Term 4 Week 6, 2022
From our Leadership
Dear St Joseph's Community,
Last Friday, 11 November, we observed one minute's silence to remember those who died or suffered for Australia's cause in all wars and armed conflicts, and to teach our students that living in harmony and reconciliation is central to world peace. We congratulate our Year 6 leaders for facilitating the gathering in a respectful manner and we affirm all students for displaying outstanding courteousness and reverence.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.
Our School Captains, Thomas and Noah, represented the school at the South Grafton Service.
Advent
By the time our next newsletter comes to you the season of Advent will be upon us. What is Advent? Advent Season is a very special time of year that sometimes gets lost in the bright lights of the Christmas season it precedes. The first day of Advent is the first day of a new Liturgical (or church) calendar and begins a four week period of preparation in anticipation of the nativity of Jesus at Christmas.
2023 Staff
As communicated previously we have our classes set for 2023.
Kindergarten Carly Delevante - nee Cormick
Stage 1 Michelle Vidler / Aliesha Hayward-Bryant
Stage 2 Carissa Pursey 5 days / Larissa Deleiuen 3 days /Anne Forwell 2 days
Stage 3 Nicole Wittman 5 days / Caitlin Crispin 2 days / Larissa Davey 3 days
K,1,2 Release face to face Donna Bancroft 2 days per week
Stage ⅔ release face to face Louise Tarrant 2 days per week
Principal Danny Rankin
Assistant Principal Anne Forwell
Leader of Learning Brooke Donoghue
Office Manager Cheryl Mawhirt
School Counsellor Catherine Collopy
Teacher Assistants Maree Hickson, Diana Westgate, Elizabeth Hegedus, Sharron Nay, Sandra Nelson, Jayden Laurie and Nerilly Thomas.
We farewell Emma Davis to Kyogle for 12 months. Therese Kay-Lewis will return as a casual teacher. Anna Smidt is taking 12 months leave. Joe Stewart and Rebekah Kelly will return towards the end of our 2023 school year.
We would like to welcome the following new staff and introduce them to our community.
Name: Nicole Wittman Previous Experience: Mary MacKillop Catholic College, Toowoomba Speciality teaching area: Teaching reading and English
Name: Caitlin Crispin Previous Experience: Coutts Crossing Public School Speciality teaching area: Student well-being.
Name: Carissa Pursey Previous Experience: St Mary’s Primary, Casino Speciality teaching area: Science, Technology, Engineering, Math [STEM]
Name: Larissa Davey Previous experience: St Mary’s Primary, Grafton Speciality teaching area: Upper Primary English
Name: Aleisha Hayward-Bryant Previous experience: St Mary Primary, Grafton Speciality teaching area: Early Literacy
We congratulate Nicole, Caitlin, Larissa, Carissa and Aleisha on their appointment and look forward to having them as part of our expert teaching team in 2023.
School Captains 2023
Last week our Year 5 students presented their leadership speeches to the school. All students spoke with confidence in front of the school community and linked their leadership to our Catholic values. In the end the voting was very close and we congratulate our 2023 School Captains Rose Coelli and Callum Tait. We look forward to your leadership in 2023.
End of Year Thanksgiving Mass
Our end of year Mass will be held on Friday, 2 December 9:30am at St Patrick’s Church South Grafton. All families are invited to celebrate the end of another wonderful school year and give thanks to God for each other.
Awards and Nativity Evening
Save the date as this year we will celebrate with a combined Nativity, Carols and Awards night on Thursday, 8 December from 6:00pm.
Semester 2 Student Reports
Your child’s Semester 2 Report will be made available via COMPASS on Friday, 9 December. Please ensure you have the COMPASS app for our school downloaded.
After reports are made available via COMPASS there will be family teacher meeting opportunities to discuss your child’s report from Monday, 12 December until Friday, 16 December. Please email your child’s teacher directly if you would like a meeting day and time.
