Term 2 Week 7

Principal's Message

Dear Parents and Carers,

Wearing Correct Uniform,
We have had a number of children wearing incorrect uniform. Footwear is black shoes or black/white joggers on sport days. Navy school jumpers or jackets (no hoodies) and navy tracksuit pants (no leggings).

Please give your child a note for their teacher, should they come to school out of uniform. A reminder that hair needs to be tied back if it is below your child's shoulders.

Please also  let us know if you need assistance with second hand uniforms as we are here to help. 

P and F                                                                                                                                                                                              Last Tuesday ideas for the Father's Day stall were tabled.  A donation will be given from the P & F to assist in leasing iPads for students. A reminder that we have a P & F meeting on Tuesdays at 5:30pm in weeks 3 and 7 of each term.

Family Futures                                                                                                                                                                              Mel Presnan will start working each Wednesday, beginning week 9. Mel will assist families in finding housing, completing applications for NDIS, accessing health services etc. This will be a free service to our families. More information will follow in next weeks newsletter. 

With every good wish,                                                                                                                                                                Lee Denton                                                                                                                                                                                      Principal                                                                                                                                                                                        Masters of Education (Leadership)
 

Assistant Principal - Anne Forwell

Staff Development Day (pupil free)

A reminder that our next staff development day will be held this term in week 9 on Thursday 17 June. The learning for staff on this day continues our work with CLARITY where we are working towards continuous improvement in learning and teaching. 

Walker Learning in the Primary Years

We have already started to utilise our $30,000 grant from Schools Plus Australia to further our understanding and implementation of Walker Learning. This term Years 3-6 have started to use a communication board and have focus children in their rooms. The communication board displays the focus child roster, the key learning intentions and other relevant classroom information. 

Each focus student shares something about their learning at the start and end of the day. They also share their learning goal and how they are going with this while the group is invited to ask questions, contribute ideas and support. During the day, the teacher spends some additional time with each focus child. 

Leader of Evangelisation - Donna Bancroft

National Reconciliation Week

National Reconciliation Week 2021's theme is 'More than a word. Reconciliation takes action'.

It is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia.

Reconciliation must live in the hearts, minds and actions of all Australians as we move forward, creating a nation strengthened by respectful relationships between the wider Australian community, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Creator Spirit,

All creation once declared your glory,

Your laws were honoured and trusted,

Forgive us our neglect as our country approaches

the most critical moment in its history.

Listen to our prayer as we turn to you,

Hear the cry of our land and its people,

Just as you heard the cry of Jesus,

your Son, on the Cross.

Help us to replace our national shame

With true national pride by restoring the

dignity of our First People whose antiquity is unsurpassed.

May our faith and trust in you increase.

Only then will our nation grow strong and be

a worthy place for all who wish to make their home in our land.

Amen.

© Elizabeth Pike, September 1997 Aboriginal Catholic Ministry, Melbourne.

Leader of Catechesis - Joe Stewart

Sacrament of Confirmation 

Please keep the following children in your prayers as they continue their preparation for the Sacrament of Confirmation which will be held on Friday, 23 July.

Miranda Scully, Lara Forwell, Rowan Lloyd, Rachael Savins, Hugh Brotherson and Ivy Lloyd.

May the Holy Spirit continure to bless and guide you on your faith journey.

MJR

At St Joseph’s we encourage our students to "Make Jesus Real" by the way they act in our school community and while at home and out in the community.

MJR at St Joseph’s encourages our students to be WEST people - that is WELCOMING, ENCOURAGING, SAY SORRY when needed and be THANKFUL. 

K-2 Instructional Leader - Larissa Deleiuen

K-2 Professional Learning - Mathematics

Monday of this week our K-2 teachers participated in a half day professional development via Zoom with a mathematics expert, Peter Sullivan. Peter is a Professor of Science, Mathematics and Technology Education at Monash University. He has extensive experience in research and teaching in teacher education. He has been the president of the Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers and was the lead writer of the Australian Curriculum: Mathematics. We have worked with him before and it was a wonderful experience to collaborate with him again, even as he was in lockdown in Victoria!

