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Dear Parents and Carers,
Welcome to the final newsletter for 2024! The festive season is well underway at school, and we are enjoying lots of Christmas cheer! Please see below for details of upcoming events where we hope you will join the festivities.
Before the look forward, let’s look back at last week and especially at the Awards Presentation Evening 2023. It was great to see parents and Carers out in force supporting this event and really wonderful to see the pride the children showed in their achievements. Thank you, community members, parents and friends, for your terrific support! I would also like to thank the staff for all their energy, creativity and enthusiasm to ensure that the school looked it’s best and all the proceedings ran smoothly.
Intensive Swimming Programme
We have been very fortunate for the children to have enjoyed such perfect weather for the Swimming Programme and it seems we will make it through the week with continued fine weather. Having such a strong team of instructors is something that we should not take for granted and I know you will join me in a heartfelt thank you to Leanne Logan and her outstanding team at the Grenfell Pool.
It has been very pleasing to see the progress the children have made during the programme. Swimming and water safety are such important concepts and we encourage families to help the children consolidate the skills they have gained by making regular visits to the pool over the Summer and having the children show you the drills they have been experiencing. Enjoy!
Kindergarten Nativity
What a joy! The Kindergarten and year 1 children perform a truly charming rendition of the Nativity for the parents on Wednesday and showed great confidence, co-operation and joyfulness. Congratulations and thank you to Mrs best and the Kindergarten Team! The Yr 2 - 6 children will have the chance to watch a repeat performance Thursday afternoon and we are sure they too will be enthralled by the children’s wonderful performance.
Central Tablelands Water Visit
We were delighted to welcome representatives from Central Tablelands Water to St Joseph's on Friday. The children showed great interest in learning about how the water is sourced and transported and they asked many impressive questions during the discussion. We were also impressed with their ideas for conserving water and hope that the children will keep these ideas in mind and perhaps even discover some new ways of conserving this precious resource.
Thank you to Central Tablelands water for the drink bottles too!
End of Year Celebration and Year 6 Graduation Mass – This Wednesday 13th December at 6.00pm
We gave thanks to God for all the blessings of 2023 and especially our Year 6 graduating students on Wednesday night. Our community came together in unity at at St Joseph's Church. It was wonderful to see so many members of the community join us for this event.
Christmas Fair – Friday 15th December at Vaughan Park
From 5.30pm, please join the fun at this community event.
Christmas Carols - Sunday 17th December 5.30 for 6.00pm Start at Taylor Park
All the children K-6 have been preparing for this event and we look forward to the St Joseph’s children presenting the carols they have been working on during this community event.
Please Support St Joseph’s Fund Raising…
Our St Joseph’s Parent and Friends Association has been kindly invited to host the BBQs for the above two events. This is potentially an excellent fundraising opportunity for the school and more importantly, a great way for St Joseph’s to contribute to the wider Grenfell community. We will need lots of helpers for these events so please do keep these dates free and do volunteer to support our school and the local community.
Semester 2 Reports
We are pleased to share with you your child’s Semester 2 Report is available on Compass. Please do let us know if you have had any request
Student School Leadership at St Joseph’s
The school captains and house captains for 2024 were announced during the Mass on Wednesday this week. Georgia Conron and Saskia McLelland were announced as our 2024 School Captains. Our House Captains for 2024 are Lorelei Floyd and Zayneb Assoum (Xavier), Ariahana Batinich and Grace Reeves (Dominic) and Jack Ryan (Augustine). Thank you again to all the nominees for their thoughtful ideas and dedication to St Joseph's.
Best wishes to Danielle McFarlane from all of us!
Danielle will be commencing parental leave at the beginning of February 2024, and I am sure all St Joseph’s community members join me in wishing her and Dugald all the very best for the most exciting life adventure when Baby McFarlane arrives next year.
It is difficult to imagine St Joseph’s without Mrs McFarlane/Ms Schneider! Danielle is a very dedicated and hardworking teacher and leader who gives excellence to everything she undertakes. Danielle is an integral member of our team, and I am personally very grateful to Danielle for her friendship and support during the past six months.
On behalf of every student, parents and staff member, thank you Danielle! You will be greatly missed!
Staffing 2024
We are pleased to share with you the staffing plans for St Joseph’s, with very few changes which will enable us to maintain all important stability for the students.
K/1 Loyola Best and Natalie Caruana
Yr 2/3/4 Lachlan Martens and Leslie King (also Librarian)
Yr5/6 Chelsea Harveyson and Cindy Washbrook
Office Administration: Nichola Baker (Monday and Tuesday) Sheridan Bowden (Wednesday – Friday)
Classroom Support Assistants: Taylor Hutson, Sally Metcalfe, Sue Tenhave
Religious Education Coordinator (Acting): Chelsea Harveyson
Principal (Acting:) Louise Grant
We look forward to welcoming Natalie Caruana to the St Joseph’s Team in 2024. Natalie comes to us with a wealth of knowledge and experience both in teaching and in a broad range of other arenas. Natalie and her family are close neighbours coming from Bumbaldry and very much involved in the local community.
