Term 4 Week 5

What's on at St Joey's

Principal's Messages

Dear Parents and Carers,

Over the weekend we celebrated the sacrament of First Holy Communion / First Eucharist, with several students receiving Jesus for the first time in the form of the bread and wine. This special sacrament is the culmination of Baptism and Confirmation and brings us even closer to Jesus so that we are in full communion with him and can live more like Jesus in our own lives.

Congratulations and blessings to Boe, Ana, Oscar, Charlie, Flynn, Eden, Vasek and Sienna.

Today we held a reverent Remembrance Day liturgy to honor all those who lost their lives in service to their country. Originally known as Armistice Day, it marks the anniversary of the end of World War I in 1918. The children made red poppies to wear and observed a moment of silence at 11 a.m. to remember the sacrifices made by soldiers. The day serves as a reminder of the cost of freedom and the importance of peace. We continue to pray for peace in our world.

Thank you to everyone for your support of our GR8 Race last week. It was a wonderful day filled with fun even though the infants had to deal with the rain. We are grateful for your support of the fundraiser with nearly $17 000 raised! This is amazing and will contribute to our playground installations. Huge thanks to our parent volunteers for the bbq and canteen and to our wonderful ex-students from St Mary’s. We loved seeing them and having them back to help us with the activities. We will announce the winners of our prizes at our assembly tomorrow morning. Thank you to Mrs Hill for all her work organising this GR8 event!

As the year comes to an end we are working at keeping the students in good learning routines, with final assessments taking place in readiness for Semester 2 reports. Reports will be published on Compass on the 13^th December. If you have any concerns or questions before then, please organise a time to meet with your child’s classroom teacher.

Once staffing is finalised we will work out classes for 2025. Teachers meet and spend significant time planning the classes considering many factors including academic needs and social emotional needs. Teachers also meet later in the term and complete detailed handovers of their students to the next teacher. Then students will meet their teachers for 2025 at the Step-Up afternoon on Friday 13^th December.

In staffing news, we congratulate Catherine Schumacher on her retirement at the end of this year and also Stephanie Tranter on her appointment to St John Vianney Morisset as Teacher Librarian. Catherine has had an outstanding career with 50 years in education, more than 30 of them here at St Joseph’s Charlestown. Stephanie has been here for 6 years and has chosen to work closer to home next year. We are extremely grateful to both educators for their dedication and commitment to their students during their time at St Joseph’s. We will honour both ladies with celebrations at the end of the year.

To acknowledge the amazing work of Catherine and her 50 years in education you are invited to join us for a special celebration on Friday 6^th Dec 2:30pm. Catherine has touched the lives of so many students over the years. Her commitment, dedication and care has been outstanding. We extend our deepest wishes for Catherine’s retirement to be filled with happiness, relaxation, and new adventures. She will be deeply missed, but her impact on our school and our lives will remain forever. 

We pass on our deepest sympathy to the Gibbons family with the passing of their maternal grandfather. We pray that your loving memories bring you comfort at this time.

In sporting news we congratulate Cora, Evie and Jeremy who have advanced from the regional basketball trials to the Diocesan trails. We wish Huon and Owen the best of luck for the Diocesan Cricket trials to be held on Wednesday.

Well done to you all!

Congratulations to Georgia (vocal ) and Eli (instrumental) for their selection into ASPIRE 2025. This is an outstanding achievement for both students, and we look forward to being able to attend the performance next year to see these talented students in action.

Please continue to monitor the Dates for your Diaries above. This year due to our growing school numbers, we will hold two separate events. Our Year 6 graduation within the End of Year mass on Wednesday 11^th Dec.9:30am and End of Year Awards ceremony K-6 on Tuesday 17^th Dec. 9am. The mass will include the announcement of the 2025 school leaders. Parents of award winners will be notified in week 8 so as you can organise attendance if possible.

Last week, we held our final P&F Committee meeting of the year—and the last one ever! Starting in 2025, we’re excited to transition to a new model called FACE (Family and Community Engagement), which will build on our commitment to school and community connection.

I want to take this opportunity to extend my deepest thanks to all members of our current P&F committee. Your dedication to supporting the school—whether by attending meetings, organising fundraisers, coordinating community events, or simply serving as positive ambassadors for St. Joseph’s—has made a lasting impact.

