11 March 2025 (Week 6 Term 1 2025)
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Dear St Joseph’s Community
I want to begin by sincerely thanking you for your patience and support during the school this past week. We recognise that these disruptions can be challenging, and we truly appreciate your cooperation as we navigated the evolving situation.
Thank you for your understanding of the late shift to supervision on Wednesday and for the call to collect your children if you were able. The situation changed rapidly, requiring us to pivot quickly. Thanks for your patience while we called children down to car pick up. We even managed to send children home with their canteen orders!
I would also like to acknowledge our school leaders, teachers and staff. Their calming presence helped ensure the students remained calm and knew that they were safe. We are lucky to have such an amazing team of people at St Joseph’s!
We are very fortunate that the storm dissipated without the forecast destruction and that we are able to return to school with minimal issues.
The Start of Lent
Lent is a season of reflection, prayer, and renewal in the lead-up to Easter. It lasts for 40 days, beginning on Ash Wednesday, and is a time when Christians focus on growing closer to God through prayer, fasting, and acts of kindness. It invites us to pause, reflect on our lives, and prepare our hearts for the joy of Easter.
We prepared for the fast with a feast on Tuesday with Shrove Tuesday pancakes. Thanks so much to Mrs Jones for organising and for our parent helpers, Tahlia Molyneux, Ben Smith, Simone Green and Kelly Fields who did the cooking. Our students really enjoyed this wonderful treat!
Unfortunately, with the change of situation on Wednesday, we were unable to move ahead with our Ash Wednesday service and distribution of the ashes. While we were not able to mark the beginning of Lent in the usual way, we remain committed to observing this sacred season through prayer, reflection, and acts of kindness. We encourage our students and families to embrace the Lenten journey as a time of renewal and preparation for Easter.
NAPLAN
NAPLAN commences this week for students in Years 3 and 5. Students are assessed in the areas of Writing, Reading, Conventions of Language (grammar, punctuation, etc.), and Numeracy.
NAPLAN is a national literacy and numeracy assessment. It provides a ‘point-in-time’ assessment allowing students the opportunity to show us what they know, understand and can do in relation to literacy and numeracy. As a school, we use this data to shape our school’s strategic directions as well as using the data to inform classroom practice.
We wish our Year 3 and 5 students every success with completing NAPLAN this year.
First School Community Group Meeting 2025
We have our first School Community Group Meeting for 2025 tomorrow evening from 6:30pm - 7:45pm. Please feel free to attend in person in the staffroom or via Zoom.
Here is the link to the agenda.
Does this time not work for you? Please share times and days that might better suit you to attend via the survey.
Here is a link to register to attend and contribute to the agenda.
Scripture Reflection
As we enter the first week of Lent, the Gospel of Luke (4:1-13) reminds us of Jesus’ time in the wilderness, where He fasted and faced temptation. In these forty days, Jesus shows us what it means to trust completely in God, resisting the easy path and staying faithful to His mission.
As parents, we too experience moments of challenge—times when patience runs thin, when responsibilities feel overwhelming, or when we are tempted to take shortcuts in raising our children. Jesus’ response to temptation encourages us to remain steadfast, drawing strength from prayer and the Word of God.
This Lent, let us embrace the wilderness moments in our own lives, trusting that God provides all we need. Through small sacrifices, acts of kindness, and time spent in prayer, we can journey with Christ and model faith for our children, leading them closer to Him.
You are invited to listen to Bishop Greg’s Homily from Sunday’s Mass.
The library contains learning resources for class or home. K-2 English and Mathematics resources are now available.
St Joseph’s Feast Day & Term 1 Community Day
We look forward to celebrating our patron saint’s feast day with a Liturgy of the Word in the hall next Wednesday, 19th March at time TBC for our whole school. Families are warmly invited to join us for the liturgy.
We will then move into vertical groups to enjoy community day rotation activities. These include outside novelty games, craft and a STEM challenge!
Harmony Day Celebration - Friday, 21st March
To celebrate Harmony Day, as well as being a casual clothes day, we are inviting our families to come in and share your family culture with your child’s class. It is a wonderful opportunity to develop understanding and respect for different cultures and further strengthen the sense of belonging felt in our community.
Project Compassion
This Lent, we’re invited to Unite Against Poverty with Caritas Australia’s Project Compassion. This year is especially significant as we celebrate the Jubilee Year - a time of renewal and solidarity.
Our Year 6 Mission Leaders have planned some fundraising events for this cause. Our first event is a cake stall on Monday, 31st March. Please bring some money to buy a delicious treat. We would love any donations of baked goods for this stall! Please drop them into the school hall before school or throughout the morning.
Watch the Introduction to Project Compassion film HERE to be inspired by 3 powerful stories of resilience and strength, and learn the impact that your support can have on vulnerable communities around the world.
Bishop Greg’s Lenten Talk Series
The Jubilee Year of Hope – Bishop Greg’s talks will be held on Mondays (10, 17 & 24 March) and will begin at 6pm at St Mary’s Chapel. They will also be available to view on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/LismoreDioceseAU
A couple of weeks ago, on Friday, our combined Cross Country was held at Coraki. We would like to thank St Joseph’s Coraki for hosting the event and then welcoming us back to their school for lunch. Our students had a great time and congratulations everyone for participating.
Our place-getters from each age group are listed below. Those going through to Zone will receive information soon.
SCHOOL PHOTO DAY
School photographs are scheduled to be taken by advancedlife on Tuesday, 1st April.
It is our preference that ordering be completed online. Order envelopes are available from the office for those who prefer to pay using cash - correct money please. These envelopes are given directly to the photographer on photo day and no change can be given.
Sibling photo order envelopes are available from the office upon request.
You will have received an email with further information including payment options.
Orders for packages and sibling photographs can be placed securely online at www.advancedlife.com.au using our school’s unique 9 digit advanced order code:
FVN BRY PY4
Portrait and group package orders are due by photography day.
Should you have any queries concerning school photographs or online ordering, please direct them via email to: enquiries@advancedlife.com.au
Rescheduled Yr 1-6 Parent Teacher Meetings
Our Parent-Teacher Meetings, postponed from last week, have been rescheduled for Wednesday 26 and Thursday 27 March. Teachers will have appointment times available in the mornings and afternoons across these two days. A reminder we can only accommodate one booking per child.
These meetings provide an opportunity to discuss your child’s Maths Assessment Interview and DIBELS Literacy strengths and areas for growth and how they are settling into the new school year. We understand parents may have questions as well. To ensure all families have adequate time, each meeting will be limited to 15 minutes. If a longer discussion is needed, your child’s teacher can arrange a follow-up meeting at a later date.
Bookings are available through the Conference function on Compass and are now open. Bookings will close on Monday, March 24 at 4:00 pm.
Your child is welcome to attend the meeting with you, but this is not necessary.
Thank you for your ongoing support—we look forward to meeting with you.
