Principal's Report
Dear parents and carers,
Last Friday was a great day to be supporting a worthy cause. The weather was challenging but it was great to be warm and comfortable in our jeans and boots!
This week has seen much activity in each of our classrooms, visits to 5/6 have coincided with a discussion around how the world and in particular dance has changed over the decades. K/1 have been working on their narratives with some very interesting storylines in progress. 2/3/4 have been looking at completing research about various cultural groups, and I was part of a very interesting discussion about the things that different cultures bring to us including games, foods and clothing not to mention the significance of colours.
This week, we also had a visit with Healthy Harold and Rae from Life Education. These sessions were great reminders on things that we need to be doing to keep ourselves healthy in a physical mental and virtual sense. Given the changes in our world, these messages have come at a very good time.
Considering the current challenges being thrown up by the pandemic, we will be moving our open day to an online format. We plan to stream activities for you next Friday. Information about how to access this event will come out to you early next week.
While it is disappointing that you won’t be able to join us in person, we look forward to sharing our learning with you in this virtual format.
P & F – information was sent home yesterday reminding everyone of the upcoming P & F meeting on Tuesday. The meeting will be conducted via Zoom. Please return your details to school so that we can get the link to you. I look forward to seeing you at the meeting.
The annual satisfaction survey of parents, students and staff is being conducted on behalf of all Catholic schools in the Diocese this term. The surveys are designed to gather feedback from parents, staff and students about our school and will be used to inform school improvement. Responses are confidential and individuals cannot be identified. The surveys were launched via email on Friday 7 August 2020 using the email addresses supplied to the school.
Thank you to those families who have already responded to the 2020 survey. For those not able to access the link sent via email, please see below.
PARENTS WEBLINK
https://www.research.net/r/stjosephsgrenfellparent2020
Public Speaking - We have been working in conjunction with St Mary’s School at Young to prepare for our inter school public speaking event for this year. In 2020, we will be conducting this event online via Zoom in Week 9.Information about the event has been given to the children in Yrs. 2-6, they should be preparing their speech for our school-based event. All children will be participating in our school based public speaking. This will take place on 24/08 (Week 6).
Changes to routine - Thank you to those families who are keeping us informed when children are absent from school, or there are changes to the regular routine.
Please make it your custom to check in at the office if your children are running late to school – we appreciate your efforts to do this.
Reminder – now is a good time to check your children’s hair for nits. The season is beginning to change and often this can be a catalyst for an outbreak of nits. Please check and take action as appropriate.
In terms of our behaviour management, we are focusing on participating in all activities.
During this week we have spoken about making a conscious choice to be positive about lunchtime games. Choosing to keep the game moving means that more people get more chances to be involved in the game.
This also involves having a go at all activities that are available to us at school. Sometimes it is easy to say, “I don’t want to…” or “I don’t like that, so I don’t have to…”. Sadly, this is seen as an easy way to avoid trying out new activities. Whereas, a positive “can do” or “I can try this out” approach can open up chances to try out new activities and learnings.
Take care and stay safe,
