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WE REMEMBER MRS JENNI SEARSON
Many families in our Parish Schools will have had the privilege of knowing Mrs Jenni Searson through her teaching in our Secondary schools, her work with Music Ministry and Religious Education in St Agnes’ Parish and for us, as a leader of our Faith Choir at St Joseph’s. Jenni drew joy from working with our students and Ms Laura Hatherly each week and was the reason we were able to participate in our Parish in this way.
Jenni recently fell ill and while we prayed for a full recovery, her family were told last week that she was unlikely to recover at all. We were devastated to learn on Wednesday afternoon of this week that Jenni had passed away so quickly as we certainly didn’t want our time with her in our lives to end this soon.
We ask that you join us in praying for the Searson family who are coming to terms with losing this amazing wife, mother and grandmother. We mourn the loss of a dear and special friend.
PROJECT NEST
Thank you so very much for those parents, carers and others in our community who sent in responses or visited our Project Nest over the past few weeks. We appreciate you helping us build our future thinking for Joey’s. On Monday, NOTOSH will visit and work with the Design Team on pulling out themes and ideas that will really support the process.
DONATIONS FOR PARISH HAMPERS
We wish to thank our community for the generous donations to our Parish Hamper Appeal. There are many families in our school and Parish community who are doing it extra tough and we appreciate being able to contribute in this act of service to those who need our help.
ST AGNES’ PARISH LONG SERVICE AWARDS
Each year the Parish hosts a Mass for Long Service Awards for staff who have committed to the various ministries and services over time. There were 102 employees thanked in this special way, including the following Joey’s staff:
40 years - Mrs Rosemary Saunders
25 years - Mr Damian Lawrence and Mrs Debbie Rennes
20 years - Mrs Sue Parlevliet
15 years - Ms Di Gamack
10 years - Mrs Shannon Kelly and Mr Jason Purkis
DIRECTOR - DR SALLY TOWNS
This week the Director of the Catholic Schools Office visited St Joseph’s. Dr Sally Towns has been our Director only since July, so is making her way around the Diocese to see schools and learn about our unique communities.
DISCO - P&F
Thank you to our P&F who once again organised a fun and exciting event for our students to enjoy with the discos this week. There was a scaringly fun night had by all and as always, the Party Professionals made it extra special. Thank you to our staff who also gave their time to support students and ensure all had a great night. Don’t forget to mark your calendars for the last event of the year….Movie Night on Wednesday 4th December!!!!
Tess Koning
Principal
Digital devices can have a negative impact on children’s volume and quality of sleep they accumulate each night. It is however, important to note that screens aren’t the sole causal factor of poor sleep in children. Sports and social activities and mental health issues such as anxiety are some other factors that are also contributing to waning sleep habits in children today.
Here are some of the ways digital devices compromise sleep:
- Blue light impact– The blue light emitted from screens (especially small hand-held devices such as smartphones, tablets and gaming consoles) impact children’s circadian rhythms. The blue light prevents the pineal gland from producing melatonin the sleep hormone the brain needs to secrete to make children sleepy. Inadequate production of melatonin prevents them from feeling tired and can delay the onset of sleep.
- Arousal effect– rapid-fire, fast-paced screen action can hyper-arouse the brain making delaying the onset of sleep. Playing video games, watching fast-paced TV programs, or engaging in group messages, or viewing social media can all arouse the brain and delay the onset of sleep. These sleep delays can accumulate into a sleep deficit over time.
- Scary or upsetting content– can psychologically distress our children, especially if they’re consuming it just before they fall asleep. Viewing distressing content can cause nightmares, particularly amongst younger children under 10 years of age.
- Premature waking – many parents today are reporting that their children are waking at earlier and earlier times to get their daily ‘dose of digital’ (often before their parents wake up).
- Interrupted sleep cycles– the presence of digital devices in bedrooms can interfere with completed sleep cycles. Each night children should go through five stages of sleep and repeat that cycle 4-6 times each night. If they have a device in their bedroom the alerts and notifications can interrupt the sleep cycles.
