Term 4 Week 1

What's on at St Joey's in October

Principal's Messages

Dear Parents and Carers,

We are excited to be back for the final term of the year. It will be a busy term with many wonderful teaching and learning opportunities to continue to develop our students’ skills and knowledge across all Key Learning Areas. Hopefully this term will be filled with good health and wellness across the school, after what has been a disruptive year due to illness and absences. It is important to make every school day count and to ensure children are present at school every day possible. Please support your children by encouraging punctuality by being organised in the mornings, speaking positively about school, keeping connected to teachers if there are concerns and minimising appointments and holidays during the school term.Please ensure you use the COMPASS App to record any absences and contact class teachers if your child is in need of support.

This term we congratulate Amale Yi who has been appointed as our Senior Administration Officer, replacing Carolyn Trimble. Amale has the skills and knowledge of our office systems and school context to ensure the continuing smooth operation of our office. Her welcome smile and guidance will greet you when you call or visit the office. Carolyn enjoyed her farewell celebrations in the last week of Term and was grateful to all who could attend. We thank the P & F for the lovely presentation on behalf of the school community, your generosity is greatly appreciated!  

We welcome Ms Isabelle Peacock to our staff, replacing Mrs Emma McGlynn in 4 Red (Tuesday) and 5/6 W (Thursday) for Term 4. Isabelle completed a very successful internship with 4 Red last term and is very familiar with the students and our school operations. Emma is taking leave this term to pursue her traineeship in Paramedicine. We wish Emma all the very best in her new role and will look forward to hearing all about it when she returns. We also welcome two new Learning Support Assistants, Jessica Pelley and Sophie Perkins who will be joining our team to support classroom teachers and students across the school.

We also warmly welcome the following families who join St Joeys this term: the Fagan family with Jasper joining 4 Red and Annabel 2 Red, the Thomas Family with Christiano joining 2 Red, the Mehan family with Mayla joining 3 Red and the Chorley family returning from their time in the USA with Georgia joining 3 Red. It is wonderful to see our school growing and I am sure you will join us in making them feel a part of our lovely community.

Our building works are progressing nicely with work in the holidays to install new roofs to the Kinder block, 2 Red unit and 3Red - 5/6W unit. Eaves still need to be replaced and scaffolding around Kinder removed. The Kinder room is being fully renovated internally and an outdoor early learning play space built between Year 1 and Kinder. Please stay safe when walking around the school by watching where you walk and remaining on the right side of any fencing. Our new playground will be installed later in the term. We can’t wait!

The last few years have seen low key fundraising events due to Covid restrictions and now with things returning to normal our staff and P&F have two very exciting events planned this term. We are hoping to extend our new middle play space with a Ninja circuit next year and these two events will help make this possible. The first event is an opportunity to purchase your child’s artwork produced on several different items through Crazy Camel Fundraising. Our Picasso’s were very busy last term producing their art works. A link will be sent to you this week where you can individually purchase items. The second event is in conjunction with the Motiv8 Sports hosting a GR8 Race. This will be a whole school event on Friday 25^th November with students participating in teams in ‘an amazing race’ style event with fun water and colour components. More information will follow as the term progresses. We look forward to your support of these events. 

Next week, 19/10, our athletics champion, Hamish Kirkman will compete in the NSW PSSA Athletics Championship at Sydney Olympic Park. Hamish will race in the 800m and the 1500m. We wish him all the very best.

Thank you to those parents who participated in the Tell Them From Me Survey. The closing date has been extended so please click on the following link to share positive feedback and constructive recommendations.

http://tellthemfromme.com/saintjoeys2022

Have a wonderful term everyone!

God Bless,

Kate Drake  (Principal)

News from the Assistant Principal

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Welcome back to Term 4. I hope everyone had the chance to enjoy the holidays and spend quality family time together. Term 4 will see our students working hard and focussing on how to improve as learners in all lessons. The end of term 4 will see teachers writing Semester 2 reports which will be available in week 9.

As educators we often get asked “what can I do to better support my child at school?” With the release of the new English and Mathematics curriculum K-2, a new document has become available to us. It is filled with great explanations and examples of how to assist your child at home.

