STUDENT VOICE
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Art Mural 2024, Year 6 Leave their Mark
Art Mural 2024, Year 6 Leave their Mark
During Term 4 week 2-3, an artist named Kyle Brightside came to our school for a visit.
There were 2 sessions we had to take before we did the actual painting, a mural, on our boys and girls bathroom walls.
We brainstormed ideas with Kyle, who is an amazing artist to see what we wanted in our mural.
Throughout the second session, we learned how to use spray paint. We had a little play around with the spray cans and painted on canvases that we took home. It was a wonderful experience, and it opened many opportunities for us to learn strategies and different ways to paint.
We then had some fun learning how to spray paint on canvases to get a better understanding of how to paint.
Kyle helped with the outlining of the birds and flowers and then we started to paint. At first, it was plain and boring but after we painted each spot, it was soon filled with lots of colour. The results were delightful!
The week the year 6’s have experienced has been amazing with it being very packed full of ideas! Of course, we would like to thank Mr Brew and Kyle for working with the year 6’s and putting lots of hard work into making this a lovely week for the seniors of the school!
Diya, Ashley & Nancy
VID_65600709_175016_665.mp4St Josephs Primary School Springvale Mural Design Options.pdfChildren’s Forum 2024: A Celebration of Young Voices
The Children’s Forum is a meaningful event where students from local primary schools gather to share their voices and ideas within the community. On the day of the event, Mary and Aidan attended as helpers along with four other students from our school: Zaccy , Alana , Anna , and Jordan .
Thank you Children's Advisory Group 2024
Mary and Aidan are our School Captains and represented our School throughout the Year on the Children's Advisory Group.
Thanks from the City of Greater Dandenong for your time, support and commitment to the Children’s Advisory Group.
It’s been a real privilege to work with your students on this initiative.
I look forward to doing it all again next year!
Robyn Alexander Children’s Services Development Officer
Family and Children’s Services
PO Box 200 Dandenong VIC 3175
The event began with a welcoming speech from the Junior Mayor, followed by Mary (St Joseph's School Captain) reading the Acknowledgement of Country, then the Junior Mayor of Kingston gave a speech about her experience in being a junior mayor. After that, students grouped together at tables to participate in a variety of engaging activities, including workshops, and art sessions led by artist Olona Janfa. Mary (School Captain) was a co-workshop leader for the day.
Our first workshop focused on students’ opinions and questions about transitioning to high school, which will be shared with secondary colleges to ensure they understand any concerns students may have. In the next workshop, we discussed food technology, learnt where our food comes from, and how to recognise organic food.
After a productive morning, we had our lunch organised by the council team. My favourite meal was the rolls filled with fresh veggies and ham—they were different from spring rolls, but absolutely amazing!
Our last activity for the day was the art session. We had an interview with Olona about his work as an Ethiopian-Norwegian artist based in Melbourne. Then, we created drawings related to a word of our choice. Mine was inspire, so I drew a person sharing their opinions, followed by others starting to share theirs.
Overall, attending the Children’s Forum was a delightful and enjoyable experience. We look forward to more opportunities like this in the future!
Written by : Mary (School Captain)
The Little Day Out Children's Festival 2024
Theme “The Great Outdoors”.
Date: Sunday 22 September
Thank you to our two student representatives on the Children's Advisory Group for their support at the information and art competition stalls during our recent community event. It's wonderful to see our students taking on leadership roles and actively engaging in the local community. We also extend our gratitude to the families who attended the festival—we hope you enjoyed the delicious food stalls and engaging activities! Your participation makes these events special.
City of Dandenong Consultation Panel
City of Dandenong Consultation Panel
Every four years, local governments are required to develop a new Council Plan. The City of Greater Dandenong has prioritised community consultation to understand what matters most to its residents. As part of this initiative, a deliberative panel was formed, allowing community members to collaborate over four sessions. Recognizing the importance of including student voice in these discussions, the panel invited students from our local primary schools to participate.
On Saturday, October 12th, three students attended the deliberative panel to represent the Children’s Advisory Primary School Group. Mary from St. Joseph's Primary School played a key role in organising the presentation and sharing the group’s feedback and insights.
