Week 4 - Term 2 Newsletter 2023

Principal's Message

Dear Parents, 

Thank you for another week of learning, a big thank you to all those families that completed our Annual School Improvement Survey last week. We value the role of parents and carers within our school community,  and this feedback and information you provide will be used to maintain our commitment to working together in partnership further to improve student learning and wellbeing in our school. 

For those interested, the results from this survey will be shared at our Term 3 Parent Forum Meeting.

Mother's Day High Tea & Mother's Day Liturgy

Last week we came 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 Mrs Mead (High Tea) & Mrs Mullins (Liturgy) for their tireless work in making these beautiful school events possible.

Attendance  - Early Departure Concerns

We are noticing a trend in the number of students being picked up between 2:15 pm - 3:00 pm, before the end of the school day at 3:15 pm. Whilst I understand a number of families have after-school care commitments that start shortly after the conclusion of school and that on the odd occasion, family events or appointments may dictate an early departure, I am asking that all parents please be mindful of the importance of allowing their child to finish their school day at 3:15 pm.

Over time, a consistent pattern of early departure results in your child missing out on core learning. Most afternoons, classes study Science, History, Geography, Creative Arts etc. If they regularly go home at 2:30 pm-2:45 pm, this can result in the loss of 30 minutes of important learning. On the surface, twice a week of early departures may not seem of a concern, but if this continues, it can result in your child missing up to 8 full days of learning. 

I ask all families to consider the reasoning and regularity of early departures & the impact it can have on your child's education.    

Winter Uniforms 

As we begin to feel the cool change of winter, we have started to notice students wearing non-school jumpers and other attire. This a reminder to all families of our Winter Uniform options outlined below. Whilst I understand that sometimes uniform items either go missing or need washing, we ask that if your child is out of uniform, a note be provided to the student to present to the class teacher. 

GIRLS Winter Uniform

• Maroon & white check top
• White plain long-sleeve shirt under check top (optional)
• Maroon skort with maroon/black tights (optional) OR Maroon/Black Pants 
• Black lace-up shoes/joggers (low cut)
• White socks
• School jacket or jumper
• School hat
• Maroon, white or yellow ribbons/headbands

BOYS Winter Uniform

• Maroon school shirt with white and gold trim
• Plain Black shorts OR Maroon/Black pants
  
• Black lace-up shoes/joggers (low cut)
• Black socks
• School jacket or jumper
• School hat

NCCD - What is this?

Each year, our school participates in the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD). At the moment, our school and classroom teachers are currently moderating and collaboratively working together to clarify what adjustments are being provided for our students. The NCCD is a collection that counts:

• the number of school students receiving an adjustment or ‘help’ due to disability
• the level of adjustment they are receiving to access education on the same basis as other students.

Students are counted in the NCCD if they receive ongoing adjustments at school due to disability. This ‘help’ allows them to access education on the same basis as a child without a disability. The NCCD uses the definition of disability in the Disability Discrimination Act 1992.  In early August, this information is provided to both the Catholic Schools Office and Catholic Schools NSW.  Attached below is a Fact Sheet that explains this process in more detail. 

Please note that the Catholic Schools Office has cancelled the PUPIL FREE DAY scheduled for Thursday, 1st June. This day is now our Athletics Carnival.

Have a lovely weekend.

Dale

Upcoming School Dates

• Diocesan Cross Country (Tuesday 23rd May)
• School Athletics Carnival (Thursday 1st June)
• 'Close the Gap' Day - Stage 2 & 3 (Thursday 8th June)
• The King's Birthday Public Holiday (Monday 12th June)
• Semester 1 Class Reports go Home (Monday 19th June)
• NAIDOC Day at Brooms Head (Wednesday 28th June)
• Clarence Zone Athletics Carnival (Thursday 29th June)

Leader of Learning

Bump it Up Walls

All classes use Bump it up Walls at St Joseph's, especially in English, to make learning visible for students. 

A Bump It Up wall is a visual display that helps learners know how to improve or bump up to the next level of achievement. It includes levelled work exemplars showing students samples of each level of achievement. Each exemplar is accompanied by success criteria and annotations that deconstruct all the things that make that piece of work an example of a particular level. It makes learning clear to students and shows how to move from one level to another. 

Throughout the learning cycle, students continue to refer to the Bump It Up wall to decide where their work would be placed and how to improve. It is a critical way to build students' capacity to self-assess.

Mrs Bailey

Leader of Mission

Mother's Day Celebration

On behalf of the staff, I wish to express my thanks to all of you who attended our Mother's Day celebration. It was a beautiful gathering of the mothers and mother figures in our lives, and your presence truly made it all special for the children. Your support and participation in our school community mean the world to us, and we are grateful for your continued involvement.

Thank you again for joining us on this wonderful occasion - Mother's Day is a very special day for us at Joey's.  Please use the link if you wish to view the slide from the celebration.

