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Community
Recently we have been planning for a number of upcoming events that are designed to not only connect students to their school community, but to also bring our families and wider community together. It was testament to the willingness of all in our school to engage in community, that our Mother’s Day breakfast was attended by so many families and there was a feeling of joy in having people in our school grounds. While our schools are places of quality learning and pastoral care, they are also places where people meet and find support in the company of each other, even for only small periods of time. We encourage you to continue coming into the school and coming together when the opportunities are there, to find support not only in our staff, but in each other. Networking is a very strong part of feeling connected to each other and to knowing that parenting and life is always challenging, but if we work together, it lightens that load.
Kindergarten Enrolments 2023
Our recent school tours were very well attended across our Parish and it was so special to share our wonderful school with families who visited. This week, Principals in our three Parish Primary schools met together to view the first round of applications for Kindergarten 2023. We were astonished by the numbers of applications already in, as compared to this time last year. We ask that if any of our school families have children who are of school age for Kindergarten 2023, to apply as soon as possible. If you also know others who have not yet applied, please encourage them to do so while there may still be placements available before we go through the interview process during this term. Notes will come out to families next week to enable booking interviews during the coming weeks.
Celebrating Our Faith
May - The Month of Mary
Following on from our focus on Mary in last week’s newsletter, the prayer that led our message this week is a traditional prayer that is prayed by Catholic people all over the world. It reminds us of the importance of Mary in the story of our faith and in how we can pray to her for our needs as she intercedes with God and has a special loving presence in our lives.
Nourishment for Families
As COVID restrictions have allowed more events to take place, some of the beautiful initiatives in our school and Parish have been restarted. For many years, our Parish has enriched the lives of families through Family Groups, where families can come together socially to spend time together and encourage the richness of community. The annual Family Group Mass will be celebrated on Sunday 15th May at the 9.00am Mass providing an opportunity for all our family group members to come together for Mass. All parishioners are welcome to attend as following this special Mass our first Parish Cuppa in over two years will be held on the parish grounds!! So stay after Mass and enjoy a cuppa and a chat and take the opportunity to meet new people and reconnect with old.
Learning Together
Have your say…….
What do our learners of today need to know, understand and be able to do? This is the question we discussed at a recent staff meeting and are now asking you for your input. Please think about the skills and attributes you believe your child/ren need to focus on in Primary School. If you would like to contribute to our ‘thinking pit’ please share your thoughts with us via this online form - https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1
CREATE - Developing future Capabilities by fostering Relationships, developing Enterprising skills, activating student Agency through a Targeted and Empowering curriculum.
As a school we have been awarded a Learning and Innovation Grant from the Catholic Schools Office which is focused on preparing our learners for life beyond the school gates of St Joseph’s Primary School. We know that our learners need to develop the skills and attributes of resilience, adaptability, agency and inclusive mindsets. As future focused educators we must have these elements as key components. We need a forward-looking curriculum that includes a focus on complex competencies and character strengths to help guide the way for our learners to embrace the opportunities and negotiate the challenges of their future.
As staff we explored how we can provide our learners with authentic experiences that foster the capacity to analyse, innovate, solve problems and collaborate. These skills will help them prepare for a future we do not know anything about with confidence and optimism.
Aladdin Jr - A whole new world!
All Year 5, 6, 7 & 8 students across St Agnes' Education schools who are interested in participating in the Production of Aladdin Jr, have been invited to Meet & Greet Workshops with the Creative Arts Nest Team over the past few weeks.
A reminder for any students who would like to be considered for cast, they must complete an online expression of interest form with their parent/guardian by Monday 16th May. Unfortunately any students who do not have a form complete by this date can not be considered.
Visit artsnest.com.au for details.
A4 Art Prize - What can you do with one piece of paper?
Have you heard? The St Agnes' Education, Creative Arts Nest is running an Art Competition, and it is set to be huge! The A4Art Prize is for all schools across St Agnes' Education and has categories for all students K-12 and as well a category for staff. There are some incredible prizes across all student categories including cash, vouchers, art packs and there is even a helicopter flight for staff!
Entries close Monday 20th May 2022.
See www.artsnest.com.au for details, FAQ's and to complete the entry form. It's time to get creative!
Northern Rivers Flood Relief Concert
A special fund-raising concert featuring some of Port Macquarie’s finest musicians and singers, assembled under the direction of Robyn Ryan OAM and Jim Matsinos, will take place to support the Northern Rivers Flood Relief.
It will be held at MacKillop College, Ocean Drive, in the school’s theatre, on 4th and 5th June with two afternoon performances starting at 2:00pm.
The money raised is to assist the flood victims of the Northern Rivers of NSW.
There will be a special bracket of songs from the blockbuster Opera Les Misérables, in which the two principal singers from the Taree Arts Council 1995 production of Les Misérables, John Thompson and Jim Matsinos, will be joined by Elizabeth Ryrie.
