Term 1 Week 4 - 2023
Term 1 Week 5 2023 |
School Events |
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Monday 27th February |
8.35 am Kilometre Club Year 5 & 6 Library Canteen Day Guitar Lessons |
| Tuesday 28th February |
Year 1 & 2 Library Incitare @ Youth Hub - Selected Year 6 |
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Wednesday 1st March |
8.35 am Kilometre Club Kindergarten Library Brass Lessons Begin - TBC |
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Thursday 2nd March |
School Photos in Sports Uniform No Kilometre Club due to 8:45 Staff Photo Sports Years 1-6 no swimming due to School Photos Family Pool Night - Kendall Pool - 5:30pm |
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Friday 3rd March |
Year 3 & 4 Library Diocesan Swimming Carnival |
| Upcoming Events |
Sunday 5th March - Children's Liturgy 9am Kendall Week 6 Monday 6th March - Staff Development Day - No Gowrie Tuesday 7th March - NRL Shubert 7's Years 5/6 Thursday 9th March - Swimming for Sport Yrs 1-6 Friday 10th March - Diocesan Winter Sports Trials Week 7 Monday 13th March - Photo catch-up day Wednesday 15th March - Friday 17th March - NAPLAN Years 3 & 5
SAVE THE DATE Saturday 18th March - Family Mass and Dinner at Kew Hotel 5pm - All Welcome CHANGE OF DATE Wednesday 22nd March - St Joseph's Day Celebrations - All Welcome
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Ministry Leaders
Congratulations to the following Year 6 Ministry Leaders who have already begun leading initiatives in the school.
Stewards of Creation Leaders: Sophie Curtis, Ebony Kemp, Milika Qilu, Harry Swain
These leaders will be responsible for sustainability and the environment. They will work closely with Mrs. Lulham, and Amy and Bec and their focus may be on the school gardens, environmental awareness, and recycling.
Liturgical Leaders: Riley Akers, Lily Sargeson & Samara Koenig
These leaders will support Masses and liturgies and will also think about other ways they would like to contribute to the liturgical life of the school. They will work closely with Mrs. Wilson and Mrs. Toole.
Mini Vinnies: Willow Kelly, Sophie Todd, Ezekiel Fogg, Amelia Hunt, Ruby Norrie, Riley Sams, Finlay Toole.
These leaders will be in charge of Social Justice initiatives across the school and will work closely with Mrs. Wilson and Mrs. Dedal.
Mary MacKillop Library Leaders: Abigail Burg, Ivy Farrell, Amelia Goodridge, Zavier Hill, Jayla Jolley, Freddie Letters, Kynan Thompson, Isaac Tighe
These leaders will be responsible for all things "books." We envisage this group to support the library and book week, and they may also wish to run other book initiatives. These students will work closely with Mrs. Peck and Bec.
Lent Begins
This week our cooking group made pancakes for Shrove Tuesday and shared them with the whole school. On Wednesday, Fr Michael celebrated a special Ash Wednesday Mass. The students were incredibly reverent, sang beautifully, and for only the second time in church, Kindergarten was extremely settled thanks to some amazing Year 6 buddies. It has been lovely to be able to have so many parents and parishioners at the last two school masses, as it creates such a wonderful community vibe. In class, students learned about Lent and Ash Wednesday and most students have made promises to themselves to try to do something better for Lent, whether it's giving up something like chocolate, trying to be a better friend or taking the time to pray to God.
Family Partnerships Night
It was fantastic to see so many parents/carers attend our Family-School Partnership Night on Wednesday. On the night, we discussed the Diocese's new P & F models and the purpose and guidelines for the Class Parent Friendship Raising groups. We have attached a summary of the proposed P & F Models below, and the Class Parent Friendship Raising group's purpose and guidelines can be found further down in the newsletter. In the coming weeks, we will send out a short parent survey to receive feedback from the community about the new proposed P & F Models. We would like to thank Janita Thomson ( CSO Family- School Partnership Lead) and Hilary Schultz ( CSO Family- School Partnership Officer) for presenting and supplying dinner and drinks on the night. Also, thank you to Mrs Maria Wilson (AP Mission) for leading the Class Parent Friendship Raising group conversation and Aunty Lynda and Amy McCormick for babysitting.
Parent - teacher meetings
It was wonderful to see so many parents engage with our Class Teachers this week in conversations on how to support your children's learning this year. If you missed out on an interview time, you can always make contact with your class teacher via email or phoning the school office to make an appointment at any stage throughout the year. If you feel your child needs support with any wellbeing matters, please speak with your child's class Teacher or complete a wellbeing referral available at any time on our website. Formal Teacher to Parent interviews will be offered again at the end of Term 2 after semester 1 reports. We look forward to continuing to work in close partnership with you to support your child's education throughout the year.
Family Pool Night
We can't wait to see as many families as possible for our first whole school social gathering for students and parents at the Family Pool Night. Please make sure you read the information below carefully and complete the permission forms and order your wristbands and BBQ dinner before the event next Thursday 2nd March. We hope to see everyone there for a fantastic and fun night.
