Term 4 week 9

What's on at St Joey's in November & December

Principal's Messages

Dear Parents and Carers,

This is our final newsletter for 2022! We have an exciting last 2 weeks of term planned and we are looking forward to celebrating our year together at our End of Year Liturgy this Friday, at 10am. We will be giving thanks to God for the blessings we have shared throughout the year. It has been a challenging year in many ways for families and for schools but we have much to be thankful for, including; the gift of our families, our wonderful SJC students and our amazing staff, the many volunteers who have assisted throughout the year and for the support we have received from our Parish and Catholic Schools Office.

2022 has seen many developments in terms of our school infrastructure with many improvements being made. We look forward to the completion of our classroom refurbishment project, outdoor early learning space, reroofing  and playground landscaping. All these are scheduled to be completed before our return in 2023. Our new playground is nearly ready to be opened, but requires further landscaping which can't be completed until the holidays. Our students will get to play in this space with their classes during the last week of school. Then, it will be officially opened and a part of our playground roster for 2023. Huge thanks again to all the people who have made this project possible.

Last week we held our first ever GR8 Race with Motiv8 Sports Lake Macquarie, hosting the event and trialling a new fundraising website for sponsorship and donations. I take this opportunity to thank everyone involved in organising this event, especailly Mrs Kathryn Hill, Ms Karen Nolan and our P&F Committee. Mrs Anna Wadwell was instrumental in organising the BBQ and our parents and St Mary's volunteers were outstanding. I also thank each person who could contribute to the sponsorships and support our fundraiser financially. We really appreciate the support we have had and are so excited to announce that we did reach our fundraising target of $20 000! Absolutlely amazing! We will hold a celebration assembly and raffle draw of the major prizes and highest fundraisers on Wednesday afternoon. Good luck to all our participants!

THANK YOU to those who ordered from our Crazy Camel Art fundraiser. All items were sent home last week and they looked amazing! My favourites are the tea towel art! Huge thanks to Mrs Natalie Evans for organising this great initiative and to our wonderful teachers for designing the task and encouraging our budding artists. An amazing $2042 profit was achieved from this event. Thank you! All funds will go to our P & F committee for distribution to school resources next year.

Thank you to our generous Mini Vinnies committee and to their families for the donations of delicious treats and fun activities to support our recent fundraiser for our local St Vincent De Paul Chapter. I particularly enjoyed getting my hair sprayed pink for the day! A very generous $700 was raised for our local people in need. Thank you!

Thank you too for the continued donations of Christmas goods for our hampers. There are so many local people in dire straights this Christmas and it is so great to be able to assist in this way. Your acts of generosity show your children that we are called to act in service of others, to not always think of ourselves, but to hear the call of those less fortunate than ourselves. This is an example of our school values 'Living like Jesus' and is so important always, but in particular during the Christmas season of giving.

Semester Two Reports will be finalised and published this Friday. Please check your COMPASS student dashboard and download and print as you need. The reports are a Diocesan wide format and we trust that they give you a good idea of where your child is achieving and some tips for development. Please book in with your child's teacher if you have any questions.

I am currently finalising staffing for 2023. We will sadly farewell Mrs Lisa Ridgewell and Mrs Susan Coull this week. Both serving St Joseph's for over 25 years! Mrs Ridgewell as classroom teacher and Mrs Coull as EAL/D teacher. Both will be missed greatly but we wish them all the very best in their new endeavours. We also farewell and thank Cathy Curk, our Gifted Education Project Officer as she accepts a position in the Catholic Schools Office for 2023. Next year we will welcome Ms Isabelle Peacock to a full time role and welcome back Mrs Kyla Flanagan and Ms Kate Papworth into a job share position in 2023.

