Term 3 Week 6

What's on at St Joey's

ASPIRE 2026 Production – AUDITIONS ARE NOW OPEN!!!

Register TODAY: https://forms.office.com/r/8MEB5G79rA

Further Information: https://www.mn.catholic.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/0008436-CS-ASPIRE-2026-Info-Sheet-A4-INHOUSETRIMF-combined-1.pdf

Principal's Messages

Dear Parents and Families,

It has been another busy and productive few weeks here at St Joseph’s. Despite the challenges of constant rain, I want to thank both our students and staff for their incredible flexibility in adapting plans, routines and learning opportunities so smoothly. Their resilience and positivity continue to shine through.

Last Wednesday, we enacted a Lock Down due to an incident in Charlestown. I would like to commend our staff and students for remaining calm and following the procedures that we regularly rehearse. Their sensible and measured response showed the value of these preparations. I also wish to thank our parent community for the support and understanding shown during and after the incident. Your trust and cooperation mean a great deal to our staff. Understandably, situations like this can raise questions and worries for children. It is important that we take the time to reassure them and give them simple, clear explanations about why a Lock Down is sometimes needed. At home, parents can support their children by:

• Listening calmly to their concerns and reassuring them that they are safe.
• Encouraging healthy routines such as regular sleep and exercise.
• Limiting exposure to repeated media coverage of worrying events.
• Helping them practise simple strategies for managing worry, such as deep breathing or talking through feelings.

You may find this webinar useful: Managing anxiety in your family: Anxiety is common in families. In this webinar, you can learn skills like mindfulness to help you and your child manage it.

At school, we continue to support students through a variety of well-being initiatives in classrooms. These include mindfulness activities, circle time discussions, and resilience-building programs that give children practical tools to manage big feelings. We are also fortunate to have our school psychologists, Gayna Turner and Melissa Chellis, and our pastoral care worker, Maree Holmgreen, available to provide additional support for students who may need it. Thank you again for the way you partner with us in nurturing both the learning and well-being of our children. 

We are very pleased to let our community know that our pedestrian gate has recently been upgraded to include security cameras. This is an important step in ensuring the safety of our students, staff, and families. We partnered with NAVS Security to make this improvement possible, and we are grateful for their expertise and support in helping us strengthen our school’s security measures.

Last week, the children had a very special visit from Karyn Savage, one of our own talented staff members and a published author. Karyn shared her journey as a writer and gave the students an insight into her creative process. We are especially excited about her upcoming book launch of My Pet Archie. How fortunate we are as a school to have such inspiring role models within our staff, who not only enrich our classrooms but also share their gifts with the wider community.

Excitement is growing as we prepare for our upcoming school musical. Lauren Harvey from Aspire recently visited and worked with the children on their class dances. Her expertise and energy have helped ignite the children’s enthusiasm, and it has been wonderful to see them express their creativity and joy through movement. The buzz around the musical is building, and we look forward to showcasing the students’ talents next term.

Last Friday, I had the privilege of attending the System Leaders Day, where all principals from across the Diocese gathered together with the CSO Leadership and Shared Services teams. These gatherings are always valuable opportunities to connect, collaborate, and share ideas that strengthen our schools. The day provided insight into system-wide initiatives and affirmed the wonderful work being done across our Diocese and in particular here at St Joseph’s to support students and families. The day began in prayer, led by Bishop Michael, who also highlighted our shared commitment to Many Parts – One Body – One Mission. The Director of Catholic Schools Jacqueline Wilkinson acknowledged that despite the busyness of school life, our system principals continue to lead with courage, compassion, and unwavering commitment as the steady hands and hopeful hearts guiding our communities forward.

As part of our School Events and Fundraisers, Father’s Day gifts are available to purchase on QKR for $12 each. These gifts will be similar to Mother's Day, where the children will have several options. Orders will close on Monday 1st September, so please be sure to place your order before then. Gifts will be sent home with students in time for Father’s Day. If you are able to assist with the Father's Day Stall on Wednesday 3rd September, please contact the office. We would love some volunteers to run this. Thank you.

