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Dear parents,
We had a bumper Mufti Day and Sausage Sizzle last Friday! Thank you for the gold coin donations for Project Compassion; your support is always greatly appreciated. Special thanks to Sheridan Hunter and Sally Metcalfe from the School Community Council for coordinating the delicious Sausage Sizzle which was hugely enjoyed by the children.
Thanks also for making sure the children looked spic and span for the school photos on Monday!
Exciting New beginnings for our School – Please Join us at this Important Event!
As you may know, our school, has been chosen to establish a School Community Council under a new and inclusive model. The council has a key role in supporting the St Joseph’s community of parents, carers, students and staff in building an open, inclusive, welcoming and collaborative school community environment.
The School Community Council will advise the principal on important matters and provide support to the principal and school leadership team in their decision-making process.
This new model emphasises the importance of parents and carers being involved in partnering with the school and the way this helps your children in their education. All parents of students attending the school are now Community Members of the Council who are encouraged and welcome to attend council meetings and attend council led activities.
ALL St Joseph’s parents and carers are warmly invited to join the inaugural School Community Council meeting and social. Be part of this exciting new beginning that empowers all community members to support our school. We hope every family will be represented.
Tuesday 19th March at 6.00pm
Please complete the Google Form at this link to register your attendance:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1E5oO-m6s0nPkfZA-mx1AJgcOhmZxvenlou6feMPHXXM/edit#responses
I am excited by the idea of having a School Community Council and hope you will also see this as another chance to support your school, and your children and build a strong, inclusive school community.
NAPLAN 2024
Next month, 13th -15th March, children in Year 3, 5, will participate in NAPLAN assessments.
The children have been experiencing some NAPLAN practise sessions so that they are familiar with the types of questions they will encounter and the platform for the assessments.
Parents and Carers, please note that unless your child is ill, it is very important that they attend school on the days the assessments are scheduled. Thank you!
NAPLAN is just one aspect of a school’s assessment and reporting process. It does not replace ongoing assessments made by teachers about student performance, but it can provide teachers with additional information about students’ educational progress.
For more information, please follow this link:
Parent and Teacher Conferences
We trust that parents, carers and teachers found the Parent and Teacher Conferences informative and helpful this week. Please remember that teachers are always available should you have questions or areas you would like to discuss. Appointments can be made by emailing teachers or phoning Nichola/Sheridan at the Office.
MPS Visits
St Joseph’s monthly visits to the residents at MPS will commence this coming Monday, 4th March. Year 5 and 6 students will get the ball rolling and we look forward to another positive year of collaboration with April and the team.
High Impact Teaching Strategies Coaching Visit
We were pleased to welcome Alice Smith from CogLearn to St Joseph’s earlier this week. Alice is our High Impact teaching Strategies coach and Alice and I very much enjoyed visiting classrooms and observing the student levels of engagement and the progress we have made as we embed high impact teaching strategies across the curriculum in every classroom.
In Conclusion…
Next week, I will be attending the annual Principal’s Retreat where principals from all 56 schools in the Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn come together in unity and enjoy a time of reflection, prayer and spiritual nourishment. My thoughts and prayers will of course be with the St Joseph’s community during this time.
Consequently, the next newsletter will be published in Week 7.
Please do join us for the Yr 2/3/4 Liturgy on Wednesday 6th March next week at the Church, our first class Mass of 2024.
In the meantime, please do register your attendance at the upcoming School Community Council event and we will look forward very much to getting the community together then.
With best wishes,
Louise Grant
Acting Principal
Prayer
Just as short prayers can help enrich our faith lives during Lent, Bible passages can also help us reflect on and draw meaning from the season.
Isaiah 30:18 – The Lord Longs To Be Gracious To You
Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!
Mufti Day
On behalf of the St Joseph’s community, we would like to thank Mrs Metcalfe and Mrs Hunter for their contributions to last week’s Mufti Day celebration.
WOW! We would also like to acknowledge the generosity of students and their families as this past month we have raised a record amount of money for ‘Project Compassion.’ The thoughtful donations are a representation of the kindness within our united community!
Photos Below
Grenfell Parish
MASS TIMES:
SUNDAY: 8.00am Mass (2nd & 4th Sun) 8.00am Communion Service (1st & 3rd and any 5th Sunday)
RECONCILIATION: Sunday (7.30am - 7.45am)
WEEKEND MASS TIMES AT YOUNG AND BOOROWA
YOUNG: 6.00pm (SAT) & 10.00am (SUN)
BOOROWA: 5.00pm (SUN)
Canberra-Goulburn Cursillo Retreat
12 - 14 April 2024, St Clements Retreat Centre, Galong
A Cursillo retreat offers you the opportunity to deepen your faith life through a program of talks, meditations and prayer. Consider Christ's invitation to renew your relationship with Him and share friendship with others.
Welcome back to the school year and the transition to our new and exciting School Community Council.
As our first meeting is a little way off it has been decided to proceed with our Easter Egg raffle. The students (and parents) have great delight in drawing this at the school before the Easter break.
The community council will donate the first prize of a seafood platter valued at $200. We are asking for families to kindly donate easter eggs to contribute to the other prizes. Eggs can be left at the school front office. Tickets will be sent home this week so encourage the children to visit the neighbours, grandparents and other friends and relatives.
The school community council is moving forward with the planning of our outdoor learning area. This is going to be on the Young Street side of the library. The area is to be fenced and include garden beds for the students to utilise. We are awaiting quotes for the remainder of the fencing and the purposely built garden beds. Hopefully we should have these to consider at our next meeting.
The Landcare/Woolworths grants have opened up for this year. The “Landcare grants program gives children across the country an opportunity to get hands-on with environmental and sustainability projects, learn new skills and knowledge, connect with their peers and enjoy the wellbeing benefits of time spent outdoors in nature.” The school community council will be applying again this year to seek financial assistance for our garden area. If your speciality is creative writing for grants, we would love to hear from you!
A reminder of our first meeting to be held on Tuesday 19th of March 2024
Thanks
Bec Knight
Western Region Swimmoning Carnival - Cootamundra
Last Thursday 22nd February, St. Joseph’s sent a team of 9 students to Cootamundra to compete in the Western Region Swimming Carnival. Competition was fierce and our team represented our school well. Huge improvements were made on our submitted times, and everyone gave it their best shot.
Congratulations goes to our Small Schools Relay Team (Ariahana, Saskia, Jed and Lorelei) that placed 2nd and to Saskia on coming 2nd in the Senior Girls 50m Breastroke and Butterfly.
A big thank you to parents for taking the time to bring students, to Jed’s dad and Heidi’s mum for volunteering to be a timekeeper and to Saskia’s mum for organising students to the marshalling area. Your help was greatly appreciated.
It was a pleasure to see everyone giving it your best and cheering each other on.
Awesome effort.
Cindy Washbrook
Sports Coorindator
