Dear parents and carers,

Week 9 has been a busy period for us.  Each class is moving towards the end of various units and preparations are underway for assessment tasks.

The 5/6 children are continuing with their sustainability focus and rehearsing their CAPA presentations.  It has been very interesting watching their knowledge of music across the decades develop along with their enjoyment of “newfound” music from “really old” bands such as Dire Straits, Queen, The Four Tops and so on…

Yr. 2/3/4 have been looking into our sports shed and designing new games and these are shaping up as both fun and challenging for all!  They have also been observing change

Our K/1’s have been busy looking at how our personal histories develop over time, they rare in the process of collating their individual histories. 

On Monday of this week, we took delivery of tanks that will be used in our recycled water system.  Thank you to the Jacks for their efforts to spread the sand base in preparation for the delivery.  Thank you to Rob McLelland for helping with the unloading of these tanks.

It is exciting to see another part of this project being completed!

This morning our Yr. 5/6 children have travelled to Young to meet with our Archbishop Christopher Prowse.  The Archbishop has been visiting regional areas over recent days. 

Next Thursday we will be hosting a team from the Weddin Shire.  They will be filming around our school to gather footage for use in upcoming promotional work that the shire is undertaking.  A separate letter was sent home about this yesterday.  Please return the consent forms by Tuesday.

Please be aware that the raised dust and windy weather may lead to extra sniffles or asthma like symptoms this week – please take precautions as appropriate most especially in relation to those who suffer from asthma.  Now is a good time to review your child’s asthma plan and provide an updated copy to us at school.

Thank you to those families who have ensured that all clothing is labelled, this has been even more helpful as the weather warms up – it makes everything much easier when returning lost property to the right person.

Thank you to everyone for your patience and understanding regarding the updated health guidelines as provided by Health NSW.  These protocols will remain in place at least until the end of this term. 

End of Year Celebrations - We are hopeful that Term 4 will see a reduction to regulation levels and that our usual end of year events can go ahead as planned.

As such please set aside Thursday December 10 – Speech night and Tuesday December 15 for our graduation/end of year celebration Mass.

We will confirm these dates for you.

P & F – thank you to those who were able to join the Zoom meeting on Tuesday.  The committee is working on several projects and more information will be coming out soon.

Thank you to Mrs Baker for ensuring that our Canteen lunch orders were filled smoothly yesterday.  An order form is attached, all orders must be returned to school by Tuesday.  We ask that you include correct money amounts where possible.

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 make it your custom to check in at the office if your children are running late to school – we appreciate your efforts to do this. 

Thank you to Miss Anderson for spending time with us this term.  It has been a fabulous opportunity for us to work with an early career teacher – we hope that you have enjoyed your time with us at St Joseph’s.

We are now in the final stages of Term 3 – it is my hope that everyone enjoys the final few days of class for this term! 

Take care and stay safe,

Last Sunday, the candidates who have been involved in this year’s sacramental preparation program celebrated the Sacrament of First Reconciliation. Interestingly, the readings were all about forgiveness. While we are keen to seek out and receive God’s forgiveness and even the forgiveness of others, it can be far more challenging when someone wants forgiveness from us. The reflection I chose this week is on that very theme. 

When we have been hurt by someone, it can be very difficult to come to terms with the woundedness we feel. But by accepting and embracing our own wounds, we open a door to forgiveness and new life. Too often people hold grudges in their hearts, which eventually affect their ability to develop healthy human relationships. 

One of the most important skills we each need is that of knowing how to forgive. There is an African proverb which states: ‘He who forgives ends the quarrel.’ Forgiveness builds us up and helps us move on; whereas revenge destroys and creates bitterness. Forgiving helps us to heal our own wounds. 

Some people consider those who forgive to be weak or to be cowards but there is much wisdom in the proverb: ‘The noblest vengeance is to forgive’. The gospels (Mt. 18:21-35) tell us that God is always ready and willing to forgive, even the most serious faults of people. Now, if this is the behaviour of our God, we do not have any pretext to deny anyone our forgiveness. 

The parable of the prodigal son reveals explicitly God's desire to restore a loving relationship with people. By forgiving us our faults we are empowered to become like God (Mt. 5:48). Jean Paul Richter wrote the insightful words: 'Humanity is never so beautiful as when praying for forgiveness or else forgiving another.’

When we 'change our hearts' and forgive, we change ourselves and we 'change our world' for the better. This is how we translate the life and message of Jesus into our daily lives. Challenges in our lives in our relationships with others invite us to undertake this change of heart if we want a changed world. Hence, we are invited to be courageous enough to break down the walls (cultural, social, political, religious, psychological, and economical) that hinder us to forgive ourselves and others and hence reconcile for the building of a just and peaceful society. 

Reflection retrieved and adapted from https://cafod.org.uk/Pray/Prayer-resources/Reflection-on-forgiveness 

2/3/4 have been super busy this term and have enjoyed learning about lots of different topics. Students are currently working on projects at home incorporating all the different topics we have looked at this term. Some of these topics have been Parish and local community history, where we had the opportunity to investigate St Joseph’s Church and other local churches, 2D shapes and 3D object in maths and stained-glass artworks during creative arts.

We have been further exploring how to make our writing more engaging for reader by including speech/quotation marks, expanding our vocabulary to use more descriptive language and learning some new and different literary techniques. Students brainstormed all the different, descriptive ways that people could say things in their writing, we are still adding to our list.

Students have explored materials, mixtures and solutions in science with Mrs. Best. They are exploring the ways that they can be used to create new or recycled materials.

In Religious Education we have explored some of our local Parish history, other religious groups and their practices and how they are similar and different to the Catholic Church. We have more recently explored some ancient history and the relationship between Samaria, Judea and Galilee.

In PD/H students have learnt about inclusiveness and are developing different games incorporating some the ideas they have developed and the knowledge they have gained.

We recently became ‘Shape Seekers’ in math’s and went on an adventure to discover hidden treasure by creating maps and 3D models.

Next week is shaping up to be a busy end to the year with Church Model presentations (keep an eye out for a Facebook Live Expo), finishing final artworks, playing and testing the games we have made, visiting the cemetery and finishing our final publications for the term.