Term 3 Week 4

What's on at St Joey's

Principal's Messages

Celebrating Growth, Learning, and Community

Dear Parents, Carers and School Community,

As we move into the second half of the school year, I’m delighted to share some reflections on recent events, exciting school improvements, and how we continue to focus on what truly makes a difference in our students’ learning.

What Works in Education: Focusing on Impact

You may have heard us refer to the work of Professor John Hattie, whose research continues to shape how we approach teaching and learning. His studies into effect size tell us what actually works in education—by measuring the influence of specific teaching practices on student progress.

Interestingly, one of Hattie’s key findings is that class size has a relatively small effect size (0.21). While smaller classes may seem ideal, it's not the number of students that makes the biggest difference—it's the quality of teaching. In fact, strategies such as:

• Teacher Clarity (0.75)

• Timely Feedback (0.70)

• Collective Teacher Efficacy (1.57)

…have significantly greater impact. These are the areas our staff are focused on, using data, collaboration, and professional learning to ensure every student is supported to grow and succeed.

Exciting Upgrades to Our School

We’ve also been busy upgrading our learning environments and resources, including:

• New Roller Doors in our undercover areas, offering improved weather protection and greater flexibility for outdoor learning and play.

• Updated Sports Equipment across a range of activities, encouraging physical fitness, teamwork and fun.

• New Musical Instruments providing more opportunities for creativity and student engagement in the arts.         

 Closing of Convent

• On Saturday 9th August, we honoured Sr Brigit Linehan and the Sisters of St Joseph who have faithfully served our parish and schools for the past 98 years. With the closing of the convent, a special Mass and luncheon were held to celebrate their incredible contribution. A huge thank you to Mrs. Courtney, Miss Dale and students Elise, Isabella, Charlotte, Oscar, Anna and Siosifa who for joined me in representing the school on this momentous occasion. 

A Wonderful Term of Events and Celebrations

It has been a joy to see our community come together over the past few weeks:

• Grandparents Day was a tremendous success, with a huge crowd joining us on site to celebrate in Liturgy, Open Classrooms and lunch. The joy and pride on our students’ faces as they showed their grandparents around the school was truly heartwarming. Kindergarten led the Liturgy melting our hearts with the cute factor. 

• Our Book Week Parade was filled with colour, imagination, and joy. Thank you to all families for supporting our Book Fair—together, we sold almost $8,000 worth of books, which will directly benefit our school library and literacy programs.

• This past Wednesday we celebrated NAIDOC Day, honouring the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Activities included a powerful Opening Ceremony, emu egg cooking and tasting, music, art, storytelling and more. It was a meaningful day of learning and connection for all.

• We also celebrated Mary MacKillop Liturgy, which holds deep importance to us as a Josephite school. Mary MacKillop’s values of courage, compassion and service continue to inspire our mission and culture.

• Diocesan Athletics Carnival: Congratulations to the following children who represented our school recently at the Diocesan Athletics Carnival- Liliana Ahmataj, Sienna Ailwood-Williams, Billie Eder, Ben Griffin, Frankie Gruschka, Otto Gruschka, Owen Keegan, Aria Lee, Emelyn McManus, Leo Mitchell, Leo Moyle, Sonny Moyle, Spencer Nall, Lochlan O'Brien, Cora Phillips, Sam Robinson and Eli Smith.
• Polding Athletics Carnival: Congratulations to the students who have qualified for the Polding Level Athletics Carnival. This is a fantastic achievement and a testament to their dedication, effort, and sporting talent. We wish them all the very best as they represent our school at this next level of competition: Liliana Ahmataj, Ben Griffin, Frankie Gruschka, Otto Gruschka, Aria Lee, Sonny Moyle, Spencer Nall and Cora Phillips.

A reminder that School Photos will be taken this coming Wednesday. Please ensure students are in correct full school uniform.

