Dear parents and carers,

This week we have been busy across a variety of different activities.

Please be aware that our landline telephone system may not be functioning.  If you are experiencing trouble contacting us at school, please use the school mobile number to get in touch - 0407401054.

Last week I participated in the principal’s gathering in Canberra.  Next year will see us working with schools across the Archdiocese to use the Initial Reading and Writing program across our K to Yr. 2 classes.

InitiaLit has been developed by Macquarie University and is a research-based literacy program with a synthetic approach to teaching letter and sounds to enable a strong base for reading and writing.  Over the coming weeks, our teachers will be participating in the associated professional learning, enabling all to have the same training in this program.

A synthetic approach to teaching letters and sounds means that letters and sounds are taught in a structured way.  To date, we have been using the Jolly Phonics program in the early years, it is also a synthetic phonics program.

This is an exciting opportunity for continuing development here at school.  I believe that this will further enhance the development of reading and writing skills for all our students and am looking forward to working with the children on this journey.

We have been continuing the journey of renewing our approaches to behaviour.  To this end, we have been focussing on aspects of our way of engaging at play times.  This week, we’ve looked at Always trying our best both in class and at play.  Choosing this way of responding helps to build links between people.  Giving everything a go, helps to understand how we learn new skills.

Our Mufti Day on Friday was enjoyed by all, and thanks to the P & F for the Lunch special – it was delicious! 

Next Wednesday we plan to be a part of this year’s Remembrance Service.  Notes have been sent home to those involved in the ceremony.  The service is set to commence at the Cenotaph at 10:45am.

KINDER TRANSITION – our Kinder transition program began yesterday, and it was terrific to see new faces and share the excitement as the children prepare for 2021!  The transition program will continue next Wednesday November 11.  All children who are eligible to commence school in 2021 are welcome to join us on Wednesday morning for a taste of life at “big school”.

For those families wanting to know more about what we do at St Joseph’s please feel free to make contact. Now is a great time to complete enrolment forms in preparation for 2021.

Year 6 Graduation Mass Presentation Photos – We would like to kindly remind parents that school related photos of your child, depicting a range of activities throughout their schooling, for the end of year school Graduation Mass presentation, are to be submitted to us as soon as is possible. Doing so will allow ample time to compile the presentation.

Year 5 School Captain Speeches – All Year 5 students are advised to prepare for the School Captain speeches. The School Captain Role Description and Essential Criteria were sent home with your child earlier in the term. This should assist your child in preparing for their speech. Speeches are to be a maximum of two minutes.

P & F – Canteen has a new menu for this term.   

Please note the RECESS menu is pre-order only – remember to pre order your recess as there will no over the counter sales. 

PLEASE use a separate bag to order for recess OR complete the recess order form attached to the newsletter.

Extra paper bags can be bought from IGA

Volunteers and suggestions for the menu are always welcome and appreciated, if you can help, please contact Catherine.

Please note that we need to comply with the NSW Healthy Canteen regulations as well as the current NSW Health covid-19 regulations.

Please see the attached order forms.

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.

Take care and stay safe,

This morning I had the joy of meeting and teaching the new Kinders for 2021. They are a happy, inquisitive bunch. They want to know everything from “Why are you wearing a whistle?” to “What are they for?’ (Maths manipulatives) to “When is it recess?’ It brought to mind a book of letters written to the Pope, where the children didn’t hold back on asking the hard questions. 

This is a great collection of letters written by children, who want the Pope’s answers to questions we would probably be afraid to ask. 

Ten-year-old Joao from Portugal asks the Pope what it feels like when he is surrounded by children, and in response, Pope Francis writes of his happiness and the hope he feels for the future of all humanity. Revealing his own humanity, Pope Francis also writes about Joao’s drawing in which the Pope appears to be driving his “Pope-mobile” and acknowledges that he doesn’t drive which leaves his hands free for waving and blowing kisses.

Eight-year-old Josephine from the United Kingdom discovers that Pope Francis’s favourite place to pray is “everywhere…even when (he goes) to the dentist.” Karla Marie, a 10-year-old girl from Nicaragua, asks if “bad people have a guardian angel, too” and learns that everyone has an angel who tries to help them think good thoughts, but … “of course, some people don’t always listen to their guardian angels.”

Perhaps my favourite letter of all comes from seven-year-old William from the USA – he asked Pope Francis what miracle the Pope would most want to perform, given the chance. The Pope wrote to William that he would want to heal children, revealing in his letter his struggle to understand why children suffer. This letter, like so many in Dear Pope Francis, reveals the humanity of this church and world leader in a manner accessible to children of all ages. 

Book review and images retrieved and adapted from https://www.goodreadswithronna.com/2016/03/01/dear-pope-francis/ 

This book is a very worthwhile read for ‘children’ of all ages. It is available from a variety of sources in Australia. 

Peace and blessings,

Term 4 is well underway with many interesting and varied activities and events taking place! This included our recent Book Week Parade which saw many fascinating book characters come to life!

In Religious Education this term, the students are exploring the significance of community for sharing and strengthening the faith of believers, past and present. As they develop their understanding of informed moral choice, they will investigate experiences of both individuals and communities. The students will broaden their appreciation of the significance of prayer and worship and the wisdom of the Saints, including St Mary of the Cross MacKillop, to communities of believers.

This term, in English, the students have been busy exploring how to construct an effective persuasive text. They have been identifying and exploring the structure of persuasive texts, persuasive devices and use of correct paragraph structure. The students will also improve a persuasive text by applying knowledge of persuasive language features and devices, before writing their own persuasive texts using the appropriate text structure, language features and devices. The Year 5/6 students also took on the opportunity to offer some advice to K/1 on persuasive writing.

In Mathematics thus far, the students are concentrating on the different ways of expressing the same part of a whole as a fraction, a decimal and a percentage. They have worked with the most common fractions of halves, quarters, fifths, and tenths, expressing them as decimals and percentages. The students have also looked at the use of percentages in everyday life situations. They will learn about conversions of decimal amounts, multiplying, adding, subtracting, and dividing decimals, as well as rounding them. They will also handle the multiplication of fractions as adding the same fraction several times, equating the process to multiplying the numerator to get a total.

This term, in Japanese, the students are focusing on greetings and appropriate manners in Japan. They are also learning about significant places in and around Japan and the features of their culture.

In Science and Technology this term, the students have been continuing their Kreative Koalas journey through their exploration of ways to reduce water wastage. As such, the students are working to present their ideas as artwork on a giant fibreglass koala. The Kreative Koala will then be entered in a regional art competition. This provides the opportunity for students to be part of a team to share their ideas and solutions and empower them to act on global sustainability challenges at a local level. Marlee Langfield (local Young Farming Champion) also visited the students to encourage collaboration, knowledge sharing and communication to achieve outcomes related to water sustainability. The culminating product of this unit will be the development and distribution of water sustainability pamphlets. Towards the end of the term, the students will also complete a computer science basics course to develop their problem-solving and computational thinking skills.

This term is sure to disappear quickly, with all the excitement and hustle and bustle that typically comes with the final term of the school year. In the meantime, keep a look out for further updates!