Mercy In Action Award

This fortnight's Mercy Award goes to Oskar Bailey in recognition of displaying the Mercy Value of Courage, demonstrated by his tremendous strength and resilience at the Netball Gala Day. He showed a genuine commitment to his team by playing various positions, trying his best and playing every game, volunteering to help another team by playing an extra half, and displaying great sportsmanship by congratulating others and coping exceptionally well with losing, showing a true dedication to the spirit of the game.

Congratulations, Oskar.

Mrs Mullins

Class Awards

Our Principal's Award winners this week are:

Our Class Award winners this week are: 

Class News - Stage 1

In Stage 1 this term, we have been working hard!

In Year 1 English, we have been learning about persuasive texts and how authors use different language features to convince us of a topic. We have been reading books such as Don’t Let The Pigeon Drive The Bus and Do Not Open This Book! We have been having fun writing our convincing texts using comic strips and speech bubbles. We have been dreaming up our ‘perfect pets’ and creating convincing reasons as to why our parents should let us have them, even though we know they can be naughty sometimes!

In Year 2, we have been learning to categorise data and create displays that present this data clearly so we can compare and make statements about the data. During a recent lesson, we went into the library to build vehicles and then analysed the different types of Lego blocks students used to build their vehicles and compared the different categories students used to present their data. This highlighted the importance of selecting the appropriate layout and categories when trying to present data to an audience.

Mrs McMahon & Mr Hitchings

School Sport

School Athletics Carnival

Our Athletics Carnival will be held on Thursday, 1st June 2023.  We will be holding our carnival at the Maclean Showground. All children must assemble at school at 9:00 am for role marking, and then they will walk to the Maclean Showground in their House groups: Gibraltar (Green), Bundjalung (Blue), Yuraygir (Yellow). We anticipate the carnival to begin at approximately 9:45 am.

Our long jump event will be held at Maclean High School, adjacent to the showground. Arrangements have been made for the trials to occur outside of the high school break times to limit interactions. 

CANTEEN: A sausage sizzle will be available on the day. To assist with catering, please place your orders through Compass Canteen by 10:00 am Wednesday, 31st May. Sausage Sizzle and water will be available to purchase on the day.

We will need parent helpers for the carnival. If your schedule permits and you are willing to help on the day, please email me (luke.hitchings@lism.catholic.edu.au) or contact the School Front Office.

It is anticipated that an event with further information will be distributed via Compass next Monday.

Mr Hitchings

Pastoral Care - School Chaplain

Mother’s Day High Tea

Last Friday we celebrated the Mums, Grandmothers and significant women in our lives by hosting a High Tea. This was a special time for our school community when we took the opportunity 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 High Tea was proudly and generously funded by the Parent Assembly.  Thank you to our incredible community/SRC Bobbie, Chrissie and Deb, for helping on the day. You are truly amazing.

St Vincent De Paul Winter Appeal

As the cool air blankets us, we are reminded that winter is approaching.  We think of those people less fortunate this winter.  St Joseph’s will be once again participating in Vinnies Winter Appeal this term. We will be inviting students to wear their pyjamas and raise funds for this needy cause. 

More information will be available over the coming weeks via Compass.

‘VINNIES IS COMMITTED TO A MORE JUST AND COMPASSIONATE AUSTRALIA, WHERE NO PERSON SHOULD HAVE TO WONDER WHERE THEY WILL SLEEP EACH NIGHT.’ 

Seasons For Growth Stage 1

Seasons for Growth is an innovative, evidence-based change, loss and grief education program that draws on the metaphor of the seasons to understand the experience of grief. It builds the knowledge and skills necessary to strengthen social and emotional well-being. Seasons for Growth offers children and young people a safe space to come together and share their experiences of change and loss. 

Seasons for Growth is being offered to all students this year. This program will be available for stage 1 in term 2. More information will be sent out through the Compass app.

Thanking you

Ms Mead

Pastoral Care - School Counselor

Counselling Connection

As parents, we want our children to be happy, healthy, kind, and surrounded by positive, supportive relationships.

Of course, we can’t control these future outcomes. But we CAN plant the seeds, nurture them, and hope that they’ll blossom into bright futures.

One “seed” we can plant while our children are young is an understanding of what healthy friendships look like.

We can teach them to:

 Choose friendships that make them feel good

 Set boundaries that are firm and respectful

 Make choices that are right for them

Healthy friendships and setting boundaries may seem like a big conversation for little ones. But even complex topics can be explained in simple, engaging terms.

The above poster can be downloaded by clicking the link below.

Bel Chapman – School Counsellor 

Parent Forum

Library News

Congratulations to Kingston in Yr 1 who has won the competition to name the Book Return Monster in the library for Term 2!

Our monster’s name is Mr Hairy and Kingston told us the story of how Mr Hairy used to live in a big dark forest when he decided that he would like to eat some books.

So Mr Hairy left the dark forest and snuck into the library at school on the weekend when nobody was around.

Thanks Kingston and well done on your creative writing!

Mrs Waghorn