Week 2 - Term 4 Newsletter 2022

Principal's Message

Dear Families and Friends,

Welcome back to what is our final term for 2022. The students have settled back in and had a fantastic first week back.

Cyber Safety Parent Learning Night 

On Tuesday, 8th November, we are holding a  Parent Learning Night focused on Cyber Safety.

Through the assistance of Parent Assembly, we have been able to organise Simon Richardson, who works for 'Stay Safe on Social', a company that has presented to more than 300,000 students, their parents, and teachers about cyber safety issues (and to our school in 2019). You will learn vital information around: Social Media Awareness, Online Grooming, Digital Footprint, Cyber-bulling & harassment and much more. We look forward to seeing as many parents & caregivers at this event as possible.

Simon will present to our Parent Community on Tuesday, 8th November, from 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm. We will provide pizza and babysitting to allow as many parents as possible to attend. Please RSVP by using the following LINK. 

Parent Forum Meeting - Term 4

Next Tuesday, 25th October (5:00-6:30 pm), we will be holding our Term 3 Parent Forum meeting in the School Library. 

Seeing new faces share their voices and ideas would be wonderful. Whilst our Executive Positions are filled, we are always looking for new parents who would like to be involved in 'Parent Voice & Parent Community', which is the main focus of our Parent Forum.  Please know that ALL PARENTS ARE WELCOME TO ATTEND each Termly meeting.

If you have any questions, want an item added to the agenda, or are interested in any of the above positions, please get in touch with Lauren Kirkland, our Parent Forum Secretary (lozzacdk@gmail.com).

Staffing Change - School Counsellor - Term 4

Please be advised that Kate Naylor, our school counsellor, has decided to take leave for the remainder of Term 4. During her leave, Bel Chapman will replace Kate and continue to work alongside your child during this period. Bel is a qualified child & adolescent and worked in the private sector, assisting young people in developing healthy and appropriate behaviours and understanding boundaries to support healthy development. 

We welcome Bel to our staffing team for this term & look forward to working alongside her as she supports our students in their social & emotional wellbeing as part of our School's Pastoral Care Continuum. 

Grandparent's Day

On Monday, 31st October, we will be holding our Grandparent's Day Afternoon at 1:00 pm. We invite all of our Nans, Pops, Grandpas & Grandmas for what will be a wonderful afternoon of celebration & activities alongside the students. 

Grandparents Day celebrates the diversity of grandparent relationships across age groups, cultural backgrounds, and geographical locations. Grandparents, grand-friends, kin, and those who take on the role of a grandparent in their family or community are recognised for their contributions.

The day will begin with afternoon tea out in the playground with the students, followed by activities in the classroom. We hope to see as many of our wonderful grandparents at this event.

Enrolments for 2023

At this stage of the year, we are presently looking at enrolments in all year levels to determine whether they will be Year Cohorts (i.e Year 3 & Year 4) or Stage-based (i.e. Stage 2). As we are still finalising staffing and class arrangements for 2023, if there are any potential families who you feel would benefit from having a school tour with me, please encourage them to make contact, even if it is to have an opportunity to walk through our classrooms and school grounds and to see the engagement of our students and the safe & supportive environment we provide.  

There is the chance that some spaces next year will have a 'waiting list', and thus if you know any families considering St Joey's in 2023, I encourage you to let them know to enquire at the School Office as soon as possible before we finalise our decision around staffing & spaces.

Kind regards

Dale

Leaders of Learning

System-Wide Assessments - Progressive Achievement Tests (PAT)

All Catholic Schools in the Lismore Diocese are required to undertake specific assessments in Reading and Maths in Term 4 as an essential part of tracking and monitoring student performance and growth.
The assessments are administered to students online, and staff use the assessment data to identify starting points for learning, target teaching and monitor growth.
Measuring a student’s knowledge, skills and understanding in a subject helps pinpoint where they are in their learning journey – and what they need to progress.
Next week our classes from Years 1 to 6 will participate in these assessment tasks.
Here are some sample questions from some of the tests.

Mrs Bailey and Mrs Mullins

Year 1 PAT Maths Questions

Year 2 PAT Maths Questions

Year 3 PAT Maths Questions

Year 4 PAT Maths Questions

Year 5 PAT Maths Questions

Year 6 PAT Maths Questions

Mission & Values

Liturgical Calendar - Ordinary Time 29

Praying with Children

Prayer can sometimes feel awkward as we try unfamiliar practices and engage in praying in ways that might be outside of our usual comfort zone. Just as it’s challenging for parents, prayer can be challenging for kids too! Maybe you have times when you do not know what to pray for or find yourself at a loss for words. Be vulnerable with your kids and honest about your struggles at times like these. This week I am sharing an idea you might like to try at home.

Make a Prayer Jar
Find an empty jar. Decorate it with paints, stickers, crayons, ribbon, or anything else you might have on hand. Place the jar in your favourite place to pray or beside your child’s bed each night. When someone asks you to pray for them, or you know someone who needs prayer, put the request on a piece of paper and add it to the prayer jar. Then when you pray as a family, have everyone take a slip of paper out of the jar to pray for that request. 

In conclusion, a simple prayer to pray when you don’t know what to say.

Dear God, 
Thank you for listening to me no matter what and knowing what I am trying to say, even when it is hard. 
Amen.