A huge congratulations to Liliana (Year 4) for her outstanding achievement in winning the Stage 2 Public Speaking competition. We are so proud of her confidence and ability to share her ideas so clearly and passionately. We also wish our Tournament of the Minds teams the very best as they represent St Joseph’s this Sunday at Newcastle Grammar. We know they will make us proud with their teamwork, creativity and problem-solving skills.

It is with deep sadness that I write to inform you of the passing of the Wetzler children's grandmother and Leo Cain's grandmother. Please keep the Wetzler and Cain families in your thoughts and prayers.

Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they 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

Office of Safeguarding

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

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.

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.

Attendance at Parish Masses

This term we will be attending the Wednesday morning Mass at St Mary Immaculate Church, Charlestown in stages.

Stage 1 - 3^rd September

Stage 2 - 24^th September

Stage 3 / ES1-  10^th September

Please join us if you can.

Warm regards,

Clare Paff

Primary Coordinator

PB4L Core Value: Strive High

Focus: Make Good Choices – Be safe, in the right place!  

Our recent wet weather has meant more time indoors and playing on dry surfaces, but our Positive Behaviour for Learning (PB4L) focus has been on being safe, in the right place. This is an important part of school life, as it helps everyone stay safe, learn well, and enjoy play. 

Safety 
We have large school grounds, so it’s important that students are where they are meant to be. This helps teachers know everyone is safe. We are encouraging students to avoid returning to their bags during recess and lunch and instead remember their hats and canteen money before playtime. 

Responsibility 
Being in the right place helps students take charge of their learning and organisation. It builds trust and independence. For example, staying seated during eating time allows everyone to enjoy their food and conversation without disruption. 

Learning 
Arriving on time and being in the right place means students don’t miss out on important learning or disrupt others. Limiting unnecessary movement in and out of the classroom also helps maintain a calm and focused learning environment. 

This week our focus areas have been morning arrival, afternoon dismissal, canteen, assembly, and routines. Next week, we will turn our attention to making the most of our wonderful play spaces.  

Lakes Region Public Speaking Final

On Friday, 15th August 2025, Koa Donohue, Liliana Ahmataj, and Daniel Boulton proudly represented our school at the Lakes Region Public Speaking Final. Their hard work and dedication truly shone through. 

A special congratulations goes to Stage 2 Winner, Liliana Ahmataj, who took out first place in her division! What an incredible achievement. Liliana will now go on to represent our school and region at the Diocesan Grand Final. 

We are so proud of all three students and look forward to what’s ahead! 

Emily Dale  
Primary Coordinator  

FACE - Family and Community Engagement

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.  

Our next Family and Community Engagement (FACE) meeting will be held on Friday 19th September, at 1:00pm in the HUB, just before our Whole School Writing Fair. All are warmly welcome to attend. We will be sharing our Learning Goals and Vision, and we are keen to hear your input on these, as well as upcoming fundraising initiatives. We look forward to seeing you there and working together to support our school community.

School Fees

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Thank you for your continued support and commitment to your child’s education. We are especially grateful for the timely payment of school fees, which plays a crucial role in helping us provide high quality learning experiences and resources for all students.

Now that we are well past the mid year point, we kindly remind families that the Catholic Schools Office requires regular and consistent school fee payments.

To ensure your account is finalised by the end of the year, please refer to your most recent school fee statement. This will guide you on how much remains outstanding and what payments are needed over the coming months. Should you have any questions or require assistance with your account, please don’t hesitate to contact the school office. We are here to help.

Thank you once again for your continued support.

Amale Yi

Science Fun Day – Tuesday 26 August

🌟 Science Fun Day – Tuesday 26 August 🌟 

To celebrate National Science Week (just a week later due to school photos!), we’re hosting a Science Fun Day on Tuesday 26th August! 