For many committee members, this marks their final year with us, and their years of volunteering have shown true commitment to our community. By sharing your time and talents, you’ve demonstrated the value of education and community involvement to your children and all of us at St. Joseph's. We are grateful for all you’ve done!

Thank you to Lisa Evans, Katie Turnbull, Kim Smith, Lindsey Dragosavljevic, Nicola Gillies, Anna Wadwell and Brooke Sievert.

You have been AMAZING!

At times in our community, we have families experiencing hardship or personal difficulties and we try to reach out and offer support if we can. Thank you to our Joey’s Cares Group who make meals at these times. Sometimes just not having to think about what to cook or prepare for the family meal is a gift when someone else does it for you. If you would like to join this group or help in ither ways please contact clare.paff@mn.catholic.edu.au A simple text is sent to the group when a need arises and if you are able to assist at the time you provide a meal for the family and deliver it to the school. All names are kept anonymous.

We will hold a Volunteers Thank You Breakfast before school on Friday 6^th Dec 8-9am. Anyone who has volunteered throughout the school year is invited to attend. There will be supervision from 8am so that you may join us in the staffroom for a cuppa and treat.

Please RSVP to CHL-Admin@mn.catholic.edu.au

We’d love to see you!

God Bless,

Kate Drake

Assistant Principal

The GR8 Race: A Colourful Success for Our School Community!

We are thrilled to announce the success of our recent GR8 Race Colour Run and fundraiser! The day brought our school community together for a vibrant event filled with fun, energy, and true school spirit. Despite an early challenge with rainy weather, the sun soon made an appearance, making the day perfect for outdoor activities and adding an extra touch of excitement as students took on the colourful course.

The event highlighted incredible teamwork and sportsmanship from our students, who encouraged each other and embraced every obstacle with enthusiasm. A special thank-you goes to the ex-students from St. Mary’s Gateshead, whose volunteer help played a key role in making the day run smoothly. Their presence and support were a wonderful reminder of our strong community connections that extend beyond graduation.

Through the GR8 Race, we not only raised valuable funds to support school initiatives but also celebrated the strength and unity of our school community. Thank you to everyone who participated, volunteered, and cheered us on—making it a day we’ll remember! We successfully raised $16, 500. We will draw the raffle prizes at our Tuesday morning assembly this week.

PAT Standardised Testing: Supporting Student Growth in Reading, Math, and Spelling

This term, our students participated in the Progressive Achievement Tests (PAT) for Reading, Math, and Spelling. These standardised tests provide valuable insights into each student's progress, highlighting their strengths and identifying areas for further growth. PAT testing is conducted across Australia and is designed to help teachers tailor their teaching to meet the individual learning needs of every student. The data gathered from these tests allows us to monitor progress over time and set targeted goals to support each student’s development.

Our goal with PAT testing is to ensure that each child is building a strong foundation in these key areas, setting them up for continued success. Thank you for supporting your child’s learning journey—together, we are making strides in fostering a positive, growth-focused educational environment!

Warm regards,

Kathryn Hill

Office of Safeguarding

Rights of the child

As with all peoples, children have human rights across the full spectrum of civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights.

Because children are recognised as having particular inherent needs and dependencies, they also have particular rights. 

Both the Commonwealth of Australia and the Vatican (Holy See) ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child in November 1990, this is the central international instrument that underpins both Australia’s and our Catholic Church’s approach to safeguarding children.  The Office of Safeguarding supports the Diocese to promote and uphold the Convention on the Rights of the Child, as institution of the Catholic Church in Australia.

The Australian Human Rights Commission’s child friendly summary of children’s rights state that children have the right to:

• privacy
• find out information and express themselves
• be safe
• be cared for and have a home
• education, play and cultural activities
• help and protection if they need it.

• be treated fairly no matter what
• have a say about decisions affecting them
• live and grow up healthy
• have people do what is best for them
• know who they are and where they come from
• believe what they want

News from the Religious Coordinator

Sacramental News

Over the weekend, 8 of our students Ana, Oscar, Charlie, Flynn H, Boe, Eden, Sienna and Vasek received the Eucharist for the first time, otherwise known as Holy Communion. It was a special milestone in the lives of these children as they take this important step of faith which allows them to fully participate in the Mass and to be closer to God. We congratulate them and wish them well on their faith journey.