The intentions of the day were to:

• Examine elements of a particular task and apply that thinking to a different task. 
• Hear the rationale for making mathematics tasks challenging and structuring the lessons to manage that challenge.
• Take the ideas, evaluate them and consider the implications for future teaching.

The teachers worked as a team, and collaborated with other K-2 teachers within our Diocese. All teachers came away feeling affirmed with what they already do in regards to maths, but also with a renewed sense of excitement of ways to ensure all students are engaged in maths. 

Try out one of the warm up tasks below with your child/children. Read the numbers down the page clapping as you say each number. Now read from the bottom of the page to the top adding 1 more to each number eg. where it says “9” you would say “10”. Next, read back down the page subtracting 1 from each number eg. where it says “3” you would say “2”. Go back up the page adding 10 to each number.

Leader of Curriculum - Hannah Gorman

Semester 1 Student Reports

Currently teachers are working hard to moderate your children's work to ensure that reports provide accurate and up-to-date feedback about their learning progress. St Joseph's Primary School continues its firm committment to working in partnership with families to enable our students to achieve their best. In 2021 St Joseph's is continuing the use of the Schoolworx Parent Portal for delivering school reports. 

Semester 1 student reports will be available to be accessed online through the Schoolworx Parent Portal from Friday 18th June.

A note will come home in the coming weeks with further details about how to access the Parent Portal. 

Stage 2 Visit from Sr Jenny Hartley

Last Thursday, Sister Jenny Hartley visited the Stage 2 classroom to talk to the students about the role of the Sisters of Mercy and the ways in which the Sisters of Mercy continue the mission of Jesus. She shared with us a history of the Sisters of Mercy in Australia and spoke about the many ways which the Sisters of Mercy use their gifts to love and serve.

The students really enjoyed when Sr Jenny shared with them her favourite image of Jesus as a Shepherd. They were very appreciative of the rose she presented to our class to place on the prayer table, fresh from her front garden. 

Sport Coordinator-Emma Davis

School Athletics Carnival 

The St Joseph's Athletics Carnival will be held on Wednesday 16 June. The carnival will be held at Barnier Park in Junction Hill. All students will attend this event. Infants students will participate in a novelty carnival and return to school once their activities are completed at 12pm. Primary students will compete in the following events: 100m sprint, 200m sprint, shot put and long jump. Students will be able to nominate to compete in the 800m race. Students will also participate in some novelty activities throughout the day.

Students who place in the top 2 in each event will be selected to represent the school at the Clarence Zone Athletics Carnival in Coffs Harbour during Term 3 on Tuesday 13 July.

A note went home with students this week containing this information and a money slip for the collection of $4 to cover the costs associated with the event. 

Library/Book Club Coordinator - Anna Smidt

Parent Library

Below are the titles of four new books recently donated to the school by The Lismore Catholic School Parent Assembly. If you would like to have a closer look at any of these books please contact the school and we can make arrangements for them to be borrowed out to you.

Bookclub

Issue 4 of Book Club was sent home last week. If you would like to order through the school please return your orders by Thursday 10 June.

Gumbaynggirr Language - Liz Hegedus

 Giinagay Ngujawiny -Hello You Mob,

This week is a very important event for all Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander People of Australia.  From 27 May to 3 June, we  celebrate 'Reconciliation Week'.   

The theme for 2021 is 'MORE THAN A WORD, RECONCILIATION TAKES ACTION'.

National Reconciliation Week is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia. Reconciliation must live in the hearts, minds and actions of all Australians as we move forward. Creating a nation strengthened by respectful relationships between the wider Australian community, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.  

National Reconciliation Week started as the Week of Prayer for Reconciliation in 1993 (the International Year of the World’s Indigenous Peoples) and was supported by Australia’s major faith communities. In 1996, the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation launched Australia’s first NRW. In 2000, Reconciliation Australia was established to continue to provide national leadership on reconciliation. In the same year, approximately 300,000 people walked across Sydney Harbour Bridge as part of NRW, to show their support for reconciliation. Today, NRW is celebrated by  businesses, schools, early learning services, organisations, and individuals Australia-wide.

