Week 2 - Term 2 Newsletter 2022

Principal's Message

Dear Families and Friends,

Welcome back to what is shaping up to be another wonderful term of learning and community. A big thank you to all the families and students who attended last week's ANZAC Day March. We could not have been more proud of the  students that represented our school.

We are so grateful for the fantastic Parish School we are a part of. It was lovely to see all the siblings and parents join us in the commemoration ceremony. Thank you to Hugh, Josie & Matias for laying the wreath on behalf of our school. Also a further thank you to all the Stage 3 students for leading the school ANZAC Liturgy on Monday - this was an important time for us, as a whole school, to reflect and acknowledge those who have served our country.

Kiss N Drop

Thank you to everyone for their patience as we continue to adjust our morning & afternoon procedures whilst the council work on our Kiss N Drop Zone, Bus Zone and parking on Stanley Street. Unfortunately, constant poor weather has meant that there will be some interruptions for a couple of weeks longer, please see below an update from Council:

• Week 3 (next week) - The works will move to the southern side.  The northern side should be available for parking but will not be a ‘pick up and drop off’ zone until all the works are finalised and the signage and line-marking are in place.
• Week 4- Stanley Street will be resealed and line-marked outside of drop off and pick up times.
• Week 5- Work should be finished and functioning for drop-off and pick-up.

Mother's Day High Tea &Liturgy

Unfortunately, I was unable to attend due to currently isolating with Covid; the school was able to come together as a school community through our beautiful Mother's Day High Tea & Mother's Day Liturgy. A big thank you to all the mothers and significant women who could join us in these two school events. We appreciate everything you do for your children and the nurturing presence & guidance you provide them. Also, thank you to both Mrs Mead (High Tea) & Mrs Mullins (Liturgy) for their tireless work in making both of these beautiful school events possible.

Parent Forum - Term 2 Meeting

Next Tuesday, 10th May (5:00-6:30 pm), we will be holding our Term 2 Parent Forum meeting in the School Library. 

It would be wonderful to see some new faces after our Term 1 meeting & AGM had a good group of families sharing their voice and expectations for the year ahead. Whilst most of 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. We are currently seeking expressions of interest for a Chairperson, Parish Rep and Parent Assembly Rep; however, 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).

Kindergarten & Little Joey's Enrolments

Whilst I acknowledge that our Little Joey's program will not be starting until Semester 2, I encourage all families to make contact with the School Front Office immediately, and if you know a family within the community with a child that is school-age in 2022, please encourage them to seek an enrollment form from the school or make a time to have a school tour with me.  Places for this program are almost at capacity, and we would like to ensure our current school community can secure a placement before beginning a 'waiting list'. 

Additionally, I am also asking families to begin submitting an enrolment form for Kindergarten 2022, as at this early stage, we will look at having to consider a 'waiting list' based on current enquiries.

Lastly, this term we welcome two 2 new students, Tate (Year 5) & Max (1) Anderson into our school. I trust they, and their family have enjoyed their start and we look forward to having them as part of our school community.

Dale

Leaders of Learning

Rich Tasks in Maths: What are they?

The Rich Task in the Maths Block is a challenging problem requiring students to apply what they know and try different strategies. Mistakes are common where students do most of the learning. Mistakes should be recognised as opportunities for learning and self-growth. Here are three tips to help your child move forward the next time they make a mistake.

1. Face the challenge with an ‘I can!’ attitude

When students see answers marked wrong, their first reaction is often, ‘I can’t do it.’It is vital to encourage a shift away from a fixed mindset – where students easily give up – towards a growth mindset – where they try again. As they persevere with problem-solving, celebrate their successes and encourage them to believe, ‘I can do it!’

2. Rethink the strategy

Encourage students to ask themselves, ‘Why didn’t the strategy work for this problem? Is there a better strategy I could try?’ While there is no right or wrong way to solve a problem, it’s helpful to discuss different strategies used for a problem-solving task to see if one was more efficient than another. 