The school bands from MacKillop College, the Senior School Band and the Saxophone Ensemble will perform under the direction of Robert Denham and Cara Stewart.
Pianists: Joris Vaskys, Gemma Lawrence, Nicola Awad.
Clarinettist: Carol Irving, Big Reds group, Glenn Moore and Bob Barnett.
Vocalists: Nicola Awad, Elizabeth Ryrie, Gillian Bennett, Les Femmes (female choir), Peter Murphy, John Thompson, Robert Wickham, Jim Matsinos and Glenn Moore. Songs performed will be from Opera, the Musicals and popular favourite songs from films.
MC: John Cross, an Australian actor, a master swordsman, has appeared in numerous independent and feature films, Home and Away, Moulin Rouge and the blockbuster Hercules: appearing with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.
Supply issues and item availability
There are some ongoing issues with supplies and unfortunately this means some items will not always be available. I am updating Flexischools daily so you can see what is available when you go to place an order, however sometimes I don’t know that something isn’t available until I receive my delivery. In this case, I will offer an alternative item which is as close as possible to the item that has been ordered.
There are other items that I have had to remove from the menu for now as there is not enough time to make or prepare them when I am working by myself. Now that I can have volunteers back to help in the Canteen, hopefully I can reintroduce these items again. Please see the section below for information on how you can help in the Canteen if you have one free morning per month.
Term 4 Canteen Menu
Fruit for Crunch’n’Sip
Fruit can be ordered in a lunch order for Fruit Break (Crunch’n’Sip) but please remember to let your child know that it is part of their lunch order and that they will need to collect it from the Canteen. Fruit can be ordered with over the counter lunch orders or Flexischool online orders (preferred method).
Lunch Orders and Flexischools Cutoff Time
A friendly reminder that Flexischools cutoff for canteen lunch orders is 8.30am each day.
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.
- Download the Flexischools app from the App Storeor 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!
Volunteers
Our new COVID guidelines now allow volunteers into the school. As we prepare to start back with volunteers, you can register to volunteer via this link - Click here for Volunteers Form. You will also need to email or drop in a copy of your Volunteer Working With Children Check and a proof of double vaccination to sjpport@lism.catholic.edu.au. After registering your availability in the above online form and sending in your supporting documents Kim, our Canteen Co-ordinator will be in contact with you to arrange your first day.
Kim Goldie
Canteen Coodinator
KHB | Noah Gibbs | Eva Richards | Toby Burnham |
1CS | Isabelle Mat | Mary Verano | Cooper Wallis |
1PS | Talon Clogg | Sienna-Maree Canty | Frederick Agland |
2BT | Oliver Godwin | Grace Gluckstern-Hill | Isabella Connor |
2DT | Liam McGovern | Emerence Young | Harper Maher |
3MH | Cjay Connor | Bronte Wood | Nevaeh Fletcher |
4MM | Hayley Ylias | Zoe Lawrence | Marielle Obeid |
4R | Archie Holloway | Hudson Jones | Chase Mulligan |
5BH | Laila Thorburn | Charli Hoitink | Rocco Davidson |
5T | Benji Connor | Caden Connor | Jesse Johnstone |
School photo order envelopes have been sent home with the students this week. We also have Sibling order envelopes (for brothers and sisters here at St Joseph’s) available in the office if you would like one. Payment can be made online, with cash, credit card or cheques following the instructions on the envelopes. Please return your completed order envelope to the school office prior to or on School photo day.
We ask all students to wear their full school uniform and to ensure that items such as socks, black (no other colours) polishable shoes, hair ties and jewellery are as per our uniform list. If you are unsure, please check the Parent Handbook on our website via the link below.
For the smooth running of the process and so that your child does not miss out on their class group photo we ask that you endeavour to have your child at school on time dressed in their full uniform with their beautiful camera ready smiles.
Student Absences
We are still currently experiencing issues with the school Absent SMS system relating to student daily absences. We have temporarily disabled this platform and to assist with this problem, please record a student absence by submitting it either via the school website, Schoolzine App (SZapp), phoning the school on 6583 3848 or sending an email to sjpport@lism.catholic.edu.
Student Medical Appointments and Early Departure
We strongly encourage parents to organise medical appointments outside of school hours (Start 8.55am and Finish 3.10pm) but are conscious that this is not always possible. For your convenience if you have to make a medical appointment for your child during school time please be aware of our breaks for your planning as there will be a delay in getting your child to the office if they are out at lunch play:
Lunch 1 is at 11:00am-11:40am
Lunch 2 is at 1:40pm-2:10pm
Hometime messages
If there is a change to your child's hometime travel arrangements please let your child know before they leave the house or write a note to your child's teacher. Some parents also write a "H" (homelines) or a "B" (buslines) on their child's hand. We understand that plans may change during the day and ask that you phone the office Aunties on 6583 3848 between the hours of 8.30am and 2.30pm. This enables us to ensure that your child gets the message in a timely manner. Do NOT email the school or message your child's teacher directly as it may not be seen in the timeframe you require. If an emergency occurs or there is a late change to your child's home time plan we will do everything we can to get the message to your child after 2.30pm. Please be aware that a warning school bell sounds at 3:00pm for classes to prepare to leave the class for hometime at 3.10pm which makes it difficult to guarantee that a message will get to your child.
