20 February 2024 (Week 4 Term 1 2024)
Principal's News
Dear St Joseph’s Community
We have made a wonderful start to our school year. Our classrooms are calm and settled, and our teachers are working hard to encourage our students to do their very best work. Our teachers have all been implementing the new curriculum with rigour and fidelity, and the students are responding very well!
Last week marked the beginning of Lent. This is a time of preparation as we look toward Jesus’ sacrifice and the transformative miracle of His resurrection. Lent is a time of fasting, prayer and thanksgiving. We have launched our Project Compassion appeal. We invite you to give as generously as you are able to support those in need. One of our kindergarten students arrived at school last week, having lost their first tooth. They had their Tooth Fairy money with them to put in the Project Compassion Box. What a wonderful example of selflessness and love!
As we move into the middle of our term, our teachers will continue to set high expectations for the learning and engagement of our students as we ensure they are all reaching their potential as learners.
SUNDAY SCRIPTURE REFLECTION
As we find ourselves in the first week of Lent, Mark 1:12-15 offers us a poignant reminder of the journey Jesus undertook in the wilderness, immediately following His baptism. This passage, marking the beginning of Jesus' ministry, speaks to us of preparation, temptation, and the proclamation of the Good News. Just as Jesus retreated to the wilderness, we too are invited to reflect on our own spiritual journey. Lent provides us with an opportunity to step back, to reassess our priorities, and to strengthen our resolve to live in harmony with God's will. This message is especially relevant as we continue to navigate the complexities of a new school year. It's a time to encourage our students to embrace resilience to face their own "wilderness" or challenges with faith and courage. Let us support them in understanding that overcoming obstacles is part of their spiritual and personal growth. Moreover, Jesus' message of repentance and belief in the Gospel is a call to action for us all. It invites us to renew our commitment to our faith and to the values we hold dear as a Catholic educational community. As we journey through Lent, let's inspire our students to reflect on their actions, to seek forgiveness where needed, and to embrace the Gospel's message of love and redemption.
May this Lenten season be a time of meaningful reflection, spiritual growth, and renewed commitment for our entire school community. I invite you to listen to Bishop Greg’s homily.
OUR NEW SCHOOL LEADERS
On Tuesday at our Opening School Mass in McCarthy Hall, we joined together as a Christian community in fellowship to both mark the commencement of another school year and to commission our new Year 6 leaders. As always, we thank Fr. Max for his leadership of our Christian community and for celebrating the Mass. Thanks also to Mrs Jones and the Mission Team for their work in preparing for this Mass.
Below are the names of our new School Leaders for 2024 and the Leadership Portfolio they occupy. Our Year 6 students have already demonstrated themselves to be fine leaders in the way they have commenced the new school year, the effort they are putting into the classwork and the amazing way they are supporting their Kindergarten buddies.
Beginning of Year Mass
AMENDMENT TO SCHEDULED STAFF DEVELOPMENT DAYS
There was an error in the previously communicated dates for our Staff Development Days for the year. Specifically, this included the inadvertent addition of an extra Pupil Free Day to our 2024 calendar. I deeply regret this oversight and any confusion it may have caused you and your family. To rectify this, we have now cancelled the Staff Development Day that was scheduled for Monday, 19 August. This will now revert to a regular school day for all students.
Please find below a revised version of the 2024 school dates, which reflects this change. As you are aware, we are committed to providing clear and timely communications here at St Joseph's, and it is hoped that advising you of this change several months in advance will allow you to reschedule your own commitments accordingly.
Your understanding and flexibility here are greatly appreciated.
PARENT-TEACHER INTERVIEWS
Our first Parent Teacher interviews for 2024 are scheduled for Week 5 for Kindergarten and Week 6 for Years 1-6. These will be with the class year-level teacher. We look forward to this early opportunity to discuss how your child is settling into the year and some of our early academic data. These bookings are now open on the Compass App under Conferences.
NAPLAN FOR YEARS 3 AND 5 2024
The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) is a point-in-time assessment of literacy and numeracy skills. Each year, students in Years 3, 5, 7, and 9 participate in tests for writing, reading, conventions of language (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and numeracy.
NAPLAN is held in Term 1 and will take place from Wednesday, 13th March to Monday, 18th of March. Students will need to ensure they have working headphones for the NAPLAN tests.
