Term 4 Week 2, 2022

From our Leadership

Dear St Joseph's Community,

Welcome to Term 4

I trust that everyone has enjoyed their holiday break and have returned to school refreshed for the final part of the 2022 academic school year.

On 4 October,  during the break, our Church celebrated the feast of St Francis of Assisi. St Francis of Assisi abandoned a life of luxury for a life devoted to Christianity after reportedly hearing the voice of God, who commanded him to rebuild the Christian church and live in poverty. St Francis’ peace prayer reminds us that goodwill, love and harmony are aspirational elements of life that we all need to action……...we pray:

                        Lord, make me an instrument of your peace: 

                     where there is hatred, let me sow love;

                   where there is injury, pardon;

                 where there is doubt, faith;

                   where there is despair, hope;

                       where there is darkness, light;

                        where there is sadness, joy.

                            O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek

                                                         to be consoled as to console,

                                                  to be understood as to understand,

                                                            to be loved as to love.

                                                   For it is in giving that we receive,

                                            it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

                                     and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

                                                                            Amen.

Colour Fun Run - Wednesday, 2 November

Get excited everyone as the Colour Fun Run is almost here. The date is Wednesday, 2 November! Sponsorship forms have already been sent home and are due back to school on Monday, 24 October. Please also ask your child to bring in a white shirt for the day and give it to their classroom teacher. 

Calendar

This term is always a busy one so please check our school calendar.

School Community

This term we welcome Red and Caroline Turner and Aaliyah Cureton along with their families to our St Joseph’s community. It is always lovely to watch our students ‘make space’ in established friendship groups for  new students.

Building/Earth Works

The Catholic Schools Office has supported the school in a new roof for Stages 2 & 3. This is most fortuitous given the predicted rain events. However it will cause disruption. Stage 2 will be moving to the School Hall and Stage 3 to the Library until the building works are complete. How lovely not to put out buckets etc every rainy event!                                                                                                                   

The playground is quickly taking shape. This work is an example of your school fees in action! It involves levelling the field, minor drainage works, laying turf and terracing a small hill. It is delightful watching the ‘little ones’ sit and stare at the digger each morning.

Socktober 

October marks World Mission Month, a celebration of the global work of the Church and the dedication of missionaries, both religious and lay, as they reach out and support children and communities in need around the world. In 2022, our school will raise funds to support families in Ethiopia facing malnutrition and food insecurity. On Friday, 21 October students are asked to please wear their favourite socks and bring a gold coin donation. 

Clarence Schools Speech Competition Finals                                                                                                    Congratulations to Noah and Rose who represented our school in Coffs Harbour at the finals of the Clarence Schools speech competition. A wonderful effort and we are very proud of you both. 

Grandparent’s Afternoon                                                                                                                                                      On Friday, 28 October we will celebrate Grandparent’s Day with open classrooms from 2:10pm - 3:10pm. We invite all of our Grandparents and families to attend and spend time with their children. 

Jacaranda Events                                                                                                                                                              Jacaranda is here again and students are invited to take part in the Jacaranda Parade of Youth and the Jacaranda Float Procession. JACARANDA THURSDAY, 3 November 2022 is again a gazetted holiday and as such there will be no school on this day.

Please find details below for the Parade of Youth and Float Procession events. A note has been sent home with your child, a copy can also be found in the School Notes section of this newsletter. Please complete the return slip if your child is participating. 

PARADE OF YOUTH – The theme for the banner is Icons (person, event or object) of the Jacaranda Festival. The drum band will also take part in the parade.

Date: Saturday, 29 October

Time: 8.50am for a 9:00am start at Clarence Valley Council Building, Prince Street 

Uniform: Sport Uniform for all students

Parental supervision is required and students are to be collected from Market Square immediately after the judging of the banners. 

FLOAT PROCESSION

Date:       Saturday, 5 November

Time:        4:30pm for a 5:00pm start

Uniform:  Sport Uniform

Students riding on the float are to assemble at Jacaranda Park at the northern end of Prince Street. 

All students are to be collected immediately after the float procession from Jacaranda Park. 

Students will need their school hat and a bottle of water for both events.

Dyslexia Awareness Month

October is Dyslexia Awareness Month. It is an opportunity to raise awareness and understanding of one of the most common learning difficulties. Individuals with dyslexia have trouble with reading and spelling despite having the ability to learn. Children with dyslexia can learn to read with evidence based reading instruction. They also need early screening and early intervention. 

