Celebrating the Appointment of Pope Leo XIV

We joyfully welcome the appointment of Pope Leo XIV as our new Holy Father. His leadership brings a renewed spirit of hope and faith to the Catholic community worldwide. We look forward to a Pope who leads with humility, compassion, and a deep commitment to social justice - guiding the Church to be a beacon of mercy, inclusivity, and love for all.

As a school grounded in Catholic values, we are inspired by his example and hopeful that his pontificate will foster unity, strengthen faith, and encourage us all to live more fully in service to others.

May Pope Leo XIV’s leadership be filled with grace and wisdom, leading us towards a future bright with hope and promise for our Church and the world.

Supporting Our Families Through Flood Recovery

We know that many families in our school community have recently been impacted by the severe flooding across Northern NSW. Our thoughts and prayers are with all those experiencing hardship and loss during this difficult time. If your family has been affected, we want to ensure you have access to the support you need. For up-to-date information on services to help with wellbeing, recovery, housing, financial assistance, and more, please visit the NSW Council of Social Services website: https://www.ncoss.org.au/sector-hub/sector-resources/flood-resource/#school. This is a trusted and comprehensive hub with links to practical support for families and communities navigating flood recovery.  For information about how to look after your own, and your families wellbeing please access our Parent Resource Centre.

First Holy Communion

We wish to congratulate our First Holy Communion Candidates for this term.

Reflecting on National Sorry Day

This week we recognise National Sorry Day, we pause with heartfelt reflection on the experiences of the Stolen Generations — Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children who were taken from their families, causing deep and lasting sorrow. We hold their stories and those of their families in our hearts.

Let us pray for healing and reconciliation, asking for strength and guidance to walk forward together with respect, understanding, and compassion. May we honour the resilience of Indigenous peoples and commit ourselves to creating a future where all are valued and cared for.

Reminder: No Dogs on School Grounds

We kindly remind all families that dogs are not permitted on school premises. While we do have a trained therapy dog on site, this animal has undergone the necessary risk assessments and is part of a structured program. Only registered assistance animals are allowed on school grounds.

We appreciate the cooperation of families who respect this policy by keeping pets outside the school grounds. Thank you for helping us maintain a safe and comfortable environment for all students.

Welcome to the Joey's Family

Please note: these competitions and assessments are completely optional and do not form part of school assessments and come with a cost, so there is no school requirement for participation.

Once again this year, students from St Joseph's will have the opportunity to participate in the ICAS Competitions, which are conducted by Educational Assessment Australia of the University of New South Wales.  ICAS is designed to target students’ higher-order thinking and problem-solving skills in English, Writing, Mathematics, Science, Spelling and Digital Technologies.  The assessments are suitable for students wishing to extend themselves academically and take up the personal challenge of competing in an international assessment.  All participants will be awarded a Certificate in one of the following categories - High Distinction, Distinction, Credit, Achievement or Participation.  To learn more about ICAS please click here to visit their website.  

ICAS Assessments are online which allows greater accessibility for students and faster delivery of results.  Competitions are open to students in Year 3, 4, 5 and 6.  Dates students here at St Joseph’s will be able to sit for the various competitions are as follows -

• DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES - Monday 4th August 9:15am
• WRITING  - Wednesday 6th August 9:15am
• ENGLISH  - Monday 11th August 9:15am
• SCIENCE  - Wednesday 13th August 9:15am
• SPELLING  - Monday 20th August 9:15am
• MATHEMATICS - Monday 25th August 9:15am

If any other school based activities coincide with these dates as we move closer, we will provide an alternate opportunity for students to complete them.   

An entry fee of $20.95 each has been set for the competitions other than Writing which is $24.95. Payment of ICAS fees is online via the ICAS website.  To confirm your child’s participation, click here to visit the ICAS parent payment system page and enter our unique school code PBT984 to make direct payment to UNSW Global (NB: please leave student number blank as it is not required). Please note registration and payment closes 28th July 2025.  

Attendance

Build the Habit of Regular Attendance

Ask your child, “What is great about coming to school? What would your ideal school day look like?”

Ebony stated:
‘I believe that what makes coming to school great is having friends who are respectful and kind. I love learning to be a child of God and going to Mass. I also enjoy learning maths in class, and I feel like I’m getting smarter every day with my teacher, who supports me along the way. I like going to my Indigenous meetings and writing the Aboriginal newsletter with the group.’

Artist - Ebony 11 years old. 

 

Bike Safety

Stay Visible:

Bright clothing, reflectors, and lights can make your child more visible to drivers, especially in low light.

