Filter Content
- Prayer Focus
- The Principal's Report
- Celebrating Our Faith
- Learning Together
- Parish News
- Parent Assembly
- Sunshine Cafe
- Peer Support
- Student Awards
- Sport Spotlight
- After School Speech and Drama
- Mind Matters
- School Photos
- Positive Behaviour School (PBS)
- What's On Next Week ...
- Advance Dates for Your Diary
- This Week's Notes
- Billboard
HI EVERYONE
Welcome back to school for Term 3. We hope that your holiday break was a chance to stop and rest from a very busy term. It was wonderful to begin with our students gathered together for school prayer this week on Monday, feeling more connected and united as a community. Students have returned to school ready to learn and enjoy their time together. We look forward to a great term.
Some reminders that will help us start the term:
Uniforms
All students are expected to be in their correct uniform each day. There were a series of reminders in preparation last term in our newsletter and to students at school. We have been checking uniforms this week, starting in Year 5 and 6. If your child is in the incorrect uniform, you will receive a reminder note via email, stating the item/s that are incorrect. It is an expectation, as signed on enrolment, that the uniform policy will be adhered to. Please support your child in the correct uniform so they can take pride in and show respect for their school.
Winter Uniform only to be worn on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
Sports Uniform only to be worn on Thursday and Friday.
(The exception will be special days that are informed to parents and carers).
If there is a reason your child is unable to wear an item on occasion, you are required to send in a note. As always, we have some second hand items in our school uniform room if you are in need of anything.
Please note, the exception to the policy is that we will be flexible on the colour of sports shoes - please avoid bright colours however we are not limiting to completely white runners.
https://sjpport.schoolzineplus.com/st-joseph-s-primary-information-handbook
COVID-19 Guidelines for Term 3
All parents and carers received a letter via email at the end of the holidays with updated guidelines in relation to COVID-19. This covers all of the current areas of school we are aware of. We will continue to update you if there are further changes.
Parent/Teacher Interviews
As you will know, we sent to families a note via email this week to inform you that we are unable to hold our Parent/Teacher interviews as we had intended. If you have an urgent need to meet with your child’s teacher, please email them directly to arrange a time. It is preferable that this takes place via phone, but if it is essential, they will negotiate with you a time to meet in person, following social distancing and hygiene practices. Thank you for your support in this matter.
DOLSIS Parent Survey
Sixty families from our School Community have been randomly selected to complete the Insight SRC – Diocese Of Lismore School Improvement Survey (DOLSIS). The purpose of DOLSIS is to receive feedback from parents, students and staff on the different facets of school so that we can continue to improve our school setting.
In the envelope you will have the option of a login to complete the survey online, and a paper copy of the survey to complete without technology and return to school. We would greatly appreciate your response to this survey as it will help guide our strategic planning for the future. The live survey period is from Monday 27th July to Friday 7th August 2020. We request that if you are completing the paper copy, you please return it to the school office by Wednesday 5th August for us to post to Insight SRC for inclusion in the survey results.
Tess Koning
Principal
SRC INDUCTION
Our School Captains for this Term are Grace Chuwen, Jhed Monckton and James Hiam. As members of the Student Representative Council for 2020, we are looking forward to helping Grace, Jhed and James be the best leaders they can be in this time of change for all of us. We also thank Savannah and James for being fantastic school captains throughout Term 2.
YEAR 4 ACCENDERE
Our Year 4 students will be participating in ‘Accendere’, a whole day spiritual retreat on Thursday 13th August at school. Accendere means to ‘switch on’ or to ‘light a spark’, aiming to have children immerse themselves in faith formation activities. A note will be sent home to families with further details for the day. We look forward to spending the day with the Year 4 children.
DR EDWARD SRI WEBINAR
The Catholic Schools Office Lismore is inviting interested parents to register for the upcoming faith formation opportunities with Dr Edward Sri.
MASS AT CHRIST THE KING CHAPEL
Nathan Porter
Assistant Principal Mission
LEARNING HOW TO LEARN
Change is occurring much more quickly than in previous generations, which means that the future our students are facing is rapidly evolving. As the future for today’s students unfolds, it will appear very different from what we are experiencing today. As educators of these young people, we are preparing them for a future that lacks the clarity of past generations. What is clear though is that learning how to learn will be vitally important, more so than ever before.
In the 90’s the trend in education was of Learning Styles – Visual, Audio and Kinaesthetic. The idea was that we all had a particular learning style and, taken further, that teachers were supposed to teach every lesson to every different learning style in the classroom. What the theory behind this concept actually said was, we all have a preferred learning style, be aware of it; it is a strength, but make sure that you practice other ways of learning so you have the ability to learn in a variety of ways. Then, when presented with a problem or concept, students have a number of different strategies to tackle it in order to find a solution.