NAPLAN tests are just one part of our school's learning assessment program, and questions are primarily based on knowledge, understanding and skills gained from the prior year of schooling.
In preparation for NAPLAN 2024, our school will undertake activities to help students become familiar with the format and functionality of the online tests. These activities are not an assessment of student ability and will not be marked.
Students and parents can access the public demonstration site (https://www.nap.edu.au/online-assessment/public-demonstration-site) to familiarise themselves with NAPLAN and the types of questions and tools available. Excessive preparation for NAPLAN is not required nor recommended. If you have any questions about NAPLAN, please contact your child’s teacher. Results will be available in mid-year and we will help parents to interpret these where necessary. Please see below the parent information sheet below about NAPLAN.
SCHOOL COMMUNITY GROUP FIRST MEETING - SAVE THE DATE
Please save the date for our first School Community Group meeting this term - Tuesday, 27th of February.
We have finalised the agenda; it is linked below. At this meeting, partly facilitated by Mrs Janita Thomson from the CSO, we will formally move to the new School Community Group model for parent engagement; this was the consensus from families last year when feedback was sought.
At that meeting, we will collaboratively determine when the best time to meet will be. We are also keen to seek some feedback on some of the changes we have made to the learning arrangements for 2024. Janita Thomson from the CSO will also be presenting on how we can build emotional intelligence and resilience in our children.
We’d love you to attend this meeting, scheduled for Tuesday, 27th of February from 6:30-7:45 (slightly extended). Here is a link to a form to RSVP.
SEEKING FEEDBACK
In past years, we have held stalls for Mothers Day, Fathers Day and Christmas for students to purchase gifts for their loved ones. This has been a fundraising initiative through the Parish School Forum, supported by our amazing parent volunteers. With the shift away from a fundraising PSF to a School Community Group, this is a good time to seek parent feedback on holding these stalls.
In considering the change, we are mindful of asking parents to spend more money, the environmental impact of the gifts and the opportunities that crafts provide for students to bring something they have made home. We are happy to move forward with what our parents and carers would prefer.
We are wondering whether families would prefer to
- continue with us holding gift stalls for these celebrations, or
- for each grade to spend time making a crafty keepsake to take home to their parents/carers.
We’d love you to complete this form to share your thoughts.
BIKE RIDERS REMINDER
We have a number of students who ride their bikes to school, which is fantastic. If your child rides, can we ask you to please reiterate the following expectations, which we will reinforce at school:
- Helmets must always be worn.
- We ask students to walk their bikes to the crossing at Main Street with the bikers and walkers.
- Students should ride at walking pace, mindful of pedestrians, when riding on the paths.
- Students should not engage in any unsafe riding behaviours.
Learning & Teaching News
MATHS IS EVERYWHERE!
Advice and tips on how to support your child's learning and instil a love of maths.
HELPING YOUR CHILD WITH MATHS
Our growing list of maths tips pages includes:
- How to help with primary school maths
- How your child learns to understand numbers
- Helping your child with measurements such as length, area, mass and volume
- Helping your child with arithmetic, counting, graphs and tables.
The Mathscots animation series helps students and their families to have fun while exploring maths and numeracy at school and home.
Mission News
ASH WEDNESDAY
Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the liturgical season of Lent. Years 3 to 6 joined our parish for Mass and K - 2 had a liturgy in the hall. It was wonderful for Kindy to join us for their first liturgy as members of our St Joey’s community. We discussed what Lent is about, what the ashes were made of, prayed and sang songs together.
SHROVE TUESDAY
Our students loved their pancakes on Shrove Tuesday. My sincerest thanks to our parent volunteers who cooked a whopping 200 pancakes and delivered them to our classrooms. Our students were very grateful and their smiles said it all! It’s an enjoyable tradition to remind us we are about to enter the season of Lent where we hope to grow closer to Jesus through prayer and reach out to others in service and charity.
RECONCILIATION INFORMATION NIGHT
Just a friendly reminder that all students in Year 4 and above who have been Confirmed are eligible to make their First Reconciliation. Students must make this sacrament prior to receiving First Communion later this year.
Our Information Night is this Wednesday, 21st February, at 6pm in the staffroom for parents and students.
Attendance Matters
Attending school regularly helps children feel better about school and themselves. Help your child to learn that going to school on time, every day is important.
