News & Events

Dear Parents and Caregivers

At the beginning of September, I wrote about the Season of Creation which began on September 1 and concludes on October 4.

The Australian Jesuit Province’s Reconciliation with Creation Committee is inviting people to celebrate the Season of Creation, with suggestions for a range of activities and prayerful reflections.

Pope Francis is calling us to ‘hear the cry of the poor and the cry of the earth’.

Please find below a link to some activities that might help you to reflect during this time.

https://jesuit.org.au/celebrating-the-season-of-creation/

NAPLAN

This week, parents and caregivers of students in Years 3 and 5 will receive an individual report of their NAPLAN results.

NAPLAN individual student reports provide information about what students know and have achieved in the areas of reading, writing, language conventions and numeracy. The reports also provide information on how students have performed against the national average (over one million students participate in NAPLAN tests each year) and the national minimum standards. 

We are presently reviewing our Data and will provided feedback once this has been collated.

TOURNAMENT OF THE MIND (TOM)

On Sunday 12 September an intrepid group of students travelled to Flinders University at Tonsley Park to present their response to a challenge which they worked on throughout the term. 2 groups of 7 students, from years 4 – 6 came together to work on challenges presented to them.

TOM provides the opportunity to solve authentic, open-ended challenges that foster creative, divergent thinking whilst developing collaborative enterprise, excellence and teamwork.

Well done to both teams on their efforts!

QUIZ NIGHT

Thank you to the P&F committee (Charlotte, Helen and Stephanie) for a wonderful night last Saturday. The Quiz Night was a huge success in terms of community coming together. There was a wonderful mix of families across both sites as well as those who are new to our community.

PUPIL FREE DAYS

This Friday, staff from the 5 Primary Schools in the region will come together for Professional Development. Our focus on the day will focus on the Berry Street Education Model (BSEM). BSEM provides strategies for teaching and learning that enables teachers to increase engagement of students and successfully improve all students' self-regulation, relationships, wellbeing, growth and academic achievement.

Please note that Monday 11 October is also a pupil free day.

FESTIVAL CHOIR

On Wednesday night, students in Years 4, 5 and 6 from St Joseph’s Memorial School participated in the Catholic Schools Music Festival at The Adelaide Entertainment Centre. I congratulate all the children on their dedication in preparing for this event and their performance on the night on the ‘big stage’. A big thank you to Ms Oriana Radman for preparing and organising the students since the beginning of this year.

Yours sincerely

Grace Vassallo-Wakefield

Dear Parents and Caregivers

September through to October 4 (Feast of St Francis of Assisi) is the Season of Creation. At this time, Pope Francis encourages all of us to continue reflecting, praying and demonstrating everyday actions that are considerate of and care for our common home.

Way2Go

Thank you to the many parents and caregivers that have responded to the Skoolbag Way2Go parent survey.

As mentioned previously, the program relies on current consultation with staff, students and community. To learn more about Way2Go and for further information you may like to view the following link: https://youtu.be/YtuKRBKQtS8.

We would appreciate as many responses as possible, to inform our decisions. If you haven’t submitted a response and you are able to do so before 24 September please click the parent survey link https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/JDDWF29.

On average the survey should take less than a minute.

Thank you for your ongoing support.

2021 Adelaide Diocesan Assembly

The 2021 Adelaide Diocesan Assembly was held at Cabra College on Friday 17 September and Saturday 18 September. The Theme of the assembly was, “Our Story, Our Mission, Our Future.” The Assembly involved representatives of parishes, school and organisations and participants were encouraged to prepare ourselves to listen both in heart and mind about significant topics such as inclusion, leadership, formation, parish life and outreach. The Assembly will conclude on Thursday evening on the 23 September.

Sacrament of First Holy Communion 

The second meeting and combined rehearsal will be held next Tuesday 26 October (school holidays) in the Parish Hall and St Ignatius Church. 

The Sacrament of First Holy Communion will be held on Sunday 31 October. There will be two ceremonies on the day to adhere to COVID regulations.

Please contact the Parish office on 8332 0600 if you have any questions regarding the program, meetings, ceremonies or homework.

Have a wonderful holiday break everyone.

Matthew Harrison  

Acting APRIM 

Dear Parents and Caregivers

It is difficult to believe that we are nearing the end of Term 3. So many things have happened and so much learning has been experienced by students.

I would like to congratulate the Year 5 and 6 Debating Teams for their participation in the Debating SA competition. The students represented our school with pride and put in a lot of time preparing for their debates.

