Week 2 - Term 1 Newsletter 2022

Principal's Message

Dear Families and Friends,
Welcome back to another year of learning at St Joseph's. These past two weeks have been a very settled period for students and staff It has been a wonderful time for the students to build a rapport with their classroom teachers and get to know their new learning spaces.

We also welcomed our new Kindergarten students into our School Community & it has been so pleasing to see their cheerful, cute faces beaming with excitement each day. I, and all the school, look forward to getting to know each student and ensuring they have a settled start to their schooling life. Along with our Kindergarten students & their families, we also welcome the Anderson family (Ava - Yr 4 & Tanesha - Yr 6), Chapman family (Sandon - Yr3), Coulson family (Zee - Yr 2 & Roo - Yr 4),  Elms family (Riley - Yr 3 & Makayla - Yr 6),  Kemp family (Dotti - Yr 1),  Maycock family (Jesse - Yr 4), McIntyre family (Jacob - Yr 4 & Olivia - Yr 6), Quarello family (Marco - Kindy, Gabby - Yr 5 & Luca - Yr 6) into our school community. We trust that you will begin to feel part of our community & gain that sense of belonging that we, as a school, strive for.

Parent Pick-Up & Drop Off

Whilst I acknowledge the difficulties at the moment with Parents unable to come onto the school site before or after school,  I need to remind parents that when dropping off or picking students that there should be NO CARS IN THE ALLOCATED BUS ZONE. 

Our Bus Zone is clearly marked on the 'school-side' of Stanley Street & it is important for the safety of all students & families, that when parking for the collection or dopping off of students that this is done outside of this zone. Each morning & afternoon, parents can either park on the opposite side of Stanley Street, in the parent carpark adjacent to the church, or on the school side of Stanley Street but further down the hill (adjacent to Stage 3 classrooms). I would appreciate it if all families could please follow this request. 

The council has advised me that the parking rangers will be doing an audit of school zones over the coming weeks & I don't want families impacted financially by unwanted fines.

Please note that our New Kiss N Drop Zone on Stanley street will be getting constructed around the Easter holidays, and pending delays may impact a couple of school weeks on either side of the holiday break. I will be in contact closer to the starting date once the final council approvals have taken place regarding the impact on our End of Day procedures.

Parent Information Night

Please be aware our Parent Information Night is on Tuesday 22nd February from 5:00 pm. Due to Covid-19 restrictions, this night will look similar to last year in that we will be unable to begin the night by gathering all together as a staff and parent community.

Instead, we will be holding two classroom sessions at 5:00 pm & 5:45 pm focusing on what our learning space will look like this year for your child. By offering two separate sessions, it is anticipated that this will reduce the number of adults present in each session and allow those parents who have children in multiple classes to attend other sessions as well.

Please also note to comply with our Covid-19 Guidelines, we will require online bookings to occur using the following  LINK (you may need to use the following code to log in - 9gs7m), and we may need to close bookings for a session based on the number of adults we can have in each classroom.

If you cannot attend either of these sessions due to after-school commitments, all materials shared will be sent home via Compass or in hard copy. Babysitting will be provided in the library to assist with the organisation.

Principal Appraisal

Please be advised that as part of my professional development and my contract of employment, I will be going through a Principal Appraisal & Cyclic review later this term. This appraisal is conducted by a panel from the Catholic Schools Office will occur on Thursday 10th March (Week 6). Please find attached a letter from the Catholic Schools Office notifying you of this process and future information regarding your involvement.

I look forward to the process, and the feedback ascertained to continue growing and developing as a school leader.

School Uniforms

Just a reminder as we begin our school year to ensure your child is in the correct school uniform, particularly socks and footwear (black shoes). Wearing the correct uniform sets high expectations for our students and develops a sense of pride in our school. I could ask that all student belongings are labelled, not only uniforms but also hats, drink bottles, lunch boxes etc. Please check labels regularly to ensure they are still visible, as many tend to wear/come off over time. Labelling everything ensures minimal upset for the child, teacher and parents.

Again, welcome back to our 2022 School Year and as always if you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate in contacting me.

