St Joseph's Primary School South Grafton eNewsletter

From our Leadership

Welcome

Dear St Joseph's Community,

On Tuesday, 8 August we celebrated the feast of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop.

Mary MacKillop was an Australian Catholic nun who founded the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart and a number of schools throughout Australasia, with an emphasis on education for the poor.

Mary’s generosity and kindness reminds us that we should “Never see a need without doing something about it” (St Mary MacKillop). Mary was also very determined and in many ways anti establishment.

We pray to Mary of the Cross MacKillop that we too may live with courage, trust, and openness and be fired afresh by the Holy Spirit.

NAPLAN

Our school's results were most pleasing. The change to our school structure and curriculum is taking hold. That change is very small instruction groups, instruction at the student level plus fortnightly meetings regarding individual students' progress. Whilst this methodology is costly, the greatest gift a school can give any child is the gift of learning.

PARENT FORUM

The last meeting was cancelled. We will therefore meet next Tuesday, 15 August in the Library at 6:00pm. We will also meet on Tuesday, 29 August as planned.

BAPTISED

The sacrament of Baptism is the first step in becoming a Catholic. If anyone is interested in becoming a Catholic or having their child Baptised please come in for a conversation. The process is very easy!

School Improvement Plan 2023

Our Goal…….. Our goal is to ensure that all students are achieving the writing expectations for their grade level.

Another update on our progress

Case Management Meetings

Last week teachers continued to discuss student writing samples during case management meetings. This Case Management Approach is used at St Joseph's to put a spotlight on how all students are progressing in writing. The specific intention is that not one FACE will fall through the data cracks. We timetable our meetings before every staff meeting and our teachers discuss student writing samples. Teachers then support each other by providing strategies that can be used in the classroom to move students forward in their next learning step. We then schedule a follow up meeting in 4 weeks time where we see how the students have progressed and celebrate these gains.

Self and Peer Feedback

Last Tuesday, Leanne Feltis from the Catholic Schools Office joined our staff meeting to assist teachers in the teaching of writing. During the meeting we learned strategies to help students to self assess, peer assess and then to set challenging learning goals.

Self and peer feedback

We learned that;

Peer assessment involves students reflecting on the work of their peers, against success criteria related to a learning intention, and providing constructive feedback.
Self-assessment involves students applying success criteria related to a learning intention, reflecting on their efforts, identifying improvements and adjusting the ‘quality’ of their work.

We also learned specific strategies that teachers are now implementing to explicitly teach students to use the success criteria to self assess and provide peer assessment. We know that meaningful peer and student self-assessment have the potential to positively contribute to student learning and achievement.

Individual Goal Setting

Research shows goals are important for enhancing performance. It is important to set challenging goals with our students. During the meeting we learned ways to co-construct learning goals with students so that they actively engage with these to self monitor progress and identify strengths and areas for improvement.

Student Feedback will be provided using the Learning Intentions and Success Criteria from their Stage/Group below during the next learning cycle:

School Attendance

Consistent attendance allows students to participate fully in school life. It also ensures continuity of learning as school lessons are often interconnected, building on previous knowledge. When students attend school regularly, they are more likely to grasp the entire curriculum and avoid gaps in their understanding. Understandably, children can be away due to illness. We ask that when this occurs you please provide a reason via the link sent by text message.

Principal-Danny Rankin

Assistant Principal-Anne Forwell

Leader of Learning - Brooke Donoghue

THANK YOU

On behalf of all our students, Stage 3 would like to thank Clarence Valley Council for the recent addition of safety fencing and an additional crossing on Hyde street; providing safe zones for our students to cross when being dropped off or picked up from school.

Stage 3, would also like to thank Mr Nay on behalf of all our students for the beautiful new seating and garden area he has created outside the Stage 2 and Stage 3 classrooms. We are looking forward to the addition of new plants to come.

Gumbaynggirr Language - Liz Hegedus

Ginnagay Ngujawiny -Hello You Mob,

Last week we celebrated 'NAIDOC' Day, at St Joseph's. The theme for this year, 'Our Elders'. I invited some Aboriginal Elders to come along and celebrate the morning with us. It was a fabulous celebration enjoyed by all. The Aboriginal students opened the assembly with some Aboriginal dancing with 'Pop' Michael Woods playing the didgeridoo, clapsticks and singing. I am very proud of the students for the way they practiced and performed on the day. Well done!

After the assembly the elders visited the classrooms to talk with the students about what is was like as an Aboriginal person growing up. The students had many interesting questions for our elders.

I am happy to say the elders absolutely loved the day. They praised the Aboriginal students for their dancing and were very impressed with the whole school. Our students showed great respect to the elders by the way they spoke and acted towards them. It shows we are a beautiful school.

Darrundang Ngiinda - Thankyou Miss Liz Hegedus IEW Indigenous Educational Worker

School Notes

PARENT NOTIFICATION OF STUDENT ABSENCES

There is currently a technical glitch with your Compass portal that is preventing parents from pre-filling in an absence for your child/ren. Compass is working on a fix, however, this may take until the end of the term.

In the meantime, if your child is unwell/unable to attend school for the day, please wait for the absence SMS and use the link in the message to confirm the reason for your child's absence.

The absence SMS will look like this;
DO NOT REPLY - Use the link in this message. (your child's name here)- is absent today. Please confirm reason {Bluelinkhere) by 3pm. St. Joseph's

Alternatively you may wish to phone the School Office, email or send a note with your child upon their return to explain the absence.

BOOK CLUB

Book Club Issue 6 is out now! If you would like to order through the school, please return your orders to school by Friday, 8 September.

Remember you may also order online at https://mybookclubs.scholastic.com.au/parent.aspx

E_Safety_Parent_Webinar.pdf

Catholic_Schools_Parent_Assembly_Webinar_Replays.pdf

2023_Family_Faith_Retreat.pdf

SCHOOL FEES

Thank you to those families who have made the change from Direct Debit to BPay for fee payments. BPay is the preferred payment method for school fees. Scheduled payments can also be set up using BPay, the Biller Code and your personal reference number can be found on your Fee Statement.

Paying through BPay ensures that your payment goes directly to your account. Any enquireies please contact the School Office.

Seasons_for_Growth.pdf

Cool_Kids_Anxiety_Program.pdf

MCC_Save_the_Dates_for_2023.pdf