Dear Parents and Carers,

During this week we have been busy across many different areas of our learning.

During the week many of the children have helped out with planting some vegetables into the garden beds. We’ve planted snow peas, strawberries, spinach, beetroots, rocket, pak choy and carrots. We are hopeful that in the coming weeks we will be calling on you to help with cooking these vegies up into tasty treats once they ripen.

NAPLAN-congratulations to our Yr. 3 and Yr. 5 children who have completed the NAPLAN assessment program during this week. All assessments have been completed online expect for the Yr. 3 writing task. As has been reported in the media, we too experienced some dropouts and delays – this was challenging for both students and staff.

I would like to congratulate the children on the way that they have responded to these trying circumstances – I think you did a marvellous job working under these extra challenging conditions.

We have already provided feedback about these issues to NESA (NSW Education Standards Authority) and Catholic Education Canberra-Goulburn. When more specific feedback comes from NESA, we will forward that on to parents.

School Athletics Carnival - our Athletics Carnival was last Thursday and we were very lucky to have sunny conditions. Congratulations to all competitors on your efforts during the day – you did a great job.

Age champions are as follows:

Our age champions for 2018 are

Junior girl –Genevieve McLelland

Junior boy – Banjo Metcalfe

11yr. girl – Alyssa Heathcote

11 yr. boy – Cooper Biddle

Senior girl – Skye McLelland

Senior boy – William Wilson

Congratulations to everyone for their efforts.

Thank you to everyone who helped out on the day, your support is appreciated.

Thank you to Mrs Best for your efforts in coordinating and organising the carnival.

WR Cross country carnival – good luck to all students representing us at the Western Region cross country carnival set down for tomorrow in Murrumburrah. Reminder notes were sent home on Monday to those children in the team.

Registration renewal process – over the past two weeks we have been completing various aspects of our registration renewal process. This has included both a building review and a finance review. Initial feedback in both cases has been both very positive and constructive. On Monday the teaching and learning review team arrive and they will be at school with us until Wednesday afternoon. The review team comprising staff from our head office and principals/assistant principals/RECs. This review process takes place every five years and allows us to review processes and procedures to ensure that we are compliant with current regulations and practices.

We are looking forward to spending time with the team and showing them what we are doing in our classrooms at St Joseph’s.

As you will be aware, we have been preparing for the various different events that take place during the upcoming Henry Lawson Festival. During this week, we received news about the Henry Lawson Festival Writing Competition

The Henry Lawson Festival Verse and Short Story writing competition was well supported this year, with a large number of entries received from all over Australia.

Special congratulations go to the following students for their award winning entries:

Verse:

Blake Reeves - 'Earth' (2^nd)

Annie Nealon - 'The Simple Things' (Highly Commended)

Short Story:

Zi Jie Xia - 'The Worst Pirates' (Highly Commended)

Next Wednesday we will be participating in the National Simultaneous Storytime with children from the preschool – this year, we will be reading

Nits are a sensitive topic – we understand that the incidence of nits is a sensitive one, however, I encourage all families to monitor and take action as necessary.

Be aware that there have been several cases of nits reported. Please check your children’s heads and take the appropriate actions. Remember that shampoos only work if they are used at the right strength. Good ways to prevent nits include:

• Brush hair thoroughly every day
• Tie back long hair
• Check regularly for lice or eggs (nits) – take action as needed

People often say that regular use of conditioner is a very effective way to remove both eggs and lice.

All families are reminded that children whose hair is shoulder length or longer, should be wearing their hair tied back so as to keep the incidence of nits to a minimum.

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 be aware that we are required to keep the rolls up to date and that thorough explanations for absences enable us to do so.

Sincerely,