Uniforms
We are all on the weary side of school but sports uniforms are ONLY for sports day. Your assistance is greatly appreciated in this matter. It is also timely that a reminder be given when purchasing new shoes for the 2023 school year that they are ALL black shoes. Please limit the logos as it will only result in conflict between school/home/child.
Stage End of Term Outing
Each stage will have a celebration event in December. Kindergarten & Stage 1 are off to the Peach Farm. Stages 2 & 3 are off to the Grafton Pool waterslide followed by a picnic lunch. The school is covering the cost of the buses whilst each child is being charged the admission amount for the activity.
School Fees 2023
Our 2023 school fees have been set. The total increase for tuition fees is 3%. This year we have included the bus fare for our cross country/athletics carnivals. The 2023 Fee schedule is included in the School Notes section of this newsletter.
Canteen
Our Canteen will reopen next Wednesday, 23 November.
Principal-Danny Rankin
Assistant Principal-Anne Forwell
K-2 Instructional Leader -Brooke Donoghue
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
- identify the sound that two letters together can make
- 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
Week 6- Mass
Learning intention: We are learning to describe and compare how light and heavy objects are to determine an object's weight.
Success Criteria: I can;
- use language to describe an object's mass such as heavy, light, hard to push or pull
- compare objects and determine which one is heavier and lighter
- compare two masses directly by hefting
- record my thinking using drawings, numerals and words
Weeks 7 Whole Numbers
Learning intention: We are learning to use the language of money to determine the value of Australian notes and coins.
Success Criteria: I can;
- explain what money is used for
- use words such as coins, notes, cents, dollars to describe money
- recognise that there are different coins and notes in our monetary system
- use money to purchase goods
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
Week 6-7
Learning Intention: We are learning to write a persuasive letter to convince our teachers why we deserve to go on an excursion to the Peach Farm.
Success Criteria: I can;
- state my opinion
- give a reason/s
- give an explanation/s
- use persuasive language to convince the audience
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 6: Whole Number
Learning Intention: We are learning to count and represent large sets of objects by grouping into hundreds, tens and ones.
Success Criteria: I can;
- predict how many items I have in a collection
- efficiently count a collection of items
- group my collection into hundreds, tens and ones
- describe my numbers by groups of
Week 7: Time
Learning Intention: We are learning to name and order the months and seasons and locate dates on a calendar.
Success Criteria: I can;
- name the months of the year
- order the months of the year
- name the seasons of the year
- match the seasons of the year to their correct months
- locate a specific date on a calendar
- use informal measurement to measure time
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
- create our own stories with a message for the reader
- use descriptive words
Stage 2 Mathematics
Learning Intention: We are learning to compare objects using familiar units of volume and use scaled instruments to measure and compare their capacities.
Success Criteria: I can;
- recognise the advantages of a cube as a unit to measure volume
- construct three-dimensional objects using cubic cm blocks to determine the volumes of objects
- record volumes using the abbreviation for cubic centimetres (cm3)
- compare volumes by counting cubic cm blocks
- understand the difference between mass and volume
- estimate and compare volumes using millilitres and check my understanding
Stage 3 English
Learning Intention: Students will use comprehension strategies to understand information and ideas so that they can evaluate the intended message.
Success Criteria: I can;
- summarise the key words and ideas
- identify, answer and construct a literal question
- identify, answer and construct an inferential question
- identify, answer and construct an evaluative question
- identify, answer and construct a reorganisational question
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.
Stage 3 Mathematics
Learning intention: We are learning to convert between common metric units of mass.
Success criteria: I can;
- convert between kilograms and grams
- convert between kilograms and tonnes
- decide whether to use multiplication or division to convert between units
- solve problems involving mass
- relate the mass of one litre of water to one kilogram
Stage 2 English
Learning Intention: We are learning to create our own stories with messages so that we can teach others a lesson.
