Week 8 - Term 1 Newsletter 2021

Principals Message

Dear Families and Friends,

Thank you for another week of learning and working together. Unfortunately, the weather has once again impacted our inability to celebrate our Patron Saint - St Joseph. Whilst it wasn't ideal that we were unable to go to Wooli Water Park, our students & staff were able to still celebrate with a school liturgy held in our Library this morning. I would also like to commend our student's behaviour and patience recently as we deal with consistent playground restrictions as a result of the wet weather.

NAPLAN Practice Tests - Year 3 & Year 5

Please be advised after NAPLAN being cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, our school will be participating in NAPLAN Online between 17th and 21st of May 2021, which will be in Week 5 next term.

The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) is a point in time assessment of literacy and numeracy skills that are essential for every child to progress through school and life. Students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 participate in the annual NAPLAN tests in writing, reading, conventions of language (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and numeracy.

In preparation for NAPLAN Online, our Year 3 & 5 students will also be participating in practice tests next Thursday 25th March. The practise test is a trial-run and key preparation activity for NAPLAN Online in May. It is not an assessment of student ability and the tests will not be marked. 

Parent-Teacher Interviews

Just a reminder that our Term 1 Parent-Teacher interviews will be held next week (Monday 22nd - Friday 26th March). and that there are still timeslots available for all classes. All parents/caregivers are encouraged to attend these meetings so we can discuss your child’s transition into the new school year and together set important learning goals for Term 2 and identify ways we can each best support your child.

Please follow the instructions below to make a booking:

• STEP 1: Go to www.schoolinterviews.com.au & Click 'Make a Booking' and enter the code '3hus2' 
• STEP 2: Enter your details
• STEP 3: Select the teachers you wish to see
  
• STEP 4: Select the appointment times that suit your family best

When you click FINISH your selected bookings will be emailed to you immediately. If you do not receive your email, please check your junk-mail, or enter the event code again and check your email address spelling. Update your details if the email address is incorrect.

Pupil Free Days

Throughout this year the school will be undertaking a number of Professional Learning Days which will result in Pupil Free Days. These days are essential in ensuring staff are able to not only develop themselves as educators but, also support the direction of the school. As you can see from below all of these days are aligned to our Vision as a school and come under our 3 Domains, that is, Teaching & Learning, Catholic Identity & Mission and Pastoral Care & Wellbeing. Whilst we understand the implications these may place on our families, we appreciate your support for these days:

• Term 2 - Staff Parish Retreat (Monday 27th April)
• Term 2 - PROCLAIM - ALL Lismore Catholic Schools (Wednesday 5th May) 
• Term 2 - Reading & Comprehension PD Day  (Friday 25th June)
• Term 3 - Mercy Values & RE Curriculum PD Day (Monday 12th July)
• Term 3 - Digital Technologies PD Day (Friday 17th September)

Additionally this year, all staff will be attending twilight PD later in the year. These nights will focus on further improving our whole-school approach to support our students in their Social & Emotional Wellbeing. The PD nights will be facilitated by our CSO Pastoral Care consultant to ensure we are consistent with our approach to student well being.

Toilet Refurbishment

We are pleased to advise that over the holiday break our student toilet block will begin to be refurbished and upgraded to provide a more 'aesthetically pleasing' and hygienic environment for our students. Included in this refurbishment is an increase in the number of individual cubicles, the removal of the boy's trough, new hand washing stations, increased lighting and flooring. This new design will also see the demolishment of some exterior walls to allow for clear supervision and behaviour management whilst students are waiting to use the cubicles. Whilst it was intended to be completed during the holiday break,  it is more than likely that this will push into Week 1 & 2 next term. During this 2 week period, we will have some portable toilets installed on-site to assist. 

Parent Pick-up Procedures

Road Safety

The safety of our community is a priority at St Joseph's and as such, it is important that designated drop-off and pick-up zones are used. Parents can drop children off in the Drop-Off/ Pick-Up Zone at the rear of the Parent Car Park on Woodford Street. The bus zone at the front of the school on Stanley Street is to be kept clear for buses between 8:00 am - 9:30 am and 2:30 pm - 4:00 pm. Please DO NOT park at the base of the stairs outside the office as this impedes the safe arrival of buses.

