Term 1 Week 9

What's on at St Joey's

Principal's Messages

Dear Parents and Carers,

It was wonderful to celebrate the feast days of St Patrick and also our patron, Saint Joseph, with a lituugry and picnic lunch together, on Friday. Our parish priest, Father Tony Potts enjoyed speaking to the children about our Saints and the good role models they are for us. It was also lovely to welcome our new Assistant Priest, Father Anil to our school for the first time. St Joseph was Jesus' earthly father and was a loyal and devoted father and husband. St Patrick was a preacher and spread the word of God, uisng the shamrock to explain the mystery of the Holy Trinity to the people of Ireland. Both men lived good and devoted lives to their people and to God and showed faith and trust in God particulary during the hardships in their lives.

Sadly we share with our community the devastating news of one of our teachers, Mrs Michelle Turner, with her 3 year old daughter, Florence (Flo) being diagnosed with brain cancer (DiPG). This news comes as a great shock to Michelle, her husband Cam and son Arlo (6yrs). I ask you for your prayerful support of Flo and her family. Michelle will take leave from her class and we welcome back Ms Emma Davies in 3/4 Blue until the end of term.

Tomorrow we celebrate Harmony Day with our focus in classes and across the school on respect for each other, for our diversity and for inclusiveness, and a sense of belonging for everyone.​ Please remember to dress in orange or wear traditonal cultural dress for the day. We will also hold our Project Compassion fundraiser with treats and fun activities for sale. Thank you to the kind donations and support of our Mini Vinnies mermbers, Stage 3 students  and their families. Please send children with coins to spend at the event. Monies raised will go to Caritas Australia.

Last week we held our Parents and Friends Annual General Meeting, electing our 2023 committee. Congratulations and thank you to our returning members:

President: Mrs Lisa Evans, Vice President: Mrs Kimberley Smith, Treasurer: Mrs Kellie Grice. The positon of Secretary remains vacant.

Uniform Shop: Mrs Lindsey Dragosavljevic, Mrs Hannah Smith, Mrs Caroline Keegan

Fundraising: Mrs Fiona Wade, Mrs Nicola Gillies, Mrs Tracey Gillies, Mrs Katie Turnbull, Mrs Kim Smith, Mrs Natalie Evans, Mrs Anna Wadwell

Canteen support: Mrs Brooke Sievert and Mrs Natalie Evans

We are blessed at St Joseph's to have an active and operational P&F committee, including our subsidery committess the uniform shop, canteen and fundraising. Our committees support the school in many ways, offer a parent voice to our activities, provide the services of the uniform shop and canteen and hold fundraising events throughout the year. Last year the P&F contributed $25 000 to our new playground, $5000 to the bush tucker garden currently under construction and raised $20 000 for the new ninja/fitness circuit which will be built later this year. They also supported pastoral care initiatives and sporting representatives throughout the year. All members are working parents who volunteer their time and energy to our group. They are friendly, positive and proactive in their support of our school community. We would love to welcome new members to our team, especially as many of our members have their last child in year 5 or 6 and we will have a huge loss when these families move on. Please consider joining as we only meet twice per term, on a Monday night 6:30-7:30pm. Come along to our next meeting, Monday 8th May or contact the school if you would like to assist this wonderful group.

Thank you for the easter treat doantions for our upcoming P&F Easter raffle. All eggs and raffle tickets need to be returned to the school office by Wednesday 29th March. Please ensure the raffle tickets are purchased on QKR under P&F fundraisers and have child's name and class clearly marked on the tickets. The raffle will be drawn in classes on Wednesday 5th April. Thanks to Nicola , Fiona and Tracey for their assistance with this raffle. The prizes always look so lovely and will be delicous too I am sure!

Thank you to Brooke for organising the Subway lunches on our picnic day. These are a great support to the canteen and also raise funds with $1 from every sub ordered donated to the P&F.

It was great to see so many parents engaged with our staff in Parent Teacher meetings last week and also our Personalised Planing meetings for students with disabilites. We value our home-school partnerships and I encourage you to continue to keep in touch with your child's teachers as the year progresses. We know that positive partnerships increases student wellbeing, academic growth and positive school attitudes through shared goals and shared understandings. We look forward to seeing you at more events as the year progresses. Meet our Early Stage 1, Stage 1 and some Stage 2 teachers below.

