Term 1 Week 2 2022
Acting Principal - Danny Rankin
Welcome
Dear St Joseph’s Community,
Welcome to the 2022 school year! Our students have returned to school happily over the week and it's been tremendous to see them reconnect with their friends and teachers.
We especially welcome new students in Stages 1-3 who have joined St Joseph’s 'living and growing' community - Dakota, Lochlann, Reuben, Nate, Ty, Phoenix, William, Ivy, Hunter, Botshelo and Jhett. We also welcome our new Staff: Michelle Vidler (Stage 2), Louise Tarrant (Stage 1-3) and Sandra Nelson (Stage 1-3).
We also welcome our 15 Kindergarten children who will start their 13-year journey of Catholic education - Summer, Esther, Isak, Saxon, Daisy, Reuben, Zachary, Mason, Emily, Oceanna, Summer, Aylee, Aprille, Ashton and Emilia; may their beginning of school be fun-filled as they make many new friends and explore their surroundings.
On a personal note, a big thank you to all for your welcome of me, your new acting principal for this year.
We are grateful that our holiday break was peaceful and safe for our families and community and we pray that 2022 is joyful, safe and healthy for us all.
Gracious God, Grant us peace, joy, safety and great learning opportunities
as we journey together through the 2022 school year.
Amen.
RATs Tests
As you know, we are required to offer RAT kits for students to test twice a week for the first four weeks of the school year. Collection of RAT kits for the first two weeks of term took place throughout the week as families came for MAI and Best Start Interviews. The next kits for students will be sent home as a family pack with the eldest or only child of each family. Your cooperation in this process is much appreciated.
Assistant Principal - Anne Forwell
Welcome Back and Thank You
Thank you to our families for bringing each child to school for their Mathematics Assessment Interview (MAI) and Best Start Assessments. The assessments are deliberately scheduled after the holiday break as this is the best time to assess deep, embedded knowledge. This information allows teachers to plan and target teaching to ensure all children advance in their learning.
We also appreciate the support of our community on Monday 31 January as staff participated in our Staff Development Day. This allowed us to continue our CLARITY journey where we are forever improving learning and teaching. Through the support of the Catholic Schools Office we have been working with 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. We again focused our efforts on increasing each student’s growth and achievement.
Happy Learning
It has been wonderful to see all the students back in their classrooms smiling with their friends and engaging in their learning. It has been delightful to welcome so many new students to our school across all the grades. We are looking forward to another great year of fun and learning at St Joseph's.
School Drop Off - Road Safety
When students exit vehicles in the drop off zone please ensure they walk along the path and cross the road via the children crossing signs. This area becomes very busy with buses and cars each morning and to ensure the safety of everyone students must only cross the bus lane via the designated crossing.
Bus Safety - Flashing Lights Campaign
We can keep our children safe by;
- Sticking to the speed limit and following the road rules in school zones.
- Slowing down to 40km/h when bus lights are flashing.
- Looking out for children crossing the road near bus stops, in school zones or along bus routes.
- Giving way to buses when they merge back into traffic.
- Never dropping off or meeting children on the opposite side of the road to the bus stop or calling them across the road. Always drop them off or meet them on the same side of the road as the bus stop.
- Encouraging children to be distraction free around buses - put down their phone and take off their headphones.
Please find above a link to our the section of our website containing the School Family Handbook which contains useful general information.
Leader of Catechesis & Evangelisation-Joe Stewart
What a wonderful start to the year it has been. Seeing our students arrive with smiling faces and welcoming one another back to school after the holidays demonstrates just how important it is for them to stay connected with their friends. So many of the children have said that the best thing about being back at school is seeing their friends!
We have many exciting events planned to be held throughout the year and we hope that restrictions will soon ease so that our families can attend and share in these celebrations like we used to. Some of these events are listed below.
Year 6 will soon be officially inducted into their Leadership Roles and receive their badges.
On Thursday, 20 February we celebrate World Day of Social Justice. On this day we will also launch our Stage 3 Mini Vinnies Group into action. They will undertake the important work of raising awareness of social justice issues and start the campaign of Project Compassion in the lead up to Lent.
Shrove Tuesday will be held on 25 February. Ash Wednesday follows on 26 February. This is the first day of Lent and the children will learn about the importance of prayer and helping those in need as we journey towards the great feast of Easter which will be in the April holidays.