What’s Happening: 

• Out of Uniform Day – bring a gold coin donation. 
• Water Bomb Throws at Mrs Hill & other teachers! – $5 per throw. 
• A morning of exciting science experiments in some stage groups. 

We’re raising funds to purchase a 3D printer for our school so students can bring their creative ideas to life! 

Come dressed in casual clothes, bring your coins and get ready for a fun day of science, waterbombing and fundraising! 

Gifted Education

The Catholic Schools of Maitland Newcastle High Potential and Gifted Education (HPGE) Team led by Maree Karaka have released a new Blog for families of High Potential and Gifted Students.

Please click the link below for the latest instalment.

Seeing the World Like Leonardo, Einstein, and Aristotle – Three Ways to Nurture Genius Thinking in Your Child

It highlights three ways children view the world - connecting ideas like Leonardo, imagining possibilities like Einstein, and seeking patterns and purpose like Aristotle - and offers practical tips for families to support these strengths.

https://www.mn.catholic.edu.au/news/seeing-the-world-like-leonardo-einstein-and-aristotle/

Thank you for supporting our HPG learners.

CAROL PATERSON

PROJECT OFFICER - GIFTED EDUCATION MENTOR, CATHOLIC SCHOOLS OFFICE
P (02) 49791200 M 0461484321
Email carol.paterson@mn.catholic.edu.au Visit us online http://www.mn.catholic.edu.au

Aboriginal Education

Junior AECG Meeting

Recently, I had the pleasure of taking representatives from our school Junior AECG (Aboriginal Education Consultative Group) to our Powaikaliko Malang- Combined Catholic Community of schools AECG meeting at St Patrick’s Swansea.

Our St Joseph’s AECG President, Airlie Wilcher shared a wonderful recount of our amazing NAIDOC day as part of her President’s Report. It was great to hear President’s reports from all school AECG Presidents and learn of  the amazing things our schools are doing to raise cultural awareness and recognise and celebrate NAIDOC.

Some of the 6 Powaikaliko Malang schools also brought along a sample NAIDOC activity for representatives to experiment with during our meeting. Our students loved re-creating clay coolamons and making lemon myrtle biscuits!

National Science Week

Recently, our school celebrated National Science Week. For over 65,000 years, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have been the world’s first scientists. Their innovative knowledge and sustainable practices have preserved the natural environment we cherish today. To honour this legacy, below is an excerpt from the 2020 NAIDOC theme: Always Was, Always Will Be.

‘Always Was, Always Will Be’ recognises that First Nations people have occupied and cared for this continent for over 65,000 years.

This country was criss-crossed by generations of brilliant Nations.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were Australia’s first explorers, first navigators, first engineers, first farmers, first botanists, first scientists, first diplomats, first astronomers and first artists.

Australia has the world’s oldest oral stories. The First Peoples engraved the world’s first maps, made the earliest paintings of ceremony and invented unique technologies. We built and engineered structures - structures on Earth - predating well-known sites such as the Egyptian Pyramids and Stonehenge.

Our adaptation and intimate knowledge of Country enabled us to endure climate change, catastrophic droughts and rising sea levels.

Always Was, Always Will Be. acknowledges that hundreds of Nations and our cultures covered this continent.

All were managing the land - the biggest estate on earth - to sustainably provide for their future.

Through ingenious land management systems like fire stick farming, we transformed the harshest habitable continent into a land of bounty.

For us, this nation’s story began at the dawn of time…. a history which dates back thousands of generations.

Always Was, Always Will Be.

General News

I have also loved working in classrooms with our students. Recently I took our Year 4 students on a journey learning about the traditional practices of cultural burns, otherwise known as ‘Firestick Farming’.

To inform our lesson, we read the book, ‘Looking After Country with Fire’ by Victor Steffensen. Students loved sharing their knowledge of the importance of caring for Country and how Aboriginal nations across the continent have been doing this expertly for thousands of years. We also learnt the many benefits of cultural burns and how they assist with sustainably managing the environment, hunting, promoting new plant growth and providing fire breaks for major bush fires.