Kate Beveridge, Community Engagement Leader for the City of Greater Dandenong, praised the students’ contributions:
“Gemma, Mary, and Viren were absolutely amazing on Saturday. Their presentation was so impressive that the panel engaged with them enthusiastically and asked numerous questions. I am so proud of them for beautifully representing the Children’s Advisory Group.”
We extend our thanks to Mary for her exceptional work as both a school and community leader. Her efforts show the importance of youth engagement in local governance and highlight the valuable perspectives children can bring to community discussions.
Children’s Advisory Group Meeting 28/8/2024
Today, Mary and Aidan went to the Children's Advisory Group meeting at the Dandenong Civic Centre. Mary has been chosen as one of the 5 students at the Children’s Advisory Group who will be representing the ideas of primary school students to help develop the Council’s 4 Year Plan. She will attend the council meeting on Saturday, 12th of October.
Every four years the Council must develop a new Council Plan. Mary will present ideas to a panel that is made up of people that are 18 years and above.
This should help the council know what to be focusing on over the next 4 years.
Little Day Out!
Mary and Aidan are well under way with their planning for the Little Day Out Event.
Mary will be helping at the information tent on the day.
We hope our families will attend this special community event.
Little Day Out, is returning this year, with this year’s theme “The Great Outdoors”.
Date: Sunday 22 September
Time: 11am – 4pm
Location: Ross Reserve, 9 Memorial Drive, Noble Park
Cost: Free entry
Student Representative Council (SRC) Friday 7th June
The recent SRC Meeting on June 7th was full of energy and creativity!
The SRC has a student representative from each classroom from Years 1-6.
The Year 6 Student Voice Leaders plan and deliver the SRC sessions with the Deputy Principal.
It was great to see Year 6 students taking the lead as Student Voice Leaders and actively involving the younger students in the decision-making process.
The use of interesting handshakes to introduce themselves was a fun way to break the ice and build a sense of belonging within the group. The students found the Lumberjack and Caterpillar handshakes most interesting.
The digital presentation about playground features created by the senior students was informative. It enabled the younger students to think about important aspects like tunnels, sensory and musical equipment, ropes for swinging and climbing, and cubby houses when designing their ideal playground.
Investigating how the playground can be improved allows students to have a say about the things that are important in their everyday school lives. With all the fantastic ideas we will gather from the students across the school, we are sure the SRC will come up with some innovative solutions. Keep up the great work, SRC!
Young Planners make a Difference
The Young Planners group, comprised of Year 3/4 students from St Joseph’s Springvale, Springvale Rise, and Minaret College, recently met at the Springvale Community Hub on Tuesday, June 18th. Together, they engaged in discussions focusing on the important features of their local community.
One of the topics on the agenda was planning for the upcoming Children’s Festival named the Little Day Out. During this session, the students brainstormed and proposed various activities, stalls, and food options that they believe would improve the festival experience. Their ideas were the presented to the Event Planners representing the City of Greater Dandenong. They will incorporate these suggestions into the event planning process scheduled for later this year.
The meeting was particularly enriching for the students, as they appreciated the opportunity to collaborate with peers from different schools. This involvement not only encouraged teamwork but also allowed these young students to actively contribute to shaping community events.
Year 3/4 Young Planners
On Tuesday 21st May eight of our Year 3/4 students meet with students from neighbouring schools to discuss the important features of a city.
Together, they explored features such as parks, playgrounds, housing, shops, and places of worship, among others.
They examined their own residences and immediate surroundings before discussing the broader aspects of the City of Greater Dandenong.
Using drawings, discussions, and interactive activities, our urban planners developed their understanding of urban dynamics.
These Young Planners will continue to meet regularly throughout the year with staff from the City of Greater Dandenong. Through this partnership, they aim to share their ideas and contribute to shaping the future of town planning in their community.
Student Voice Leaders and Student Representative Council (SRC)
The Year 6 student Voice Leaders are working with the Year 1-5 SRC members so that our students can have their say about many issues including the playground and student health initiatives.
The Student Voice Leaders organised a range of team building activities with the aim of developing belonging, cooperation and confidence.
One of the most interesting activities was working as a group to carry a pole. Each person had to have one finger on the pole at all times.
The Year 6 Leaders look forward to working with the SRC throughout 2024.
