Term 3 Week 4

Principal's Message

Dear Parents and Carers,

Baby News! It is with much excitement that I tell you of the arrival of a beautiful baby boy to Mrs Larissa Deleuien last week.  Herbie Banjo was born on 27 July at 2:17 pm.  He weighed 8 pound 11 ounces and was 49cm long.  Mother and son are doing very well and Larissa tells me her husband has been a great support. We look forward to meeting Herbie at school soon.

I want to thank you all for keeping our school safe - signing in and wearing masks.  It is easy to forget that many millions of people around Australia are not as lucky as us and have lockdown measures in place. Our restrictions go a long way in keeping us safe.

I would draw your attention to a note that was sent out by our head office (and attached to this newsletter) regarding such restrictions and mention that for the time being Junior Joeys playgroup and transition to Kindergarten programs cannot take place. This is very disappointing and we hope to be able to have you all back on site soon.

I am still hoping that our Stage 3 students will get to go on a camp, but at this stage it needs to be postponed until Term 4 when we will reconsider the current Covid guidelines.

With every good wish,

Lee Denton

Principal

Master of Education (Leadership) 

Assistant Principal - Anne Forwell

The Third Teacher  

At St Joseph's we have been working hard on the third teacher, that is the classroom environment. We have been intentionally creating spaces that are designed to be not only functional but also beautiful and reflective of children’s learning. The research from Walker Learning (Kathy Walker) has demonstrated to us that the use of warm colours, soft lighting, plants and greenery and beautifully presented quality materials create a calm atmosphere combined with a sense of wanting to learn and investigate for our students. 

Students Travelling Home

Parents and caregivers are asked to please make sure the emergency contacts for their child/ren are up to date. Students are only to be collected by those who are on the emergency contact list. If you need to update this list or add more contacts to this list please contact the school as soon as possible. Thankyou.

Leader of Evangelisation - Donna Bancroft

Saint Mary of the Cross Feast Day- Sunday, August 8

Celebrating the feast of Mary MacKillop in 2021 will be different for many of us. During these past months people across the world have been dealing with the reality and impact of the coronavirus. For many places where devotion to Saint Mary MacKillop has grown, this year’s celebration of her life will be different. With limited attendance in churches, the celebration of Eucharist for many will be through live stream. With pilgrimage sites not accessible for people, we need once again to draw upon our creativity and find different ways to mark this special day in the life of the church. What encouragement might Mary MacKillop offer us at this time in the life of the world. In 1907 she wrote to the Sisters:

We must let no obstacles deter us from proceeding with courage in the path marked out for us.  It may sometimes be dark and full of windings, but a beautiful bright light shines at the end of this path and a few more windings will bring us to it. Mary MacKillop 1907.

On this feast day.....

May we share in Mary's courage, see with her vision, and love with her heart.

May Mary MacKillop’s deep love for you be your gift  on  this day.  Amen   

Knitting for those in need

During these uncertain times and following in the footsteps of Mary MacKillop, the students in Stage 3 have banded together to help those less fortunate than themselves. The students are busy knitting squares which will be eventually joined together to make a blanket and provide a little comfort and warmth to those in our local community who need a helping hand. If you have any spare wool or knitting needles to donate and support our cause, please leave them at the front office. The students intend to donate their blanket to a local nursing home. Your generosity and kindness will be very much appreciated.

Mrs Denton provides her gentle guidance on how to knit to Emily, Rachel, Kyra and Lily. 

K-2 Instructional Leader - Carole Reinhard

Stage One have been working on writing about an Olympic Athlete over the last two weeks. Researching an athlete, and then looking at the areas where they are competing and thinking about what that experience might have felt like for that person. In Mathematics they are learning about money and handling play money to become more familiar with the value of each coin.

Kindergarten have been learning about Aboriginal names for birds and colouring some birds using aboriginal patterns. Last week they were learning about capacity and how much sand each container would hold.

This week Year One are having their Phonics Screening assessment. Year 2 and Kindergarten will do an informal one on one interview to collect data to determine learning areas for the rest of the term.

It has been lovely to see so many students bringing in their home reading folder. It would be fantastic to see more of these each week as this is the easiest way to assist your child in their reading journey.