Just a reminder to all that hats must be worn during play breaks now. Children not wearing a hat, will need to play in the shade.

Class Groupings 2022

Over the next few weeks the class placement process for 2022 will commence. This is a complex jig-saw as we work to develop the right mix of students and the best possible fit in terms of both class size and class structure. Our teachers aim to keep abreast of the needs of every child through the course of the year and in their discussions with parents. Please understand that we take into consideration a range of factors including learning styles, academic achievement, gender, previous class history, friendship groups, social and emotional issues, siblings/relatives and so on. However, there is no doubt that some families will feel the need to write to me regarding placement. If you feel you must write, please base your request on educational issues that you feel we do not currently hold and that is crucial to a successful placement occurring. This is not about ‘selecting a teacher’, but is an opportunity for you to provide information that will help us with the process. I must stress that letters of requests for certain teachers will not be considered. Please ensure all requests are forwarded to me no later than this Friday.

Parents on School Grounds

I thank all parents for your support and cooperation ‘limiting the numbers of parents on school sites’. I have received further clarification through CESA referring to Department for Education guidelines.

The clarification has been sought as there are comparisons being made between schools in the Catholic sector and even schools in other sectors. All schools differ in their size, layout and complexity. At SJMS, we have limited indoor space and for this reason, we still need to limit parent access on our sites however, if parents have a prearranged meeting with their child’s teacher, provide COVID protocols are followed, these meetings can happen.

Unfortunately, this means that parents are unable to attend Assemblies or Class Liturgies of the Word.

Our School Sports Day will be held off site and provided we follow protocols and physical distancing, attendance at this event should not be a problem. Further information will be available early next term. parents wear masks, COVID check in etc. we will be able to have

Principals have a degree of discretion on what might be reasonable for their local context, so long as the general health guidelines are being applied.

Of course, if an outbreak were to occur in SA, then we can expect that there will be a rapid tightening of freedoms across the entire community, including schools.

I thank you all for your support in this matter.

Child Protection Week

This week is Child Protection Week. The theme for the 2021 National Association for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (NAPCAN) Child Protection Week campaign is ‘Every child, in every community, needs a fair go.’

In Child Protection Week we are asked to be someone who listens to children, someone who will start a conversation with children and if needed, be that someone whom children will turn to when in need. The Commission is committed to the safety, wellbeing and protection of all children and young people from harm. This includes supporting the rights of the child and child safe environments by working together with key partner agencies towards care and protection of children within our community.

Volunteers at SJMS 

Just a reminder that if you would like to volunteer at SJMS you will need to have the following documentation:

• Catholic Police Clearance
• CESA Volunteer Application
• Responding to Risks of Harm, Abuse and Neglect – Education and Care online course for volunteers

Please note that if the following information is not up to date, you will not be able to volunteer at SJMS until these requirements are met.

Please keep in your prayers...

I would like to offer my condolences on behalf of our community to Matt Harrison and his extended family on the loss of their beloved mum, grandmother, sister and aunty. Catherine Harrison was known at SJMS as she volunteered her time to support our school community. I know she will be sadly missed. Please keep Catherine and her family in your prayers.

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord,

and let perpetual light shine upon them.  

May their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed,

through the mercy of God, rest in peace.  Amen.

Yours sincerely

Grace Vassallo-Wakefield

Photos:
Top of Newsletter - William St Performing Arts Studio build update.
Top of Article - Preschool students during exploration.

Dear Parents and Caregivers

This week we celebrate the birth of Mary. We remember Mary as the mother of Jesus who carried him and cared for him during his life. In Mary, we find inspiration to trust in God just as Mary MacKillop did and we do our best to follow in the example of Jesus. 

This week we are also encouraged to consider our ongoing pastoral care for each other. Thursday 9 September’s R U OK? Day, reminds us that Jesus taught us to ‘love our neighbour’ and we do this when reach out, listen, encourage action and check in. 
  
Way2Go

This semester St Joseph's Memorial School is participating in the Way2Go program. The Way2Go program aims to develop a whole school plan, with initiatives that promote St Joseph’s Memorial as a safer, greener and more active school.

The program will involve consultation with staff, students and community.  It will also offer future initiatives such as Bike Ed and inform grants that will improve our infrastructure and council decisions related to our school. 

