Term 3 Week 2

Principal's Message

Dear Parents and Carers,

As you know, our newsletter is now digital and has been for the whole of 2021.  Some people have told me they forget to go to the website each week and have been missing out on important information.

You may not know that there is a feature on our website that allows you to request that the newsletter be sent to you each week as an email so all you need to do then is click on the link in the email.  Instructions on how to do this have been sent home with your child and a link is also attached below in the School Notes section of this newsletter.

Covid Update:

Please note that until further notice, parents must ring the School Office (the number is on our gate) and wait for a staff member to come to the gate.  From there we will make sure we help you with your request.  Parents are not to go directly to classrooms.  Please understand this is not our preferred way of working but we must obey the guidelines as set out by NSW Health services.

Also, if you receive a text from Service NSW to say you must stay at home for fourteen days, please note that you need to send this text to the school and your child needs to lock down with you for the same period of time.

With every good wish

Lee Denton

Principal

Master of Education (Leadership) 

Assistant Principal - Anne Forwell

Learning and Teaching - Clarity

On Monday we were joined by Mrs Mary Walsh from the Catholic School’s Office. Mrs Walsh assisted us to continue our work on Clarity where we are working towards continuous improvement in learning and teaching. Our school’s Clarity team consists of our Principal Mrs Lee Denton, Mrs Donna Bancroft, Mrs Carole Reinhard, Mrs Mandy Hughes and myself.  Our role is to support and enhance teaching and learning practices within the school to enhance the academic growth of every student. 

The research for this project is based on the work of  Dr. Lyn Sharratt. Lyn is a highly accomplished practitioner, researcher, author, and presenter based in Ontario. She has a track-record of substantially increasing school performance. Staff members have participated in a zoom with Lyn and she will continue to work alongside us. 

Every child, every day!

Leader of Evangelisation - Donna Bancroft

Confirmation Reflection Day

On Wednesday, the children preparing for the Sacrament of Confirmation attended a Reflection Day at St Mary's Primary School. This day, culminated their learning and sharing, to reinforce the way the Holy Spirit lives in our hearts and works through us every day. The children experienced a wonderful day, making new friends and unpacking the gifts, fruits and symbols of the Holy Spirit. We would like to thank Mrs Myson and the staff at St Mary's for making Mrs Bancroft and the candidates from St Joseph's School feel very welcome. On Friday 23 July, the candidates will attend a Parish Mass at St Mary's Church at 12.00pm and meet Bishop Gregory Homeming. In the evening, at 6.00pm, they will make their Confirmation. We wish the children and their families a joyous and spiritual occasion as they celebrate this wonderful event.

Leader of Catechesis - Joe Stewart

MJR - Making Jesus Real. Welcome Mitch!

Last Thursday, our school was incredibly lucky to be able to welcome Peter Mitchell, "Mitch" the author of MJR. Mitch has been working in schools all over Australia for over 20 years supporting staff and the students in creating a visible presence of the Spirit of Jesus in their school. He led our Staff Prayer before school, visited all classes and worked extensively in Stages 2 and 3. He was so impressed with the way the students worked and their understanding of how the Spirit of Jesus works through each and every one of us; shown by the kind ways we greet, treat and speak to each other. He reinforced how important it is to be thankful and set the children the challenge of saying a thankyou to those that help them at least 4 times each day. Hopefully our parents are receiving the gratitude of their children. At the school assembly our Stage 3 Leaders presented  an overview of the work Mitch did in Stage 3 and their message was clear. "If it's meant to be, it's up to me." A video was shared showing how each of us is responsible to help and care for others and when we do this, the spirit of Jesus is working through us. All the little things we do can make a big difference!

Below are some of the responses that Stage 3 wrote during their work with Mitch.

Question 1 WHERE DID YOU SEE THE SPIRIT OF JESUS OVER THE LAST 2 DAYS AND WHAT GOSPEL MESSAGE DID YOU GET FROM YOUR STORY.?