Zone Cross Country - Change of Venue
Due to the inclement weather not allowing fields to dry out in time, the Zone Cross Country Carnival will now be held at the Kempsey Walking Track, Verge/Eden Street, Kempsey (at the netball courts/touch fields). The date is still Wednesday 18th May.
From this Carnival the best 8 runners per age (8/9 years – 12 years) will be selected to participate in the Diocesan Cross Country Carnival at Grafton on 24th May 2022 (back up date 31st May).
Good luck to all our students participating next week!
Athletics Carnival
Our annual whole school Athletics Carnival will take place on Friday 27th May at St Joseph’s Regional College, College Drive, Port Macquarie.
Kinder and Year 1 will run 100m races and enjoy Novelty games during the morning, while Years 2 to 6 will compete in Athletic activities for the day.
During our weekly Physical Education classes all students have been trialling for Shot Put and Long Jump events. The top six qualifiers in these field events, aged 8 years and up, will compete as finalists on the day of the Athletics Carnival.
All students in Year 2 to 6 will be competing in 100m and 200m sprints along with novelty games. 100m and 200m sprints will be straight finals with times determining places. 100m sprints are conducted in individual age groups whilst all other events are run as Juniors (8, 9 and 10 years), Seniors (11 years and 12 years).
Successful competitors from the carnival will be invited to attend the Hastings Zone Carnival to be held at St Joseph’s Regional College on Thursday 28th July (Week 2 Term 3).
As the carnival is offsite we require your permission for your child to be able to attend. Please complete the online permission and nomination form via the link below or in the note by Friday 20th May.
Grade Sport Days
David Lynch
Sports Coordinator
Gates open at 5:15pm and close at 6:45pm. The Discos will run from 5:30pm to 6:30pm.
The INFANTS DISCO (Kinder to Year 2) will be held in the Hall (near home lines) and the PRIMARY DISCO (Year 3 to Year 6) will be held in the MPA. Parent volunteers and teachers will be on site to supervise throughout the event. Parents are welcome to either drop off their children or stay for the duration of the Disco.
Entry at the door is $5.00 per student (please have your cash ready) and includes a cold drink (juice or water) and a small packet of chips.*
We invite all students to come dressed in their best neon colours!
Our fundraising goal for this event is $1,500. Another step closer to our new playground equipment!
See you there!
*Please notify the Office Aunties if you have preferred catering preferences for your child due to allergies.
Week 4 - Term 2 2022 |
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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 2022 school term dates are listed below. They are also located on our website. Click on the words “TERM DATES” on the home page.
TERM 2
Kindergarten to Year 6 commence classes for Term 2 - Tuesday
26th April 2022
Staff Development Day (Pupil Free) - Friday 24th June 2022
Kindergarten to Year 6 last day of classes Term 2 – Friday
1st July 2022
TERM 3
Kindergarten to Year 6 commence classes for Term 3 - Monday
18th July 2022
Kindergarten to Year 6 last day of classes Term 3 – Thursday
22nd September 2022
Staff Development Day (Pupil Free) - Friday 23rd September 2022
TERM 4
Kindergarten to Year 6 commence classes for Term 4 - Monday
10th October 2022
Kindergarten to Year 6 last day of classes for Term 4 - Friday
16th December 2022
Staff Development Day (Pupil Free) - Monday 19th December 2022
Staff Development Day (Pupil Free) - Tuesday 20th December 2022
Other Holidays in 2022
Australia Day – 26th January (Public Holiday)
Good Friday – 15th April (Public Holiday)
Easter Monday – 18th April (Public Holiday)
ANZAC Day – 25th April (Public Holiday)
Queen’s Birthday – 13th June (Public Holiday)
Labour Day – 3rd October (Public Holiday)
Christmas Day - 25th December (Public Holiday)
Boxing Day - 26th December (Public Holiday)
Kindergarten - Term 2 Overview
Year 1 - Term 2 Overview
Year 2 - Term 2 Overview
Year 3 - Term 2 Overview
Year 4 - Term 2 Overview
Year 5 - Term 2 Overview
Year 6 - Term 2 Overview
Year 5 and 6 Garden Club
ICAS 2022 - Year 3 to 6
2022 Athletics Carnival
School Photo Day
P&F Disco
Term 1 MJR House Reward - Hastings
Creative Arts NEST Entry Form Details
Kinder Term 2 2022 Science Parent letter materials request
Zone Cross Country Carnival - Change of Venue, Times and Canteen Facilities