Reinforcing the idea that attending school regularly is crucial for a positive school experience. Foster a love for learning by encouraging your child's natural curiosity.
Help your child to see school as a place to explore new ideas, discover interests, and develop a lifelong passion for learning. Foster positive social connections at school by encouraging friendships. Knowing that they have friends to look forward to can motivate children to attend school regularly.
Sport News
What a busy start to the year we have had in the world of sport; from school sport, to Zone, and soon to be Diocesan competitions! See below for further information.
SWIMMING
At the end of last year we completed our school swimming carnival, which had a number of students successful in attending the Zone Carnival last week. We were so fortunate to have such lovely weather, and our children represented our school with great pride and sportsmanship.
From our 29 children in attendance, 5 children were successful in their races and will be competing at the Diocesan Carnival in Macksville, on Friday, 1st March.
We wish Zeke Kubils, Sully Mitchell, Rory Quinlan, Jack Kubils and Riley Iverson the best of luck.
WINTER SPORTS TRIALS
Over the last few weeks, children from Stage 3 had the chance to trial to represent our school at the Zone Winter Sports Trials.
Of these students, the following were successful:
- Rugby Union: Zeke Kubils and Hugh Woolley.
- Rugby League: Zeke Kubils.
- Netball: Lulu Barnes and Maggie Wilkie.
- Football (Soccer): Zaydie Zubani, Sully Mitchell, Dannon Pucci McDermott, Harry Collins, Henry Buchanan and Michael Gallagher.
- Hockey: Emma Quinlan, James Cormick, Harry Hosking and Tyler Webster.
The Rugby Union Zone trials were held last Thursday, with both Zeke and Hugh being selected to represent our Zone later this term. Congratulations boys.
We wish our other competitors luck as they compete this Thursday after school.
Around the School
Kindergarten Creatives!
Kindergarten have been very creative in class. They used their iPads to take a photo of themselves and created gorgeous self portraits!
Stage 1 Super Stars!
Stage 1 students have been busy learning in literacy and mathematics. The smiling faces show just how much they are enjoying themselves.
Stage 2 STEM
Stage 2 students have been investigating how plants grow. They dissected flowers and learnt the names of each part.
Stage 3 Scientists & Buddies
Students in Stage 3 have been learning about photosynthesis in STEM. They are also being terrific role models for our younger students.
STAGE 3 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION - EXPLORING PRAYER THROUGH ART
Our students embarked on a spiritual journey, blending prayer and visual arts in our Religious Education unit. Their artworks, inspired by exploring the layers of The Lord's Prayer and trees, beautifully connected faith and creativity. This fusion showcased the enduring power of prayer and the universal language of art.
Wellbeing News
COOL KIDS AND COOL LITTLE KIDS PROGRAMS - WITH ‘O’ OUR COUNSELLOR
Welcome to Term 1, 2024.
Hi everyone, for those who have not met me yet, my name is Ofunneka Anyanwu, popularly referred to as “O”, and I am the School Counsellor. I would like to formally welcome you to St. Joey’s and I hope you and your children have had a positive start to the term.
As part of my role, I run several individual and group sessions to cater to the Wellbeing needs of the children at Joey’s.
I am running groups again this year for our anxiety management programs: Cool Kids and Cool Little Kids. These programs are evidence-based programs based on Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT).
Cool Kids is targeted at school-age kids, ages 7-12 (Cool Kids), and helps the kids learn ways to manage anxiety so that it no longer interferes with their (and your) everyday lives. Cool Kids with Autism Spectrum (ASD) adaptation is also available.
Cool Little Kids caters to children ages 3-6 years of age, this program focuses on teaching young children, through their parents, to build confidence and develop skills to help them manage anxiety and other negative emotions as they grow.
If you feel that your child may benefit from this support, please do not hesitate to contact their class teachers to initiate the Wellbeing process. If you need additional information, please email me ofunneka.anyanwu@lism.catholic.edu.au . I am happy to answer any questions. For more information about the program please visit the Macquarie University website https://www.mq.edu.au/research/research-centres-groups-and-facilities/centres/lifespan-health-and-wellbeing
PLAYGROUND GAMES - STRUCTURED PLAY
As part of our improvement work developing our whole-school approach to pastoral care, we have introduced our Enrichment Tutors in playground support roles. Our focus is on inclusive games where students of all ages and abilities have the opportunity to enjoy fun teacher-supported games with new and old friends.
