O’ God You create all people in your image. We thank you for the astonishing variety of races and cultures in this world. Enrich our lives by ever widening circles of friendship and show us your presence in all those around us, until our knowledge of your love is made perfect in our love for all your children; Through your son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Today we celebrated the rich cultural diversity we have within our school community. It was so lovely to see the brightly coloured courtyard as the students gathered for Morning Gathering, wearing their cultural outfits and orange clothing. Today's celebrations have sparked many conversations about celebrating our students' differences and embracing their cultural heritage. 

We can be very grateful that we are such a multicultural community. Each culture brings such a diverse background and we learn so much from each other. Our students are fortunate to be surrounded by a wealth of knowledge and experience from our wider community. In contrast to our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who have lived in Australia for thousands and thousands of years, most of Australia’s population is made up of people whose families only arrived in the country within the last 220 years.

All the different cultures that come together in Australia bring many things with them: different foods, ways of dressing, languages, customs and beliefs. Harmony Day is about celebrating these differences and learning about new cultures.

As well as celebrating Harmony Day today, many of our families are celebrating St Patrick's Day. Aidan M in 4 Green and Connor M in 2 Yellow celebrated by wearing green and speaking to their grandparents who will be attending the St Patrick's Day Festival in Ireland.

A theme for this year at St Joseph’s is, a place for everyone, and most certainly we know that today this has been celebrated across our school. Thank you to Miss Bonner and her helpers for the incredible effort that went to recognising this important day and contributing to the newsletter this week.

Try Dara Day

All Year 6 students will attend the Try Dara Day on Tuesday 20 April. This is the first day of next term (Monday 19 April is a Pupil Free day). Year 6 will wear their sports uniform with their leadership shirt and will need to bring their own morning tea. Lunch will be provided. The students will be collected by bus from St Joseph’s at the start of the day and returned ready for normal pick up at 3pm. More information to come.

Canteen

Our school canteen has been going well, thanks to the effort of our Canteen Manager Katie Jenkin and her helpers. Starting next week, the canteen will be open on Tuesdays for over the counter sales, and Wednesday to Friday for lunch orders and over the counter sales.

We are always looking for more volunteers to help in the canteen. Please email Katie at stjosephscanteen@gmail.com if you can offer an hour of two each term.

Canteen Drive

One way to support the canteen is to donate to the Canteen Drive. By purchasing simple items, you can help to save some of the operating costs of the canteen. Please see below a list of items you might be able to add to your shopping basket this week.

There is a donation box in my office at the moment if you would like to drop anything off.

Have a great end to the week.

Yours in Christ,