Our brains are unique. Neurodiversity is a helpful word because it means that brain differences are normal. In the same way that we look different from each other, we may think and see things differently from each other and our learning experiences may be different too. Dyslexia is one of many differences that we know about. With dyslexia, learning and thinking can be more challenging in some situations or provide you with strengths in other areas.

Luckily, there are lots of assistive technology solutions that can really help people with dyslexia, as well as specialist learning programmes, specially adapted texts, special fonts, and a much greater understanding of the strengths of neurodiversity in the world today. It’s actually a pretty good time to be neurodiverse – the narrative is changing, and the world is slowly but surely beginning to understand the importance of putting accessibility first.

Acting Principal-Danny Rankin       

Assistant Principal-Anne Forwell     

K-2 Instructional Leader -Brooke Donoghue

Decodable Texts: Take Home Kit

Over the coming weeks, some students in K-2 classes will be bringing home a decodable text pack (contents listed below) to assist practising the sounds they are learning in either their whole class phonics lesson or during their personalised, explicit small group lesson. During the weeks that the text may be focusing on sounds that are a whole class focus and may already be known to your child, it is still beneficial for your child to read this text to build accuracy, fluency and expression. It also allows attention to be focused on the comprehension questions at the back of the text as cognitive load was decreased by not needing to sound out (decode) each word. 

What are decodable texts?

Decodable texts are specifically written for beginning readers as they are developing their blending and segmenting skills and their knowledge of the alphabetic code. Decodable texts support students as they practise by using a continuous meaningful text.

Decodable texts contain a very large percentage of words that incorporate the letter-sound relationships that students have been taught. Decodable texts increase in complexity as the student learns more of the phonetic code.

How can you use decodable texts at home?

The decodable texts that will be sent home with your child are texts that have been used the previous week for explicit instruction on the letters (graphemes) and sounds (phonemes) they are learning to identify and blend (decode) to read.

Each set will include:

• Letters to practise identifying the sounds they make
• Words to practise blending of the focus sounds
• High frequency words (HFW) that are used in the text
• Decodable Text  that incorporate the focus sounds and HFW

It is a good idea to practise the sounds and words prior to reading the text. We have been practising these sounds and words using games such as ‘Memory’, ‘Snap’, ‘Bingo’, or ‘Go Fish’. We also practise writing the words or sounds as we read them to assist in retention. 

Please return each kit (wallet, text and words/letters) at the end of the week.

If you require any further information or assistance, please do not hesitate to contact myself or the class teacher.

K-6 Learning Intentions and Success Criteria

Kindergarten English- Phonics

Learning Intention: We are learning to know and recognise two letters that can work together to make one sound to be able to read and write.

Success Criteria: I can;

• identify the most common sound that single letters make
  
• break words into syllables to help read and write them
• name words that have a selected sound and determine whether it is at the beginning, middle or end of the word
• blend sounds together to form a word
• break words up into sounds to write words
• break words into syllables to help read and write them
  

Term 4 Sounds: This term, kinder are revising vowel sounds from term 3 and learning to read and write these sounds with accuracy. 

Writing

Learning intention: We are learning to compose texts that persuade the reader of our point of view.

Success Criteria: I can;

• start each sentence with a capital letter and finish with a full stop
• say and write my sentence in the correct order
• organise my writing into sentences 
• correctly spell known words
• write the sounds that I hear in unknown words
• write sentences to express my own point of view and give reasons
• use descriptive words to persuade the reader of my own point of view

Kindergarten Maths

Weeks 1-2: Multiplication & Division

Weeks 1-2 Learning intention: We are learning to group and share items and record this using drawings, numbers and words. 

Success Criteria: I can;

•  use the word ‘group' to describe a collection of objects
• use the word ‘sharing' to describe the organisation of a collection of objects
• can share a collection into equal and unequal groups 
• record grouping and sharing using drawings, numbers and words. 

Week 3: Area

Learning intention: We are learning to describe and compare the area of shapes to determine how much surface an object takes up. 

Success Criteria: I can;

• state what the area of a shape is
• find ways to measure the area of a shape
• compare the area of different objects
• record my findings using drawing, tracing, or cutting and pasting, and by using numerals and words

Stage 1 English- Phonics

Learning Intention: We are learning the graphemes that represent phonemes to help us read and spell words.

Success Criteria:  I can;

• match and write the graphemes that represent some phonemes.
  