Alternate arrangements

In the event your child is being picked up by another adult who is not on our school records as one of your emergency contacts, you must notify the school of your alternate arrangements. Since transitioning back to Parent pick-up on school premises, we have had a number of incidents where confusion has occurred around the end of day pick-up. I ask that if you are having another parent collect your child on your behalf that you ring the Front Office on 66452340 before 3 pm to ensure that both staff and the student/s are aware of this change and that permission has been provided.

Thanking you,

Dale

Leaders of Learning

Learning in Infants

One of the exciting developments we have seen in Infants this year is the collaborative, cross-Stage component of our timetable each day. At 12:55 pm, after English and Maths, Monday to Thursday, students from Kindy - Year 2 meet under the shelter for 10 minutes of PE. After this students are divided into the Wombats and the Koalas. Students engage with different teachers in learning in Religious Education, Creative Arts (Miss Moore), History (Mr Hitchings), Science and Technology (Mrs Senz) and PD/H/PE (Mrs Smith). This model of teaching and learning has allowed children to engage in grade-level learning for the core subjects of English and Maths and also develop friendships across the grades, learn from their peers, and connect with a variety of teachers. It has promoted the strong sense of community we pride ourselves on at St Joey's and is a highlight for many of the children. Here's what some of the kids said they liked about being Wombat or a Koala:

Lily - 'I like being a Wombat because we are separated into different teams and it feels fun'.

Jack - "I get to do Art and History with teachers that are fun".

Lawson - "Wombats are cool because we get mixed up and I get to do stuff with the Stage 1 boys".

Mrs Bailey 

Learning in Primary

Stage 2 solve the mystery of the mysterious postcards!

Over the past 2 weeks, Stage 2 have been receiving mysterious postcards and artefacts in the mail. They were addressed to a person called Zelda and were sent by her brother called Albus. Stage 2 were at a loss as to who Zelda and Albus were, but they found many clues in the postcards which were sent from a variety of places in NSW with dates ranging from 1400 to 2020. ALL the postcards were sent on Australia Day! 

The students discovered that Albus had gone missing and was time travelling, whilst his sister Zelda was on a quest to find her brother, and that quest ended today!  Zelda came to Stage 2 and told the students the story behind Albus' disappearance and how she needed their detective help to decipher clues that would lead her to finding Albus.  It was an extremely exciting and sometimes challenging task to make sense of all the codes and clues which Albus had planted around the school.  The students had to go from the classroom to the library, to the office and to the ramp as they followed the directions provided by Albus. Each clue led to another...alot like a scavenger hunt.  In the end, the students finally helped Zelda discover where Albus was waiting for her from the final clue which was a Bluetooth symbol. This unlocked a sound recording from Albus who told Zelda she had to go BACK IN TIME to exactly one year ago today, the 17th March 2020.   Stage 2 said their goodbyes and wished Zelda the best as she whisked herself out of the classroom to continue on her quest.   

When the mail arrived at school later in the day, there was already a postcard from the past sent by both Albus and Zelda...she had found him!  They thanked Stage 2 for all their help and asked them to write a story of their present life which could be put into a special book for our library so the children of the future could read about their history.  Zelda told the students that books time travelled because they told people of the future about the past.  Zelda and Albus promised they would visit again...one day in the future.

Mrs Mullins

Stage 2 help Zelda find Albus

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Mission & Values

St Joseph's Day

Today we celebrated St Joseph's Feast Day. This year marks the 150th Anniversary of St Joseph being declared our Patron Saint.

While asleep, St. Joseph received messages from God who entrusted him with loving and protecting Mary and the Baby Jesus. It was in a dream when Joseph accepted his role as the father of Jesus and of all mankind, a figure who is protector, defender, and consoler.  Joseph is the attentive and tender guardian of the Family, a just man who accepts and guards the mysteries of God, as he willingly chose to accept and protect Mary, the woman chosen by God to be the Most Holy and Immaculate Mother of His only Son. St Joseph is a humble man who loved Jesus with a father’s heart.  This week you may like to pray to St Joseph with the following prayer;

St Joseph,
You were receptive to God working in your life.
Help us by your prayers with any challenges we face.

