Week 2 - Term 3 Newsletter 2023

Principal's Message

Dear Parents,  

Welcome back to Term 3; it has been so lovely to see all the children again! I hope you all got an opportunity to enjoy some of the beautiful weather we had over the holidays.

Next week we welcome 18 Little Joey’s as they begin the transition to ‘big school’. These new faces bring such joy to our school. 

This term is exciting here at St Joseph’s, with LOTS coming up over the next 10 weeks. 

We have: 

• Stage 2 excursion to Summerland House
• Stage 2 and Stage 3 Basketball Gala Day
• Confirmation
• Science Afternoon
• Father’s Day Celebration
• Spelling Bee
• Public Speaking Competition
• Tournament of Minds
• Handball Championships 
• Confirmation 
• Premier’s Reading Challenge Reward Day

Please keep an eye on Compass, our newsletter and calendar for more details.

Enjoy your weekend,

Deb

Upcoming School Dates

• Stage 3 Basketball Gala Day (Monday 7th August)
• Term 3 Parent Forum Meeting (Tuesday 8th August)
• Stage 2 Basketball Gala Day (Monday 14th August)
• Diocesan Athletics Carnival (Tuesday 15th August)
• Sacrament of Confirmation (Tuesday 15th August)
• School Photos (Thursday 24th August)
• Book Week Parade (Friday 25th August)

Leader of Learning

Gala Days, Excursions and Camps, Oh My!

Excursions, Gala Days, Camps and Incursions (visiting shows) are integral to the school curriculum. They enable students to explore, extend and enrich their learning and provide great memories for the future and this term, we have LOTS of these coming up.

The Benefits of School Excursions are:
Provides another dimension to class-based learning and helps reinforce what has been taught in the classroom - Students may get to learn in a new environment with new teachers or instructors.
Students are excited and energised by the anticipation of leaving the classroom and school environment.  Fun school excursions will help students retain the information they learned on their trip.
Children can learn about and see new things in a less structured environment - student learning can be hands-on or interest-driven, and they may be excited to learn something from someone new who is an expert in their field.
Exposure to new experiences - outside the classroom, students can be exposed to new experiences and observe new things, such as rare and exotic wildlife and plants, different cultures and tours/visits to iconic buildings and areas. 
Social skills - Getting out of the classroom allows children to spend time with each other in a new environment without the structure of the classroom. School excursions often require students to spend time observing, chatting and learning in small groups.

Mrs Bailey

Mission & Values

Mercy In Action Award

Congratulations to our Mercy In Action Award winner this fortnight, Isaak Bailey. Isaak receives his award in recognition of displaying the Mercy Value of Courage, demonstrated in the way he is always an 'upstander'. When he recognises something is wrong, Isaak does something to make it right. Isaak tells the truth, even when it is difficult or unpopular. Demonstrating courage and being an upstander ensure that Isaak positively impacts our community.

Sacramental Program: Confirmation Retreat

Next Wednesday, 1st August, students from St James, Yamba and St Joseph’s, Maclean, who are undertaking the Sacrament of Confirmation, will join in celebrating their faith as one parish community through a retreat experience. This retreat will be held in the Cranney Room at St Joseph’s School, Maclean.
The retreat will be a chance to bring students together and celebrate our faith through a mixture of large and small sharing groups and a rehearsal in the church. The program has been geared to meet the needs of the Confirmation candidates as they prepare for this special Sacrament. 

 Mercy Spirituality Day

At the beginning of the term, our staff participated in a Mercy Spirituality Day held at the Sisters of Mercy Centre in Grafton.  The Mercy Sisters worldwide have drawn inspiration from Catherine McAuley, who founded the Sisters of Mercy in Ireland in 1831.  Catherine recognised the needs of those marginalised and oppressed and responded by establishing a House of Mercy in Dublin, which provided educational, religious and social services for women and children at risk of homelessness.

It was a beautiful experience led by Sr. Jenny and Sr Margaret, who guided our staff on a  'Mercy Journey' to understand and appreciate the origin of our school and the six Mercy Educational values which we have been using to guide us in our head, heart and hand actions for the past several years.