Thank you
A big thank you to the following people, who have taken home our new classroom resources to cover, Danielle Hallum, Brooke Burgess, Lauren McNeice, Sonia Solares, Laura Burgess, Lyndelle Lee, Jennifer Eccleston, Markeeta Quinn, Emily Fogg, and Clarie Bulter. We are grateful for all your time and effort.
We still have much more to cover; if you can spare some time to help, please fill in the form, and we will send some home for you. Thank you in advance for your help.
Best wishes from the leadership team
Family Pool Night 2023
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Theatre Shows 2023.
We are so excited to announce that we are able to provide all of our students with the opportunity to experience some professional theatre productions this year! Each performance will be a stage play based on some children’s quality literature. Viewing live Theatre productions enriches students’ learning in Creative Arts and literacy as well as inspiring wellbeing, enjoyment, and an appreciation for the Arts. This year we will be attending the following performances with all costs including bus travel covered by the school along with a grant from Coastline Credit Union that we were successful in securing:
Are We There Yet?- The Glasshouse
Years 3 and 4
Friday 24 March 2023
Roald Dahl The Twits- The Manning Entertainment Centre
Years 5 and 6
26th July at 1pm
Possum Magic- The Glasshouse
Kindergarten, Year 1, and Year 2.
Tues 7th Nov
Assessment:
It is essential to a good learning and teaching cycle for teachers to assess where students are at in their learning in order to know what they need next. Some assessments also give us important information about how our students are individually performing compared to other students their age with standardised measures. One such assessment that we are using this year is called DIBELS- Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills. This measure helps teachers and schools determine how students are performing on important reading skills following extensive research. The tests are administered one to one by Teachers with all students in years 1-6 three times a year and will include Kindergarten from Term 2. Teachers have been doing these assessments throughout the week and have gained some valuable insight into the way students understand basic reading skills. For further information, please see the attached document.
Zone Winter Sport Trials
Well done to all of our 5/6 students that participated in the Hastings Winter Trials held at St Joseph’s Regional College and the Port Macquarie Basketball Stadium on Monday. On an extremely hot day, all students played with great sportsmanship and gave their all. Special congratulations go to Braxton Galbraith. Logan Higgins, Hardy Fletcher (U 11’sLeague), Jayla Jolley, and Kynan Thompson (Soccer) on making their respective Hastings teams. An excellent result for our little school! We wish them all the best as they compete in the Diocesan Trails in Grafton later this term. Thanks also to Mrs. Wilson and Bec Faddy for helping manage the students on the day.
Zone Swimming
Our congratulations go out to Emi Toole (Yr 2), Aidan Koenig (Yr 2), and Samara Koenig (Yr 6), who have gained representation in the Hastings Swimming Team to compete in the Lismore Diocesan Trials later this term. Congratulations also to our own St Joey’s team, who represented our school with great sportsmanship and spirit. We would like to thank the parents who made their trip and representation possible for all of your students. Thank you to Mrs. Koenig and Mrs. Hayward for being the team managers on the day.
Class Parent “Friend-Raising” Group
This year we have a wonderful group of parents volunteering to support the school as class parents. We have expanded the model to have at least two parents on each grade. On Wednesday night we met with the group and looked at the purpose of this group.
We aim to:
- Support our families to make connections and friendships with other Joey’s families.
- Encourage involvement in the life of the school community.
- Promote the great things that happen at St Joseph’s.
- Support the class teachers, staff, and school.
- Encourage families to read the newsletter as the main source of information.
- Support each other to create an inclusive environment for all, where no one feels left out.
- Support families in times of need or celebration.
The following parents will support grades and facilitate these aims and will also be supported by other willing volunteers from the classes.
K: Bel Davis (Will), Brooke Burgess (Edie), Emma Hockham (Benji), Justine Reedy (Mackenzie), Rachel DeVries (Johannes)
1: Katie Barker (Jasmine), Emily Fogg (Jory), Lauren McNeice (Alyssa)
2: Emma Hockham (Olivia), Katie Barker (Madison)
3: Erin Thompson (Jeremy), Blair Maxwell (Samantha), Bel Davis (Oliver), Lidi Patrzala (Iggy)
4: Emily Fogg (Gideon), Tamara Romer (Lincoln), Rachel DeVries (Willem)
5: Michelle Latham (Zarli), Brooke Hudson (Eadie)
6: Erin Thompson (Kynan), Michelle Latham (Jayla)
Thank you to everyone who was able to come to the night.
IDEAS
Parents threw around lots of great ideas on Wednesday Night and a Kindy/Year 3 parent suggested how great it would be to have a whole school parent get together in late Term 2. Watch this space.
Over the next week or so the class parents will be gathering ideas. Have you got some great ideas for friend-raising? Contact the class parents to add your ideas.
GET CONNECTED
Are you wanting to connect with the class parents? Some classes will have chat groups to connect to, however, for those not on social media, the main information will come through Schoolzine. Contact the school if you are having trouble getting in touch with a class parent. Kinder class parents are working on getting our kindy families connected this week.
GUIDELINES for this group and class groups:
Parents are such an important part of the school network. As part of the class parent ‘friendraising’ group, we ask that everyone support the following guidelines.