Recently there has been much public discussion around the Australian Government's model of funding schools. Catholic Schools NSW have put together some data to explain how government funding for non-government schools—such as Catholic and Independent schools — supports your right to choose the best educational environment for your child while also reducing costs for Australian taxpayers.

Using the most recent data, the report outlines how funding these schools through a mixed education model reduces pressure on public education resources, with savings of up to $6.88 billion annually. The report highlights how school choice benefits families and the broader community alike.

To read more, find the report here: Money invested, Money Saved - July 2025 - Adobe cloud storage.

We kindly remind families to avoid collecting children early from school unless it is for a scheduled appointment, as this helps minimise disruption to learning. The new afternoon pedestrian gate will be open from 2:40pm each day to support a smooth and safe pick-up process. Thank you for your cooperation and support.

Congratulations to the Bola family on the birth of a sister, Ava, for Seth in Kindergarten. We wish you all much love and happiness.

It is with deep sadness that I write to inform you of the passing of the Chand children's great nan. Please keep the Chand family in your thoughts and prayers.

Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon her. May she rest in peace. Amen. May almighty God bless us with his peace and strength. Amen

Thank you once again for your continued support and partnership. Our community is strong because of the shared commitment we all have to the wellbeing and success of every child.

Warm regards,

Kathryn Hill

Assistant Principal

National Science Week - Decoding the Universe

This week is National Science Week and the theme is ‘Decoding the Universe – Exploring the unknown with nature’s hidden language.’ It’s not just a celebration of science, there’s lots of technology and mathematics too. The Australian Science Teachers Association (ASTA) says: ‘This theme invites students and teachers across Australia to delve into the mysteries of the Universe by exploring the fundamental languages of nature, including mathematics and the groundbreaking field of quantum science.’

Our students will be participating in activities and experiments on Tuesday to foster their interest in Science. We will share some of this interesting learning on Facebook and in next fortnight’s newsletter.

Hats

A friendly reminder that all students are required to wear their school hat during outdoor play. Hats are a compulsory part of our school uniform and supports sun safety for all. We have had many wet days, but we are trying hard to give children the opportunity to play outside, especially when the sun appears. 

Many students are saying they don’t have a school hat. Please ensure your child has at least one school hat and that it is clearly labelled with their name. Students without hats miss out on opportunities to play as they are restricted to the COLA and Fort areas during play times. Thank you for your support.

Grow Your Mind – The Wise Owl (prefrontal cortex)

This fortnight in the Grow Your Mind program, we are learning about the prefrontal cortex. The animal for this part of the brain is The Wise Owl. This is the “thinking” and “planning” centre that helps us make good decisions, solve problems, and manage our emotions. When our Wise Owl is calm, it can guide the rest of the brain, helping children to pause, think, and choose positive actions. Just like any skill, we can strengthen our Wise Owl through practice – with mindfulness, healthy routines, and supportive relationships – so it’s ready to help in tricky moments.

Office of Safeguarding

Parent Information - Upcoming Webinars

Upcoming information sessions and webinars for parents and carers

Parents and carers are the most important educators in their child’s life. To assist you in this important role, a list of upcoming webinars provided by reputable providers, free of charge, has been compiled and is available on the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle’s Catholic Schools webpage.

A snapshot of Term 3 webinars is included below. More information about these webinars, including links to register, can be found on the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle’s Catholic Schools webpage www.mn.catholic.edu.au/our-community/supporting-parents-and-carers/upcoming-parent-and-carer-information-sessions/ Please note, the webpage will be updated regularly with news of additional webinars and you can visit the site at any time.  

School Improvement Plan

2025 School Improvement: At St Joseph’s, we are committed to continuous improvement and growth in all areas of school life. In 2025, we will be focusing on our three School Improvement Goals, which will guide our efforts to enhance student learning, well-being, and engagement, ensuring the best possible outcomes for all.