You kept Jesus and Mary under your watchful care:
May your prayers assist us to respond to those in need.

You taught Jesus your trade and prayers:
Help us to follow his example of love.

You were part of God’s plan for all humanity:
Assist us to be vigilant and responsible.

You spent your life in service: 
May we be mindful of others, particularly those who are vulnerable.

Help us to grow in love and faith.

All - Amen

Class Awards

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

Principal Awards:  Kahiah Cook, Alexia Dawes, Thomas Hourigan, Emily Upston

Class Awards:

Class News - Stage 3

The Stage 3 Legends have really been living up to their Google Classroom moniker! Not only did they help St Joseph’s school Clean Up Australia by collecting rubbish around Maclean, but they also sorted through the stinky piles of waste in the name of Maths. They collected data from each stage by organising the garbage into recyclable and general waste and then weighing it. They:

-   Found the school collected 7.531 kg of total waste. Wow!

-   Observed that the recyclable waste collected by Stage 2 and 3 was about half the weight of general rubbish collected, and

-   Inferred that Stage 1 and Kindergarten collected the highest weight of recyclable waste because of their location - the IGA park. This is close to several food shops and most of the recycle waste was food related.

We have been decluttering in a spiritual sense too, by making commitments during Lent to remove a distraction from our lives (fasting from something like our favourite television show) in order to focus on what really matters, moving closer to God. It isn’t always easy and sometimes we make mistakes, but we learn from these and keep going. During this Lenten season we are practicing fasting, prayer and almsgiving, and students have created and shared a ‘stepping stone’ with their personal pledges. We have also set a class target to raise $175 for Caritas, and at $53.45 we are inching closer to that goal each week.

Miss Ayres & Mrs McLennan

My New Gallery

Pastoral Care - School Counsellor

Exploring Character Strengths – FAIRNESS

Being fair means you treat people how you would like to be treated.

Fairness means giving everyone a chance. Being fair means putting yourself in somebody else’s shoes when having an argument. If you are fair, you are  not bothered by the colour of someone’s skin, religion or ethnic  background. When you are fair you can accept being wrong.

What does it look like in practice? 

• When we make mistakes, we can admit it and take responsibility 
• We treat our classmates and teacher with respect  
• We don’t let others decide what we think of people 
• We try and include people in our games as much as possible 

Mrs Kate Naylor – School Counsellor & Art Therapist

Pastoral Care - School Chaplain

Caritas Project Compassion

In Week 4 we are introduced to Arsad. For Arsad, an Indonesian farmer, the idea of having a flushing toilet and running water at home was a dream. With no toilet in his house, Arsad and his family had to walk into the forest, to go to the toilet in a field. When he realised that no toilet was making his family and community sick, he needed to do something. Please share this video and story book about Arsad with your family.

Stage 2 continues to be the leading class for donations. Thank you to everyone for your generosity.

Breakfast Club

The frozen banana smoothies were a hit this week followed by cheese on toast. Our wonderful and productive student helpers were back again. Thank you Makenzee, Sarah, Emma and Ivy. This club would not be possible without the generosity of St Vincent De Paul and our student helpers. Thank you.

SRC Fun Day 31st March

The votes are in and the decision is made; St Joseph's students will be challenged on a giant inflatable Ninja Warrior Course wearing mufti clothes. Rainy day plan;  movie and pizza afternoon. Either option sounds like a fun packed day! Well done SRC.

Reading Volunteers LAP

Our amazing LAP volunteers came into our Stages on Thursday and listened to our students read. The feedback from both students and volunteers was very positive. Thank you to our Reading Volunteers for giving our students a one on one reading experience and for your time. See you next Thursday from 10 am-11 am.