EXURO Year 5 Retreat 
Friday 28th October 2022
9:30 am - 2:30 pm

Exuro is a retreat day for Year 5 students from parish primary schools based in regions of the Diocese to celebrate their faith at a diocesan level. Exuro is Latin for ‘on fire’. This retreat will be a one-day opportunity to bring students together with like-minded peers, to share and build relationships that strengthen the practice of their Christian faith and to be leaders in building strong Catholic school communities. The activities will be a mixture of large and small sharing groups and celebrating a Liturgy together. 

• When: Friday, 28th October 2022
• Bus Departure: 8:45 am and return to school by the end of the day.
• Where: McAuley Catholic College, Grafton
• Cost: Nil.
• Lunch/Morning Tea: Students are to bring their own food and drink. 
• Dress: Sports uniform, joggers and hat

Friday Parish Mass 
Our students will not attend Friday Mass this term due to a clash with sport (swimming and surfing).

Dates to Save

• Week 3 (Friday) - Yr 5 Exuro Retreat 
• Week 4 (Mon 31 Oct) - Grandparents Day
• Week 4 (Tues 1st Nov) - All Saints Day
• Week 4 (Wed 2nd Nov) - All Souls day
• Week 6 (Monday) - Yr 4 Accendere Retreat 
• Week 7 (Sun 20 Nov) - Parish School Mass

Mrs Mullins

Class Awards

Our Principal's Award winners are:

• Kindy - Roxy Bailey
• Stage 1 - Lawson Bell  
• Stage 2 - Ash Hitchings
• Year 5 - Kavanna Corcoran
• Year 6 - Sam Carroll

Our Class Award winners are: 

Class News - Kindy

Welcome back to school for our last term for 2022!

Kindy is really enjoying being back in the classroom together. They have shown incredible growth this year and are showing that they have become independent and respectful students at St Joey’s.

We have started this term by organising our classroom party to celebrate the hard work and effort we have put into this year as kindergarten learners! We have written invitations and recipes and will create some games and costumes for our party. In Maths, we are enjoying the warmup game ‘give and get’ that helps us get our brains ready for some critical thinking and problem-solving. In religion, we are learning about God’s Creation and started our learning with a collage artwork of their favourite part of the world. We are currently creating a mural of God’s Creation too!

Miss Lovegrove

School Sport

Stage 2 Basketball Gala Day

On Monday, 17th October, Stage 2  travelled to the Raymond Laurie Sports Complex to participate in a Basketball Gala Day. It was a great day with St Joseph's students displaying excellent basketball skills, and more importantly, it was a chance for our students to interact and have fun with students from schools in the local area. Everyone had a great day, and I would like to thank all the staff and students for representing our school in this community event that helps develop relationships between schools and students from the area.

Stage 3 will have the same opportunity when participating in the Gala Day on Monday, 24th October.

Mr Hitchings

Pastoral Care - School Chaplain

Fundraiser

Crazy Sock Day - Thursday, 27th October

Socktober is a way schools and students can celebrate World Mission Month in October. Throughout Socktober in 2022, students will support children and their families in need from Ethiopia. Although it is a beautiful and deeply historic place, Ethiopia's challenges, including conflict, poverty and famine, have troubled its people for centuries

St Joseph’s raises awareness and funds by wearing crazy socks to school. We invite all staff and students to put on their craziest socks and donate a gold coin. 

Your efforts and donations are appreciated. All money raised will go to Catholic Mission to help children in need in Ethiopia. 

St Vincent De Paul's Christmas Appeal 

St Vincent De Paul’s Christmas Appeal continues to rebuild strength in the men and women experiencing disadvantage this christmas.St Joseph’s School Community has a proud tradition of supporting the St Vincent de Paul Christmas Appeal each year and will continue this in 2022.

Your family is invited to participate in the Christmas Appeal through donations of non perishable food, new toys or money. Hampers will be located in classrooms for students to place items. These hampers are given to families within Clarence to help make their Christmas a special one. 

World Teachers Day

World Teachers’ Day will be celebrated across Australia on Friday 28th October 2022. It’s a chance to celebrate teaching and for communities to thank teachers. St Joseph’s will be celebrating our incredible teachers and showing them how much they are appreciated. 

Thanking you,

Ms Mead

School Chaplain

Library News

A big thank you to the Parent Forum, which has recently donated $500 to our school library. In consultation with the  Student Representative Council, we purchased at least 24 new books, most graphic novels, and new lego pieces, including 30 new mini figures. We will also have the (very loved) doll house repaired. These will be enjoyed for many years to come by all the students at St Joseph's, thank you again for the generosity of the Parent Forum.

Mrs Waghorn

Parent Forum

Canteen Fundraiser - Trivia Night
Please RSVP to the front office for our Trivia night on Friday 4th, November. This event will be lots of fun, and we look forward to seeing many faces there.

Cyber Safety
Simon Richardson (from 'Stay Safe on Social')  will present vital information around: Social Media Awareness, Online Grooming, Digital Footprint, Cyber-bulling & harassment and much more. We look forward to seeing as many parents & caregivers at this event as possible.

Simon will present to our Parent Community on Tuesday, 8th November, from 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm. We will provide pizza and babysitting to allow as many parents as possible to attend.

Canteen
We are still urgently seeking Canteen Volunteers - please let the front office know if you can assist - even if it is only once a term.

We want to thank our current volunteers and, in particular, thanks to Reece M's Aunty, who was visiting on holiday from Sydney and was roped into helping with the canteen. She did a fabulous job - Thanks, Aunt Julie!

On behalf of the Parent Forum Team,

Lauren Kirkland

Chairperson of the Parent Forum