Socktober Fundraising

Last Friday, we held our annual Socktober event raising money for Catholic Mission with this year's focus being Mongolia. We started our morning with a liturgy led by yr 5, we weighed our class socks we have been collecting donations in and we held some fun lunch time events. Thank you for your support. Yr 3 had the heaviest sock. We await the final outcome of the total raised and the class which raised the most money.

St Joey’s Cares

Thank you to the many people who have responded to my request for additional members of our St Joey’s Cares committee. We so appreciate your effort and support of our community. For those who still may wish to join or would like further information. The St Joey's Cares Team is a flexible group who are called on from time to time to provide a meal for a family in our community. There is no pressure. We understand how busy life is, which is why we have expanded our group. Often , months go by without any requests , and then we can have a number of requests in a short while. I try to space out requests to different people, and again there is never any pressure to take on a meal request.

Meals if made at home require a brief note about ingredients to ensure food safety. If there are allergies or dietary needs it will be communicated. Meals provided need not be fancy , but comforting like lasagne, curries, quiche etc. Making a meal is a small way we can make a big difference when life is challenging for others.

St Vincent de Paul Christmas Appeal

We are getting closer to Christmas and for some this may be a difficult time to provide a happy meal for their families due to the cost of living. We will be supporting the St Vincent de Paul Christmas Appeal again this year with students asked to bring in non-perishable items to be collected for Christmas hampers. Students are welcome to begin bringing in items, but they have until the 4th of December. On this day students may wear Christmas t-shirts/clothes to celebrate their efforts. Please see below for suggested food items. Thank you

Upcoming Events

Catherine Shumacher’s retirement liturgy: 6th December

Graduation Mass at St Mary Immaculate Church: 11th December, 9:30am

Primary Coordinator

PB4L - Making Good Choices

Our PB4L Focus tis fortnight at St Joseph’s Charlestown is Strive High – Make Good Choices.

A good choice is a decision that shows respect for yourself, others, and your environment. It’s a choice that helps you learn, grow, and build positive relationships.

To help students make good choices at school, we assist them to understand what a good choice is, and why it matters. This includes brainstorming with students about examples of good choices and not-so-good choices in different settings of the classroom, playground, at home, and in the wider community. Role playing common scenarios helps students practice their good decision making.

We encourage students to reflect on how their choice went and what they learnt with questions:

Was that a good choice? Why/why not?

What happened when this choice was made?

How did making this good/bad choice make you feel?

How were other people affected by this choice?

What will you do differently next time? How do good choices help others and our school?

We help students understand the impact of their choices on others and build empathy. This may be through relevant examples, or through a story or video about a character who makes choices that affects others.

Reflection Sheets

At times where students do not make the right choices at school, we use reflection sheets. We link the behaviour with our school-wide expectations which we teach each week.  This reflection sheets prompt students to recognise and reflect on their actions, helping them become more aware of the choices they made and how it affected others. It also helps them consider alternative choices they could have made and what they could do differently next time.

The most important aspect of reflection sheets is the conversation students have with the teacher or executive supporting them, and later the conversation they have at home with parents/carers. It is a pro-active tool to encourage learning and making a positive change.

Kind regards,
Frances Courtney (Primary Co-ordinator)

Class News

EALD Teacher

Meet Anne Turner
EALD Teacher at St Joseph's

I’m Anne Turner, and I have the privilege of working as the EALD (English as an Additional Language or Dialect) teacher at St Joseph’s. My role is to support students from diverse language backgrounds in developing their English language skills. We focus on speaking, listening, reading, and writing, helping our amazing students to not only improve their English proficiency but also thrive academically and socially at school.

Great Aussie Bush Camp 2024 

Made by Ari 

This was Cruze and me on the first day of Camp. We were excited about the activities. 

This was the first activity we did. We had to build a raft to help survive a pretend zombie apocalypse. Someone random had to get on top of it and we had to carry him. 

We all had to build the raft together. I helped my teammates a little bit but mostly I was making Mr. Fox the bag holder. 