SIMPLE & REALISTIC SOLUTIONS
- Keep devices OUT of bedrooms– the presence of digital devices in bedrooms can increase the likelihood of sleep delays and children using devices (unsupervised) throughout the night.
- Establish a digital bedtime– ideally screens should be switched off 60-90 minutes before they fall asleep. This helps to calm the brain and prevent the adverse impact of blue light.
- Do a tech-swap before bed– for some families screens are part of the evening routine. So instead of using a smartphone or tablet (which are interactive and emit blue light) before bed allow children to watch TV (they don’t typically emit as much blue light and hopefully they don’t sit as close to TVs as they do handheld devices), listen to an audiobook or podcasts
- Establish a landing zone– nominate a specific place in your home where all digital devices go at night. It may be the kitchen counter, the sideboard, a laundry bench.
- Preserve green time - children need time in natural sunlight each day to help regulate their circadian rhythms (and ward off myopia, near-sightedness). Ideally, children should be exposed to natural sunlight between 8am-12pm each day.
Information from Dr Kristy Goodwin’s blog ‘Simple Solutions to Stop Screens Sabotaging Sleep’
Jeannine Ucdereli
Assistant Principal Learning and Teaching
HAMPER GENEROSITY
Our St Agnes’ Parish Community have been humbled by the extent of the generous contributions to our St Agnes’ Christmas Hampers. Our baskets were overflowing with your thoughtfulness. On behalf of all those involved in this act of service to those in our community who need support and love, we warmly thank each of our students and their families who participated in the donation drive.
YEAR 3 ARTWORK - MARY, THE MOTHER OF GOD
Have a look at some of the artistic talent emerging out of the Year 3 classrooms. The students were exploring some of the qualities of saints and their response to God in their lives.
SERVICE ELEMENTS AT ST JOSEPH’S
After the culmination of work that explored the element of Service as part of our Mission as Catholics, we identified different ways that we can authentically engage in acts of Service at St Joseph’s. This poster will guide teacher planning for student engagement in Service helping them to develop in their awareness of the "what and how" of service to others. Service includes elements of social justice, charity, acts of mercy and prayer.
NEWMAN STUDENTS COMMIT TO SERVICE WITH STUDENTS AT ST JOSEPH'S
Students in Kindergarten and Year 3 enjoyed interacting with some students from Newman Senior Technical College last Thursday. The Newman students were participating in their Community Service commitments. The time spent with our Parish senior students was special for everyone.
Ann Thurgate
Assistant Principal Mission
The following seven students are participating in the Trinity College of London Speech and Drama Exams on Friday, 15th November. Their credentials are internationally recognised.
- Amelie Obeid (3 Green)
- Imogen Mulligan (3 Green)
- Savannah Beard (5 Gold)
- Sophie Pynaert (5 Green)
- Tully Dwyer (6 Green)
- Dom Matheson (6 Green)
- Lourdes Obeid (6 Gold)
Wishing you all the best of luck!
Sandra Thompson
Speech and Drama
NETSETGO
This week was the start of our Netball Program called NetSetGo for Term 4 delivered by Netball Australia and will be run over the next 4 weeks for Kinder-Year 6. We then start our Intensive Swimming program for our infants during Week 7 and 8. (Infants will not participate in netball for these two weeks).
Look at our Netball Skills!
PARENT SUPPORT FOR SWIMMING CARNIVAL
Calling all enthusiastic parents for the swimming carnival! Ms Hatherly would love your support in organising and coordinating this year's Primary Swimming Carnival on 12th December. Please contact the office or Ms Hatherly if you would like to support in any shape or form.
Yours in Sport
Laura Hatherly
MASS OF THE ANGELS
Mass of the Angels
Will be held on Wednesday, 20 November at the 5:15pm Mass.
Parishioners are invited to come together to pray for one another and for all who grieve the loss of a child. This Mass provides an opportunity for parents, grandparents, individuals and families to remember the ones in their lives who are no longer with them.
FREE PARENT SEMINAR ON TEENS, PARTIES, FESTIVALS, ALCOHOL AND DRUGS
CATHOLIC FAITH FOR CHILDREN
YOUTH AND FAMILY MASS
CHRISTMAS MOVIE UNDER THE STARS HOSTED BY SCREENWAVE
Which Christmas movie would you like to watch together at our P&F Movie Under the Stars hosted by Screenwave?