You can download the document here parent-guide-k-2-english-and-mathematics.pdf

This year we commenced our journey into improving our Mathematics pedagogy (how we teach Maths). Throughout this term teachers will be re-designing & reviewing our units of work. Over the next few newsletters, I will include some tips on ways you too, can engage your child in maths in everyday situations. These opportunities help students recognise the interconnected nature of mathematical knowledge and the wider world and encourage them to use their mathematical skills broadly.

Wishing you a wonderful fortnight ahead (and hopefully some sunshine!) 

With every best wish, 

Nikki Norley

Assistant Principal

From the Office of Safeguarding - Esafety

These days we are all spending more and more time online. The online environment is extremely useful, but can also be a daunting and unsafe place for children who are unaware of the dangers. Please click on the following link for information regarding Online safety for parents/carers.

News from the Religious Coordinator

Socktober

Each year in October, Catholic Missions holds its world mission event called Socktober. This year the goal is to improve food security and nutrition in Ethiopia.  For the month of October, students will be asked to donate loose change to their class sock, and we will have a school event on the 31^{st of} October where students can wear crazy socks, participate in some sports events and bring in a donation. To learn more about the work of Catholic missions go to https://www.socktober.org.au/.

End of term Liturgy

We will celebrate our year 6 students and award recipients across the school at our end of year liturgy at school on Friday the 9^{th of} December at 10am. 

Many Blessings,
Clare Paff

News from the Primary Coordinator

News from the Primary Co Ordinator 

Kindergarten  2023 

It was wonderful to meet our new Kinder 2023 students and their families in the last week of Term 3. It was hard to tell who was more excited- our new Kinders or their buddies! 

We are looking forward to seeing everyone again for our two Term 4 Play and Learn sessions.  

For the first 2 weeks of Term 4 we are focusing on the Do your best value of our SJC matrix. As we start a new term you might like to talk with your child about what “DO YOUR BEST” means for them, especially in relation to setting personal academic goals.  

PBL AWARDS TERM 4  Week 1

Congratulations to the following students: 

Have a wonderful fortnight! 

Karen Nolan 

Happy Birthday to the following students

We wish the following students are very happy birthday for the month of August.

Dance Fever

Dance Fever 

Our Dance Fever showcase performances was a wonderful way to end the term. Students had an opportunity to demonstrate the dance skills they had developed over the 10 week program,  and everyone was able to join in the fun at the end and “let loose” with their own cool dance moves. Well done SJC! 

P&F News

TERM 4 FUNDRAISER

CRAZY CAMEL - Purchase your child's individual artwork on a variety of fun items. Buy Christmas gifts for family members. View your child’s artwork and order keepsakes at: www.crazycamel.com.au/38714

See flyer below for further information.

ORDERS will CLOSE on Monday 31/10

Canteen News

If you are able to assist in the school canteen please email Natalie Evans nattthebatevans@gmail.com or 0400413448

All volunteers need to be registered with our Diocese Child Protection Service. Please follow the  link here to register your interest in becoming a volunteer at St Joseph’s. This is a Diocesan mandate, and all volunteers are required to complete this registration form online (unless you are already registered and cleared to volunteer by the Diocese). It has a Police check section that is mandatory. Once this registration form is completed and a police check is completed, then we will be notified by the Diocese that you are clear to volunteer here at school. This whole process can take a few weeks. We look forward to your assistance!

Uniform Shop

All enquiries to email:

chl.uniformshop@mn.catholic.edu.au

ORDER via the QKR App

Healthy Eating Snippets

OOSH

The before and after school care at St Joseph’s is provided by St Nicholas OOSH, Diocese of Maitland Newcastle.  Open form 7am-8:30am and 3:00pm-6:00pm. 

Please contact Taylor for further information.  

TAYLOR CEFAI  
NOMINATED SUPERVISOR | ST NICHOLAS OOSH    
P 0429 435 571     M  0429 435 571   
Email taylor.cefai@stnicholasoosh.org.au Visit us online www.stnicholasoosh.org.au  

Save the date: The GR8 Race