Sounds Focus: Please see ‘Seesaw’ communication from class teacher for personalised sound focus.

Stage 1 English- Writing

Learning intention: We are learning to persuade our peers by sharing our points of view. 

Success Criteria: I can;

• explain what an alliteration is 
• use alliteration in simple sentences 
• write three or more sentences 

Stage 1 Reading/Comprehension:

Learning Intention: We are learning to use the six elements of reading to assist in becoming a fluent reader. 

Success Criteria: I can;

• think-pair-share and predict what the text is about and what type of text it is 
• read fluently
• use my knowledge of sounds to decode words 
• record the sound focus on my graphic organiser 
• record focus words on my graphic organiser 
• answer questions based on the book 

Stage 1 Maths

Week 2: Data

Learning Intention: We are learning to choose questions, gather responses and record our findings. 

Success Criteria: I can;

• create simple questions to ask my peers
• gather data by using concrete materials 
• gather data by using tally marks or symbols 
• show my data with objects and drawings

Week 3: Two dimensional space

Learning Intention: We are learning to recognise and classify two-dimensional shapes using obvious features. 

Success Criteria: I can;

•  describe the properties of shapes 
• explain what a quadrilateral shape is 
• explain what symmetry means 
• create a symmetrical shape 

Stage 2 Mathematics

Learning Intention: We are learning to count by quarters, halves and thirds. Compare and place these on a number line.

Success Criteria: I can;

• explain the relationship between the value of a unit and its denominator
• place fractions on a number line referring to the denominator

Learning Intention: We are learning to measure, order and compare objects using millimetres, centimetres and metres.

Success Criteria: I can;

• recognise the need for a formal unit smaller than a centimetre
• recognise that there are 10 millimetres in a centremetre
• estimate and record lengths to the nearest millimetre using the correct abbreviation

Stage 2 English

Learning Intention: We are learning to create our own stories with messages. 

Success Criteria: I can;

• list many reasons why stories are told
• identify the messages from stories
• identify that stories communicate understandings, explanations, culture, history and learning 
• write our own stories with a message for the reader

Stage 3 Mathematics

Learning intention:  We are learning to solve problems involving division by a one digit number, including those that result in a remainder.

Success criteria: I can;

• recognise the different notations that indicate division
• recognise when to use division to solve word problems
• use the term quotient to describe the result of a division calculation
• use mental strategies to divide a number with 3 or more digits by a one digit number with or without remainders
• use the formal algorithm to divide with or without remainders
• use multiplication (inverse operation) to check my answer
• explain each step of the process I used to get to my answer

Learning intention: We are learning about  the connection between equivalent fractions, decimals and percentages.

Success criteria: I can;

• recognise the symbol % means percent.
• write common percentages as fractions.
• represent simple fractions as decimals.
• represent decimals as percentages.

Stage 3 English

Learning Intention: We are learning to write persuasive arguments using effective language choices and structural features so that we can convince others to agree with our opinion.

Success criteria: Will be co-constructed with the students throughout the unit.

Learning Intention: We are revising how to structure a persuasive text.

Success Criteria: I can;

• write a Statement of position
• write 2+ arguments to support my position in paragraphs
• restate my position as a conclusion.

Sport Coordinator - Emma Davis

Infants Intensive Swimming

Infants Intensive Swimming will begin next week. Students will attend the South Grafton Pool each Wednesday for a 30 minute swimming lesson run by the Learn To Swim teachers at the pool. The program will run for the following dates: 

Wednesday, 26 October (Week 3)
Wednesday, 2 November (Week 4)
Wednesday, 9 November (Week 5)
Wednesday, 16 November (Week 6)
Wednesday, 23 November (Week 7)
Wednesday, 30 November (Week 8)
Wednesday, 7 December (Week 9)

Please see the Compass event for more information and to complete the required permission. 

Gumbaynggirr Language - Liz Hegedus

Ginnagay Ngujawiny -Hello You Mob,

Welcome back  to Term 4, 2022.  I hope everyone had a wonderful and safe holiday and is ready for another term of school.

Every year we have the opportunity to purchase Indigenous resources for our school and this year we have purchased 3 mats and 2 cushions that have been placed in different areas around the school.

The design on two of the mats and the cushions is called  'Dabibahnba' - 'Place Of Saltwater' and is designed by a lady called Shara Delaney.

Shara's homeland 'Quandamooka Country' is also known as Moreton Bay. They are the 'Yoolooburrabee' people of the sand and sea.