Mrs Mullins

Class Awards

Our Principal's Award winners this week are:

Our Class Award winners this week are: 

Class News - Kindy

A huge welcome back to all families for Term Three.

We have been blown away by our Kindergarten students this week. Adjusting back to school life after the holidays can take some time for our little ones. However, they have also had to navigate a new teacher to their classroom. Well done, Kindergarten, for warmly displaying your Mercy Values to welcome Mrs Donaldson. It has been lovely to witness such resilience in our students when experiencing change. Learning new routines and expectations can be difficult, and Kindergarten should be so proud of their efforts. It has also been wonderful to see students so excited to be with their peers again, and we will continue to build our friendships in Term Three. 

Please enjoy some photos of our students in their first week back.

Mrs Donaldson

School Sport

Basketball Gala Days

Stage 2 (Monday, August 14th) and Stage 3 (Monday, August 7th) will be participating in Basketball Gala days over the coming weeks. These events will be held at the Raymond Laurie Sports Centre and include various schools from the Clarence Valley. This will be a great way to follow on from our Term 2 basketball program and allow the students to continue to develop their skills and apply them in a game situation. These Gala days will also let students to socialise with students from other schools in a positive and supportive environment. The teams will be mixed-ability teams focusing on giving everyone plenty of time on the court. We hope everyone enjoys these gala days and proudly represents St Joseph’s.

School Sport Term 3

This term, we will run a Rugby League program for school sports. As part of the Sporting Schools Program, we have booked a development officer from the NRL who will be coming in fortnightly to give expert advice to our students. The sessions are designed to develop our students’ agility, ball skills, and teamwork while participating in fun games that promote inclusivity, respect, integrity and confidence. The program will begin this Friday and run till the end of the term.

Mr Hitchings

Pastoral Care - School Chaplain

Community Connect

Thanks to St Vincent De Paul, our Breakfast Club is up and running again in Term 3. Thank you to our student volunteers who offer their time and service every Thursday morning. Our volunteers make and serve the toasties and serve them to all our students.

Our students are demonstrating the Mercy Value of hospitality and gaining valuable life skills such as: 

• Giving a sense of purpose and teaching valuable skills,
• Helping students stay physically and mentally active,
• Reducing stress levels
• Helping students meet other peers and building relationships.

All students are welcome to help with the breakfast club. 

Service time is 8.30 am-8.50 am

 Keep up the great work, kids!

LAP-Learning Assistance Program

LAP is a student-centred and volunteer-based mentoring program designed to assist schools in implementing one-to-one learning that supports, guides and enriches the well-being and learning outcomes of their students from Kindy to Year 12.

We are honoured to welcome back Sue, Colleen and Mike in Term 3 to continue with this valued program. We really appreciate your continued support and commitment to this.

We extend this appreciation to Sue for running our Spanish Club every Tuesday recess and reading with Stage 2. Gracias!

Thanking you

Ms Mead

Pastoral Care - School Counsellor

Counselling Connection

Teaching children about healthy body boundaries builds self-awareness and empathy and promotes respectful behaviour. 

It also gives them the confidence to stand up for themselves and to ask for what they need.

It can be a complicated topic, so we need to explain body boundaries in a simple and age-appropriate way.

This bubble-themed poster teaches kids about body boundaries in a visual, easy-to-understand way. 

It also shows children what to do when they don’t want someone in their own boundary bubble. Please feel free to print this poster.

Bel Chapman - School Counsellor

Parent Forum

Parent Forum Meeting

Our Term 3 Parent Forum Meeting will be held Tuesday, 8th August, at 5:00 pm in the school library.

We warmly welcome anyone to attend these meetings, with no obligation to attend regularly or to hold a position.

Crazy Hair Day

We wanted to inform you about an exciting event happening at our school next week - Crazy Hair Day!

On Thursday, 3rd August, we will host Crazy Hair Day, where students are encouraged to let their creativity run wild and showcase their unique hairstyles!! We kindly request your support by providing a gold coin donation on the day, which will go towards providing activities at our Joey's Spring Festival fundraising event for our school canteen.

We look forward to seeing the amazing and creative hairstyles our students will develop on Crazy Hair Day. We hope it will be a memorable and fun-filled day for everyone!

The Parent Forum Team

Community Notices