Dr Seuss’ The Grinch
40.30%
Home Alone
47.76%
Arthur Christmas
11.94%
Poll is closed
Which Christmas movie would you like to watch together at our P&F Movie Under the Stars hosted by Screenwave?
Poll is closed
Voting closes at 3:00pm Monday 11th November!
Click on the links below to preview the movie choices.
Dr Seuss’ The Grinch - https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vjnqABgxfO0
Home Alone - https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6MOMWKv3kS8
Arthur Christmas - https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=L-h7a8Pk-5A
Our Volunteers for Week 5 Term 4
Monday | Sue Quinn |
Tuesday | You are welcome to join us |
Wednesday | You are welcome to join us |
Thursday | You are welcome to join us |
Friday | Jacqui Skinner and Dani Bosnjak |
We ask that if you are unable to attend on your rostered day it would be very much appreciated if you could organise your replacement and let me know. This would really assist me enormously. Thank you.
Don't forget you can order online by 8:30am- it's so easy!!
- Go to www.flexischools.com.au
- Click “Register Now” to create account
- Top-up your balance
- Start ordering immediately
Annemaree Tonkin
Canteen Coordinator
K Gold | Rafael D'Souza | Sonny Hancock | Diane-Grace King |
K Green | Bronte Wood | Talon Swaysland | Wynter Stewart |
1 Gold | Lucas Fernando | Mieka Nair | Eden Pope |
1 Green | Annetta Yewdall | Marielle Obeid | Poppi-Lee McGeoch |
2 Gold | Ariannah Beard | Cooper Bell | Benji Connor |
3 Green | Matilda Beresford | Hayley Honeysett | Billy Stapleton |
3 Gold | Joshua Hiam | Murphy Maher | Lachlan Matheson |
4 Green | Aaron Biju | Sydney Forsyth | Analiese Bishop |
5 Gold | Grace Chuwen | Harlie Flemming | Kiara Tattersall |
5 Green | Tahnee Dimon | Heath Hunter | Sofia Atkinson-Blundell |
6 Gold | Dexter Maher | Hriday Thakrani | Reef Chapman |
6 Green | Tyler Charnock | Marty Fisher | Dominic Matheson |
Week 5 - Term 4 |
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Monday |
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Tuesday |
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Wednesday |
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Thursday 14th November |
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Friday 15th November |
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Week 6 - Term 4 |
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Monday |
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Tuesday |
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Wednesday 20th November |
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Thursday 21st November |
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Friday 22nd November |
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Week 7 - Term 4 |
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Monday |
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Tuesday |
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Wednesday 27th November |
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Thursday 28th November |
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Friday 29th November |
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Week 8 - Term 4 |
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Monday |
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Tuesday |
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Wednesday 4th December |
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Thursday 5th December |
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Friday 6th December |
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Week 9 - Term 4 |
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Tuesday |
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Wednesday 11th December |
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Thursday 12th December |
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Week 10 - Term 4 |
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Monday |
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Tuesday |
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Wednesday 18th December |
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Week 1 - Term 1 2020 |
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Wednesday 29th January |
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Thursday 30th January |
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Friday 31st January |
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Week 2 - Term 1 2020 |
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Monday |
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Tuesday |
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Wednesday 5th February |
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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 school term dates are located on our website. Click on the words “TERM DATES” on the home page.
PEER SUPPORT
Next week in Peer Support the children will practise developing their strengths.This will help yourchild to become more resilient and optimistic. Ask your child to share the strengths they identified during this week’s session.
Laura Hatherly, Leah Toole, Kate Mitchell and Holly Hough
Year 6 Class Teachers
We kindly ask that you finalise your school accounts as soon as possible. It is an expectation that all school accounts will be paid in full by Week 8 of Term 4 (Friday 6th December), with the exception of 2020 Book Pack costs. Statements were emailed home last week. Please ring Aunty Antoinette in the school office to organise a payment plan if you are experiencing any financial difficulty.