The design is about how the 'Quandamooka' people have great knowledge and teachings of how the water is significant to them. It ties in with their cultural beliefs and practices and how the place is full of food resources.

The design was inspired by the patterns and colours of the sand at low tide and the memories of Shara's dad going out to hunt mud crabs at low tide along Moongalba and the women digging in the sand with their feet for eugaries (pippi shells). These memories and practices are very important to the Indigenous culture as they continue to form our identity as the first and oldest indigenous culture in the world.

The round map has been placed in the staff resource room.

The square map has been placed in Stage 1 in their reading corner.

The cushions have been placed in Stage 3 on their lounge and have already been well used.

We also have an outdoor mat called 'Coastal People Recycled Mat.' 

This artwork design is by talented Bundjalung artist Christine Slabb and it represents the saltwater people in our local area. It shows the connections that connect us together as coastal people and highlights our relationship with the sea country that surrounds us.

These mats are made from Recycled plastic and come in a handy recycled and reusable plastic carry bag. This mat will be used whenever we have excursions, sporting days or any outdoor lessons.

Darrundang Ngiinda - Thankyou

Miss Liz Hegedus

IEW  Indigenous Educational Worker 

School Notes

Book Club

Book Club Issue 7 is out now. If you would like to place your order through the school, please return your order by Friday, 28 October. 

School Calendar

TERM 4

Week 3

Monday, 24 October 2.15pm - School Assembly in Mercy Hall

Tuesday, 25 October - Transition to Kindergarten Class

Tuesday, 25 October 6.00pm-7.00pm - Parent Forum 

Wednesday, 26 October 9.00am - Infants Swimming

Saturday, 29 October 9.00am - Parade of Youth

Week 4

Monday, 31 October 2.15pm - School Assembly in Mercy Hall

Tuesday, 1 November - Transition to Kindergarten Class

Wednesday, 2 November 9.00am - Infants Swimming

Wednesday, 2 November 12.00pm -3.00pm Colour Fun Run

Thursday, 3 November - Jacaranda Thursday Public Holiday (School Closed)

Saturday, 5 November 5.00pm - Jacaranda Float Procession

Week 5

Monday,  7 November 2.15pm - School Assembly in Mercy Hall

Tuesday, 8 November - Transition to Kindergarten Class

Wednesday, 9 November 9.00am - Infants Swimming

Friday, 11 November - Remembrance Day

Week 6

Monday,  14 November 2.15pm - School Assembly in Mercy Hall

Tuesday, 15 November - Transition to Kindergarten Class

Wednesday, 16 November 9.00am - Infants Swimming

Week 7

Monday,  21 November 2.15pm - School Assembly in Mercy Hall

Tuesday, 22 November - Transition to Kindergarten Class

Tuesday, 22 November - Parent Forum 6.00pm 

Wednesday, 23 November 9.00am - Infants Swimming

Week 8

Monday,  28 November 2.15pm - School Assembly in Mercy Hall

Tuesday, 29 November - Transition to Kindergarten Class

Wednesday, 30 November 9.00am - Infants Swimming

Week 9

Monday,   5 December 2.15pm - School Assembly in Mercy Hall

Wednesday, 7 December 9.00am - Infants Swimming

Thursday, 8 December 6.00pm - Nativity, Carols and Awards Evening

Friday, 9 December - Semester 2 Reports available

Week 10

Monday,  12 December 2.15pm - School Assembly in Mercy Hall

Friday, 16 December - Final day for students

Merit Awards

Congratulations to the following students who received a Merit Award. 

TERM 4 WEEK 2                             

Kindergarten: Saxon, Daisy

Stage 1: Max, Mason, Ruby

Stage 2: Xavier, Red

Stage 3:  Sophie, Bath-Sheba, Caroline                 

Uniform Shop

The uniform shop is located in  the  BrewHouse Village.                                           

Opening hours: 

Monday - Wednesday 10.00am to 4.30pm

Thursday 10 to 3.30pm 

Email: fytexptyltd@bigpond.com 

Ph: 0434 025 493                                     

Canteen

CANTEEN OPEN WEDNESDAY & FRIDAY

   Volunteers are always welcome, please leave your details with our School Office.  

Canteen Menu

Community Notices

Colour Fun Run

We sincerely thank the following local businesses for your ongoing support of our Colour Fun Run. Your generosity is greatly appreciated.