As our staff sort out classes for 2023 I would like to assure you of the time and thought that goes into planning for the next year. Our staff collaborate to sort student placement, considering all factors for each child, including academic needs and social and emotional needs. The fact is, there are only 2 classes or possibly 3 in each year, and we have the luxury of our open planned flexible classrooms where all students experience a shared learning space and many opportunities to work with cross grade and stage groupings, and with a number of staff. Please trust our decisions and encourage your children to be positive and resilient as they move forward into the next year of schooling. We will have our Step Up afternoon on the 13th Dec @2pm where students and teachers for 2023 can meet and be familiarised with each other in preparation for next year. In the first weeks of 2023 we have planned hand over meetings to share knowledge and information about our students with the new teacher. Please be assured that we work very hard at St Joseph's to ensure smooth transitions for our students to meet their needs moving forward. Please be aware we also have many classes with flexible work arrangements due to professional responsibilities that extend beyond the classroom, parental leave and transition to retirement. These are all value added to our staffing, building a compliment of experienced and diverse skills, gifts and talents within each classroom. 

2023 Classes

Congratulations to the following students for their amazing indivdual achievements: Lily Merrell - 3rd in the Diocesan Public Speakimg Competition

Heath Barr, Charlotte Drelincourt, Lillian Evans, Harper Lee, Lauren Sievert and Julian Wetzler - Performance at the Diocesan  ASPIRE SCHOOL BAND CONCERT.

Luke Sawang, Osacr Evans and Matilda Reynolds -Advancing to the Diocesan Sporting trials. Huge congratulations to Oscar for advancement to the Polding selections for Cricket and to Matilda for advancement to the Polding trials for basketball. 

CANTEEN NEWS

After many years of volunteers running our canteen, it has been decided to advertise for a funded part time Canteen Officer. This decision has not been made lightly and has come about after years of voluntary service by working parents, discussions with our P & F and an online survey of P & F committee and sub committee members. We have been unsuccessful in replacing our current team, Nat Evans and Brooke Sievert, who need to step down from their roles due to work commitments. It was unanimously voted that our canteen be advertised for a professional person. Traditionally we have had a number of dedicated parents organising the volunteer rosters, product ordering, cooking and organising special food days eg Subway and BBQs. These volunteers have also been instrumental in ensuring we are WHS compliant whilst providing a valuable service to our community. I take this opportunity to formally thank all our current volunteers and special thanks of course to Brooke and Nat for their dedication, time and efforts to run a profitable, volunteer service. You have been amazing! The advertisement has gone live on our CSO employment site.

SWIMMING CARNIVAL

Thank you to those parents who are registered with our Diocesan volunteer network and are able to assist with our carnival next Monday. It takes many volunteers to host this event and we are looking forward to seeing you there. Thank you to Mrs Natalie Davis for her work in preparing the carnival, organising the order of events and the volunteers. It is great to be able to host our regular carnival with minimal restrictions and it should be a wonderful day.

CHRISTMAS WISHES

I will publish a short note before the end of term with any final announcements. But, as we come to the end of the term I wish all our students and families a blessed and happy Christmas and New Year. We say farewell and good luck to our Year 6 students and thank you for your time at St Joseph's We trust you will have many happy memories to take with you!

May this special family time bring you all much peace and happiness, and a time to relax and recharge after a very busy and unusual year. I encourage you to attend one or more of the parish masses and Christmas celebrations, share your faith and reflect on the true reason for this very special season.  

God Bless,                                       

Kate Drake   

Principal  

News from the Assistant Principal

Dear Parents & Caregivers,

This week you will have the opportunity to read your child’s report for Semester Two. These reports are a reflection on your child’s progress. Reporting is an important phase of the schooling year and teaching and learning. Reporting is also a significant part of the partnership between parent, teacher and student.

The report needs to be read with the student’s progress kept in mind and the focus should be on what they have been able to achieve so far and the areas in which they need development for their own personal growth.

I hope all parents congratulate their child on their efforts and also discuss areas where the student can hone their attention on and work to improve their results next year.

We have had some wonderful fun events in recent weeks and still more to come! It is always fantastic for our students to come together for these special occasions (and we look forward to celebrating these with you again in 2023).

This time of year is also a time to say thank you. So, thank you to everyone who makes St Joseph’s an awesome place to work and learn. To the students for your beautiful manners and work ethic, to the parents for your support and trust and to the staff for your care and dedication to the learning of the students in your care. 

Enjoy the Christmas vacation with your families. May the joy celebrating the birthday of Jesus fill your homes with love and peace, and may 2023 bring us back rested and ready to learn and master new challenges.

