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- KINDERGARTEN 2022
- Prayer Focus
- Leader's Message
- Parish News
- Seasonal Activities from Parent Assembly
- PBS (Positive Behaviour Support)
- Changes to School Bus Numbers
- Sharing Our Learning
- Student Awards
- Sunshine Cafe
- 2022 Uniforms
- School Banking Update
- Student Activity Statements
- What's On Next Week ...
- Advance Dates for Your Diary
- This Week's Notes
- Billboard
KINDERGARTEN 2022
It was an absolute pleasure this week to welcome our new Kindergarten friends for 2022 to school for our orientation mornings. We were so proud of the way in which they said goodbye to their parents and carers for the morning so comfortably and joined in with some activities that helped us get to know them and show them some of what school is like.
We are excited to have them back again with us for their transition morning next week, where they will get to see more of the school and spend time with their teachers for next year. Our teachers for 2022 in Kindergarten are Ms Magda Buckley, Mrs Brianne Hoitink and Mrs Kathy Bailey, who will work together to ensure the first year of school is filled with a sense of belonging and great learning.
Kinder Teaching Team 2022
Kindergarten 2022
It was an absolute pleasure this week to welcome our new Kindergarten friends for 2022 to school for our orientation mornings. We were so proud of the way in which they said goodbye to their parents and carers for the morning so comfortably and joined in with some activities that helped us get to know them and show them some of what school is like.
We are excited to have them back again with us for their transition morning next week, where they will get to see more of the school and spend time with their teachers for next year. Our teachers for 2022 in Kindergarten are Ms Magda Buckley, Mrs Brianne Hoitink and Mrs Kathy Bailey, who will work together to ensure the first year of school is filled with a sense of belonging and great learning.
Kinder Teaching Team 2022
School Memorial Garden
For those who were part of our school community last year, you will remember that at this time of year we lost one of our long term teachers quite suddenly to a short illness. This was a very difficult time for our staff, students and community, as Mrs Rosemary Saunders had been part of our school for over 40 years. As you can imagine, there were many memories and tributes to Mrs Saunders (affectionately known as “Ro”), as not only students but parents of our school were taught by her and had experienced the care she had for them.
During the past year, we have thought about the best way to keep her memory alive in our community, and also how to ensure that other significant people are remembered into the future. After some input from staff and others in our community, we have designed a section of our current prayer garden (between the Kindergarten rooms and the MPA) as a Memorial Garden. Due to the significance of Mrs Saunders to our school, there are some special features that are in memory of her that can also be added to in the future.
We have been gifted a beautiful pew from our Parish and are restoring it to be a special place to sit for a while, which will have a special plaque added and some hand made mosaic tiles by one of our retired Educational Assistants Josie Wilton. We have purchased a rose bush and two apple plants to be potted and placed in the setting.
This additional space within the prayer garden will be blessed by our Parish Priest Fr Paul Gooley in December with some of Mrs Saunders’ family, friends and staff. Once it is possible, we will invite parents of our community to come and visit this space and also give our students an experience to build on. We ask for your prayers during this time of year for Ro’s family and those of us who knew her well.
The Rosemary Saunders Star of the Year Award
In addition to our Memorial Garden, this year we will be starting an annual award for a ‘Star of the Year’ in each class in honour of Mrs Saunders. Over the 40 years that Mrs Saunders taught at St Joseph’s, she was known for her smile, positivity, friendliness, faith and absolute consistency as a teacher, friend and person. Each week Mrs Saunders awarded a Star of the Week, where every child in the class would write a positive affirmation about that child and the child would receive a certificate laminated with affirmations from classmates.
The Star of the Year will be voted upon by the students and adults in each class to nominate a classmate who has shown consistent positivity, a smile, friendliness and support to others throughout the year. The recipient will receive a medal, sprig of rosemary, and a certificate of affirmations at our end of year Mass for Thanksgiving on Wednesday 8th December (in 2021 this will be a prayer service). We look forward to celebrating the great qualities of the students in our school through this award.
Celebrating Our Faith
The Feast Of Christ The King
This Sunday 21st November we celebrate the Feast of Christ the King that recognises that Christ is King and Lord of the universe.
Our Welcome Prayer For Our New Kindergarten Families
Loving God,
You are the giver of all we possess, the source of all of our blessings.
We thank and praise you.
Thank you for the gift of our children.
May our school always encourage them to explore, grow and learn.
May our children come to know you, the one true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
May your Holy Spirit help them to grow in faith, hope, and love, so they may know peace, truth, and goodness.
May their ears hear your voice.
May their eyes see your presence in all things.
May their lips proclaim your word.
May their hearts be your dwelling place.
May their hands do works of charity.
May their feet walk in the way of Jesus Christ, your son and our Lord.
May our St Agnes’ Parish schools nurture them, support their growth, be blessed with those that sincerely work with parents and children to meet all our children’s needs at the different times of their life.
We ask God’s blessing, for us and our children as they begin their new journey as part of the St Agnes’ Parish Schools at St Joseph’s Primary School.
Amen
Learning Together
UNSW Educational Assessments
At the beginning of this term some of our students participated in the University of New South Wales Educational Assessments. The ICAS Assessments series is designed to assess students' ability to apply classroom learning in new contexts, using higher-order thinking and problem-solving skills. Students who participated chose which assessments they would like to complete. We had a number of students complete the following:- Spelling, Digital Technologies, Mathematics, Science and Technology, and English.
