Dear Parents & Carers, 

2024 has been a wonderful year at St. Joseph's Gloucester. I would like to take this opportunity to thank our staff for all they do to make St. Joseph's a nurturing and supportive environment for our students. I would particularly like to wish Mr Gleeson as he retires from full-time teaching and wish him all the best for the future. 

This week we welcomed Ishann Puthur and his family to St. Joseph's. We trust Ishann and his family will feel very welcome at St. Joseph's Gloucester. 

A huge thank you to our parents for their support in our partnership and shared goals. Thank you for your contribution. To our Year 6 students who are about to embark on the next stage of their journey, we are extremely proud of you and the responsible leaders you are today. We are proud of your positive attitude, patience and perseverance. You are exceptional and caring leaders who have approached your tasks and responsibilities this year with confidence and commitment. We hope that you continue to grow and achieve your dreams and aspirations.

I am very pleased that in 2025 the Tuition Fees and the Diocesan Building Levy has been waived. I am deeply grateful to the support of the Maitland-Newcastle Catholic Schools Office for this support. The resource fee, continues to be the only fee charged for 2025. 

I wish everyone a Happy and Holy Christmas and a safe and restful holiday. Years 1-6 resume back on Tuesday 4th Februrary and Thursday 6th February. 

Peace and Best Wishes, 

Amy Maslen

Principal

On Wednesday 4th December we gathered as a school community to celebrate and farewell our much-loved Year 6 students, Miley Baker, Harry Briggs, Deacon Carmody, Mattea Carmody, Isabella Cawthorne-McKinley, Sienna Forbes, Lola Forbes-Collins,  Clarry Fulton and Lillie Mai-Smith at their Year 6 Graduation Mass. We congratulation all our Year 6 studentds and are very proud of their achievement, growth and improvement over their years at St. Joseph's. Year 6 have been fantastic leaders and we wish them the very best for high school in 2025. 

Following the Mass we celebrated our annual awards ceremony. 

Christmas Eve Mass - Gloucester at 6.00 pm – Fr. Terry

Christmas Day Mass - Krambach at 9:00 am - Fr. Terry

Christmas Day Mass - Stroud at 10.00 am - Fr Peter

Junior Girls Champion – Myla Goldsmith 

Junior Boys Champion – Eli Fenning 

11 Years Boys Champion - Harry Briggs 

11 Years Girls Champion – Georgia Morton 

Senior Boys Champion – Clarry Fulton 

Senior Girls Champion – Sienna Forbes 

Diocesan Representation  

Miley Baker 

Isabella Cawthorne  

Eli Fenning  

Harrison Morton 

Sienna Forbes  

Remi Ashby  

Lola Forbes-Collins 

Polding Representation 

Miley Baker  

Isabella Cawthorne  

Eli Fenning  

Harrison Morton  

K/1 Awards:

Mia Abalos – For her exceptional achievements across all key learning areas and for her dedication to pushing herself outside her comfort zone, always striving to learn and grow.

Chloe Baker – For her outstanding growth in Math and persistent attitude, always showing determination and effort, even when faced with challenges.

Josie Banyer –for always asking thoughtful questions and sharing your ideas with the class. You do an amazing job of explaining your thinking and helping others learn.

Storm: For excellent academic growth in reading and letter formation.

Matilda Doyle – For showing great progress in persuasive writing, using growing vocabulary to create strong paragraphs that persuade the reader.

Amelia – For showing exceptional progress in your learning, particularly in reading and writing, and for your improved focus and dedication towards achieving your learning goals.

Freya Macgregor – For your continued growth in decoding words, which has helped improve your reading fluency.

Elliot Banyer: For academic excellence in Literacy and Numeracy. 

Stephenie Battle: For her continued growth in reading fluency and comprehension 

Jack Butchers: for his excellent growth and achievements in all strands of Mathematics 

Amelia Fulton for her excellent achievements and growth in Literacy and Numeracy. 

Myla-Jade Goldsmith: For including more complex sentence patterns in her writing and improved efforts to structure her narratives using paragraphs.   

Kiara Gibson significant growth in her ability to select the appropriate strategies to solve problems in Numeracy. 

Harrison Morton: For his excellent reading skills and for experimenting with creative language choices to make his narrative writing more dynamic. 

Storm Carmody for her outstanding improvement and growth in Reading and Numeracy. 