Wishing all students and families a safe and happy holiday break. Merry Christmas!

with every best wish,

Nikki Norley

Assistant Principal

Understanding your child's report

News from the Religious Coordinator

Preparing for Christmas

Often considered just a time for shopping for presents, putting up decorations, sending cards, enjoying parties and singing carols, the Advent season is so much more. Advent is the four-week period of expectant waiting, hopeful anticipation and joyful preparation of Jesus’ birth. It is a time to:

· remember Jesus coming into the world over 2000 years ago

· prepare for Jesus to come into our hearts and lives today

· wait for Jesus to come again.

The celebration of Advent takes place on the four Sundays prior to Christmas, follows four weekly themes; hope, peace, joy and love and ends on Christmas Eve.

As we prepare for this beautiful feast may we consider these 12 Christmas Prayers.

A generous response again from SJC

Last Tuesday, St. Joseph’s children and families again demonstrated their generosity with their donation to the local St. Vincent de Paul Christmas Appeal. With the rising cost of living, the overwhelming number of pantry items and almost $700 in money raised will really help in making Christmas a much more positive time for local families in need. Mrs Mitchell , President of the Charlestown St. Vincent de Paul visited St. Josephs on Friday to receive the donations. On behalf of the community she serves . Mrs Mitchell expressed her gratitude for this wonderful donation and the difference it will make for those in need.

End of Year Liturgy and Awards

This Friday we will celebrate and give thanks for the 2022 year and in particular our year 6 students leaving us in a few short weeks. At 10am on the 9th December, Deacon Greg will lead us in our final liturgy and this will be followed by end of year awards. We hope you can join us for this special occasion.

News from the Primary Coordinator

We are grateful for the way our students are demonstrating kind words and actions with their use of the MAGIC WORDS. To have students greet each other and ask how their day is going is such a blessing. It is also always wonderful to witness the way our students greet and welcome our visitors. Keep up the great work everyone! Good manners cost nothing but mean everything!

So, for the last time this year, congratulations to the following students who have received Joey awards recently.Well done to all students for STRIVING HIGH, LIVING LIKE JESUS AND CARING FOR OUR ENVIRONMENT during 2022

Another great term of learning, fun and friendships in Kinder! We are so proud of our Kinder students and how far they have come this year. This term has seen growth in writing, many Science investigations, Maths activities, developing our fundamental movement skills and creating some impressive fireworks art pieces. Of course the Gr8 Race was another highlight! Thanks for a great year Kinder 2022! You are the best!

God Bless Karen Nolan 

Happy Birthday to the following students

Sports News

Infants Sport- Softball 

Such determination from our Kinders during their softball program.  

Music

Creative and Performing Arts

Musicians

We are beyond proud of the hard work and dedication of these incredible St Joey's musicians who represented our school at ASPIRE's first Concert Band performance At St Pius on Monday. These students have rehearsed for a few months during lunch times with Mrs Savage and at regional and local rehearsals and have improved their playing out of this world. We can't wait to hear more amazing music in 2023.

Choir

How good has it been to be able to use our voices and sing this year! The Choir has worked very hard in recent weeks learning to work together to record and film a special, heartfelt song "You Say" by Lauren Daigle Bebo Norman, Jason Ingram and Michael Donehey. Here is the link for you to watch and enjoy out St Joey's Singers. We are looking forward to anyone from year 2 next year to come and sing with us!

St Joseph’s Choir 2022 You Say.mov

Finally, "It's Christmas!" Our Christmas concert is nearly upon us and our students are dancing and singing up a storm ready for YOU! Please invite family and friends to come and enjoy this special show that your children are preparing for you. Thursday 15^th December, 1.30pm on School Tar. 

Mrs Karyn Savage

Music Teacher 



P&F News

Thank you for requesting to volunteer at St Joseph’s Charlestown.

However, before we can accept these generous offers, volunteers new to the role of volunteering or who have perhaps not been an active volunteer for a while due to COVID, will need to go to the Diocesan website and complete the volunteer registration form. There is a  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 ask that you follow the link to the website and complete the registration form ASAP so you can all come on site and be part of this amazing school community in many varied ways! 

Canteen News

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

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