Thanking you,

Dale

Leaders of Learning

Learning in the Early Years

What a great start to the year we have had! Learning environments engage and foster a sense of ownership and respect when they are aesthetically pleasing, reflect the identity and culture of children and families, and encourage connection. The physical environment is never simply a backdrop; it is an integral part of the curriculum.  

As you can see from the photos, our learning spaces here at St Joey’s look beautiful and support learning through the use of anchor charts and exemplars. From Kindy, students have ownership of their space. They use the environment around them as a tool to help them learn, display work they are proud of and understand how the room works so they can organise their things and make choices about what will help them best.

Mrs Bailey

Learning in Primary

Welcome to 2022 and another year of learning at St Joseph’s. The teachers have been very busy before school commenced preparing their learning spaces for your children to ensure they are inviting, engaging and organised to maximise learning. The classroom environment is like another ‘teacher’,  and our staff think carefully about how best to support students by selecting resources and visuals that will provide extra scaffolding, or perhaps ‘model’ how to set out some work, or provide a ‘cheat sheet’ as we like to call them, to assist students.  

Due to COVID restrictions and the inability to have you all visit the classroom, I thought I would share what our primary learning spaces look like so you have a sense of where your child is working for 5 hours a day. 

I thank all the teachers for their beautiful spaces, which may appear to have some ‘blank’ spots on walls, but these will be filled with student work samples and visuals as the term progresses.

Our first couple of weeks this year was devoted to Whole-School Assessment Tasks in both English and Maths, but the classes have commenced their units for study in all other subjects. It has been a wonderful start to the year, with our transition into school life being smooth and settled. We look forward to seeing you all at the upcoming Parent Information night.

Mrs Mullins

Mission & Values

Sacramental Program 2022

Welcome to 2022.  It has been a very different few years for our students in terms of our Sacramental Program, but I am pleased to announce that our First Holy Communion Candidates from 2021 will receive this sacrament at our first School Parish Mass on Sunday 13th March.

These students are our current YEAR 5 candidates, and in preparation for this sacrament, they will have confession with Fr. Nicolas on Tuesday 1st March at 2:15 pm at the church.  I will contact these families in the upcoming weeks to confirm the details.

Families of Stage 2 students who are baptised will be offered the opportunity to receive the following sacraments this year:

• Year 3 - Confirmation
• Year 4 - First Holy Communion

Further information will be shared with these families in the upcoming weeks.

Mercy Values

For our new families, I would like to share some information about the history of our school to provide some context for where we are at now with the values which we promote at our school. 

Our school was founded by the Sisters of Mercy, meaning we are a ‘Mercy School’.  All that means is that we belong to the Mercy Charism and have specific values that we acknowledge and try to demonstrate in our Head, Heart, and Hands; that is, our thoughts, words, feelings and actions.  There are six Mercy Educational Values which include:

1. Service
2. Hospitality
3. Justice
4. Compassion
5. Courage
6. Respect

Throughout the year, you will see and hear us refer to these values, and throughout the term, I will explore each in a greater depth.

Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions about sacraments or other Religious Education questions.

Mrs Mullins 

Class Awards

Congratulations to the following students recognised at this fortnight's Awards Assembly:

Principal Awards: Rose Mclennan, Alexia Dawes, Georgia Salter, Gabriella Quarello, Josie Chapman

Class Awards:

Class News - Stage 1

Welcome to 2022!

We have been excited to kick off the school year in Stage 1! We have had so much fun already.

In Week 1, we spent a lot of time creating what we wanted our classroom to look like, sound like and feel like. This included creating our classroom expectations and learning different things about each other. We had so much fun discovering the similarities and differences we all have!

In English, we have started exploring the different kinds of stories authors write and the styles they use to engage their audience. This week, we are looking at character. We are discovering what a character looks like from the outside and the inside (their personality traits). We are also adding descriptive words and WOW words to our sentences to create engaging stories.

Fantastic work, Stage 1. We are very proud of how well you have all started off the year. 

Miss Moore and Mrs Smith

Pastoral Care - School Counsellor

Character Strengths: TACT

What is TACT?