News from the Religious Coordinator

Feast Day of Mary of the Cross Mackillop

Last Friday the 8^th of August was the feast day of Australia's very first Australian Saint, St Mary of the Cross Mackillop. She was a teacher and founder of the religious order that later went on to begin our school and many schools in our Diocese. A very important day in our history and one we must remember. 

Year 4 beautifully led our liturgy as we began our day, learning about, praying with and being inspired by St Mary Mackillop. We try to always live by the anthem we ended with that was a key message of Mary’s life. Never see a need without doing something about it.

Catholic Care

Religious Literacy test

On Tuesday 2^nd September year 6 students will be assessed about their religious literacy knowledge gained through the years at school, but particularly years 5 and 6. The assessment will occur on computers so students will need to bring a fully charged computer and earphones. Please ensure that your child is here on time and has the equipment needed.

Heads Up Father’s Day Celebrations, 5^th September

We will hold a Dad’s and Donuts Day celebration for Father’s Day for all fathers, granddads and father figures to occur on Friday 5^th September.

The celebration will start on tar at 1:30pm with a prayer and a song. We will then have a myriad of indoor and outdoor activities to enjoy and donuts (including gluten free ) to eat. We hope you can join us.

Join us for an uplifting afternoon of worship, adoration, and community at the next Praise & Worship experience! It is a beautiful way to experience and express our Catholic faith together Sunday 24 August 2.30pm to 4.30pm Sacred Heart Cathedral For more info, or to register: https://mn.catholic.org.au/event/praise-worship-experience/

Primary Coordinator

Bullying No Way: National Week of Action 

St Joseph’s is proud to participate in the Bullying No Way: National Week of Action, running this week from 11 to 15 August 2025. This nationwide event is a collective commitment by schools and communities to take real, effective action against bullying. It is an opportunity for us to demonstrate our shared responsibility in creating a safe and supportive learning environment for every student.

The theme for this year’s campaign is Be Bold. Be Kind. Speak Up. This message encourages students, staff, families, and the wider community to take a stand against bullying by being courageous, showing kindness, and speaking up when it matters most.

Public Speaking

Selected students from Stage 1, Stage 2, and Stage 3 recently showcased their public speaking talents in the St Joseph’s Public Speaking School Final. Well done to our finalists:

These students impressed the audience with their confidence, clarity, and speaking skills. We are proud to announce our SJC Public Speaking Winners:

Stage 1 Winner: Koa Donohue 

Stage 2 Winner: Liliana Ahmataj 

Stage 3 Winner: Daniel Boulton 

These students have qualified to represent our school at the Lakes Region Public Speaking Final, which will be held on Friday 15th August 2025. We wish our students the best of luck as they prepare to compete at the regional level, what a fantastic achievement!

Emily Dale

Primary Coordinator 

School Fees

Dear St Joseph’s Families,

We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to all families for your ongoing fee payments and continued support of St Joseph’s.

Your timely contributions help us maintain the quality of education and services that our community values so highly.

To make the payment process more convenient, see below Direct Debit form for any families who would like to set up an account for regular fee payments. This option helps simplify managing your payments and ensures a smooth, hassle-free experience.

If you are interested in setting up a Direct Debit account or have any questions, please feel free to reach out to the admin staff.

Thank you once again for your continued support.

Warm regards

Amale Yi

High Potential and Gifted Education

Elevate – Showcasing Young Entrepreneurs of the Future

Featuring: Eli Smith, Daniel Boulton, Lochlan O’Brien, Adelina Dragosavljevic, Anondo Ogni and Jesse Whale.

In Semester 1, Eli, Daniel, Lochlan, Adelina, Ogni and Jesse participated in Enterprise, one of the Virtual Academy’s most dynamic programs, which develops future-focused entrepreneurial skills.

Over the semester, these students designed innovative business proposals that demonstrated critical thinking, creativity, and an understanding of financial planning, social responsibility, and digital literacy.