I saw the SOJ in …… and my gospel message was

When I come to school every day and Jason and Emily say “Hey Kyra.” ( WELCOMING)

When I was playing soccer and Mr Stewart and Monique said “Great save.” (ENCOURAGING)

When Issy said “good job “ and smiled to me. ( FRIENDSHIP)

When Eve accidentally hit me with a ball in handball and she said “sorry Rachel.”  (FORGIVENESS)

When my mum paid for a man in front of us for his meat at the butchers, as he didn’t have enough money. ( GENEROSITY )

When Noah stayed back after class and picked up pencils on the floor. ( HELPING)

Question 2 WHAT HAVE YOU DONE OVER THE LAST 2 DAYS TO SHOW THE SPIRIT OF JESUS TO OTHERS AND WHAT GOSPEL MESSAGE DID YOU DEMONSTRATE.?

I saw the Spirit of Jesus in me when I ….. and the gospel message was….

When I feed my sister's dogs as she was late for work this morning. ( KINDNESS)

When I said “Great try” in soccer. (SUPPORTING )

When I thanked my mum  for dinner last night. (GRATITUDE)

When I helped Nannie with her work. (THOUGHTFUL)

When I said thanks to Eve and Mrs Nay when they handed me my book and papers. (THANKFUL).

**** Notice that they are very simple everyday stories with a message. There are 10 gospel messages above Stage 3 picked up.

Question 3 WHAT SMALL THINGS CAN I DO TO BE A BETTER TEAM PLAYER AT HOME?

By being  more grateful for my parents by saying thanks 4 times a day every day at home.

Helping mum more and being more cheerful at home  to make her happy.

Doing as I am asked to do, more cheerfully and less moaning and groaning .

By doing jobs like the dishes without being asked.

Don’t ask for so much stuff when we are shopping.

Question 4 WHAT  SMALL THINGS CAN I DO TO BE A BETTER TEAM PLAYER AT SCHOOL.?

By saying a personal “good morning “and a “personal good afternoon “to the teachers.

Help when I can and include more people in games.

Show more sportsmanship, by saying more encouraging things in games, and when people achieve something .

Thank a person and use their NAME .

Help more people and clean up the mess I make.

Question 5  WHAT WAS YOUR “OH YEAH” MOMENT or THE MOST IMPORTANT POINT YOU PICKED UP FROM THE MJR LESSON .

To feed the positive wolf inside me and not the negative wolf, as that makes you happier. (a few mentioned that)

When you are more of a giver and do more kind things to others it makes you feel good.

Be more “switched on” to the spirit of Jesus around me. (a few mentioned that).

Thank a person and use their name in school and at home.

To be more welcoming to others in the morning and speak to more people.

To be more of a team player at home and be more grateful by saying thanks 4 times a day.

K-2 Instructional Leader - Carole Reinhard

Early Stage One and Stage One are working beautifully in class to develop life long learning habits. They have new Walker Learning investigations that align with this term's units of work and all students are enjoying their opportunities to explore and find out new things. In English Stage One are learning about Hybrid texts which have information as well as an imaginative story. They have been reading and writing about Big Red Kangaroo and sharing which part of the text they enjoy the most. Kindergarten have been working on sounding out words (decoding) and learning the difference between fiction and non fiction texts.

I am enjoying my time working with, and supporting the teachers in their work and getting to know all the students. We are looking at ways to help students to become better readers and we will do some testing shortly to identify areas that we can work on to assist them in making progress.

Sport Coordinator - Emma Davis

Olympics Fun Day

To celebrate the Tokyo Olympics, the school will be holding an Olympics Fun Day on Friday 30 July  (Week 3). This week students were given the name of the country which they will be representing at the event. Students can either dress up in their country's colours or an outfit that represents that country. Students will participate in an 'Opening Ceremony' and some tabloid activities. Students will be spending time in class creating a flag to hold during the Opening Ceremony. 