Congratulations to our sport representatives who trialled in Winter Diocesan trials last week, It was great to hear the news of Sophie W, Flynn L and Harry S advancing to the Polding trials for soccer which will be held in Tamworth next term. A wonderful achievement!

Congratulations also to Kipp H in Yr 6 who particpated in the 2023 World's Greatest Shave. Kipp had his lovely locks cut and shaved on Saturday, kindly donating 11 plaits to children's wigs and raising an amazing $3523.11 to support the Leukaemia Foundation. Kipp thanks everyone for their support and encouragement. Well done Kipp, we are vey proud of you!

Today we are hosting 2 Open Enrolment Sessions for prospective parents and students. We have had an enormous interest in Kinder 2024! Thank you to our staff and students for supporting these events, particularly our students who so positively and proudly toured new families around the school. If you have a sibling to enrol for 2024 please contact the school office for an enrolment pack, also share our information with your relatives, neighbours and firends. 

As we come to the end of the term I remind you of our Pupil Free Day on Thursday 6th April. First day for Term 2 will be Monday 24th April.

Thank you and God Bless,

Kate Drake

News from the Assistant Principal

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

The last two weeks have been a time of sadness, celebration and reflection at St Joey’s.

The news that our little Florence (Flo) Mrs Turner’s daughter has been very recently diagnosed with DIPG has filtered through our community. Michelle has been a staff member at St Joseph’s since 2021 when she completed her final year practicum for her Masters Degree in Education. Prior to this Michelle worked as a lawyer in Sydney. Her passion and commitment to improving educational outcomes for our students and her enthusiasm for teaching was quickly acknowledged and she was appointed in a job share position in 2022.

We have been in contact with Michelle and Cam her husband and have visited them all in hospital. It was re-assuring to see little Flo and know she was her usual gorgeous spunky 2½ year old self, running around the ward in her Paw Patrol pyjamas. After she fully recovers from her brain surgery the family will then head to Sydney for six weeks of radiation therapy.

Since Flo’s diagnosis the continual question of what can we do to help and support has been asked from all members of our community. The staff have organised some immediate supports and I know that in particular the Stage 2 families are in discussions for what we can do for the Turner family when they return from Sydney.

The response from our community is very reaffirming and reflective of the positive, thriving and supportive school climate we have at St Joseph’s. Group culture is one of the most powerful forces on the planet. In this time of reflection and sadness it highlights what matters most; our interactions with each other.

Thank you to the large number of parents who attended interviews yesterday. I hope this opportunity provided further insight into your child’s learning journey. It is a great time of year to reflect and set new learning goals. Having a positive growth mindset is an essential characteristic of ‘being a learner.’

Wishing you a fabulous fortnight ahead,

Nikki Norley

Assistant Principal

Harmony Week Celebrations

From the Office of Safeguarding

Beyond Blue has produced fact sheets, booklets and other resources to support everyone in Australia achieve their best possible mental health. The downloadable resources for families cover topics such as anxiety, depression, building resilience and wellbeing for 0 -12 year old’s.

Here is a link to Supporting Young People Experiencing Anxiety

News from the Religious Coordinator

St. Joseph’s Day

On Friday the 17th of March, we celebrated St. Joseph’s Feast Day (19th March). It was a beautiful celebration led by year 4. This year we had the added bonus of celebrating on St. Patrick’s Feast Day. It was lovely to have both Fr Tony and Fr Anil with us on this special day as well as a special performance by the school choir and so many parents and grandparents who were able to join us. The winners of the St. Joseph’s Day art competition were announced. There were Kindergarten Arabella R, Year 1 Callum C, Year 2 Emily B, Year 3 Alex B, Year 4 Rose G, Year 5 Jack N and Year 6 MyaC.