We congratulate all students who participated and would like to share some of our results:-
ICAS English
Year 4 Lilliana Anderson - Credit Freya Praveen - Merit |
Year 5 Gene Smith - Credit |
Year 6 Amara Crutcher - Credit Aaron Biju - Merit |
ICAS Mathematics
Year 5 Gene Smith - Credit |
Year 6 Eva Francis - Credit |
ICAS Science
Year 5 Gene Smith - Distinction |
Year 6 Aaron Biju - Merit |
ICAS Spelling
Year 4 Aryan Vishanth - Credit |
Year 5 Gene Smith - Credit
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Year 6 Analiese Bishop - Merit Riley Robinson - Credit |
PBS (Positive Behaviour Support)
MJR REWARD
Three kindergarten students from KBC have received their MJR Reward this week. These three students have been seen making Jesus real in our school, by being respectful, resilient and kind towards others. Well done Abaigeal, Mary and Ashton on your wonderful achievement and behaviour.
From Tuesday 30th November 2021 some regular route numbers and all school bus numbers in Port Macquarie, Laurieton, Wauchope & Kempsey regions will change to become part of a state-wide standardised program.
There will be no changes to times or route paths operated.
Below is the School’s timetable showing current and new bus numbers and also available on the Busways website: https://www.busways.com.au/nsw/school-services/school-timetables
For any enquiries regarding these changes, please contact our Customer Service Team via 1300 69 2929 or Infoline@busways.com.au
Last Monday Year 4 created a contraption to 'catch a mouse' in the form of a Rube Goldberg machine. All students worked amazingly hard and were able to produce some interesting and successful designs.
"The day was fun yet challenging, requiring lots of teamwork"
"It was a stressfully joyful day"
"We learnt that things don't always go our way and that like true scientists we needed to adjust our designs, test them and readjust as needed."
KSC | Jacob Ainsworth | Kainoa Pacey | Emmeline Toole |
1B | Ashvik Thapa | Kathleen Yewdall | Braxton Beresford |
1R | Nyah Watson | Harper Maher | Hannah Cooper |
3D | Jacob Gluckstern-Hill | Ayla Moss | Layla Porter |
3H | Archie Holloway | Eden Pope | Aidan Shoby Alias |
4F | Violet Richardson | Aislinn Suveesh | Bryce Tickle |
4MG | Marlee Hearne | Charli Robinson | Charli Hoitink |
5L | Siya Modi | Harmony Amanatidis | Joshua Hiam |
5S | Bo Sprague | Billy Stapleton | Elaina Stewart |
6B | Ella Moore | Phoenix Kitching | Penny Little |
6H | Jasmine Howell | Archie Johnson | Amara Crutcher |
volunteers
We have made the decision to wait for 2022 to welcome back volunteers onsite and to spend the rest of this term reconnecting with previous volunteers and encouraging new ones to get in touch.
lunch orders
Canteen lunch orders can be placed via Flexischools or by dropping them in the basket on the counter each morning.
Flexischools is our preferred method for submitting lunch orders.
Reminder - Cutoff time for online orders is 8:30am
- Download the Flexischools app from the App Store or from Google Play.
Note: for iPhone and iPad please select ‘Allow’ notification - Click “Register Now” to create account
- Top-up your balance
- Start ordering immediately
- Alternatively Go to www.flexischools.com.au or you can find the link on the school website.
Don’t forget you can place your online orders days or even weeks in advance, making the morning rush even easier!
Kim Goldie
Canteen Coodinator
New uniform items will be available for sale from when the Uniform Store opens for January trading on 4th January 2022.
- Lay-by is available prior to that time:
- Sizing can be gauged using the existing uniform items.
- The lay-by will be set up and a deposit taken.
- Progress payments can be made.
- Lay-by can be collected in January.
- Sizing will be checked at the time of collection and adjusted if required.
The last day for School Banking is Tuesday 7th December.
Due to recent decisions by some state and territory governments and because of a review by the corporate regulator, Banks are unable to provide programs in schools any longer. This means that we are unable to continue providing School Banking to our students.
Even though the CommBank School Banking program will not be returning, you can continue to make deposits into your child’s Youthsaver account through online transfers or at any Commonwealth bank branch. Thank you to all the students that have participated in this program.
We have now billed for 2022 Student Book Packs. These amounts are not due until the end of Term 1 2022.
All credits to relevant school activity accounts have now been processed. These credits arose from cancellation of events that you nominated/paid for your child to attend but didn’t go ahead due to COVID restrictions.
Please check your email accounts for the current activity statement, these were emailed home last week. These statements are separate to the school tuition fees collected by St Agnes' Parish Administration. We kindly ask that you finalise your school accounts as soon as possible, if you haven’t already done so. If you have a plan in place with the school, the statement is for your records only.
Antoinette Smith
Finance Officer
Week 8 - Term 4 2021 |
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Sunday 21st November |
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Monday 22nd November |
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Tuesday 23rd November |
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Wednesday |
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Friday 26th November |
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Sunday 28th November |
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Week 9 - Term 4 2021 |
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Monday 29th November |
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Wednesday |
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Thursday 2nd December |
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Sunday 5th December |
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Week 10 - Term 4 2021 |
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Monday 6th December |
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Tuesday 7th December |
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Wednesday 8th December |
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Thursday 9th December |
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Friday 10th December |
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Sunday 12th December |
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Week 11 - Term 4 2021 |
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Monday 13th December |
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Tuesday 14th December |
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Wednesday |
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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 2021 school term dates are listed below. They are also located on our website. Click on the words “TERM DATES” on the home page.
TERM 4
Kindergarten to Year 6 commence classes Term 4 – Tuesday 5th October 2021
Staff Development Day (Pupil Free) – Friday 5th November 2021
Kindergarten to Year 6 last day of classes from Term 4 - Wednesday 15th December 2021
Other Holidays in 2021
Christmas Day - Saturday 25th December 2021
Boxing Day - Sunday 26th December 2021