Clarence Zone Athletics Carnival

The scheduled Clarence Zone Athletics Carnival that was to be held on Tuesday 13 July has been rescheduled to Tuesday 3 August in Coffs Harbour pending the lifting of current restrictions.

Library/Book Club Coordinator - Anna Smidt

Book Week

Every week is book week at St Joseph's, however, in Week 7 this term we will join in with the rest of Australia to officially celebrate Book Week. The theme this year is "Old World's, New World's, Other Worlds" which sounds very mysterious!

Watch this space for more information on our Book Week celebrations.

Book Club

Issue 5 of Book Club is now out. If you have misplaced your catalogue, jump online to view at https://www.scholastic.com.au/book-club/book-club-parents/  If you would like to order through school, please have your orders in by Thursday 29 July.

Gumbaynggirr Language - Liz Hegedus

Giinagay Ngujawiny - Hello You Mob,

This term Kindergarten are learning about 'Aboriginal Dreamtime Stories.'

Kindergarten have listened to the story 'Why the Koala has a stumpy tail.'

Why the Koala Has a Stumpy Tail is an Aboriginal Dreamtime Story about two friends, Tree Kangaroo and Koala. Long ago they were very close, but their friendship soured after the events that transpired during a long drought in Australia. Tree Kangaroo was a hard worker and resourceful while Koala was lazy and selfish. Tree Kangaroo had the idea of digging a hole for water in a dry stream bed. Tree Kangaroo started to dig, but Koala kept making excuses about why he couldn’t help dig the hole. Finally, Tree Kangaroo ends up digging the entire hole and when he finally finds water, Koala jumps in and drinks it all. Emblazoned with anger at Koala’s selfish act, Tree Kangaroo grabs Koala by his long, furry tail and pulls so hard that it breaks off at the base. Now Koala is left with a short, stumpy tail.

Kindergarten loved this story and have also learnt the Gumbaynggirr word for koala is Dunggirr.

Darrundang Ngiinda -Thankyou

Miss Liz 

IEW (Indigenous Educational Worker)

School Notes

Drama and Voice Tuition

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

School Events & Dates

TERM 3 

WEEK 2

• Friday 23 July - Sacrament of Confirmation - St Mary's Church, Grafton 6.00pm

WEEK 4

• Sunday 15 August - Commitment Mass for First Holy Communion

Weekly Merit Awards

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



Stage 1

Marley Thrupp for explaining his mathematical thinking during guided groups.

Harrison Light for sharing his mathematical understanding during class discussion.

Alexander Hylton-Cummins for independently writing sentences using the phonics focus for the week.

Chelsea Dentler for settling in well to Stage 1.

Joy Tough for her completion of the STAR program.

Max Fraser for his completion of the STAR program.

Alexander Hylton-Cummins for his completion of the STAR program.

Stage 2

Hugh Brotherson for showing Christ-like behaviours in welcoming our new Stage 2 students.

Aidan Knox for showing Christ-like behaviours in welcoming our new Stage 2 students.

Hamish Dentler for being a welcome new addition to our Stage 2 class.

Callum Tait for his insightful input in our geography lesson, using wonderful Tier 3 words.

Bradley Esterhuizen for his insightful input in our geography lesson, using wonderful Tier 3 words.

Thomas Robb for being a welcome new addition to our Stage 2 class.

Tanveer Kaur for being a welcome new addition to our Stage 2 class.

Stage 3

Annabella fordham for her planning and writing an excellent information report.

Congratulations to Pippa for her wonderful piano performance at assembly.

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  or  Phone 6643 2989                                       

Canteen

Canteen closed on Thursday's in Term 3

Our canteen will be closed on Thursday's in Term 3. This is due to not having enough volunteers to operate three days. 

If you are able to assist us between 9.00 am and  12.00 pm on any canteen 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.