In Conclusion…
We are hoping to see you all at St Joseph's Church for the End of year Celebration and Year 6 Graduation Mass. This event provides the perfect opportunity for us to give thanks for all the blessings of 2023.
Hoping that your family will be able to attend the Carols event on Sunday when the St Joseph’s children will sing for the last time in 2023.
On behalf of all the St Joseph’s staff, wishing all our families and friends peace and joy at Christmas and every good wish for the new year!
Happy Christmas!
Louise Grant
Acting Principal
Year Six Graduation Mass
On Wednesday evening, we gathered to celebrate the end of Year Six’s primary schooling. Year Six’s chosen theme for their Graduation was ‘growth’. All students, over the course of their primary schooling, have demonstrated immense growth by means of countless experiences and their eagerness to harness opportunities to learn and grow. This growth journey will continue as they embark upon their next chapter in high school and, of course, will continue throughout their lives. May God bless each graduate with happy memories of their time at St Joseph’s School, which they will take forward with them into the future. Thank you to all families who joined us for this very special Mass.
School Christmas Food Drive - Grenfell Food Hall
Earlier this week, our Mini Vinnies group presented all of the donations that had been collected to representatives of the Grenfell Food Hall and shared some Christmas cheer with a beautiful rendition of ‘We Wish You a Merry Christmas’. Well done, Mini Vinnies!
Kindergarten and Year One Nativity Play
Students in Kindergarten and Year One performed a beautiful Nativity Play to a large gathering of their parents on Tuesday. The students had been practising the play in class for a number of weeks and all of their hard work paid off in spades. Well done to all involved!
Sunday Gospel Reflection (December 17)
Gospel John 1:6-8, 19-28
In the Sunday Gospel we are reminded of two things; first, the power of the Light of Christ, and secondly, the call to be a witness to this Light. The striking image of Light and Dark is ever-present throughout the Bible. Light provides direction, it is a guide, and it radiates most powerfully in the darkness.
Scientifically speaking, there is great power in light: One candle (measuring one lumen), can be seen in a perfect line of sight up to 12 kms away in pitch black darkness. In today’s Gospel we are reminded of the power of our witness that has the capacity to change lives, and to give hope! Like that lone candle shining into complete darkness, when we place Christ at the centre of our own lives, His light is able to shine its brightest into the lives and hearts of those whom we lead. Our world, and the human heart, can harbour great darkness at times in the form of suffering, sickness, trauma, anxiety. Our humble witness to the truth
has the potential to shine the Light of Christ into this darkness, and be a guide to those in our communities and schools.
Lord of Light,
We pray that you would give us the grace to live a life that places You at the centre. May our relationship with You, through the power of the Holy Spirit, be a light that shines in the darkness.
Amen.
Student Prayer of the Week
Prayer for the End of School Year
At the end of this school year, we give thanks to God:
For all the teaching and learning that has taken place in our school, both in and out of the classroom. For the talents and gifts that have been shared and the challenges that have been faced.
For the burdens that have been lifted and the hurts that have been healed;
For the respect and care that has been given.
We give thanks for the friendships that have just begun and for those that have grown.
For the faith that has been lived in our daily struggles;
For the hope that has lifted our hearts on the dark days and for the love that has kept us going.
We give thanks for the community that we are, and we ask you Lord - Bless our students;
May your Spirit inspire them with confidence and calmness;
Bless our families as we take our holidays, may our time together leave us with memories to cherish. Pour out your love on us that we may return renewed and refreshed to continue our journey together.
We make this prayer through Christ our Lord.
Amen
Final Christmas Message
I wanted to take this opportunity to wish you all, together with all those you love, a very Merry and Blessed Christmas. May it be filled with faith, joy, and treasured memories. I also pray that all students enjoy the summer holiday period (I am sure they will!), whatever it is they may get up to. I look forward to visiting everyone next year during my maternity leave.
Yours in Faith,
Danielle McFarlane
Religious Education Coordinator
Christmas Timetable Mass Times
Weekend Masses:
Sat. 23rd Dec - Young Vigil - 6.00pm
- Boorowa Vigil - 6.00pm
- Grenfell Vigil - 6.00pm
Sun. 24th Dec - Young Mass - 10.00am
Christmas Eve: - Young Vigil (outdoors) - 6.00pm
Sun. 24th Dec - Boorowa Vigil - 6.00pm
Christmas Day: - Grenfell Mass - 8.00am
Mon. 25th Dec - Binalong Mass - 9.00am
- Young Mass - 10.00am