As part of the process, a confidential, non-identifying GIS map of the student locations relative to the school, footpath networks and road crossings is generated. This is solely used for the purpose of informing and developing the whole school plan inclusive of Norwood and Kensington. Street addresses are used to identify our school catchment areas and these addresses are turned into a geocode then mapped. No child, name, age or gender will be identified by the map and once the plan is developed the map will be destroyed.

2021 Adelaide Diocesan Assembly

The 2021 Adelaide Diocesan Assembly will be held over three days; Friday 17 September, Saturday 18 September and Thursday 23 September. The Theme of the assembly will be, “Our Story, Our Mission, Our Future.” Archbishop Patrick O’Regan will open and summarise the assembly which aims to shape the diocesan vision and action into the future. 

As part of the assembly, I will represent St Joseph’s Memorial School and the Norwood Parish engage in discussions on topics such as inclusion, leadership, formation, parish life and outreach.
   
Sacrament of First Holy Communion 
 
The first meeting for First Holy Communion was held on Tuesday 31 August in the Parish Hall from 7:00pm. The Faith Formation team was really pleased with the turn out and the engagement from the parish candidates.  Any families who were unable to make this first meeting are encourage to contact Kate or Emma from the parish office on 8332 0600. 

The second meeting and combined rehearsal will be held on Tuesday 26 October in the Parish Hall and St Ignatius Church. In the meantime, please keep an eye out for any emails from the Faith Formation team containing attached homework sheets.
  
The Sacrament of First Holy Communion will be held on Sunday 31 October.  At this stage the parish is considering a whole group 2:00pm Sacramental Mass or alternatively holding two services to accommodate guests at 1:00pm or 2:30pm. All options discussed at the first meeting were subject to further restrictions. 

On behalf of the parish, we are asking families of candidates to keep this date free and we appreciate your patience until times are announced in the week preceding.  
  
Have a wonderful weekend everyone.
  
Matthew Harrison  
Acting APRIM

Photo: Friday 10 Sept 2021 William St Japanese Spring Festival.

Dear Parents and Caregivers

It is surprising to think that we are over the midway mark of Term 3. So much has happened over these past few weeks including a week of Home Learning during the COVID lockdown and the beginning of construction works for the Performing Arts Studio at our William Street site. I would like to thank all our families especially those with children at William Street as we navigate reduced Kiss and Drop areas. I urge all parents to be patient and be respectful of our neighbours and remember to keep driveways clear as they need to have clear access to their homes.

2021 Planning

School staff are making plans for 2021. This planning will continue throughout the term and into Term 4. There are many operational aspects that need to be considered at this time. Primarily in the coming month I need to ensure that we are sufficiently staffed for next year.

Thank you for returning your intentions for the 2022 school year. This information will allow our leadership team to explore various class structures, ensuring an optimal learning environment considerate of friendship groups and where learning styles can be developed to challenge and support each child’s continuity of learning.

Farewell Fr Paul Mullins

This weekend, we will farewell Fr Paul Mullins as Parish Priest at St Ignatius Parish. Fr Paul has been a significant member of the SJMS community for the past 12 years and his presence will be missed.

We thank Fr Paul for his support of our school community and as the President of the SJMS School Board.

May the Road Rise Up to Meet You

May the road rise us to meet you;

May the wind be always at your back.

May the sun shine warm upon your face;

The rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again,

May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

(Traditional Gaelic Blessing)

Season of Creation

Pope Francis has encouraged all Catholics to celebrate the Gift of Creation between September 1 and October 4, which is the feast of Saint Francis of Assisi. During this time, Christians are invited to acknowledge God’s great gift of creation and commit themselves to caring for our common home, the Earth and all those whose lives are sustained by Earth’s bounty. We are each called to play our part, to ensure that the Earth’s resources are shared fairly with all, particularly the poor and those who live on the margins of our communities.

To quote Pope Francis:
Everything is related, and we human beings are united as brothers and sisters on a wonderful pilgrimage, woven together by the love God has for each of his creatures and which unites us in fond affection with brother sun, sister moon, brother river and mother earth. (Laudato Si', 92)

Volunteering at SJMS

Last term, you may remember that a package was emailed out regarding Parent Volunteers at SJMS. If you would like to volunteer at SJMS you will need to have the following documentation. This information was emailed to all parents and caregivers last term:

1. Catholic Police Clearance
2. CESA Volunteer Application
3. Responding to Risks of Harm, Abuse and Neglect – Education and Care online course for volunteers

Please note that if the above information is not up to date, you will not be able to volunteer at SJMS until these requirements are met.

