The whole school community at St Jospeh’s Primary in Benalla came together on Friday, March 17, to celebrate its annual feast day.
All year levels, parents and teachers were involved with the event which kicked off in the morning with mass led by Father Vijay Bandanadam.
Deputy principal Sam Kerlin said feast day was essentially treated like the school’s birthday.
“Our feast day celebrates our patron saint St Joseph,“ Mr Kerlin said.
“It’s a chance for out community to come together and gather to celebrate together.
“In the morning Father Vijay held mass in our basketball area. It was a beautiful celebration.
“The Year 6 leaders brought forward symbols. For example there was a photo of St Joseph, another student brought up a candle and a prayer.”
Mr Kerlin said during lent the school raised money for those in need with the focus on showing empathy for others and community spirit.
"That is why we held a mini fete after the mass. It was about coming together as a community and raising money for those in need.
“The appeal raises money for children less fortunate in Nepal and we raised more than $3000.
“The students did that by running mini stalls offering things likes shooting basketball hoops. One had a dressing-up the teacher competition. Another had kicking the footy through the target challenge.
“Then we had things like sausage sizzles and kids playing musical instruments.”
Mr Kerlin said the school had received great feedback.
“We had a lot of smiling faces and that is a great way to know we’ve done a great job,” he said.
"We’ve also had lots of messages telling us there was lots of joy around, the kids loved it, and someone said they enjoyed every minute of the day.“