Regardless of whether we agree with the concept of learning styles or not, what I hope we all agree on is that we want our young people to have a range of ways and strategies to help them with their learning. In educating our students for their future we must all be nurturing their ability in ‘Learning How to Learn’. If a student struggles to spell a word, solve a problem or understand a concept, they need to be able to employ other ways to do so. Finding information has never been easier, but the ability of a person to move their learning forward, to be a valuable team member and contribute in various situations helps to build confidence, courage, tenacity, sense of responsibility and self-awareness.
If we think about people of past generations who were visionary, creative and definitely before their time, like Michaelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, we can see people who were able to adapt to anything required by the circumstances at the time. We must make sure that our students don’t put themselves, or allow themselves to be put in a box and categorised by the notion of a predisposed, inflexible thinking style.
Jeannine Ucdereli
Assistant Principal Learning and Teaching
BAPTISM INFORMATION NIGHT
The monthly Baptism information night on Thursday 30th July will be an online session at 6.00pm. If you are interested in attending you will need to phone the Presbytery Office prior to 12noon on the Thursday to enable you to be included in the session. Baptisms are currently being held in Christ the King Chapel each Sunday. For more information please contact the Presbytery on 6583 1024.
JOURNEY INTO THE CATHOLIC FAITH FOR CHILDREN
The St Agnes' Uniform Store will be changing our
trading hours from 13th July.
Our new permanent trading hours will be:
12noon to 5.00pm Monday to Friday
9.00am to 12noon Saturday
NEWMAN VIRTUAL OPEN NIGHT
COVID-19 AWARENESS FOR FOOD
Our canteen coordinator, Kim Goldie, has recently completed a COVID-19 awareness for food service course. The training has been developed for anyone working in NSW food retail and food service businesses and covers key measures recommended for COVID-19 control. Key topics addressed:
- COVID-19 Introduction and background
- Infection, signs and symptoms
- Self-protective measures
- Protective measures for premises and personal hygiene
- Cleaning and sanitation practices
- Social distancing measures
- Record keeping
CANTEEN MENU
LUNCH ORDERS
The canteen is operating as usual and lunch orders can be placed via Flexischools or by dropping them in the basket on the counter each morning.
VOLUNTEER NOTICE
We are still unable to have volunteers in the canteen at this stage until further notice.
Don't forget you can order online by 8:30am- it's so easy!!
- 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
Kim Goldie
Canteen Coordinator
We are commencing our Peer Support lessons next week. The whole school participates in Peer Support for thirty minutes each week on Tuesday afternoons. Two Year 6 student leaders facilitate a small group of eight to ten younger students, who work together through a number of structured activities. Each teacher will supervise two to three groups in their classroom. We are working on a module called 'Keeping Friends, helping us explore the concept of friendship, build relationships and develop skills in empathy and critical thinking. The module runs for eight sessions. Our first session enables the children to get to know everyone in their group, agreeing on how they will work together and interact cooperatively with others. They will also begin to think about the meaning of friendship. We encourage you to talk to your children about Peer Support every week as it will help to reinforce the concepts learned in each session.
KM | Jacob Wittenberg | Hudson Bruen | Molly McGeoch |
KS | Jack Rock | Emerence Young | Flynn Loosemore |
1R | Nevaeh Fletcher | Sonny Hancock | Kooper Salan |
2S | Jade Hanks | Sunny Stapleton | Gemma Cooper |
3BH | Violet Richardson | Charlie Burns | Emily Meehan |
3D | Jesse Johnstone | Aislinn Suveesh | Tomas Butler |
4B | Lachlan Matheson | Lara Hardy | Blayde Redding |
4F | Jackson Coleman | Asia Steinhour | Elaina Stewart |
5G | Cooper Waterhouse | Jhett Moore | Analiese Bishop |
6H | Jessica Timperley | Sienna Weston | Miah Grech |
6MH | Sophie Bentley | Airlia Matthews | Charlee Maher |
Saints Youth Drama with Mrs Sandra Thompson will resume next week (Week 2) in the Hall.
Kindergarten-Year 3 classes are Tuesdays (3:15pm - 5:00pm)
Year 4-6 classes are Wednesdays
(3:15pm - 5:00pm)
Students who are already enrolled for 2020 will still have their place in the class. If you would like further information or you wish to enrol your child, please call Sandra on 0408 810 705.
Welcome back to Term 3. I hope everyone had an enjoyable break.
To complement my last article about mindfulness, I wanted to share with you a new resource from Smiling Mind that can be used at home.
