St Joseph's Primary School South Grafton

Hyde Street
South Grafton NSW 2460

Phone: 02 6642 2899

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Term 3 Week 8

Assistant Principal - Anne Forwell
Leader of Evangelisation - Donna Bancroft
Leader of Catechesis-Joe Stewart
K-2 Instructional Leader - Carole Reinhard
Library/Book Club Coordinator - Anna Smidt
Gumbaynggirr Language - Liz Hegedus
School Notes
School Events & Dates
Uniform Shop
Canteen

Assistant Principal - Anne Forwell

Dear Families

As we move into another week of home learning I wish to thank all the parents and caregivers for the support you are providing for your children. As you know the school remains open for children of essential workers and vulnerable students. We appreciate the fact that parents have complied with the Stay at Home Order by keeping their children at home when they are at home. I know that working from home and homeschooling is not easy!

If for some reason your child is unable to engage in the home learning tasks any particular day, please call the school so that we can let your child’s teachers know and mark your child as absent like we normally would.

Our Catholic School's Office has put together a wonderful home learning site with support and resources to assist you. I encourage you to engage with the link below. Please also remember that I am available, please call the school at any time for support. Your children’s teachers are also available via the school phone or you may email them directly.

Our staff are working very hard to support the children and I thank them. I also thank you, our wonderful parents and families. I have viewed the home learning your children are doing and it is amazing - THANK YOU!

https://sites.google.com/lis.../learning-from-home-families/

Anne Forwell

Acting Principal

Leader of Evangelisation - Donna Bancroft

‘Cry of the Earth, Cry of the Poor’.

A Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation was celebrated last Sunday 29 August, as Pope Francis formally invited Catholics to join in keeping September as a Month of Prayer for the Care of Creation.

The Australian Bishops' Social Justice Statement, Cry of the Earth, Cry of the Poor, invites us to join in responding to Pope Francis’ invitation to take a seven-year journey towards total ecological sustainability guided by seven Laudato Si’ Goals. The Statement provides theological foundations to ground and inspire our efforts to care for creation while responding to the needs of the disadvantaged and excluded.

The Australian Bishops' Social Justice Statement 2021-2022, Cry of the Earth, Cry of the Poor, is available on the internet for those who enjoy a good read. It affirms that “we human beings need a change of heart, mind, and behaviour." It draws from Scripture, from the theological tradition, from Catholic Social Teaching, and from the wisdom of the world, including the insights of First Nations people.

“Creation is not a property, which we can rule over at will; or, even less, is the property of only a few: Creation is a gift, it is a wonderful gift that God has given us, so that we care for it and we use it for the benefit of all, always with great respect and gratitude.”- Pope Francis

Leader of Catechesis-Joe Stewart

First Holy Communion

Unfortunately due to the current Covid 19 restrictions, Fr Joe Holloway has advised that the Sacrament of First Holy Communion which was scheduled for the weekend of 11/12 September has been postponed until further notice. We apologise for any inconvenience.

MJR - Be a Winner and a Grinner.

We are hearing so much these days of so many negative things happening in our society with bullying, domestic violence, negative texting, anxiety, depression, etc. This can certainly filter down to our primary schools.

The opposite of the negative list above are the fruits of the Spirit which are; Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Generosity, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self Control. Galatians 5;22,23 .

THE SPIRIT OF JESUS IS IN THE LITTLE THINGS WE DO AND SAY EACH DAY TO HELP TO MAKE SOMEONES DAY ....EVERY DAY.

If everyone worked on these small things... it would make a big difference in our class and at home.

I will list 10 small things we can say to make someone feel good.

Thanks dad for driving me to sport.
Your art work is looking great.
Thanks for today Mrs Smith... see you tomorrow. (use class teachers name)
How was your day Mum...Dad?
Come and join in our game.
You are really improving at ...drama ...or sport, ...or school subjects.
Love your cooking mum.
Sorry if I upset you yesterday.
Thanks for being a great friend.

Coming to school ready to say a personal “Gooday” to your teachers and your peers is a great way to start the day.

Set a challenge for your class or your child at home to see if you can get another 15.
If you are more of a GIVER at these little things and you try harder to praise, encourage, compliment and fill other people’s bucket each day, this leads you to improving your well-being, happiness, and inner peace. You will see and realise you are growing to be a better person. It is well known if you make other people happy... this helps your happiness as you are feeding the positive spirit within you.