Sports Day

This year, students will participate in Sports Day activities on Friday 22 October. This event will be held at SA Athletics Stadium as Norwood Oval is not available due to ongoing work to upgrade the grounds. Mr Tom Siinmaa will provide further information in the coming weeks.

Please save the date as we hope parents will be able to join us.

Sports Coaches

I would like to extend my thanks to all parents and caregivers who have volunteered their time to coach / be responsible for our Sport teams during Terms 2 and 3. Thank you for your time, commitment and energy. Without your support, we would not be able to offer such a wide variety of sports to our students.

Yours sincerely

Grace Vassallo-Wakefield

Dear Parents and Caregivers

This week, we celebrated the Feast of St Mary MacKillop, a significant person in the history of Catholic Education in South Australia, but also for our School Community. St Mary MacKillop spent 10 years in the Norwood and Kensington area. She helped to establish our School at the Bridge Street site and would visit the children at this site often sharing lollies with them. What is most significant is that this was almost 150 years ago. Next year, we celebrate the sesquicentenary (150 year anniversary) of our school. We hope to make this a very special celebration for our school community.

At our liturgy on Monday, we also took the time to acknowledge Fr Paul Mullins and his service to our school and Parish over the past 12 years. As an educator and leader for over 30 years, he has provided wisdom and guidance to students and teachers alike and will be missed. Fr Paul will be moving to Melbourne in September to work with the Jesuit Provincial.

Performing Arts Studio (PAS)

As you are all aware, the construction of our Performing Arts Studio is due to commence next week. Communication was sent out to families earlier this week to advise of the changes to play areas at William Street. We are grateful to all our Parents and Caregivers for their support and understanding to disruptions that may occur, especially to the drop-off and pick-up areas and ask for your patience during this time. We hope that the construction of the PAS will be completed late January 2022. Following this, there will be a redevelopment of the play space which will include a nature play area (pictured above) as well as a combined netball / basketball court area.

Pick up / Drop off Reminders

Just a reminder to all our parents and caregivers to be aware of the Kiss and Drop Zones operating outside both sites. Parents and caregivers must remain in the car and wait for their child to be called out when you are waiting in this zone. Please do not park and get out of your car to collect your child as you may receive a parking fine. If you do need to leave your car, please find a car park on the street and then come to the gate to collect your child.

Book Week

In Week 6, we will celebrate Book Week with our students. During this week we will focus on the following activities:

Monday 23 August – Reading rotations with teachers reading their favourite book to students.

Wednesday 25 August – Students to bring along their favourite book to share with their friends.

Friday 27 August – Dress up as your favourite book character.

We look forward to celebrating Book Week with our students.

Thank You

I would just like to extend my sincere thanks to all our parents and caregivers for observing the current COVID restrictions relating to entering the school grounds etc. Hopefully, this won’t be a long term restriction and acknowledge that especially for the parents of our new Preschool and Reception students, this would not have been the start you envisioned to your child’s first experience of school.

Dear Parents and Caregivers

On Sunday 8 August, we celebrated the Feast of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop, the first Australian Saint who opened our Bridge Street School in 1872. Mary MacKillop was a person of action, she loved the poor and worked hard to care for them in any way that she could. Mary MacKillop is a wonderful example us how to open our eyes and ears, our hearts and our minds to the needs of others. She shows us how to serve others with kindness, love and understanding.

This Sunday 15 August is the Feast of the Assumption of Mary. The Feast of the Assumption commemorates the glorification of Mary, chosen by God to be the mother of Jesus the Christ. We celebrate Mary’s life and passing from this world (body and soul) into the Glory of God.

William Street Mary MacKillop Liturgy

On Monday 9 August, our William Street students from Year 2 to Year 6 gathered at 9:15am in St Ignatius Church to celebrate the Feast of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop. The Liturgy of the Word was presided by Fr Paul Mullins SJ and well led by our Year 6 leaders. In his homily, Fr Paul spoke of Mary MacKillop’s ability to see a need within the community and her faith to trust that God would help the Sister’s of St Joseph to address it.

Fr Paul Mullins SJ Farewell

After the final blessing, we were privileged to have the opportunity to express our sincere gratitude to Fr Paul on behalf of the entire community, both past and present. Fr Paul has been the Norwood and St Joseph’s Memorial Parish Priest since 2010. For 12 years, Fr Paul has been a part of our prayer gatherings, faith formation, spiritual formation, Family Faith Program, Masses, Liturgies of the Word, blessings, Religious Education lessons, School Board meetings and ongoing assistance to families within the Parish. 

