considered process that begins with the current teacher and what they know of each student and, first and foremost, their learning. At the same time, all social aspects of friendships and new opportunities are taken into account. On the Socio-gram, we ask you and your child to consider 3 friends that they would like to be in a class with in 2023. The intention is to ensure that each student is paired with at least one of their friends they nominate.

If there is specific information that parents would like to advise me of to assist the composition of classes for 2023, then this must be done so in writing to me either via email or letter by no later than Friday 25 November. This does not include requests for particular teachers, nor does it include considerations other than the learning needs of your child. Each year is a new start for all students, and teachers, and therefore only information provided this year is taken into consideration when putting classes together for 2023.

Have a great end to the week.

Yours in Christ,