Term 3 Week 1 2022

Principal's Messages

Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome to Term 3! We look forward to a busy term of learning, fun and faith. We have moved to a new online version of our newsletter with 'schoolzine', published each fortnight. You will be able to access the link via Compass and our website. We have many wonderful experiences planned for our students this term. Our newsletter has links to our school calendar on the left. Please check regularly to keep up to date!

As we return we still feel the impacts of COVID, Influenza and other illnesses across our community. Please be assured that we will maintain our layered safety measures with daily hygiene practices, high touch cleaning, classroom ventilation and hosting outdoor events where possible. Parents are reminded to monitor children for symptoms and keep them home if sick, and test and isolate as per NSW Health Guidelines. Rules for COVID isolation remain the same, 7 days. Household contact rules also remain the same with staff and students able to return to school if they are a household contact, if they are symptom free and negative on a daily RAHT for 5 days. If you require RAHT tests please collect them from the school office. We are unable to send the kits home with the children. Please continue to inform the school of infection and record any daily student absences via COMPASS.

Deepest sympathy to the Collins and Lloyd families as they grieve the loss of their grandfathers who passed away before the holidays. We keep you all in our thoughts and prayers and hope that your loving memories bring you some comfort at this very sad time.

We will celebrate Grandparents Day next Tuesday 26th July.

Due to ongoing COVID and Influenza cases across the community we will keep this as an outdoor event with a liturgy under the COLA at 10:30am and a BYO picnic. 

Next week we will celebrate NAIDOC Week with a wonderful day of indigenous cultural experiences, including art, games, cooking and dance. Huge thanks to our Aboriginal Education Teacher, Mrs Danielle Shaw for all the planning and organising of this day. Please see Compass for further information and pay $5.50 per student, via QKR.

With the Dance Fever program beginning this term and running every Friday please note our weekly assembly will now be each Monday morning 9am. Parents are welcome to attend.

Our buildng works are moving along with new colourbond roofing installed on 2 classrooms and the first refurbished room to be completed this week. This means Year 1 will move into the new room temporarily while their classroom is refurbished during the coming weeks. Safety fencing is installed around the current areas of work and we remind the students and any visitors to be mindful of personal safety when moving around the areas that are under construction.

As we begin a new term I encourage you to keep in touch with your children's teachers and with myself. When we work in partnership, we see positive relationships, positive behaviours and a school that grows together.

God bless,
Kate Drake

News from the Assistant Principal

Term 3 is another busy one for learning new concepts in all grades. Our focus will move to Mathematics this semester, where we again ask the children the following 5 questions:

• What are you learning?
• Why are you learning that?
• How is your learning going and how do you know?
• Where do you go for help with your learning?
• How can you improve in the area of your learning?

We are also continuing with these questions in English – especially when writing, so as parents when you want to know what they did at school, ask them these questions and hopefully you’ll get an informative response.

Here’s to a great term of learning!

with every best wish,
Nikki Norley

TAMING THE TECH – HOW PARENTAL CONTROLS CAN HELP KEEP KIDS SAFER ONLINE

Recent eSafety research found 56% of parents and carers of children aged 8-10 use parental controls to keep their kids safer online.

Taking part in eSafety’s webinar on parental controls can help you learn more about these software tools and other strategies for taming the technology in your home.

If you would like to learn more, watch the parental controls video eSafety's parent and carer guide to parental controls and download the information sheets on using parental controls to manage devices and apps.

Stage 2 Fundraising Success

On the last day of term 3, students in Stage 2 held a fundraising disco. This was a student led initiative raising $186.80 for the Cancer Council. Well done and thank you families for your generous support.

News from the Religious Coordinator

Next week we look forward to celebrating our Grandparents with a liturgy of thanks on Tuesday 26^th July, 10:30am, followed by a BYO picnic lunch. This will be an outdoor event, with social distancing encouraged. We celebrate this event on the Feast of Saint Anne and Joachim, Mary’s parents and the grandparents of Jesus. Their love and devotion to each other and to their family are an example to all of us of God’s love and presence in our lives.

Many Blessings,
Clare Paff

News from the Primary Coordinator

PBL

For the next 2 weeks of Term 3 we are focusing on the Play Fairly value of our SJC matrix.

In class we will be talking about this focus value and teachers will be reinforcing this with positive feedback and regular prompts for our students to assist them to demonstrate this behaviour in all settings.

Writing Fair

Our Writing Fair was a wonderful way to end the term and celebrate our focus on Writing at SJC.

The mystery egg and the visiting “officials” sparked curiosity and wonder, and was a springboard to a day of talking, writing, and wondering.

Thank you to those who were able to attend, to our wonderful students and their writing projects, and to Mr and Mrs Manning for their hard work and creativity in bringing our “mystery object” to life!

ICAS Tests- Reminder

Each year we offer our students the opportunity to participate in the world-renowned ICAS Assessments.

