Dear Parents and Carers,

The past few weeks have been a very busy time.

Last week I attended the principal’s gathering for term one.  There were many topics under discussion including the move to online testing for NAPLAN and the nationally consistent collection of data to name a few.  Our staff has already been working to ensure that we are ready for these processes to come online this year.

As such Mrs Best and myself are attending further briefings about this today.

The first few days of this week has seen us travel to Jindabyne for our Yr.3 to 6 camp.  This was a new location for us and threw up a number interesting challenges for the children.  It was most impressive to see all of our students reach the summit of Mt Kosciuszko.

This proved to be much more of a challenge than expected for a number of students!  Still tackling a challenge such as this and successfully completing it – left many felling very proud of their efforts, and rightly so.

One big take away message was less haste more thought.  Some children were in such a rush to complete an activity that they missed vital instructions and actually couldn’t begin the task at hand.  It reinforced the value of slow down and enjoy this moment, no need to rush to the next.

Camp also has enabled the children to spend time together and get to know each other away from the routine of school and the comfort of home.  Many of the children commented that they learned things about others that were interesting.  It is my hope that the new connections that the children established will continue to grow as this year progresses. 

Thank you to Miss Schneider for organising the excursion and Mrs Best for being willing to participate in the excursion, their efforts ensured that it was a successful few days. 

I trust that your children enjoyed themselves, and remembered Trev’s final words of wisdom about two things – talking to Mum and Dad about your accomplishments on camp and thanking those who made the adventure possible.

Although I have not heard from our K-2 people directly, I hear that they have been busy with a number of different activities this week.

Thanks you to those children who took on tasks that are normally carried out by the older students!

Please check in with your children to ensure that they have enough to eat during the school day.

At present, a number of the children are eating most of the food in their lunch box during recess and are running low on energy at lunchtime.

Swimming – good luck to William, Genevieve, Hamish and Xanthe, who will swim at the Mackillop Swimming Carnival next Wednesday. Please ensure that your child’s clothing is clearly labelled with their name, so that items that have been misplaced can be returned quickly.

At present we have a size 12 tracksuit top looking for an owner.

Excess furniture – we currently have some older style desks that are no longer needed here at school.  These may be useful at at your home, for example they could be used as art tables or a homework space.  If you would like to view the excess tables, please contact Therese Clancy.

Our school calendar is updated every week and can be accessed through our school website at: www.stjosephsgrenfell.nsw.edu.au Please let us know if you are not receiving the Schoolzine updates once you have installed the SZapp.

Additional dates include the regular P & F meetings that are traditionally held on the third Tuesday of the month during term time.

21/05/19          18/06/19          16/07/19

20/08/19          17/09/19          15/10/19

19/11/19          17/12/19         

Sincerely,

Therese Clancy