Gurjiven Singh for her dedicated and committed approach to learning and excellent efforts to participate and actively engage in all activities. 

Willow -Grace Goldsmith: for her enthusiastic efforts and improvement in writing, particularly her efforts to experiment with new vocabulary and language choices. 

Mary Mackillop award  Storm Carmody  - For valuing the opportunity to learn and grow and for showing compassion and a thoughtful and caring attitude to all her peers. 

Thomas Cawthorne-Mckinley : Fantastic improvement in reading. 

Aubrey Doyle: For being a curious learner across all key learning areas. 

Remi Ashby: Always being a curious and conscientious learner. 

Eli Fenning: For showing dedication and commitment to improvement in all areas of physical education.  

Talya Gibson: Making valuable contributions in all learning areas.  

Hamish MacGregor: For being a great problem solver who thinks critically. 

Charnae Goldsmith: showing dedication towards her literacy and numeracy goals.  

Georgia Morton: excellence in public speaking.  

Revel Rojo: Approaching the transition to a new school with maturity and a great attitude.  

Miley Baker: excellence in creative writing. 

Harry Briggs: For being a kind and considerate friend to all. 

Deacon Carmody: excellence in mathematics.  

Taya Carmody: excellence in creative arts. 

Bella Cawthorne: commitment to learning in all areas. 

Sienna Forbes : Excellence in PDHPE and consistently representing our school with pride. 

Lola Forbes Collins: excellence in literacy.  

Clarry Fulton: Consistent effort, application and enthusiasm towards mathematics. 

Mary Mackillop award: Lillie Maii-Smith For consistently demonstrating our school values and treating all members of our community with kindness and consideration.  

Semester Two reports have been sent home last week and are also available in Compass. 

Reflections on the year...

I am continually amazed by the genuine care and generosity that is evident in so many ways within our school community. So much has been achieved in 2024 with the most important being the personal growth that is so evident within our students.

The Mini Vinnies have once again excelled at all they do and this year have raised over $1600 for a variety of charities, as well as co-ordinating the Winter Appeal and the Christmas Appeal. A big thank you to all our families who have supported each of these causes so generously. Thank you everyone for your willingnees to share with others. 

Our weekly GJ's activities and all the school events have been such fun and so successful. 

Wishing you all a Happy, safe and Holy Christmas and an even brighter 2025.

On Tuesday students travelled to Forster/Tuncurry as part of our end of year celebrations. Students watched 'Christmas Paegeant' at the movies and had lunch at the pools at Forster. It was a wonderful day and way to end the year. A big thank you to Mr McCann, Mr Gleeson, Miss Emerson, Miss Prosser, Mrs Clare, Mrs Whitby, Mrs Radford and Mr Crowe for assisting on this day. 

On Friday, Year 6 hosted their end of Year 6 Disco, K-6 students where invited to dress up in a 'Dress to Impress' theme and enjoyed an afternoon of dancing and fun. 

Principal: Mrs Amy Maslen

Religious Education Coordinator: Mr Adam McCann

Pedagogical Mentor: Mr Adam McCann

Gifted Education Mentor: Mr Gary Pomplun

Administration: Mrs Lisa Moore/Mrs Jen Shultz (Thursday)

Pastoral Care Worker: Miss Jenny Jensen

Learning Support Teacher: Mrs Eaden Gunn

Learning Support Assistant: Mrs Jodie Whitby/Mrs Lyndell Radford

Library Assistant: Mrs Jennifer Shultz

Classroom Teacher: Mrs Kylie Clare (K/1)

Classroom Teacher: Miss Victoria Prosser (2/3)

Classroom Teacher: Miss Sophie Emerson (4/5/6)

Librarian: Mr Adam McCann

Permanent Casual: Ms Krystal Shannon

As we conclude another school year and look into planning for 2025, please note that the school supplies all books and the majority of stationery items for students. It would be appreciated if you couls supply your child with a pencil case, pen/pencil, textas and a glue stick for the commencement of the new school year.

St Joseph’s takes pride in our students wearing the correct school uniform in a proud and tidy manner. This ensures that all students represent our school to the highest standard at all times within the school and wider community. As a parent/carer, you can assist this by ensuing that your child has all the required uniform items.

As parents may look into purchasing items for school for next year. Please note students wear black leather shoes for school uniform as per below and joggers for sport days. 

The office will be open on Friday 31st January from 12pm and Monday 3rd February from 12pm for uniform purchases.