St Joseph's Playgroup

 At playgroups parents and carers get together with their young children for a couple of hours each week to connect, learn through play and most importantly, have fun. Essentially, playgroup is one of the first and most important social networks for children and families.

We invite all our families and local community members who are interested or would like more information to please contact Juana Mead on 66452340.

Ms Juana Mead

School Sport

Winter Sports Trials

I would like to commend Matias Ward, Hugh Bell & Jason Maitz for their commitment and efforts at the Clarence Zone Winter Sports Trials (WST) which were held in Woolgoolga. Speaking to the boys after the trial it was evident that it was an enjoyable and beneficial experience for all of them. All of the boys stated that it was a good learning experience which will hopefully put them in a good position when next year's trials come up again.

Congratulations to Jason Maitz who was selected in the Clarence Zone Rugby team which will compete in the Lismore Diocesan WST which will hopefully be held in Grafton on Friday 26th March (weather permitting). Joining Jason at the Lismore Diocesan WST will be Jai Adamson, Ryley Bultitude, Jack Robinson, Mahala Hitchings and Tasmyn Norris. We wish them all the best of luck in the upcoming trial.

School Cross Country

Please be advised that weather permitting, next Friday the 26th March (Week 9) St Joseph’s will be holding both our School Cross Country and our first ever Colour Run!  Due to the addition of our Colour Run, our Cross Country will occur from 11:30 am - 1:30 pm. 

Please see an order of events to assist with possible parent attendance:

• 11:30 am - Cross County begins
• Kindergarten & Year 6 Buddies (1 Lap)
• Stage 1 (2 Laps)
• 8 & 9 Year olds (4 Laps - approx 2km)
• 10 year olds (4 Laps - approx 2km
• 11 & 12 year olds (6 Laps - approx 3km)
• 1:30 pm - Recess break and change into Colour run clothing
• 1:45 pm - Colour & Obstacle challenge 

In the afternoon all students will have the opportunity to participate in a Colour Run around the oval. Obstacles will be set up for the students to maneuver through as well as colour stations. White shirts make the colours pop so children can wear a white/ light shirt throughout the Colour Run. Students should bring a change of clothes to wear home.

Please be aware a note went home this afternoon with more information (please see attached a copy further in the Newsletter).

Mr Luke Hitchings

St Joey's Archibald Prize

As the term draws to a close, the students of St Joeys (K-6) have been tirelessly working on their portraiture understanding, styles and skills during our Visual Art lessons. We are very excited to announce that it is almost time to share and celebrate these masterpieces and we will be doing this through our very own St Joey’s Archibald Prize Night.

All students have created a portrait of a person who they: ‘love, admire, respect or look up to/ see as a role model’. Their portrait subject could have been a family member, community member or famous icons/ role model. Students have also created an ‘artistic statement’, explaining their process, why they choose their subject and reflection.

DATE: Tuesday 30th March (Week 10)

TIME: 5:00 pm - 6:30p m  (‘gallery’ viewing in the School ‘Big Top’ will be from 5:30 pm/ 5:45 pm)

We will begin the night on the Oval for a BBQ picnic dinner (sausage sandwiches will be available to purchase or alternatively families are welcome to bring their own picnic dinner). If inclement wet weather is predicted our school dinner location will be the Amphitheater and Stage 3 classroom. We encourage families to BYO picnic blanket/ towel/tarp to sit on.

Please be aware a note went home this afternoon with further information (please see attached a copy further in the Newsletter).

Mrs Zietsch

School Events & Dates

WEEK 9

• Monday 22nd - Friday 26th March - Parent Interviews
• Thursday 25th March - NAPLAN Practice Tests (Year 3 & 5)
• Friday 26th March - School Cross Country and Colour Run

WEEK 10

• Tuesday 30th March - World of Maths Visit
• Wednesday 31st March - SRC Fun Day
• Thursday 1st April - Easter Liturgy
• Thursday 1st April - LAST DAY OF TERM 1

Notes Sent Home

Please find below links to the following School Notes that were sent home in the last fortnight:

Community News - School Banking & Tennis Camp