To show our appreciation, Year 6 Student Leaders Mary and Felix presented Fr Paul with a Thank You Book from our Preschool to Year 5/6 classes, a Waterman Pen inscribed with the words ‘In Omnibus Caritas – SJMS’ and a bottle from the Adelaide Hills Region. 

Fr Paul thanked our community saying,

“I am very touched by the gifts, comments and drawings but it is all of you, the people, that I will miss.”

Bridge Street Mary MacKillop Liturgy

On Monday 9 August, our Bridge Street students from Preschool to Year 1 gathered at 10:15am in the library, to celebrate the Feast of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop. The Liturgy of the Word was led by staff and we were well supported by our amazing young people. In the homily, we talked about how Mary placed her trust in God, Mary believed if she was kind, others would be kind to her and if she was helpful, others would also be helpful to her.

Religious Literacy Assessment Tool (ReLAT)

On Thursday 19 August our Year 4 students will complete a Religious Literacy Assessment.  ReLAT is for all students in Catholic schools and is an assessment of general religious knowledge in reference to Religious Education, prayer and religious life celebrations. In preparation for this assessment, the Year 4 students were this week given an opportunity to try a practice test so that they could familiarise themselves with their online ReLAT interface.

Sacrament of Reconciliation Update

We are now three weeks into our Sacrament of Reconciliation program, with only two weeks to go!

The Parish Faith Formation team have asked that I pass on their congratulations to our candidates and their families for the excellent homework responses they have received thus far. The team were also appreciative of the scanned copies of Baptismal certificates our families have been forwarding. If your child has been registered for their First Reconciliation and you have not been receiving ‘Family Faith’ emails, please contact the Parish directly on 8332 0600, ring the front office at school or send an email to mharrison@sjms.catholic.edu.au. If I can be of any support including photocopies of homework sheets or Baptismal certificates please do not hesitate to email.

The Sacrament of Reconciliation will be held on Thursday 26 August at St Ignatius Church at 7pm. Families are able to invite up to 6 people. A face-to-face meeting and rehearsal, is currently planned for Tuesday 24 August (Week 6). This meeting will start in the Parish Hall at 7pm and then progress into the Church for a practice. I will follow up with our students on the Thursday 26 August for a final practice.

Dear Parents and Caregivers

As I write this newsletter, we are grateful that we have returned to face to face teaching this week. To ensure that we continue to keep our community safe, I ask that for the time being we restrict the number of adults on site to staff, allied health professionals and university students who have been placed at our school. As information comes to hand regarding movements around schools, we will endeavour to keep you all updated and look forward to parents and caregivers being onsite in the not too distant future.

Thank you to the staff, students and especially you, our wonderful parents and caregivers for supporting your child with home learning. We appreciate that this is difficult, especially if you have also been working from home.

As a staff we are reviewing the processes we have used for home learning so that we can continue to improve on our practise.

Welcome

Last week, we welcomed new staff, students and their families to the SJMS community.

Welcome to the following students who started their journey at SJMS this term:

Alyssa
August
Esther
Evie
Hugo
Isla
Jessica
Luca
Paris
Tia
Wallace

Welcome also to Miss Nicola Ciuffini who will be the Reception Blue teacher for the remainder of the year.

Grandparents Day

On Sunday we celebrated the feast of Saints Joachim and Anne, Jesus’ grandparents. In recognition of all grandparents around the world, Pope Francis has established the inaugural World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly on this day, seeking to make a link and recognise the need for both the elderly and the young which values the gifts this relationship offers to them both.

The prayer below was written and offered for all Grandparents by Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI in 2008:

Lord Jesus,
you were born of the Virgin Mary,
the daughter of Saints Joachim and Anne.
Look with love on grandparents the world over.
Protect them! They are a source of enrichment
for families, for the Church and for all of society.
Support them!  As they grow older,
may they continue to be for their families
strong pillars of Gospel faith,
guardians of noble domestic ideals,
living treasuries of sound religious traditions.
Make them teachers of wisdom and courage,
that they may pass on to future generations the fruits
of their mature human and spiritual experience.