Tact is telling the truth but doing it in a way that does not upset or offend others. If you are practising TACT, you start to know what is important to say and what is perhaps better left unsaid.

What does it look like in our school?

• If we have an issue with someone, we tell them calmly and not in front of others.
• We can stop and think before we give our opinion about something. We can say to ourselves before we speak: “Is it true? Is it necessary? Is it kind?”
• We don’t point and laugh at people when they do things differently
• When we feel frustrated by how someone is playing, we can tell them how we feel in a helpful and calm way

To learn more about character strengths and to access the resource that these “Exploring Character Strengths” Newsletter articles have come from visit:

https://growyourmind.life/

Kate Naylor – School Counsellor & Art Therapist

Pastoral Care - School Chaplain

Project Compassion

In Week 6, St Joseph’s will be raising awareness and funds for Caritas Australia. We do this by participating in Project Compassion and Pancake Tuesday.

The theme of Project Compassion 2022 is:  ‘For All Future Generations’ 

'For All Future Generations' reminds us that the good that we do today will extend and impact the lives of generations to come. It invites us to make the world a better place by working together now and finding long-term solutions to global issues. 

This year’s theme comes from the biblical story of Noah’s Ark. More specifically, when the floodwaters subsided, a rainbow appeared in the sky, and the dove returned with an olive branch indicating a new beginning. God said, ‘This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations’ (Genesis 9:12)  

Project Compassion 2022 shares the stories of resilient and inspiring individuals whose lives and futures have been impacted by the ongoing support of our partners and by your generosity. This includes the story of young Anatercia from Mozambique, who can now access school supplies and attend her classes despite facing poverty and food insecurity.

Pancake Tuesday

St Joseph’s will once again be participating in Pancake Tuesday. The Student Representative Council will be selling freshly made pancakes at recess on Tuesday 1st of March. All money raised will go towards Caritas Australia. More information will be available over the coming weeks. 

Ms Juana Mead - School Chaplain

School Sport

Swimming Carnival

Thank you to all students, families and staff for making our school swimming carnival a great day for our school community. Despite the rain and cool weather, it was a good opportunity for us to celebrate our students and for them to socialise in a fun and relaxed environment. Congratulations to all of the students for their behaviour and efforts on the day.

Congratulations to our Junior Age Champions: Roo Coulson and Sahara Cook.

Congratulations to our Senior Age Champions: Reef Crofton and Tasmyn Norris.

Swimming Carnival Results:

House Results:

Lismore Diocesan Tennis Trials                                     

Congratulations to Matias Ward and Kayla Ellis for their wonderful achievement in qualifying for the Lismore Diocesan tennis team to compete in the Polding Tennis Trials to be held in Tamworth. I was delighted when John Cocciola phoned the school after the trials to commend our students for their efforts and skill, which they displayed on the day. We are proud of both of you and wish you a safe, fun and successful trip to Tamworth.

Luke Hitchings - Sports Coordinator

Library News

I’m very excited to welcome the students back into the library for 2022! It’s so nice to see familiar faces and welcome so many new friends, including our new Kindy students.

Over the Christmas break, we worked on ‘genrefying’ the Senior Fiction section of the library. It is now categorised into genres such as Fantasy, Adventure, Humour and Sports, to name a few. We hope this will increase students' engagement in their reading and literature.

Every Friday for 2022 will be library borrowing day. This will allow students to explore our library and take home books to read and enjoy. Students are allowed to borrow three books at one time, for up to 2 weeks (except for Minecraft and Roblox books which are one week only due to popular demand!). Many thanks to the students who have brought in a library bag (or pillow slip or Coles bag) to transport books to and from school, just a friendly reminder to those who have not yet provided one and don’t forget to bring them each Friday for the rest of the year. Many thanks in advance.      

Our first library competition is up and running for Term One called “Teachers Read Too….Can You Guess Who?”. Students are guessing which teacher has chosen which book. The student with the most correct answers will win a prize, and when the competition finishes, teachers will explain why they chose this book. So far, students have had a lot of fun guessing who chose what!

Mrs Waghorn – Librarian

Notes Sent Home

Community Notices