Mother Nature has a language. If we listen, and read the signs in the land, we can understand it.

For thousands of years, First Nations people have listened and responded to the land and made friends with fire, using this knowledge to encourage plants and seeds to flourish, and creating beautiful places for both animals and people to live.

Victor Steffensen

Significant Cultural Events

24^th August: Wave Hill Walk Off

First Nations people organise a Gurindji walk-off from Wave Hill Station, NT in 1966. On 23 August 1966, about 200 Gurindji stockmen, domestic workers and their families-initiated strike action at Wave Hill station in the Northern Territory.

Negotiations with the station owners, the international food company Vestey Brothers, broke down, leading to a nine-year dispute.

This eventually led to the return of a portion of their homelands to the Gurindji people in 1974, and the passing of the first legislation that allowed for First Nations peoples to claim land title if they could prove a traditional relationship to the country.

Click HERE for more information

Danielle Shaw

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Education Teacher

The Learning Hub

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.

Lucy L KR, Willa R KB, Banjo O 1B, Nicolas S 3R, Amelia B 3B Otto G 4B, Frankie G 6R and Evelyn M 6B.

Pizza Party

The class who have the highest percentage of students who complete the PRC will be rewarded with a pizza party after the 2025 PRC concludes (early September). As it stands, KB are winning with 10 finishers, 3B are second with 9 finishers and 4B are third with 8 finishers. Anything could happen though as we get closer to the end of PRC, so don’t forget to log your books online! See below the PRC display with the class tallies.

Happy reading!

Mrs Gibson – Teacher Librarian

Mrs Hoffmann – Library Assistant

School TV Webinar

Australia’s leading experts Susan McLean and Dr Michael Carr-Gregg share invaluable insights on how to empower young people to navigate the online world safely and responsibly.

WEBINAR: Digital Media Literacy & Safety (Part III)
DATE: Wednesday, 3 September 2025
TIME: 7:30 pm

Topics in this webinar include:

• New Social Media Regulations
• Digital Footprint and Reputation
• Screen Time and Brain Development
• Parental Controls

  Please note: Participants MUST REGISTER PRIOR to the commencement of the webinar to gain access.

  http://adamstowntcc.catholic.schooltv.me/webinar/east-coast-digital-media-literacy-safety-part-III

  We look forward to having you join us for this insightful and engaging session.

  From the School TV Team

Garden Group

Winter has been a hard time for our garden, but despite the rainy weather, many of our vegetables have survived and thrived.

Also, the weather has not stopped our very special gardeners coming and rebuilding ready for Spring.

Students have been adding compost and  planting a berry patch including a new blueberry bush and strawberries.

In our other bed we are planning on planting potatoes ready for harvest in December.

Garden group is teaching all of us patience, resilience and tolerance for getting our hands dirty and our heads wet.

Thank you to all the students for your hard work this winter, we are all looking forward to meeting more often in Spring.

Happy Birthday to the following students

We wish the following students a very happy birthday!

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! 

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

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

Healthy Lunch

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.

We currently have a large tub filled with lost uniform items, many of which do not have names on them and are therefore difficult to return to their rightful owners.

To help reunite these items with your children, we will be placing the tub outside the office today.

Please take a moment to have a look, especially if your child is missing any uniform pieces.

We kindly encourage all families to please clearly label uniforms moving forward, as it greatly helps in returning lost items.

OOSH

We would like to sincerely thank Taylor Richardson for her wonderful work and dedication in our OOSH service. Taylor has been a valued member of our team, and we are so grateful for the care and support she has given to our children and families. As she now prepares to welcome her baby boy, we wish her every happiness and blessing for this exciting new chapter.

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 OOSH for further information: 

Georgina Beavis:  Georgina.Beavis@stnicholasmn.org.au

Area Service Manager

Phone: (02) 4979 1110  Email: oosh-charlestown@stnicholasmn.org.au