Dear Parents and Carers, 

Term 3 has been buzzing with excitement, learning, and community spirit. From excursions and special visitors to science experiments and creative celebrations, our students have been making the most of every opportunity. Here’s a snapshot of what we’ve been up to.

Healthy Harold Visits
Last week we had a visit from Healthy Harold, who helped students explore how to make positive choices for their health and wellbeing. The interactive sessions were fun, engaging, and a great reminder of the importance of looking after our bodies and minds.

K/1 Excursion to Cowra
Kindergarten and Year 1 enjoyed a wonderful day out in Cowra, exploring local landmarks and learning more about our region’s history. The highlight was the presentation of Imagine Live. It was a day filled with discovery, new experiences, and a few tired but happy faces by the end! Thank you to Mrs Caruana for her organisation. 

National Science Week – Decoding the Universe
Science Week was full of curiosity and creativity. Highlights included:

• Robotics with Simon – Coding, problem-solving, and hands-on tech challenges kept students fully engaged. A special thank you to Simon Mahr for sharing his expertise with our students!
  
  
• School Science Fair – Our budding scientists wowed us with their home investigations, experiments, and inventions.
  
  
• Sally Russell Class Workshops – Interactive sessions that had students thinking critically, experimenting, and asking brilliant questions. It was such a pleasure to have Sally in to be a part of Science week fun!
  
  
  
  

Book Week Parade
Our annual Book Week Parade brought a burst of colour and creativity to the school. Students and staff dressed as their favourite literary characters, and the joy of reading was truly on display. Thank you to families for the time and imagination you put into costumes – they were incredible! It was lovely to share the fun with students from the Grenfell Preschool, star room.

Year Two Liturgy

Our Year 2 students led a beautiful class liturgy this week, sharing prayers, readings, and reflections with reverence and confidence. Their thoughtful preparation and heartfelt participation created a special time of prayer for our school community. Thank you to the families who joined us and Mr Martens for guiding the students in this meaningful celebration.

Mini Vinnies Stall
The Mini Vinnies team hosted a fundraising stall to support those in need within our community. Your generosity helped raise important funds and showed the power of kindness in action. Thank you to Mrs Best for organising and everyone who donated delicious baked goods. 

School Attendance

There is nothing more important for the children’s wellbeing and progress at school than regular attendance. We can’t remind parents enough of the importance of punctuality and regular school attendance of every student, every day! There is no safe number of days for missing school. If a student misses as little as four days each term they will have missed over a year of learning, by the end of their schooling.

Schools in the Archdiocese of Canberra & Goulburn work in partnership with parents/carers to encourage and support regular attendance of children and young people at school. Education in NSW and the ACT is compulsory for all children between the ages of six years and below the minimum school leaving age.

Arriving at school and class on time:

• ensures that students do not miss out on important learning activities scheduled early in the day;
• helps students learn the importance of punctuality and routine;
• gives students time to greet their friends before class; and
• reduces classroom disruption.

Lateness is recorded as a partial absence and must be explained by parents/carers. If a child is late for school by just 10 minutes per day, they will miss nearly 6 months of schooling over 13 years. If your child arrives at school after 9am, they must be signed in by a parent or guardian. If your child is experiencing challenges of attending school, we are here to help!

Compass Update

Next week we’ll be trialling some new processes in Compass.

• Positive Affirmations: Teachers will begin using Compass to share posit
• ive affirmations with students' families.
  
  
• Rolls & Attendance: Class rolls will be marked and closed by 10:00am each day. If your child is marked as not present after this time, you will automatically receive a notification through Compass.

We appreciate your support as we test and refine these new processes.

Upcoming events: 

• Mufti Day 
• Fathers Day Stall
• Grenfell Show 
• Dental Care 
• Prospective Parent Information Evening 
• Recipe book deadline

As we head towards the half way point of term, we are very proud of the way our students have embraced every opportunity to learn, create, and contribute. Thank you to our wonderful staff, parents, and community for your ongoing support.

Warm regards, 

Danielle and Chelsea 

As part of our Religious Education journey, we explore the power of storytelling.

In Kinder, Year One and Year Two the students have focussed on Storytelling as a way to express messages about people’s faith and their relationship with God.

 In Year Three and Four students have focussed on the way Sacred texts express ideas about the Christian belief that Jesus is the Messiah.  

In an upcoming unit of work, the Year Five and Six students will study the nature of Jesus’ relationship with God and humanity as revealed through the Scriptures.