Sport Coordinator - Emma Davis

Olympics Fun Day
The school held the Olympics Fun Day on Friday 30 July.  Congratulations to all students for getting into the Olympic spirit by dressing up to represent different countries and participating in the day’s activities.                                                                                                                                                                           

A special congratulations to the Stage 3 students for setting up and running the tabloid activities for the school to participate in. They demonstrated excellent leadership skills, making it an enjoyable day for everyone. 

Prev

Showing images 1 - 8 of 19

Next

Library/Book Club Coordinator - Anna Smidt

Book Club Issue 5

There has been an extension for those wishing to order from Issue 5 as I had misread the closing date- my apologies (should have gone to Specsavers!) The new due date for orders is Thursday 12 August, if you would like to order through school.

Book Week -Week 7 (23-27 August)

The celebrations for St Joseph’s Book Week are quickly approaching! 

We will be celebrating once again by having a Book Fair with a variety of beautiful books supplied by The Grafton Book Warehouse. Most importantly, we will be having a dress up day so start thinking creatively about what your costume will be. Try to use things that you already have at home rather than spending too much money on your costume. The theme for this year is “Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds” which makes it open to many different ideas. I think Miss Davies already has her costume planned (of course!). 

New Books

I was very lucky to be able to buy most of the gorgeous books on the Children's Book Council Shortlist for our library. These books will be available for teachers to borrow and share with their classes. Once Book Week is over, they will be available for students to borrow from the library.

Premier's Reading Challenge

The Premier’s Reading Challenge is drawing to a close with only a few weeks to go. If you are interested in completing this challenge, you have until 20 August. Don’t forget to upload the titles of the books that you have read using your login details.

Gumbaynggirr Language - Liz Hegedus

Giinagay Ngujawiny -Hello You Mob,

Kindergarten are currently learning words in 'Gumbaynggirr Language,' and learning different 'Dreamtime Stories.'  This week Kinder learn't the  'Dreamtime Story' 'How The Birds Got Their Colours' and the 'Gumbaunggirr' word for bird is 'Jiibiny.'

Aboriginal Dreamtime story: 'How The Birds Got Their Colours'     

Long, long ago in the Dreamtime, all the birds were black in colour , they were all the same. One day a little dove landed on a stick and hurt his foot, the dove became very sick.  All the birds surrounded the dove to see what they could do. They all wanted to save the little bird, except for one bird… the crow who didn't care about the dove and wouln't offer any help. But suddenly, a parrot rushed towards the sick little bird and burst its swollen foot with its beak. Different colours rushed out and splashed all over the parrot and the other birds who were offering their help. 

The message to the 'Dreamtime Story' How The Birds Got Their Colours, is having an understanding about  Indigenous Culture in how families look after each other in time of need, regardless of the situation.  It doesn't matter who or what needs help or the situation you are in, you can always count on family to give you love and guidance. That is how Indigenous families work.

After listening to the story, Kindergarten coloured and decorated their birds. They are absolutely beautiful and proudly hanging in the 'Dreamtime Corner' of our library.

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.                                          

Fees

Fee Statements were sent home with students on Tuesday 27 July, they have also been emailed.  Please note Term 4 statements will only be emailed.

Attendance                                                                                                                 

As of Monday 9 August, you will receive a text message if you child/ren are marked absent from school. School starts at 8.50am when the roll is marked, so if you child/ren are not present when the teacher marks the roll you will receive the below message. Please reply to the text with the reason for absence and this reason will be recorded on your child/ren's record.

Text message: (Student Name) is absent from school today. Please confirm, with reason for absence, by return SMS by 3pm today. Thank you St Joseph's Primary School.

School Events & Dates

TERM 3 

WEEK 4

• Sunday 8 August - St Mary of the Cross Feast Day

WEEK 5

• Sunday 15 August - Commitment Mass for First Holy Communion

Weekly Merit Awards

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

Kindergarten

Finn Lihou for using concrete materials to solve subtraction problem and explaining his strategies with the class.

Ruby Woods for sharing her new learning with others when learning about capacity.

Stage 1

Owen Trickett for locking his eyes in and writing facts about Australian athletes.

Kamren Singh for using a range of strategies to sound out unfamiliar words during guided reading.

Noah Grainger for locking his eyes in and taking care in his writing.

Sophie Pole for her fantastic explanation during the maths warm up.

Noah Grainger for being a kind and caring friend to his peers.

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.