Student Voice- Student Advisory Group
The Children's Advisory Group brings together students from the local primary schools within Greater Dandenong as representatives of their wider school community, to talk about the local community, facilities, and activities in Greater Dandenong, and to support Council in its commitment to be a child friendly city.
Congratulations to our St Joseph's School Representatives Mary and Aidan who worked with students from local skills schools last week. We look forward to the contributions they will make as members of the Dandenong Student Council for 2024.
Children’s Advisory Group Meeting
By : Mary and Aidan
On this day the 5th of June, 2024 Mr.Brew took the two school captains Mary and Aidan to the Children’s Advisory Group meeting located at the Dandenong Civic Centre.
When we arrived, we started off with a game in which we had to handshake different students with different styles.
Then, we thought about how our neighborhood can make an impact in our lives and what a good neighborhood would look like to us. Mary shared her ideas by saying that a good neighborhood is a community who is inclusive and celebrates others' differences. As we were finishing off our first activity, a group of event planners came into the room and announced the theme for the Noble Park festival called The Little Day Out. After they announced it, we were going to plan what activities and movies we should have for the Little Day Out event.
At the very end, everyone got up into groups and decided on 3 categories that the council should focus on in the next 4 years. There were a lot of different categories for us to choose from but almost all of the groups decided to vote for :
easier food accessibility.
helping people with their mental health problems/drug addiction.
making sure that children are feeling safe walking alone by themselves (which was Mary’s idea from the last meeting) .
Overall, we have had lots of fun. We are really happy to be representing our school and being a voice for students. We love sharing our ideas with the Greater Dandenong Council.
Children's Advisory Council City of Greater Dandenong
This report is written by our two student representatives on the Dandenong Council Advisory Group. Congratulations to Mary Tran who was elected as the Deputy Mayor by students at the last meeting in March.
Children’s Advisory Group Meeting.pdfChildren Advisory Group Junior Mayor
Wednesday 20th March
On the 20th of March, Mr Seeber took the two representatives, Mary and Aidan of St Joseph’s to the children's advisory group at the Dandenong Council Chambers.
While we were there we first started answering questions about what we would do and change if we were junior mayor. The Mayor arrived earlier than expected so we missed out on doing an activity, but we met the mayor of Greater Dandenong. She talked to us about her experience in becoming mayor and what she does in her role. She also explained how Greater Dandenong is a child-friendly council because it is a safe environment for children, there are lots of parks and they listen to children's ideas.
The purpose of the meeting was to vote for our junior mayor. There were 20 candidates for the role and each had to make a two-minute speech explaining why people should vote for them. Mary nominated herself and gave a great and honest speech that included the importance of junior mayor and why she would do well in the role.
Aidan volunteered to be an electoral assistant for the voting. He helped with organising the candidates and handing out ballot papers to the nominees.
Overall the experience was fun. We enjoyed communicating with children from other schools and sharing our ideas. We are looking forward to our next meeting and working out what more we can do for our community.
By Aidan and Mary
Legoland Excursion Student Voice and Student Wellbeing Leaders _ 2023.mp4Childrens Forum Day.pdf2023 Children's Forum
What is the children's forum?
Who attends?
What do they do?
Childrens Forum (2).pdf
Little Day Out Poster (A10125746).pdf
THE LITTLE DAY OUT 2023
Thank you Anthony for helping out at this important community event.
26/7/23 Student Voice Newsletter
On Wednesday 26th July we (Amanda and Anthony, Student Voice Leaders) went to another Children Advisory Group meeting with students from our local Primary Schools.
POSTER COMPETITION
We voted on a poster competition titled ‘Born A Child Will Stay A Child’ The poster that won was poster number fourteen. The winner was not from St Joseph’s Primary School. However Amanda, Angelina, Anna and Miranda were runners up from St Joseph’s School.
TEAM BUILDING
We then did a team building activity. Our table group tried to build a really tall tower with spaghetti sticks and masking tape. After we built it really tall we had to stick a marshmallow on top of the sticks. Our one was the tallest but then it was leaning so four of us including me (Amanda) and Anthony tried fixing it. Unfortunately it broke at the last minute and we gave up because there was no hope left.