In Term 2 Week 10, their hard work was showcased at Elevate, a virtual event where students pitched their business proposals to an audience of peers, educators, and families. Each student thoughtfully articulated their business concepts, explaining how they identified problems, developed solutions, and designed sustainable models.

The event celebrated not only the culmination of their learning but also the resilience and adaptability needed to be future-ready problem-solvers. Eli, Daniel, Lochlan, Adelina, Ogni and Jesse should be incredibly proud of the leadership and innovation they demonstrated throughout their projects.

Year 4 - Class News

HUB News

PRC 2025

Challenge Dates

The PRC is closing soon! Please ensure all student reading records have been completed before Week 9 this term. The PRC officially closes for students on Friday 19^th September 2025.

Student Logins

Please reach out to Mrs Gibson or Mrs Hoffmann if you would like your child to bring home their PRC login details and if you experience any issues with logging in.

An update of students who have completed the challenge so far in 2025:

Congratulations to the following students who have recently finished the PRC. These students have had their names added to the PRC display in the library and received their Gotcha ticket.

Maggie F KR, Abel M KR, Levi P KB, Eli R KB, Tomas S KR, Mason C 1R, Olivia Q 1B, Kai A-W 3B, Asher R 3B, Isabelle S 3R, Jacob S 4B, Sienna A-W 4R, Adelina D 5B, Elise C 6B, Neva K 6R, Nolan R 6R and Eli S 6B.

Book Week Celebrations

What a wonderful week we had celebrating Book Week last week! This year’s theme, "Book an Adventure" came to life through a series of exciting events, including our much-loved Book Parade, an inspiring author visit from Australian writer Nat Amoore, and our hugely successful Book Fair.

We were thrilled to combine our Book Week celebrations with Grandparents’ Day, and the support from our school community was truly overwhelming. A heartfelt thank you to all the families and grandparents who attended and supported the Book Fair — we are proud to share that we sold a record $8000 worth of stock! Thanks to your generosity, our school has earned $2400 in rewards, which will go directly towards adding new and exciting books to our library shelves.

Thank you for helping us celebrate a love of reading in such a special way!

Happy reading!

Mrs Gibson – Teacher Librarian

Mrs Hoffmann – Library Assistant

Aboriginal Education

NAIDOC 2025

Wow!!! Our fourth annual St Joseph’s NAIDOC day did not disappoint!!! What a fabulous day honouring Indigenous voices, culture and resilience. Our NAIDOC day also paid homage to local Awabakal Country as well as the 2025 NAIDOC theme, The Next Generation: Strength, Vision & Legacy

The day began with a meaningful Morning Ceremony, led by Stephanie Phoenix—a proud Wonnarua woman and descendant of the Gringai clan—and Mauri Perry, a proud Worimi man. The ceremony featured an Acknowledgement of Country in language, a traditional smoking ceremony, and a traditional dance display, in which our school’s Aboriginal students proudly participated.

Following the ceremony, students rotated through a series of hands-on workshops led by Aboriginal community members

• ‘Traditional Dance Interwoven with Hip Hop’
  Led by Hilary McEntyre, a proud Worimi woman and owner of Dreamtime Dance Company, this workshop reflected this year’s NAIDOC theme by showing how traditional practices evolve to connect with younger generations. Students learned traditional dance movements blended with contemporary hip hop.

• ‘Local Bush Tucker Tasting’
  Led by Stephanie Phoenix, students explored the cultural and dietary significance of emu eggs among local Aboriginal nations. They learned about the astronomical knowledge of ‘the emu in the sky’, which guided traditional emu egg harvesting practices. Students watched an emu egg being cracked and cooked by Stephanie and had the opportunity to taste it.

• ‘Aboriginal Culture Through Digital Music’
  Led by Kaleb Green, a proud Worimi man and music producer, this workshop allowed students to experiment with traditional instruments and local natural sounds. Using digital technologies, they explored how traditional cultural expressions can be preserved and shared in modern ways.