ICAS is designed to target students’ higher order thinking and problem-solving skills in English, Mathematics, Science, Spelling and Digital Technologies. They are challenging tests that test skills and content beyond the standard curriculum and are suitable for students wishing to extend themselves academically and take up the personal challenge of competing in an international assessment.

ICAS Assessments are now online, and this year students at SJC can participate in the following subjects:

ICAS Science Yr 2 to 6

ICAS English Yr 2 to 6

ICAS Maths Yr 2 to 6

ICAS Spelling Yr 2 to 6

The cost per test: $19.25 including GST and the tests will be held at school during August.

If you would like your child to participate in any of the subjects listed above, please visit the new online Parent Payment System to make a direct payment to ICAS. The Parent Payment System is a simple and secure online payment service specifically for parents to purchase ICAS Assessments.

Online payment closes 1st August 2022

IMPORTANT:  Please enter your child’s name accurately into the System as it will appear on their ICAS certificate.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

Kind regards,  

Karen Nolan

Happy Birthday to the following students

We wish the following students are very happy birthday: 

JULY

19th Isabella C, 20th Lara A, 25th Tia Ryman, 27th Imogen H & Sam G, 29th James C, 31st Hugo G & Urban B

Sports News

Dance Fever

This term all students will be particpating in Dance Fever. The Dance Fever payment of $38 is now due on QKR- thank you!

Students in Stage 2 will be particpating in Basketball clinics on Mondays this term.

We have obtained a sporting schools grant and there is no cost for the Stage 2 particpants.

Athletics Carnival Champions

CONGRATULATIONS to our Regional Athletics team who attended the carnival last term with great results and wonderful sportspersonship! We congratulate the following students who have now advanced to the Diocesan Athletics Carnival on Wednesday 3rd August at the Hunter Sports Centre, Stockland Dr. Glendale. Notes will be sent home this week.

Eli S. Junior 1500m

Hamish K. Senior 1500m, Senior 800m, Senior Long Jump

Harrison S. 11 yrs 100m

Kobe W. 9 yrs 100m

Liam B. Senior 1500m, Senior High Jump, Senior Shot put

Lochlan O’B. 9 yrs 100m, Junior High Jump

Luke S. 11 yrs Long Jump

Molly S. Senior Long Jump

Olive W. 11 yrs Long Jump

Sophie A. 11 yrs 1500m, 11yrs 800m,

Sophie F. 11yrs 100m

News from the classrooms

3 Red Music FUN!

Click the link to watch.

Aboriginal Education News

1st week of July: NAIDOC WEEK

The official date for NAIDOC Week is the first full week of July. NAIDOC celebrates the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal people. NAIDOC originally stood for ‘National Aborigines and Islander Observance Committee’, which was responsible for organising national activities for NAIDOC Week. The acronym has now become the name for the week itself.

This year’s theme for NAIDOC week is Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up! The below script is taken from the NAIDOC.org website.

We have a proud history of getting up, standing up, and showing up.

From the frontier wars and our earliest resistance fighters to our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities fighting for change today—we continue to show up.

Now is our time. We cannot afford to lose momentum for change.

We all must continue to Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up! for systemic change and keep rallying around our mob, our Elders, our communities.

Whether it’s seeking proper environmental, cultural and heritage protections, Constitutional change, a comprehensive process of truth-telling, working towards treaties, or calling out racism—we must do it together.

It must be a genuine commitment by all of us to Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up! and support and secure institutional, structural, collaborative, and cooperative reforms.

It’s also time to celebrate the many who have driven and led change in our communities over generations—they have been the heroes and champions of change, of equal rights and even basic human rights.

Getting Up, Standing Up, and Showing Up can take many forms.

We need to move beyond just acknowledgement, good intentions, empty words and promises, and hollow commitments. Enough is enough.

The relationship between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non‑Indigenous Australians needs to be based on justice, equity, and the proper recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ rights.

Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up! with us to amplify our voices and narrow the gap between aspiration and reality, good intent and outcome.

Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up!

St Joseph’s Charlestown’s NAIDOC Celebrations will be held on Thursday 28^th July. Parents are very welcome to join us for the morning session of this special day! Children will experience a memorable morning ceremony before spending the day immersing themselves in exciting cultural workshops. Costs have been subsidised by gaining a successful Lake Macquarie City Council grant. Please pay $5:50 per student via QKR.

More information about this day is on Compass

Danielle Shaw

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Teacher

P&F News

Our next P & F meeting will be held on Monday 8th August, 6:30pm in the staffroom.

All are welcome to join us and to contribute to this positive school forum.

Canteen News

Our canteen is managed and maintained by the wonderful parent and grandparent volunteers we have at SJC. We aim to have the canteen open every Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.

We plan SUBWAY lunch days when we have volunteer shortages. Our first SUBWAY lunch day is this Friday 22nd July.

Please order lunch items via our QKR app.

If you would like to volunteer, and have not yet completed an application, please follow the link to do this online https://www.mn.catholic.org.au/people/volunteer/

Uniform Shop

All enquiries to email:

chl.uniformshop@mn.catholic.edu.au

ORDER via the QKR App