- FUNDRAISING - All fundraising activities, for the school or on behalf of the school for an individual, must go through the formal school channels.
- SUPPORT FOR WELL-BEING - If someone is in need of financial or other support, please contact the school Principal/Well-being team to discuss options. Steps may already have been put in place and this can be supported by families.
- INCLUSIVITY - Social events and groups should be inclusive of mums and dads and in some cases, grandparents and other carers. Groups should support the students and the families to socialise. Balancing student-centred and parent-centred activities is recommended.
- INFORMATION: Schoolzine (Compass)/Newsletter should be the source of all school information. Where it cannot be found on Schoolzine (compass)/Newsletter, let the school know as we may have missed it.
- COMMUNICATION: Class/School events should be communicated through the schoolzine/compass. Share with Crystal Batt and this can be sent to the whole class.
- RESPECT FOR SCHOOL AND OTHERS: Please maintain a high standard of respect for the school and each other. Grievances with the school should be directed to the school, not to the group. Grievances with another parent should be dealt with privately, not publicly.
- SOCIAL MEDIA - Everyone has the right to feel part of the group without needing to be on Social Media. Therefore, see point 5.
- PHOTOS - The right not to be on Social Media also applies to photos. Many of our families do not give permission to share photos on social media. As such, it is recommended that all parents should not share photos of any other children on social media.
- SOCIAL MEDIA GROUPS - Parents may or may not facilitate a social media group. It is not the class parents’ role to have to answer all questions but refer on to the school. There are many personal sub groups in classes and it is understood that people have friends outside of ‘the school’. If parents choose to create a class group, this is not to be an official school group, but if you have one, as a class parent we ask that you support the parent group guidelines in this document. All social media posts/groups (e.g. messenger) should not officially represent St Joseph’s in name or in essence. Any groups with the school name or logo must be created through the school by staff. Social media groups or forums should remain a friendly, inclusive social group. Teachers should not be tagged for information in these groups. In some cases, people will leave the school and may want to stay friends. For privacy reasons and to support all parents in those groups, please delete old families and create a separate friendship group if you wish to stay in contact with these families. It is requested that a member of the school leadership team should be in class groups to support the above guidelines.
- GIFT GIVING - Schools are tightly governed when it comes to asking for money for gifts.(See below) Please don’t request money through the group (or comment that you have sent money). Where a gift is purchased on behalf of the class parents/students, it should come from the whole class. Alternatively, make it an individual gift from the child. Sometimes a handwritten card is just as special as a big gift.
Gift Giving - Class Parent - Based on the Diocesan Standard Operating Procedure
We recognise that parents love the opportunity to treat their class teachers or class assistants when it is their birthday or there is some other special event.
In accordance with clause 2 and 3 of the Lismore Diocese Gift and Benefits Standard Operating Procedure, teachers are not allowed to receive gifts over $50. In short, a gift over $50 needs to be shared with the whole staff or donated to charity.
We are also aware that many families are uncomfortable with being asked for money through the parent chat group. To support all our families, no matter their financial situation, we ask that money not be requested through this channel or collected on behalf of the group.
Options for gift giving:
- A class parent may like to organise a small gift or a shared cake/treat (less than $50) for their class teacher and teacher’s assistant. To do this a note can be communicated to all parents through the office asking for a $1-$2 donation. Donations can be then collected as cash at the office and used for a small gift/treat.
- Class parents may remind the class network of an upcoming birthday or event. The class parent can remind the group that we do not collect money as there is a $50 limit to gifts. Each family can choose to send a personal gift if they choose to. This gift needs to be less than $50.
- The P&F (or parent body) may on occasion purchase all staff a gift/treat on behalf of the parent community. This gift would come out of P&F funds already raised and would not normally be a separate collection of funds. This gift cannot exceed $50 per staff member. Typically, this has been done on World Teacher’s Day and at Christmas.
Kilometre Club
Kilometre Club has kicked off this week with a bang! Special thank you to Mrs Nichols and Michelle Latham for assisting this week!
For our first Kilometre Club session held on Wednesday, we had 36 runners with 26 boys and 10 girls participating running a total of 29.75km! Special mention to Mason and Miles from Year 1, Aidan from Year 2, James from Year 4, Oliver from Year 5, Jalya from Year 6 and Michelle Latham (parent) for managing 5 laps or 1.25km. Congratulations to Thomas from Year 3 and Braxton from Year 5 for running 6 laps or 1.5km.
With cross country quickly approaching, I highly recommend you encourage your children to join in! Kilometre Club will be running Monday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings from 8:35am-8:50am.
Strove Tuesday
Kindergarten learning Patterns
Kindergarten PDHPE
As part of the PDH unit for Semester 1, Kindergarten is learning about building positive relationships. We have explored this concept through the idea that everyone has a bucket that can be filled with kind actions from others or dipped into when others are hurtful. 'In Kindergarten we are bucket fillers, not bucket dippers!' This week we finished making a bucket and filling our bucket with hearts and stars which represent kind actions and words.
Assembly
Happy Birthday