You are living out the way we Greet, Treat and Speak to people better.

Last week I wrote about our wonderful Paralympians and the extraordinary effects for “Feeding the positive Spirit with in you,” that each of the Paralympians have shown, and will show in the games.

The messages about life and people skills that each of them show can be so uplifting, for us a teachers and as parents.

Hopefully we are all inspired at the end of the 2 weeks to have an “Attitude of Gratitude” for what we have, legs, arms, eyesight etc., and to do less moaning and groaning and be more of a GRINNER AND WINNER. Sometimes we think we have problems but there are so many people with much bigger problems than we will ever have.

Realise that these athletes recovered because of the POWER OF ENCOURAGEMENT that these athletes must have received from their family and friends. The lesson from this can be, CAN I BE AN ENCOURAGING PERSON EACH DAY ……BY THE LITTLE THINGS WE SAY AND DO. EACH DAY. EVERY DAY.

Spot the SOJ (Spirit of Jesus) moments, friendship, joy etc after the events have finished and at the presentations. SOJ happens 24/7 and comes to you from 360 degrees. The final week of the games should and will be so uplifting of our Spirit.

Enjoy the rest of term showing the Spirit of Jesus to all you meet ...in the little things we say and do each day.

K-2 Instructional Leader - Carole Reinhard

A big thank you to the parents who are working with their children on their blended learning tasks. Your assistance is really appreciated. It has been wonderful to see the students working at school engaging so well with their learning tasks and becoming much more confident completing these tasks independently.

The teachers are also to be commended on the quality work that they are setting for their students to complete in Blended Learning. I hope that you are all able to spend time doing other enjoyable activities alongside the learning throughout the day. I hope that some reading activities and time spent reading is one of those activities. It is important for your child to continue reading during lockdown to maintain or improve their reading level.

Library/Book Club Coordinator - Anna Smidt

Last chance!! The Premier's Reading Challenge is ENDING!! Please log your books in before the end of Friday 3 September if you still want to be in the running.

Gumbaynggirr Language - Liz Hegedus

Giinagay Ngujawiny -Hello You Mob,

Last week I shared with you the story about 'The Tree Of Life.' This week I would like to share a prayer with you about how the 'Tree Of Life' is so important to our lives. I think this prayer will really help us to understand the current situation the world is in today.

THE TREE OF LIFE

We all need trees to survive. God made the trees for us to protect and nurture. They give us good food to eat and water to drink. They give us shelter and protection. Trees give us life.

There are many parts of a tree. All dependent on the other to survive.

THE ROOTS are deeply connected to our Creator Spirit. The roots are the tree's lifeblood. Drawing on the earth for nourishment. Keeping us deeply rooted to our Culture by teaching us the importance of keeping our feet firmly fixed to the ground.

THE TRUNK is the solidarity and strength we share as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. There are holes in our trunk that we are still trying to fill and as time passes, these holes become covered in life saving bark protecting us from harm and keeping us strong.

THE BRANCHES of the tree reach out in different directions, all are of a different size and strength. At the top of the tree are some older branches...these are our Elders still strong and connected to the trunk and showing the way for us to grow.

The young and green saplings are our children. They rely on the tree for strength, support and encouragement. The Elders welcome the new and young branches. They guide and teach them to grow and reach for the stars. Learning to understand what part they play in the journey of 'The Tree Of Life'.

THE LEAVES cling to the branches and continue to grow with the tree. Some become the branches. Some leaves fall to the ground and become a source or nourishment to the roots.

This is how we continue to survive and grow strong. Strong in culture. Stong in Faith. Let us pray that we continue to support and care for the tree. Giving it strength and love. For it is the tree of our Families. The tree of our Communitites. 'THE TREE OF OUR LIFE'.

We make this prayer through Jesus our great Ancestor in Faith. Amen

Darrundang Ngiinda -Thankyou

Miss Liz Hegedus

IEW (Indigenous Educational Worker)

School Notes

New NDIS Service Provider

Rural Lifestyle Options Australia LTD is a not-for-profit disability service provider who are expanding their support network in South Grafton

Lisa Rea is based in Lismore but works across the Northern Rivers region and is happy to help support anyone in the local community looking to access support under their NDIS Plan or who don’t know where to start with NDIS.

https://www.rloa.org.au/rap