Smiling Mind have released Digital Kids Care packs for children aged from 5-12 years.
These packs contain practical evidence-based tools to promote positive wellbeing in a changing world.
The link below will take you to the website to then register for access to the relevant pack.
If you feel that your child has experienced a change in their wellbeing and you are concerned about them there are a number of options available to you to assist them.
- Organise an appointment with your GP to discuss your concerns - and for a possible referral to counselling support.
- Talk to your child’s teacher about a possible referral to the Wellbeing Team at school. All referrals are discussed within the team to identify the best option for support. These options include short-term support with the school counsellor, engagement with the student support worker, assistance from the Additional Needs team or a recommendation that you see your GP for an external referral.
- Contact with Parentline or Kids Helpline to talk through any concerns.
Kelly Russell
School Counsellor
Helpful numbers:
Kids Helpline - 1800 55 1800
Parentline NSW - 1300 1300 52
Lifeline - 131114
Mental Health Access Line - 1800 011 511
Beyondblue - 1300 22 44 36
This year our Professional School Photographers will be visiting us on Monday 3rd August (Week 3).
School photo order envelopes were sent home with the students in the last week of Term 2. If you have misplaced yours and require another one please contact the Office Aunties. 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 Winter school uniform and to ensure that items such as socks, shoes, hair ties and jewellery are as per our uniform list. If you are unsure, please check the Parent Handbook on our website via this link https://sjpport.schoolzineplus.com/st-joseph-s-primary-information-handbook.
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 the full uniform with their beautiful camera ready smiles.
Positive Behaviour School (PBS)
Last term, we introduced ‘Reward Play’ to reward the positive behaviour of students. This term, we will celebrate positive behaviour with Reward Play on a more regular basis. This is a great way to acknowledge how wonderful the behaviour of our children is.
Our focus for Week 1 and 2 is being ‘Ready to Learn’. This means making healthy food choices, having a good night’s sleep, being ready for school and showing that we are ready to learn in the class.
Our focus for play is ‘Hands-off’ which means avoiding physical contact within games or as a way to solve problems. Children are encouraged to take deep breaths, walk away, get a drink and seek a teacher to solve problems as a positive solution.
Week 2 - Term 3 2020 |
|
Monday |
|
Tuesday |
|
Wednesday |
|
Thursday |
|
Friday |
|
Week 3 - Term 3 2020 |
|
Monday |
|
Tuesday |
|
Wednesday |
|
Thursday |
|
Friday 7th August |
|
Week 4 - Term 3 2020 |
|
Monday |
|
Tuesday |
|
Wednesday |
|
Thursday |
|
Friday |
|
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.
STAFF DEVELOPMENT DAYS 2020
Our remaining planned Staff Development Day (pupil free) is:
- Monday 12th October (Term 4, Week 1)
Due to circumstances around COVID-19, this date may change.
Limited child minding places will be available and we will advise on how to register closer to the date if you require it.
Kindergarten Visit from Police Liaison Officer
Parent_Teacher Interviews cancelled
Term 3 COVID-19 School Guidelines
Year 5 - Student Leadership for 2021
Year 5 and 6 Visit from Police Liaison Officer
Year 6 - Term 3 Sensitive Issues_Growth and Development (PDHPE)
Kindergarten 2020 Term 3 - Welcome Back Term Overview
Year 1 2020 Term 3 - Welcome Back Term Overview
Year 2 2020 Term 3 - Welcome Back Term Overview
Year 3 2020 Term 3 - Welcome Back Term Overview
Year 4 2020 Term 3 - Welcome Back Term Overview
Year 5 2020 Term 3 - Welcome Back Term Overview
Year 6 2020 Term 3 - Welcome Back Term Overview
Welcome back to tennis for Term 3. Tennis lessons will commence from Monday 20th July. School pick up will also commence from this date. Due to covid- 19, we are unable to provide the afternoon fruit snack. Children are encouraged to bring their own snack to eat.
If you were receiving bus pick up in Term 2 please confirm that you would like this to continue. If you would like to start bus pick up for this term please text or ring Greg. Please note there will be a charge for bus pick up of $5.00 per student per pick up, which will be added to your term fee if you choose this option.
The Friday junior competition will be starting from Friday 24th of July 4.00 - 5.30 pm. Please let us know if your child is interested in playing.
Please remember that the new active children's voucher is available for the second half of the year and can be used towards any tennis lesson.
For any inquiries about tennis lessons or the competition please text or phone Greg on 0427466760.
We look forward to seeing you back on the court.
Regards
Greg and the team at Port Macquarie Tennis Club.