Project Compassion Fundraiser 21^st March

On Tuesday the 21^st March we will incorporate our Harmony Day activities with our Project Compassion Fundraiser. Students are asked to purchase some lovely treats our Mini Vinnies have made and to bring an extra gold coin to come out of uniform (wear orange) in honour of Harmony Day. All money raised will assist in empowering communities around the world to be able to access food, water, education, shelter and employment. For further details go to https://www.caritas.org.au/project-compassion/

Holy Week

Holy Week is the holiest week of the year. It is the week which recounts Jesus’ final days on earth and reminds us that ultimately God so loved us that he sent his Son Jesus who died for us and showed us the way to abundant life. At St. Joseph’s, we will have a Holy Week Reflection at 10:30am on Wednesday 5^th April on the tar. Please come along if you can.

News from the Primary Coordinator

Literacy at St Joseph’s

Our classes at St Joey’s are loving the implementation of VCOP. In the past two newsletters we have looked at Vocabulary and Connectives and how parents can help their children at home. This week we are focusing on Openers. 

Openers 

An opener is the first word or phrase used in a sentence. There are lots of different ways of opening sentences. When students start on their writing journey, most sentences initially begin with ‘I, they, he/she, then’.  

Older students are introduced to ISPACED openers. Here we use an acronym to remind the students to use a variety of ways to start sentences: 

Running towards the sparkling sea, Megan couldn’t wait to jump in! 

Like a bottle- nose dolphin, she swam up and down, in and out of the waves. 

Underneath the water, Megan could see a shoal of colourful fish. 

Silently, she then tiptoed over to a rock pool to see if she could see a crab. 

Meanwhile, Megan’s parents fell asleep in the warmth of sun. 

Exhausted from all her activities, Megan lay down on her brightly coloured towel and drifted off to sleep as well! ‘’Wake up!’’ cried mum ‘’The tide is coming in.’’ Grab your things- before we get wet! 

How can you help? 

Look out for different types of ISPACED (Ing Simile Preposition Adverb Connective Ed Dialogue) openers when with your child. Why has the author chosen to start the sentence in that way? Ask your child to use the openers you have found and to use them to start their own sentences. 

Punctuation Tips:  

 Using a wide variety of punctuation is important to add variety and interest to your child’s writing. We provide the children with lots of examples of where punctuation is used effectively and model how to use them. The pyramid below shows differentiation in punctuation. It starts at the top with basic punctuation and progresses down to using complex skills such as speech marks and brackets.  

How can you help?   

• Look at different types of punctuation with your child in their reading book. Discuss why the author has chosen to use it.  
• Use a highlighter pen to highlight different forms of punctuation in old newspapers/magazines. 
• Give your child a piece of punctuation and ask them to give you a sentence using it.  
• For older children, ask them to write a short story/article and try to use all the punctuation on the bottom row of the pyramid! 

Happy Birthday to the following students

We wish the following students a very happy birthday for the month of March and April.

Sports News

Congratulations to Sophie W, Flynn L and Harry S on being selected from the Diocesan Soccer trials to trial at the Polding trials in Tamworth next term. These students will now trial against representatives from the following Diocese: Armidale, Bathurst, Broken Bay, Lismore, Maitland Newcastle and Wilcania Forbes. We wish you all the very best in your representative endeavours!

Our school Cross Country races will take place this Friday 24th March, with our back up date 31st March. To promote the safety of the children around the course, we will require a small number of parent helpers on the day, between 9:15am-11.30am. All volunteers must have completed their volunteers registration paperwork and be registered with our school office. If you can volunteer, please email Miss Houlahan (brydie.houlahan@mn.catholic.edu.au) by today.

Depending on the result/time of your child’s race, your child may be selected (8 years or older) to attend the Diocesan Cross Country held on Wednesday, 10^th May, location TBC.

Hub News

P&F - Easter Raffle Donations

Canteen News

Kelly our new 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 the CSO, by following this link: https://www.mn.catholic.org.au/people/volunteer/

Once cleared please sign up for a shift, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday. The children love to see you here!

https://signup.zone/ZYkfNzsbws83p9yHM

Uniform Shop

SOFTSHELL JACKETS ORDERS

We are preparing to place an order for our soft shell jackets. In order to accurately order sizes and quantities, we would like to know if you are planning to order a soft shell jacket this year. 

Please email chl.uniformshop@mn.catholic.edu.au with the following by 4th April. 

• Child’s name
• Class
• Required size 

Description, sizes and pricing available on Qkr! 

Delivery should be early term 2 - we will contact families on the list once the delivery arrives. 

Thank you

P & F 

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