Our Enrichment Tutor led games will take place on the upper playground at both lunch and recess. Every lunchtime, students have the opportunity to participate in a range of different sports and games. We are delighted to have Mrs Moran, our Year 3 Enrichment Tutor, sharing her expertise in netball coaching each week as part of this rotation. During Recess each day, one stage has the opportunity to play an umpired and inclusive soccer game with an Enrichment Tutor.
We have moved our dedicated ‘Kindy Play’ area to beside the After School Care building. This area promotes friendship building between our Kinder students and a dedicated space they can always find friends. Our Kindy Play area includes new large foam shapes for construction, a home corner and sand tray play.
Library News
For Your Information
FEES REMINDER
A reminder that Term 1 Tuition and Technology Fees are due on 28/02/2024.
If you haven’t already done so, please contact the school office by email if you would like to pay your fees accounts by instalments (these payment instalments should have already commenced). Please also contact the school office or Mr Challinor (by email) if you have any financial concerns that are impacting your ability to pay your fees accounts.
MEDICAL RECORDS
It is most important that we have up to date, accurate medical information for all students at all times. If your child/ren have any changes to their medical needs (ie. no longer have an asthma action plan in place), could you please email us alstp@lism.catholic.edu.au so that we can update their profiles accordingly?
BOOM GATE ISSUES
At times we experience issues with the operation of our boom gate, and this requires us to use Traffic Cones rather than the gate itself.
It is for the safety of our students that these traffic cones must remain in place for the same duration as if the boom gate was down.
Under no circumstances are these to be manually moved out of the way of an entering/exiting vehicle. This is a violation of our Traffic Safety Plan and directly impacts the safety of all in our school community, especially our students.
SCHOOL PHOTOS
Our 2024 School Photo Day is scheduled for Tuesday March 26. Order envelopes (cash orders) have been sent home with the eldest child in each family, and if missed or lost can be collected from the office. Sibling order envelopes are also available from the office. Online orders are preferable using the information below, code is FVN BRY PY4.
Celebrations
Happy birthday to all of the students who celebrated a birthday since our last newsletter. We hope you had a wonderful birthday!
- Hugo McCall
- Myah Flanagan
- Ocean Appelkamp
Coming Events
Use the link above to see all of the coming events for Joeys!
Parish News
PARENT INFORMATION NIGHT SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION
Children who have received the Sacrament of Confirmation are eligible to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation. This is an important step in their faith journey, which began with their Baptism.
Reconciliation will be offered by Fr. Max Gow on Tuesday, 12th March 2024 at 6.00pm.
If you believe that your child is ready to receive this Sacrament please complete the enrolment form (which can be downloaded from the parish website or copies available from St Joseph’s School) and return to the Parish Office by Thursday 29th February.
Parents who wish their child to receive this Sacrament are asked to attend one meeting, which will be held at Our Lady of the Rosary Church, Alstonville. Your child is also expected to attend this meeting. This information meeting will take place on Wednesday 21st February 2024 at 6.00pm.
Fr Max Gow
Community News
DO YOU HAVE A YOUNG STORYTELLER??
Join author Zanni Louise for a series of masterclasses where students will learn and experiment with a range of creative writing techniques and genres. Classes are designed to be fun and celebrate the joy of storytelling. Students gain confidence in writing and work towards an end of year story. The groups' stories will be compiled in a printed Anthology. They will receive 1 copy as part of the program. You can also buy additional copies - please note the Anthology will be available at the end of the program in December.
This is a FREE year-long program 5 sessions per term - Registration essential.
Dates: for Term 1 - 2024
- Thursday 15 February
- Thursday 29 February
- Thursday 14 March
- Thursday 28 March
- Thursday 11 April
Time: 5 – 6.30pm - you will receive a reminder email 1 day before classes so you can pop it in the diary.
Suitable For: 8 – 12 years
Lismore Pop-up Library 146 Molesworth St, Lismore NSW 2480
POSITION VACANT - CATHOLIC SCHOOLS OFFICE LISMORE
Parent Assembly Coordinator - Catholic Schools Office
Any parents who may be interested in a role at the CSO. Good role for anyone wanting to work part-time; 3 days per week during each term (12month contract).