1. Work it out together

We all make mistakes from time to time. It’s what we do with them that counts. With a positive attitude and a supportive environment, students can view their mistakes as learning opportunities and not as learning failures. 

‘I have not failed. I’ve just found 10 000 ways that won’t work.’ (Thomas Edison)

Mrs Bailey & Mrs Mullins

Mission & Values

Mothers Day Celebration

I would like to start by thanking our Year 6 leaders; Emily, Hugh, Josie, Matias, Makayla, Sonny and Luca for doing a wonderful job in leading the celebration today for Mother’s Day. As always, it is one of our most special events at school and today was no exception. The students gifted portraits of their mums hand-drawn with love, together with a school photo of themselves, a choccie and a teabag to enjoy a cuppa and a treat.

Our Joey’s mums are SIMPLY THE BEST and we wish you all a lovely day on Sunday.

Sacramental Program

Year 3 - Confirmation Thursday 30th June (Week 10)  

This term, any baptised students are able to make their Sacrament of Confirmation.  The students will participate in preparation lessons in Religious Education Classes at school and will also attend a Retreat prior to the sacrament. At present, Confirmation is scheduled for 5:30 pm, Thursday 30 June, 2022 with Bishop Greg Homeing. 

If you wish your child to be Confirmed, please email me if you have not done so already.

Mercy Value - Service

Who can quantify the value of mothers? It’s actually impossible to do so. To put into words how valuable mothers are in the world is beyond anyone. Mothers help shape history as they develop and shape the lives that are entrusted to them in their children.

Mothers and Grandmothers are some of the most valuable and powerful influences of this world. I want to congratulate you for the love and devotion and service you provide for your children. Be encouraged that all those hard times, sleepless nights, football games, trips to the doctors, school functions, teacher interviews, cleaning up after them, running them around to all their activities, a house full of hungry friends and arguments with strong willed children. When you invest in your children’s lives, be confident that you are a World Developer and World Changer, even when it doesn’t feel like you are because you are a mother. One day, all your years of service will be completely worth it when your children have grown into adults that are adding richness and value to the society in which they live because they had a great mum.

Mrs Mullins

Class Awards

Our Principal's Award winners this week are:

• Kindy - Roxy Bailey
• Stage 1 -  Isaak Bailey
• Stage 2 - Jack Kirkland
• Year 5 -  Hudson Ardrey
• Year 6 - Olivia McIntyre 

Our Class Award winners this week are: 

Class News - Kinder

Welcome back for another great term! 

We are all very excited to be back at school and eager to learn!

Term 2 in Kindergarten began with us learning all about Anzac day and making Anzac biscuits. Many of the students described their biscuits as delicious, crunchy or sweet! 

We have started to explore different types of texts in English and why we like them. This has included reading imaginative stories, information texts and learning songs. We are already enjoying the variety of books and, of course, sharing our opinion on them! In Maths, we have been working with numbers up to 30 or more by writing, drawing, reading and making the number with different manipulatives. We enjoy the hands-on approach when problem-solving in our Maths lessons.

We have discussed how AMAZING our Mum’s are and why they are so special to us, ready to celebrate Mother’s Day. They have been busy creating cards and portraits and cannot wait to share them with you!

It's looking like Term 2 will be a great term for lots of learning and fun in Kindy!

Miss Lovegrove

School Sport

Clarence Cross Country Carnival

23 students from St Joseph’s travelled to Grafton's Clarence River Jockey Club to compete in the Clarence Zone Cross Country Carnival on Wednesday, the 4th of May. We were greeted with clear skies and sun, which may have been a welcome change to our recent weather patterns for some. For those running 2 or 3 kilometres, things may have been a little different. The hotter conditions definitely made it hard going, but our students battled valiantly and put in some courageous performances.