Lord Jesus,
help families and society
to value the presence and role of grandparents.
May they never be ignored or excluded,
but always encounter respect and love.
Help them to live serenely and to feel welcomed
in all the years of life which you give them.
Mary, Mother of all the living,
keep grandparents constantly in your care,
accompany them on their earthly pilgrimage,
and by your prayers, grant that all families
may one day be reunited in our heavenly homeland,
where you await all humanity
for the great embrace of life without end. Amen.

Performing Arts Studio - Building Project (photo above)

In our last newsletter, I referred to the possibility of our Performing Arts Studio build commencing soon.

It is with pleasure that I inform the community that during the school holidays, we secured MOSSOPS as the builder for this project. An initial meeting was held via TEAMS last week. We are hopeful that over the next few weeks, the project will commence. This will mean that there will be some changes / restrictions at the William Street campus.

I will endeavour to keep you up to date as this happens. Thank you in anticipation of your support during this time.

Parent Volunteers

Last term, you would have received information via email (on 29 June) regarding the requirements for all volunteers working in Catholic Schools. As well as a Catholic Police Clearance, current volunteers needed to complete a RAN online training course. If you are a current volunteer, please ensure that you have completed this information and provided a copy of your certificate to either Mary Fantasia or Jess Nelson. This information must be provided before you are able to continue volunteering at SJMS this Semester.

For all our new Parent Volunteers, a package will be made available to you in the next week for your information.

Thank you to all our Parents and Caregivers who support us in this valuable role. Without the support of our volunteers, many afterschool activities and excursions would not be possible.

Social Work Students

Over the next semester, SJMS will again host Master of Social Work students from the University of SA for their placement. We welcome Sophie, Karen, Noor and Rachel as they being their placements.

The goal during their placement is to provide children with the support they need to be successful and engaged learners. They will promote social and emotional wellbeing through fun and varied activities, encouraging students to overcome challenges and achieve their goals.

In the next Newsletter, they will introduce themselves to the community.

Dear Parents and Caregivers

Welcome back to Term 3. As a community we welcomed our newest students (new Reception photos above) and the very next day we were preparing for four days of home learning. Despite this, our resilient learners and their families came online each day to watch, conference and post their experiences through Seesaw and Microsoft Teams. Thank you so much to our families and staff for the way in which we lived out our authentic and ongoing partnership. Then this week, we welcomed each other back with a collective smile and a story or two to share.

COVID-19 Adjustments:

Masses

Until Tuesday 3 August, St Ignatius Church has a maximum capacity of 120 parishioners and large group gatherings including class Masses and Liturgies have been cancelled or postponed. Therefore, the whole school Mass on Monday 9 August celebrating the Feast of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop will most likely become a Microsoft Teams Liturgy of the Word where a selection of representative students and staff will join Fr Paul in the Piazza. At this stage, restrictions may also apply for our whole school Mass on Monday 16 August for the Assumption of Mary. Jess Nelson will continue to keep everyone updated.

Mission Day 

Our major fundraising event, Mission Day, that was planned for Friday 13 August will be postponed. Classes will still continue to plan for this event over the coming weeks and we are hopeful that we will have a new date and further information to share in our Week 4 Newsletter. Jess Nelson will continue to keep everyone updated.

Sacrament of Reconciliation  

Due to the recent lockdown, the First Reconciliation meeting on Tuesday 20 July was cancelled. On the 23 July the Family Faith Formation team from the parish, distributed an introductory email and workshop activities for candidates to complete with their families at home. If your child has been registered for their First Reconciliation and you have not yet received this email, contact the parish directly on 8332 0600, ring the front office at school or send an email to mharrison@sjms.catholic.edu.au and I will forward or send home a hard copy.

St Vincent de Paul Acknowledgement 

In the first week of the school holidays, our Winter Appeal donations were collected by the President of St Vincent de Paul’s Norwood Conference, Max Ormsby. Max, was overwhelmed by the 14 boxes filled with donations and the generous monetary donation from our uniform sales and Pyjama Day. The following day, Max wrote:

“On behalf of the St Vincent de Paul Society, we would like to extend our sincere appreciation for the support that St Joseph’s Memorial School again gave to our Winter Appeal.

We have delivered your wonderful donations to the St Vincent de Paul Warehouse from where they will be shared with many of the companions that the Society cares for. Your cash donation has also been greatly received and will assist us to assist the many homeless that nightly seek our support.

Please advise your community that St Joseph’s Memorial School’s generous support is greatly appreciated and valued.”

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.