• ‘Connecting with Message Sticks’
  Led by Mr Daniel Durston, a proud Awabakal man and teacher at Trinity College, along with some of his Aboriginal high school students. This workshop introduced students to the cultural significance of message sticks, which linked hundreds of Aboriginal nations across the continent. Students learned symbols and created their own wooden message sticks. Each class will receive a mobile display of student-made message sticks to commemorate the day.

• ‘War Cry and Clearing Dance’
  Presented by Mauri Perry and Fiona O’Keefe- a mum at our school and job-share partner as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander teacher at St Columba’s Adamstown. This workshop explored traditional cultural practices where male students learned and performed a war cry dance, representing traditional men’s business, and female students learned a clearing dance, used to cleanse spaces in women’s business.

• ‘Cool Coolamons’
  Led by Kirsty Keelan, a proud Awabakal woman, students learned about the cultural versatility and enduring significance of coolamons- traditionally used by Aboriginal communities. Students then crafted their own coolamons using air-dry clay.

The celebration finished with a Closing Ceremony, where students could reflect on the day’s rich learning experiences. All male students performed the War Cry dance together, while all female students performed the Clearing Dance together.

Our Celebration certainly was a powerful and meaningful way to connect with and honour First Nations cultures. It also empowered the next generation of learners to appreciate, respect, and carry forward the knowledge, values, and stories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

In our ongoing effort to strengthen relationships within our school communities, it was lovely to have so many family members join us for the Morning and Closing ceremonies.

Significant Cultural Events

4^th August: National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Day

Children’s Day is a time Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families and communities, and all Australians, celebrate the strengths and culture of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.

It is a chance for us to learn about the importance of culture, family and community in the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.

Click HERE for more information

9^th August: United Nations International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples

First declared by the United Nations in 1994, the International Day of Indigenous Peoples aims to strengthen international awareness and cooperation for solutions to the problems faced by First Nations people in areas such as human rights, development, the environment, education and health. The day marks the first meeting of the United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Populations, held in Geneva in 1982.

There are an estimated 370 million indigenous peoples in some 90 countries around the world. They make up less than 5% of the world’s population, but account for 15% of the poorest. They speak an overwhelming majority of the world’s estimated 7,000 languages and represent 5,000 different cultures.

Click HERE for more information

Story Dogs

Our recent Book Week celebration included our wonderful Story Dogs, Ted, Ruby and Isha, who came dressed for this year's theme "Book an Adventure" and participated in our Book Parade - don't they look amazing!

Book Launch

On the 18^th August, Mrs Savage will be making special visits to each class not in her usual role as a music or drama teacher, but this time as an author! The children will have a chance to see her new picture book and meet the lovable Archie while stage 3 classes will dive into some poetry.

Karyn would like to invite St Joey's families to her book launch on Saturday August 30^th. It is a free event but tickets are essential and available through this link or Lake Macquarie library events:

https://library.lakemac.com.au/Events/Book-Launch-My-Pet-Archie-by-Karyn-Savage

Hall of Fame

We love celebrating the achievements of our students both in and out of the classroom! If your child has recently accomplished something special in sports or any extracurricular activity, we encourage you to share their success with us. Whether it's a competition, performance, or personal milestone, we'd be thrilled to feature their accomplishments in our school newsletter. Please let us know so we can celebrate their hard work and dedication! 

Ashlyn competed in the ACKA 2025 Winter Championship on Sunday 3rd August. She competed in three Karate events: Kata, Soft Baton & Kumite. She also competed in Matayoshi Kobudo, (a Martial art from Okinawa using Weapons).

Ashlyn achieved: 3rd in Kumite, 2nd in Kobudo and placed mid field in the other events. Congratulations, Ashlyn!

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

Good For Kids - Good For Life

Uniform Shop

Normal Shop Hours - Every Tuesday and Thursday 8am-10am 

See Elaine and Ian from Wearitto for all your uniform needs. Our uniform shop is run by Wearitto: 

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