Congratulations to Roo Coulson, who finished 6th in the 10yrs Boys and will move on to the Lismore Diocesan Cross Country which will be held at the same location on Tuesday 24th May. Josie Chapman also needs to be commended for her near miss, falling 1 spot short by finishing in 9th in the 12/13 yrs Girls. I would also like to thank all of the students who attended the carnival and represented our school and gave it their all. 

Polding Winter Sports Trials

Last week Olivia McIntyre (Hockey) and Ryley Bultitude (Rugby League) travelled to Bathurst for the Polding Winter Sports Trials. The event was held over four days where they played against teams from the Diocese north of the Sydney Harbour Bridge up to the border. Both students returned to school saying it was a great experience, but most importantly, they had fun.

I am sure both students will take a lot away from the event, which will help them in their future sporting endeavours. Olivia’s efforts earned her a spot in the Polding team which will now travel to Tamworth to compete in the PSSA NSW Winter Sports Trials. Well done on your achievements, Ryley and Olivia, for representing your families and our school at such an elite level. We are all very proud of you.

Mr Hitchings

Pastoral Care - School Chaplain

Mother’s Day High Tea

Today we celebrated the significant women in our lives by hosting a high tea. This was a special time for our school community to thank the wonderful women in our lives and show them how much they are loved. 

It was lovely to see all our mums being waited on. The Parent Forum proudly and generously funded the high tea. Botero generously funded coffee. Thank you to our incredible community/SRC and Bobbie for helping on the day. You are truly amazing!

Breakfast Club 

St Vinnie's Breakfast Club is up and running again in term 2. Every Friday, wholemeal toast with cheese, honey or avocado is available. Yoghurt and milk are also available. This is a free breakfast for all our students to enjoy.

 Breaky club is generously funded by St Vincent De Paul Maclean. 

Community Connect

Each Friday afternoon from 3:00 pm-3.15 pm, our Community and SRC leaders will be serving tea/coffee and juice to our parents at parent pick up. We hope to build community connections and provide our leaders with responsibility and leadership.

We would love our families to join us by having a cuppa. Thank you to Parent Forum for funding this activity.

Ms Mead

Pastoral Care - School Counselor

Character Strengths: LEADERSHIP

What is LEADERSHIP?

Leadership means you can encourage a group to get things done in a way that is peaceful and everyone feels included. It means you do a good job of organising activities. If you are growing leadership, you might try and inspire others by being respectful and confident in a group situation.

What does it look like in our school?
• We listen to other people’s points of view while ensuring things get done
• A teacher needs everyone’s attention, and we are able to get students to listen in a calm way
• We are fair when we are deciding what to do as a group, always listening to each person
• We come up with a game and can organise others to play it in a respectful way
• Even though people are drawn to you, you don’t have to always be the boss and controller of the games that are played. Instead, you lead with fairness, making sure everyone has their say

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

Parent Forum

Just a reminder that our Term 2 Parent Forum meeting will be held next Tuesday, 10th May at 5:00 pm in the school library.

All parents are welcome to attend and share ideas; no ongoing commitment is required. 

Please get in touch with your Parent Rep if you would like something raised at the meeting but cannot attend.

• Kindergarten: Rebecca Upston
• Year 1: Michelle Firth
• Year 2: Belinda Davis
• Year 3: Steve Kirkland
• Year 4: Bec Bennett
• Year 5: Sarah Hourigan
• Year 6: Amelia Bell

Hope to see you there.

The Parent Forum Team

Library News

This week we introduced Primary year students to the St Joseph's Library Interface - known as Oliver. This enables students to search our school library database, place reservations for both hard copies and ebooks, and view details of their loans. Furthermore, our school Oliver homepage has information on clubs operating in the library, new books which have just hit the shelves, and links to websites such as the Premiers Reading Challenge, where students can log their books electronically and search for their next PRC book, as well as author websites where students can find out more information about their favourite storytellers, and much more! 

We welcome parents and students to look at the Joeys Oliver Library site by following this link. 

Kids lose themselves in books., they find themselves there too. Lewis Keegan

Mrs Waghorn

Community Notices