Hello Parents and Friends,

Welcome (albeit belatedly) to the 2025 school year. An extra special warm welcome to new families and their children joining the school community this year. We hope the first week or so of school has been a positive experience for your children and your family.

A focus of the Parents and Friends Association (P&F) is to encourage parent engagement and participation in school activities, and to strengthen communication and connections between the parent body and school staff. We are committed to ensuring our children receive high-quality education in a welcoming and inclusive environment, where families and schools work well together so that our children benefit.

The P&F Association meets once per term, usually on a Wednesday at 5pm in the staff room. The meetings generally last for around an hour. The P&F meeting is a great opportunity to meet the school leadership team and other parents, to hear about plans for the upcoming year and how you can be involved to support your child, the teachers, the school community and each other. We would love to see some new faces at the meetings. Everyone is welcome and it’s not uncommon to have a child (or two) present, so please don’t let that be a barrier to your attendance.

The first P&F meeting for the year was held on Wednesday Feb 12. We took the opportunity to combine the meeting with an AGM and can announce the following Committee positions for the 2025 year:

President:                 Steven Montgomery

Vice President:          Cassie Twine

Treasurer:                 Shannon Reynolds

Secretary:                 Tamara Grace

Deb Ball Liaison:        Therese Watson

Diocesan Rep:            (vacant).

The Committee have identified the following priorities for the 2025 year:

• Installation of AV and sound system for the basketball court/assembly area
• Shade sail for the internal playground (school side)
• School representative uniforms
• Seating on the oval

Please take note of a few date for P&F events which are happening in Term 1 and 2:

• Tuesday February 18: Deb Ball Committee Meet and Greet: for SJA parents/friends to meet the Deb Ball organising committee, find out more about the event and how you can become involved.
• Sunday March 2: Deb Ball information night – for registered debutantes, parents and partners.
• Wednesday March 19: St Joseph’s Feast Day and “Monty the Monstar’s Colour & Slime Fun Run”. A sponsorship booklet will be handed out to your children in the next week regarding the event and logging into the fundraising portal. Refer to the letter for in the colour run section for some information.
• Wednesday April 30: Term 2 P&F meeting, 5pm in the staff room – all welcome
• Tuesday 6 and Thursday 8 May: Mother’s Day Stall
• Wednesday May 14: Mother’s Evening at school
• Saturday May 31: Deb Ball

As a parent group, we acknowledge that we are all leading what feels like increasingly busy lives, so it can be hard to keep on top of things. Here is a list of some of the most common ways to find out information about what is going on at school:

• School Newsletter: distributed via email every second Tuesday. Great source of news and event information, regular updates from Mrs P and Mrs Mac, news and event
• Assembly: held each Friday at 2.30pm on the basketball court area. The assembly is led by the Year 6 School Leaders. Students of the Week are announced, along with those staff and students who are celebrating birthdays. Mrs P and Mrs Mac usually speak to assembly and provide information about upcoming events and any issues that may be impacting on school life. You might hear a joke (or two) and find out which children have been nominated for “Kids who care”. Sports Updates, Mini-Vinnies updates and information on various school clubs and events also usually occur at assembly.
• MyCE app: you need to log-in to this app using the email address linked to your school. It includes a “My Students” tab where you can report absences, access parent slips, review your child/s school report and timetable. On the “My Schools” tab, there is a link to the calendar, the newsletter, school documents (booklists, tuckshop menu, policy documents), and links to the Booked portal (for parent-teacher interviews), the school website, Facebook page and the Flexischools (tuckshop and uniform ordering) site.
• Parent Portal: basically, an online version of the My CE app. Links to the Parent Portal can be found on the school website and selecting Diocese of Cairns. https://login.bne.catholic.edu.au/#
• St Joseph’s School, Atherton Facebook page: this is a great way to keep informed as this page is posted to regularly with weekly updates, date claimers and photos of school activities.
• SJA School Parents Messenger group: helpful for reminders of school events, answers to queries, requests for volunteers, purchase/give-aways of uniforms

There are many ways that parents/families can participate in and contribute to the St Joseph’s School community. These may include: volunteering in your child’s classroom; reading the fortnightly newsletter; attending assembly; volunteering for tuckshop duty; attending class liturgies; attending organised school events (eg Mother’s and Father’s evenings, Parent-Teacher interviews, information nights), attending sports events; volunteering for the Deb Ball or Colour Fun Run events; attending P&F meetings, coming into the school ground for drop-off or pick-up. We encourage you to consider what works best for you and your family situation. We value our families being connected to the school, having a visible presence and playing a role within the school in whatever capacity suits you best.

With this in mind, we are looking for volunteers who may be interested in co-ordinating the Mother’s/Father’s Day stalls this year. We are also calling for expressions of interest for people who may be interested in organising a school float for the 2025 Maize Festival parade on August 30. To register your interest or for more information, please contact Tamara on 0478 387 338; martybel@hotmail.com or via Messenger (Tamara Grace).

The start of a new school year is also an opportune time to draw your attention to the School Drop-off and Pick-up Parent information document that was developed at the end of last year. It is an attempt to improve the safety of our school community and to clarify expectations around School Drop-off and Pick-up, particularly use of the Stop, Drop and Go zone on Jack Street. Please review the document (section below) and discuss it within your family. Be sure to share it with any others who may assist with dropping off and collecting your child/children from school.

We look forward to a productive and fun-filled year together.

The 2025 P&F Committee.