This week I had a discussion with the students on the importance of 'Reconciliation.'  We discussed how our country is a multi cultural society and how we should recognise and understand the differences between people. First we acknowledge the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples of this nation, and how we can reconcile our differences and move on into the future.  Secondly, we questioned 'What type of person do I want to be?' 'How can I build respect and trust with my family and friends?' 'What actions can I put into place to show I am a good person?'

We created a visual board in the hall in respect to 'Sorry Day', 'Reconciliation Week' and 'Mabo Day.' We have a show of hands and a word wall around 'Reconciliation' to show how we can become a better person.

Darrundang Ngiinda-Thankyou                                                                                                                                            Miss Liz Hegedus                                                                                                                                                            Indigenous Educational Officer

Weekly Merit Awards

Congratulations to the following students who received a Merit Award this week.   

Kindergarten

Maddelyn Rogers for using tier 2 words when writing to descibe a character in the story.                        Skyla Coelli for counting small collections of objects using skip counting.                                                      Meliah Daley for using her knowledge of length to order objects from shortest to longest.

Stage 1                                                  

Stevie Rizzo for reading with fluency and expression during guided reading.                                                Alexander Hylton-Cummins for demonstrating resilience when writing independently.                        Tahnaya boers for showing admirable growth in her reading.                                                                                Ethan Smith for using strategies learnt in guided reading during stamina reading.                               

Stage 2 

Emmett Hammond for increased engagement and focus on learning in the classroom.                            Baxter Buchanan for his fantastic research on chickens to assist him when writing his persuasive text.                                                                                                                                                                                                    Jack Fuller for demonstrating excellent listening skills when Sr Jenny visited our class.                          Rose Coelli for great improvement in her reading during Term2, moving from a level 23 to a level 28.                                                                                                                                                                                                        Isla Johnson for great improvement in her reading during Term 2, moving to a level 30+ in her reading level.

Stage 3 

Kyle McCann for showing active listening and clearly articulating instructions to our guest speaker.                                                                                                                                                                                            Eve Pullen for contributing to class learning by sharing her thinking during mathematical tuning in.                                                                                                                                                                                                        Kyra Barrett for sharing her ideas when we had our guest presenter for Scratch coding.                        Noah Brockwell for his problem solving when working with patterns and the fibonacci sequence.                                                                                                                                                                                  

School Events & Dates

TERM 2

WEEK 8

• Monday 7 June 2.15pm - 2.45pm School Assembly
• Wednesday 9 June - Rookie Roller Sport

WEEK 9

• Monday 14 June - Public Holiday
  
• Wednesday 16 June - Athletics Carnival, Barnier park
• Thursday 17 June - Staff Development Day (Pupil free)

WEEK 10

• Monday 21 June - 2.15pm - 2.45pm School Assembly
• Friday 25 June - Last Day of Term 2

TERM 3

Week 1

• Monday 12 July - Students return for first day of Term 3
• Tuesday 14 July - Zone Athletics Carnival 

Drama and Voice Tuition

If your child would like tuition in drama or voice                                              please contact Maree Hickson on 0421 656 019

School Notes

Student Banking

As per Commonwealth Bank guidelines student deposit books are to be brought to school only on the day of banking and returned to students the same day.

Our banking day is Wednesday, therefore students are asked to only bring their deposit book in on that day.  Thank you 

School Photos - 24 June 2021

Order Envelopes have been sent home with students. If you would like to order sibling photos please see the School Office. 

Uniform Shop

The uniform shop is located in  the  BrewHouse Village                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Opening hours:                                                                                                                                                                      Monday - Thursday 10.00am to 4.30pm                                                                                                                          Friday by appointment only                                                                                                                                          Email: fytexptyltd@bigpond.com                                                                                                                                        Phone 6643 2989

Canteen

Canteen Volunteers Needed

Our canteen cannot operate without volunteers.  If you are able to assist us between 9.00 am and  12.00 pm on any canteen day, it would be much appreciated. In particular we are looking for volunteers on a Thursday in Term 3 or the canteen will have to close that day.

Babies in prams are very welcome.  Toddlers, however, can find the canteen an unsafe place so we would recommend that they are not present. 

You may find you cannot volunteer every week - that is fine!  We are grateful for any help you can give us. Please contact the School Office if you are able to help.