Remind your child that visibility is a key to staying safe on the road! Explain to your child the importance of perspective ‘When you're riding your bike, always remember that drivers, pedestrians, and other cyclists may see things differently’.

And don’t forget …. HELMET ON.

 

So We Can Recover, Rebuild, and Celebrate Together

Following the recent severe weather effecting the Mid North Coast of NSW and its impact on our community, we’ve made the decision to postpone ArtWalk to allow our businesses, creatives, and community members the time and space to recover.

We have made this decision because:

• Many local businesses and artists are still in the early stages of clean-up and recovery
• The ArtWalk precinct includes key electrical and public infrastructure that requires repair before it’s safe to activate
• Our partners agree this new timing will allow for a stronger, safer and more meaningful event

We’re excited to announce that ArtWalk will now be held on Friday 4th July 2025, 5pm-9pm, giving us all something to look forward to as we reconnect and celebrate together.

ArtWalk 2025 will be more than a celebration of art and culture - it will be a tribute to the resilience of our region, the dedication of our emergency services and volunteers, and the spirit of our community.

Thank you for your continued patience and support. More details will be coming soon.

Proudly supported by Optus.

#ArtWalk2025

Free Webinars for Parents

The Council of Catholic School Parents is hosting a number of helpful webinars for parents on a variety of topics.  Parents may also like to subscribe to the ParentTalk newsletter, which provides interesting articles for parents in Catholic schools.

This term, our Year 3 students have been hard at work researching and writing their very own information reports on a marine creature of their choice. Using a selection of rich mentor texts, students explored the structure and language features of informative writing, developing a clear understanding of how to engage and educate readers.

Through a range of multimodal sources, students researched fascinating facts about their chosen animals and practised the important skills of note-taking and paraphrasing - learning how to put information into their own words. Guided by their success criteria, students crafted well-organised paragraphs using complex sentences, correct punctuation, and adverbial phrases to enhance their writing.

The final reports were carefully edited and published, complete with labelled diagrams and detailed illustrations. The Year 3 team is incredibly proud of the students’ efforts and the high-quality work they produced - truly a deep dive into learning!

Kaihlee Patterson, Samuel Taylor and Magda Tazbir
Year 3 Teaching Team

This term, Year 2 have been learning all about the musical element of beat. The children have been exploring different ways to keep and create beats using a variety of percussion instruments including some fun body percussion!

Through clapping, tapping and using instruments, the children have learned to follow and create their own beat patterns. It’s been wonderful to see their creativity and confidence grow as they experimented with rhythm.

This week, the excitement continued as Year 2 began bucket drumming! Using plastic buckets and drumsticks, the children explored new ways to play in time and work together as a group. It’s been noisy, energetic, and loads of fun!

We can’t wait to see where their musical journey takes them next!

Karen Davies, Matthew Gourlay and Elise Howard
Year 2 Teaching Team

Young Archie Finalist

Enormous congratulations to Logan Austin in Year 2 who’s portrait ‘My Dad’ has been selected as a finalist in the prestigious, Young Archie! Logan’s piece is now proudly exhibited at the Art Gallery of NSW from 10th May through to 17th August. We are so excited for Logan and we wish him well in the final.

UNESAP 'Let's Hang It'

Congratulations to Arlo, Zoe, Jofez, Sophia, Henley, Hazel, Sophie, Ethan, Logan and Dylan who have been selected to compete in the University of New England student art prize. We wish them luck in being selected for the ‘Let’s Hang It’ exhibition in Armidale.

Term 2 has been a busy term with lots of paw prints all over the school. I have been lucky enough to visit a couple of classrooms in the Infants area of the school. One of my little friends had even created a welcome sign for me. It has been great getting to see some of my smaller friends doing their learning in their classrooms. 

I like nothing better than being able to sit with my two-legged friends while they read a book to me or do their work. The pats that I get while this happens sure makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. 

The wet weather has not been fun for anyone and I have had to make sure my paws are dry and clean before going inside - I sure am leaving some dirty paw prints on the footpaths around school but luckily all the rain has been washing them away. I hope that you were all able to stay safe and dry. 

Bertie
Student Therpay Officer

Please note these dates can change from time to time due to unforeseen circumstances and we will endeavour to advise you of any changes at the earliest possible opportunity. Our school Google calendar can be accessed via this link for additional advanced dates -

For your convenience 2025 school term dates are listed below. They are also located on our website. Click on the words “TERM DATES” on the home page.