With Book Week in full swing, our classrooms have been alive with imagination, meaningful discussions, and reflection on stories that teach us how to live with kindness, compassion, and faith.

Many of the stories shared in Religious Education focus on Jesus’ parables-short, powerful stories with big messages. Just like the books we read during Book Week, parables open up conversations about choices, empathy, and God's love.

One parable we have all explored, both as part of our Catherine McCauley focus for Term Three and as part of Year Two’s beautiful prayer celebration on Storytelling at the beginning of Book Week, is the parable of the Good Samaritan. The message in this parable is about learning to show kindness to everyone, even those who are different from us.

Here are a few ways you can continue the conversation at home:

• Ask your child which bible story they like best and why.
• Read a Bible story together before bed or explore a children’s Bible if you have one.
• Talk about stories that shaped your life – books, memories, or moments of faith.

? Prayer of the Week

“Lord Jesus,

Thank You for teaching us through stories.
Help us to listen with open hearts,
and to live with kindness, love, and faith every day.
Amen.”

Thank you for your continued support as we nurture a love of learning and faith in our students.

May this week be filled with wonderful stories, meaningful conversations, and the joy of reading and growing together.

Warm regards,

Loyola Best

​Religious Education Coordinator (Acting)

Parish News:    

Next Week’s Readings: 21^st Sunday in Ordinary Time:

Isaiah 66: 18-21; Hebrews 12: 5-7, 11-13; Luke 13: 22-30

It’s that magical time of year again — Book Week 2025 is here, and this year’s theme invited us all to "Book an Adventure"! Whether it is a journey through a fantasy realm, a historical quest, or a real-world expedition, the power of stories can take us anywhere — no passport required!

? What Happened This Week:

• Year Two Prayer Celebration-STORYTELLING
• Book Character Parade – Wednesday 20^th August. We had so much fun dressing up as our favourite adventurous book character! From explorers to wizards to curious creatures, we were amazed to see where your imagination took you.
• Guess the Teacher’s Favourite Book-Guessing Competition: Prizes will be awarded at Week 6 Assembly
• Book Week Colouring Competition-prizes awarded.

? 2025 Children’s Book Council Book of the Year Awards:

• I’m not really here by Gary Lonesborough
• Laughter is the best ending by Maryam Master
• The Wobbly Bike by Darren McCallum and Craig Smith
• The Truck Cat by Deborah Frenkel
• Always was always will be by Aunty Fay Muir and Sue Lawson
• Grow big Little Seed by Bec Nanayakkara

We were so glad you could join us on our adventure through Book Week 2025!

N.B. Library Week 7- 2/3/4 and 5/6 will be swapping Library days! Library for 2/3/4 will be on Tuesday 2^nd September. Library for 5/6 will be on Wednesday 3rd September (TBC)

Happy Reading

Mrs Best

Recipes, Recipes, Recipes!

You’re probably getting tired of hearing that word by now, but we’re almost at the final cut-off date for our school cookbook.

If you haven’t already, please send your favourite recipe in! It can be anything starters, main meals, desserts, soups, sauces you name it, we’d love it.

Whether it’s your quick go-to Thursday night dinner or a treasured family favourite, every recipe counts.

We’re hoping every student at St Joseph’s School will contribute one or two recipes to make this project a real success.

Remember, it won’t cost you a thing to submit a recipe, so please get them in before the deadline!

Email sheridan.bowden@cg.catholic.edu.au

Text 0400340645

We are excited to offer Breakfast Club every Tuesday and Thursday morning before school! Children can enjoy a selection of toast, cereal, juice, and hot chocolate to start their day right.

From time to time, we’ll have special treats like hot breakfasts and pancakes, a fun surprise for the kids!This wouldn’t happen without the continued support of our wonderful parent volunteers. Your time, energy, and kindness mean the world to us. Thank you for making this possible!

We are very fortunate to have the support of our amazing local cafés and bakeries, who help us provide lunch orders for our students three days a week.

To ensure they can prepare enough food for everyone, all lunch orders must be submitted by the day before. This gives our local businesses time to plan, prepare, and deliver fresh meals for our children.

Lately, we’ve had several orders coming in on the morning of. Unfortunately, we can no longer accept or pass on any late orders. We understand that mornings can be busy, but to be fair to both our staff and the businesses, we kindly ask that everyone sticks to the cut-off time.

Thank you for your cooperation and continued support in making this partnership a success for our school community. 

"Wishing all our St Joseph’s children a very Happy Birthday! May your special day be filled with joy, love, and dreams coming true.

Stay safe and enjoy every moment!"