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
- engage the reader with similes and alliteration
- create stories with descriptive words
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: I can;
- discuss the argument, the structure, audience and context of different types of persuasive texts
- give my opinion on the effectiveness of a persuasive text
Stage 3 Mathematics
Learning intention: We are learning to conduct chance experiments and use fractions, decimals and percentages to express probabilities.
Success Criteria: I can;
- recognise the probabilities range from 0 to 1
- use the language of chance
- compare frequencies with predicted frequencies
Sport Coordinator - Emma Davis
Infants Swimming
Kindergarten and Stage 1 have been enjoying their intensive swimming lessons at the South Grafton Pool. Lessons will continue each Wednesday until Week 9.
Gumbaynggirr Language - Liz Hegedus
Ginnagay Ngujawiny -Hello You Mob,
Wow! The end of the year is approaching fast. I have had a fantastic time teaching all students about Indigenous culture. I always enjoy sharing information about my Indigenous culture and I hope the students have enjoyed their lessons also.
Stage 2 learnt about the 'Muurrbuy Tree', which is the word for 'White Fig' in Gumbaynggirr language.
The 'Muurrbuy Tree' was a place where all families would meet to pick the fruit and gather for family time. It is a place where yarning circles happen, men and women bussiness occurs and children all come together to play.
This is very true in Indigenous Culture. Families have certain areas that they always meet at, as the area will always have special meaning to them, the way the 'Muurrbuy Tree' is for Gumbaynggirr Tribe.
Students of Stage 2 created their own 'Muurrbuy Tree' that represented their family. The most interesting thing about these trees is that not one was the same. This goes to show how different families are.
Darrundang Ngiinda - Thankyou
Miss Liz Hegedus
IEW Indigenous Educational Worker
School Notes
REMINDER
Parents & Caregivers are reminded when dropping off or picking students up the Staff Carpark is not a designated zone. Exception if you require use of a disabled parking space.
Please note the speed limit coming into this carpark at other times is 10 klms. Please be mindful of the school speed zones.
BOOK CLUB
A reminder that Book Club Issue 8 is due to be returned to school by December 2.
Fee Schedule for 2023
School Calendar
TERM 4
Week 7
Monday, 21 November 2.15pm - School Assembly
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
Tuesday, 29 November - Transition to Kindergarten Class
Wednesday, 30 November 9.00am - Infants Swimming
Friday, 2 December 9.30am - End of Year Mass at St Patrick's Church, South Grafton
Week 9
Monday, 5 December 2.15pm - School Assembly
Wednesday, 7 December 9.00am - Infants Swimming
Thursday, 8 December 6.00pm to 8.00pm - Carols and Prizegiving
Friday, 9 December - Semester 2 Reports available
Week 10
Monday, 12 December 2.15pm - School Assembly
Friday, 16 December - Final day for students
TERM 1 2023
Week 1
Monday, 30 January - Students in Years 1- 6 return
Friday, 3 February - Kindergarten's first day
Week 2
Monday, 6 February 2.15pm- School Assembly
Merit Awards
Congratulations to the following students who received a Merit Award.
TERM 4 WEEK 5
Kindergarten: Emily
Stage 1: Skyla, Aria
Stage 2: Kruze, Maddison
Stage 3: Charlotte, Hugh
TERM 4 WEEK 6
Kindergarten: Aprille
Stage 1: Vashti, Nate
Stage 2: Eli, Phoenix
Stage 3: Callum, Darcy
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
Our Canteen is reopening on
Wednesday, 23 November
Volunteers are always welcome, please leave your details with our School Office.
When placing canteen orders please provide a paper bag for your child with their order clearly written on the front. It is also essential that each child has their own bag please - we ask that siblings do not have their orders placed on the same bag. We appreciated your cooperation as this allows our volunteers to smoothly prepare lunches.
Community Notices
Colour Fun Run
Thank you to the sponsors of our Colour Fun Run, our day would not have been as successful without you. Please support those who support us if you get the opportunity, most of our sponsors are local businesses within our school community.