On Tuesday, 17 March we celebrate the feast day of St Patrick. Our school is also fortunate enough to be hosting STARR Productions on this day which will dramatise the incredible works of Catherine McAuley. Catherine McAuley founded the Mercy Sisters, and this year we intend to reignite the charism of the Mercy Sisters who had a significant impact on many families and the community in South Grafton and Grafton since 1884.
On Thursday, 19 March we will celebrate the Feast of St Joseph, the patron saint of our school. A wonderful, fun day is planned for all our students as we celebrate this special occasion.
The term will conclude with the children celebrating the events of Holy Week and Easter.
Details of these events and others will be included in future newsletters.
K-2 Instructional Leader -Brooke Donoghue
Welcome back to 2022! We are very excited to announce that our school was allocated additional funding from the Catholic Schools Office to employ a school-based Literacy and Numeracy K-2 Instructional leader for 2022-2024 inclusive.
The role of the Instructional Leader is to work with class teachers to model, coach and promote classroom strategies that maximise student learning and incorporate the principles of contemporary learning.
The infants teachers have already begun to gather performance data from all students to assist them in delivering differentiated instruction that is targeting every student's learning needs.
I am looking forward to reporting the achievement of all of our students over the course of the year!
Sport Coordinator - Emma Davis
Welcome back to another year of sport at St Joseph's! This year we will hopefully be able to offer a range of sporting opportunities to students, enabling them to achieve through representative pathways.
This year, sport at bottom oval will be offered to primary students each day during lunchtime. Primary students at the end of the school year completed a questionnaire on the sports they would like to participate in, a roster has been created based on these results. Students will also be given the opportunity during this time to have some sessions to prepare for the cross country carnival and athletics carnival.
St Joseph's Swimming Carnival
The St Joseph's Swimming Carnival will be held on Tuesday 22 February at the Grafton Pool. There will be both competitive and non-competitive events held at the carnival to cater for all swimming abilities. More information about this carnival will be provided in a note being sent home with students in the coming week.
Gumbaynggirr Language - Liz Hegedus
Giinagay Ngujawiny -Hello You Mob,
Welcome back to Term 1, 2022. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and are ready for an exciting year. Indigenous lessons will be taught in all stages during our history lessons.
This year we will look at all aspects of the Indigenous culture in regards to how they came to Australia. How they lived and survived, their beliefs and understanding how their communties and their law system worked in order for them to become known as the oldest Indigenous culture in the world.
This week on 13 February, we celebrate 'National Apology Day.' On this day in 2008, the Prime Minister at that time, Mr Kevin Rudd delivered an impassioned speech apologising to the Stolen Generation on behalf of the Australian Government. The apology was for the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, communities and homes. And, for the pain and suffering the children and their families faced.
The apology is not the end of the matter, it is an apology and acknowledgement for the Stolen Generation. It is an act that will never be forgotten as it is part of Indigenous history and one that we hope never happens again.
There are numerous resources such as books to help discuss the National Apology that include an Aboriginal perspective: such as
- Sorry Day by Coral Vass and Dub Leffler
- Stolen Girl by Trina Saffioti and Norma MacDonald
These two stories talk about how we acknowledge and mourn our stolen generation.
Kevin Rudd gave an impressive apology speech to parliament. He spoke from his heart with such remorse and passion that all the Indigenous communities felt his sorrow and accepted his apology. We need to move on in life, we can't ever forget but at least we can start to heal.
https://youtu.be/MDvome0bCXs (link to apology speech)
Darrundang Ngiinda -Thankyou
Miss Liz Hegedus
IEW Indigenous Educational Worker
School Notes
MUSIC TUITION
Maree Hickson tutors in guitar, piano, voice and drama. If your child would like tuition please call Maree on 0421656019 or email maree.hickson@hotmail.com
BOOKCLUB
The first issue of Book Club for 2022 is now out! If you would like to place an order through the school, please send it in by Friday 18 February.
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 Ph: 0439434410
Canteen
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
The canteen is in urgent need of volunteers, we would love to hear from anyone who can spare a little time weekly, fortnightly or even each month between 9am to 11.30am on a Wednesday or Friday- all mums, dads, carers and grandparents are most welcome.
If you would like to add your name to the canteen roster please leave your details with the school office.