You could say that our one was the tallest and then the shortest!!!!
We are looking forward to our next meeting in August.
From Amanda and Anthony - Student Voice Leaders
STUDENT VOICE: Children's Forum and the Little Day Out
On Wednesday 30th August the Student Voice Leaders, Anthony and Edeline, went to the Children’s Advisory Group meeting and worked with students from our local Primary Schools.
At the meeting we talked about two important events: The Children’s Forum and The Little Day Out.
The Children’s Forum is on the 25th of October. It is a whole day event which is from 9:30 AM-2:30 PM. The Children’s Forum is a day where there are a lot of school’s that gather together and talk about how we can improve our local environment. Four students from the Student Voice Team will get chosen to go to the Children’s Forum.
The Little Day out is a fun day for kids to gather and have fun. There are stage performances such as K-Pop Dancing and Irish Dancing. There will be activities like drawing competitions, lantern making and movie watching. ( Puss In Boots: The Last Wish). The Little Day Out is on Sunday the 17th of September at Ross Reserve. We hope lots of children from St Joseph's Primary School will attend and enjoy the exciting activities.
From Student Voice Leaders Edeline and Anthony
Children Advisory Group
Wednesday June 14, 2023
Today on Wednesday the 14th of June we went to Springvale Library to talk with other schools at the Children's Advisory Group.
We wrote titles for the ‘Little Day Out’. The ‘Little Day Out’ is an event that is happening in Noble Park later in the year and everyone in the community will be welcome to come.
Then we got to meet someone new, her name is Lynne. She asked what we wanted to do for elderly people in our community to have fun. Then we wrote our ideas on another piece of paper as a table group. There were lots of ideas and two things we wrote on the paper were, to play board games and do makeup and hair dressing for the elderly people.
We really enjoyed working with other students from other schools. We hope to have much more fun the next time we go!
By: Anthony Pham and Amanda Nguyen
City of Greater Dandenong - Children's Advisory Group
On Wednesday 10th of May we (Amanda Nguyen and Anthony Pham) went to the children’s advisory group at the Springvale Community Hub and talked about what they could do to make parks better. We worked with other students from lots of other schools.
The main thing we did was we made up ideas which could improve the Springvale Reserve. The council wanted the Springvale Reserve to be a better place. The Council are going to be talking to children to ask how they could improve the parks and they will also be coming to St Joseph’s school to talk to some children here as well.
We also learnt about the Little Day Out, a festival held in Noble Park.
We have been asked to find out what students here at St Joseph would like to see at the ‘Little Day Out’ which is coming up later in the year. We might send out a survey to the older students soon.
Many thanks from Amanda and Anthony. (Student Voice Leaders)
The Children's Advisory Group 2023
What is the Children’s Advisory group?
The City of Greater Dandenong (Council) values children as active and engaged citizens. They are a Child Friendly City where children are valued, respected and celebrated.
The advisory group is comprised of 2 student representatives from local primary schools in grades 5 & 6, a
member from each school, City of Greater Dandenong Children’s Services staff and staff from Mission Australia Communities for Children.
The group meets twice a term, as representatives of their wider school community, to talk about the local community, facilities, and activities in Greater Dandenong, and to support Council in its commitment to
being a Child Friendly City.
Our St Joseph's School Representatives are Amanda Nguyen (5/6F) and Anthony Pham (5/6B). Our back up representatives are Edeline Nguyen (5/6G) and Anthony Nguyen (5/6C).
Thank you to Amanda and Edeline who represented our school on Wednesday 29 March at the first meeting for the year.
Children's Advisory Group
Our two School Captains Steven and Natalie are our representatives on the Dandenong Council Children's Advisory Group. Steven and Natalie meet each month to work with the Council and Represetaives from other local Primary Schools. They share ideas and have give feedback about how things can be improved in our local community. They also plan the Dandengong Children's Forum which is a Day of Action that many students attend in October.
https://issuu.com/greaterdandenong/docs/web_version_-_councilnews_may22_a8677206_/6
ST JOSEPH'S STUDENTS MAKE CARDS TO COMMEMORATE ANZAC DAY
ST JOSEPH'S STUDENTS MAKE CARDS TO COMMEMORATE ANZAC DAY
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