At night time, my team had to go to this house with everyone and we had to do different challenges to win points. We got 100 points but we did not win.

This is Cruze. He had to untangle the stick but he fell. It was funny but it would have hurt too. 

This was where the fun stuff happened. First, we were looking at the fire, then we got to have free cookies and a chocolate milk. Sadly, we had to sleep after that. 

This was where the fun stuff happened. First, we were looking at the fire, then we got to have free cookies and a chocolate milk. Sadly, we had to sleep after that.

This is the next day, when we were canoeing. Canoeing was fun because Mr Fox, Michael and I made it all the way to the bridge. 

We were getting ready to go canoeing. The instructor helped us to know what to do

 This is when we won the race. I felt so happy! 

Mrs Flanagan told me “Do you have my trust? I promise if you jump off, you will not fall.” Then I jumped. It was fun and I wanted to have another try. 

The last activity on the first day was rock climbing. It was scary but I managed to make it halfway up the wall. 

Garden Group

This week in Garden Group

Food, food, food!

Many of our vegetables are producing yummy produce for students to taste and enjoy.

We are learning that we eat the roots of a carrot and potato, the fruit of a tomato and a cucumber, and the leaves of silver beet and lettuce.

In addition, we are learning that sunflower seeds are edible and many herbs including coriander and parsley, we eat the stem and the leaves.

In year 5 we are tracking corn, cucumber and watermelon growth, and collating the data to produce graphs to show the growth of these plants.

So much to enjoy in the garden this spring!

Aboriginal Education

In addition to helping our whole school celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, peoples and cultures with special events and activities, I also have the pleasure of doing cultural projects with some of our Aboriginal students. 

It has been wonderful doing a cultural project working with our lovely infants’ students to learn more about Belmont lagoon, and the local Dreaming story connected to this, ‘When the Moon Cried’.

Students learnt all about this story and the connected Dreaming. We started our journey with this by spending time in ‘Kauma-Ngarra,’ our school Native Resource Garden which celebrates this Dreaming with a dedicated story pole and moon replica.

As we continued our learning, students loved showcasing their information in a ‘display project’. All Kindergarten and Year 1 students then had the pleasure of being fabulous audience members as our students presented their project to them.  

Providing opportunities for our Aboriginal students to share information with their classmates is a valuable step in sharing knowledge and celebrating our local First Nations cultures.

Danielle Shaw

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Teacher

School Fees

Dear Families,

Thank you for your continued support and for the positive response regarding school fee payments throughout the year. We truly appreciate your cooperation.

This is a friendly reminder that there are only three weeks remaining to complete all fee payments for the year.

If any families are experiencing financial hardship, please do not hesitate to contact our administrative staff for assistance, we are here to support you.

Thank you once again for being part of our school community.

Amale Yi

Ph 4943-5414

Happy Birthday to the following students

We wish the following students a very happy birthday.

Canteen News

Kelly our Canteen Officer would love to see you if you have a spare couple of hours to assist in the canteen. Volunteers need to be registered with our CSO, by following this link: https://www.mn.catholic.org.au/people/volunteer/

Once cleared please sign up for a shift. The children love to see you here!

https://signup.zone/ZYkfNzsbws83p9yHM

Uniform Shop

Please see the information below regarding the additional shop hours at St Joseph's.

OOSH

Looking for care for your child during our St Nicholas OOSH Vacation Care? Please contact Michelle at 0429 435 571 or email michelle.birch@stnicholasmn.org.au by 8/11/24 to ensure we have enough time for planning and to confirm available days.

If you’re new to our OOSH program and would like to enroll your child for Summer Vacation Care, click this link: https://prodadmin.myxplor.com/enrollment_v2/centre/gTr8nZwuUlNdmk942311gtyslw. We also welcome all 2025 kindergarten students to join our Summer Vacation Care once the New Year begins!

Families can also use this link: https://forms.gle/GeVBioU8iC2p3kv47, to have their input into our program!

Thanks 🙂

MICHELLE BIRCH

NOMINATED SUPERVISOR | ST NICHOLAS OOSH    
P 0429 435 571     M  0429 435 571   
Email michelle.birch@stnicholasmn.org.au   Visit us online www.stnicholasoosh.org.au  

Healthy Lunch Box