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- Prayer Focus
- The Principal's Report
- Celebrating Our Faith
- Learning Together
- Parish News
- After School Speech and Drama
- PBS (Positive Behaviour Support)
- Sport Spotlight
- Tune in to Mental Health Month
- School Travel for 2021
- Garden Club
- Creative Corner
- Sunshine Cafe
- Sharing Our Learning
- Student Awards
- What's On Next Week ...
- Advance Dates for Your Diary
- This Week's Notes
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Hi everyone,
Welcome back for Term 4 to all of our families. I hope that the holiday break was a restful time, giving our students a chance to refresh ready for the last busy term. There are always many things that take place in Term 4 and even with the year we have had, this is still the case.
You will have received updated COVID-19 guidelines this week regarding what we are working around for the term. There is not a lot that has changed, but please take some time to read through to ensure you know what is happening.
As a school we are planning for some of the regular events that occur in Term 4, with the phrase around it “being if possible with the guidelines at the time”. We will continue to keep you informed and appreciate your understanding of the circumstances.
Transition to school - Kindergarten 2021
We are planning for some limited onsite Kindergarten 2021 transitions, in line with the COVID-19 guidelines. We will combine this with some other resources for families to give the opportunity for our new Kindergarten students to be welcomed into our community and instill a sense of belonging. We will communicate how this will work as soon as we are able.
Year 6 Graduation events
Thank you to the parents and carers who joined us for a chat about the end of year events on Wednesday night via Zoom. We are putting the details of the meeting and other information together to send out to families next week. There are still restrictions on what we can do presently, similar to what was experienced by Year 12 students recently. However, we are working with these and remain hopeful that we can move to a more full experience later in the term. There can be no promises of what is ahead, but we will outline the thinking and possibilities in the information specifically for Year 6 parents and carers.
SRC Term 4
Congratulations to Jack Banks (6H) and Sophie Pynaert (6H) who were inducted into their SRC Leadership role for Term 4. We look forward to working with Jack and Sophie during the term.
Year 5 Leadership
Our Year 5 students have started their leadership program and preparation for becoming our leaders in 2021. Today we were proud of the way they engaged in a day of introduction to the process of learning about leadership. They will now prepare to present themselves for the opportunities to lead the school, over the coming weeks, including a retreat experience of learning to work together and be guided through this ministry they will undertake. We wish them the best as they progress through this process.
Challenge results…let’s see who reads the newsletter…
Thank you to the students and their families who joined in the fun with the challenge during the holidays. Congratulations to Tori McGrath, Amelie and Marielle Obeid, Mrs Goldie and their families who were able to answer the riddles.
I will give you all a break this week, but look out in the coming weeks for more chances to stretch your brains and have a go at some challenges.
Welcome to our new students
This week we welcomed Keira (6MH), Kyle (6H) and Leah Donovan (1R) to St Joseph’s with their mum and dad. Keira and Kyle started in Kindergarten here with us before moving away. We are so happy that they chose to return to our community and we wish all of the family our best in settling back into Port Macquarie and St Joseph’s.
New Baby for Taj
Principal
Year 5 Leadership Day
Our Year 5 children spent today learning all about leadership, taking inspiration from the example of Jesus. We spent some time beckoning the Holy Spirit to guide us and to work within us in Christian Meditation prayer. The students are advancing their mastery of self and contemplation and we pray for their continual development as future leaders of St Joseph's Primary.
St Teresa of Avila's Feast Day
On Thursday 15th October we celebrated St Teresa of Avila’s feast day. St Teresa is recognised as a ‘doctor’ in the Church because of her writings and teachings on prayer. St Teresa of Avila in probably her most renowned work, The Interior Castle, describes her deepening relationship with God through prayer – the ups and downs, the struggles, the mess and quiet reflective times. She constantly struggles with her motivation to lead an interior life that reflects her outward life.
Nathan Porter
Assistant Principal Mission
Movement and Learning
The brain, just like skeletal muscles, needs regular stimulation to function correctly. Stimulation resulting from exercise or movement, has been shown to be an effective cognitive strategy to strengthen learning, improve memory and retrieval and enhance motivation and morale among learners.
Simply by getting students out of their seats, we encourage new levels of self-discovery and self-expression and by letting students experience the curriculum through their bodies, we help them make deeper emotional, interpersonal and kinesthetic connections to academic subjects. Research tells us that physical exercise puts the brain of the learners in the optimal position for them to learn.
If you walked into your child’s classroom environment you would notice multiple opportunities for them to be physically active in their learning. This may take the form of brain breaks, dancing (GoNoodle) or wiggling - the act of simply getting students up and out of their seats. Research shows that the brain actually lights up differently after a short episode of movement and neural pathways are more speedy and efficient amongst fit kids. The more our students can explore the limitless potential of a movement focused day, the more their brains will be engaged. Movement wires up the brain as they move creating new dendrons. This means they will be more likely to remember what they are doing.
So, LET”S GET MOVING
UNSW ICAS Results
Some of our Primary students recently participated in the UNSW Global ICAS Assessments. ICAS Assessments are designed to recognise academic excellence where students are assessed on their ability to apply classroom learning to new contexts by using higher-order thinking and problem-solving skills.
This week we would like to congratulate the following students for their achievement.
Digital Technologies |
Aislinn Suveesh (Year 3), Murphy Maher (Year 4), William Naseby (Year 6) and Erin Little (Year 6) awarded a Credit |
Gene Smith (Year 4) and Aaron Biju (Year 5) awarded a Merit |
Jeannine Ucdereli
Assistant Principal Learning and Teaching
New Mass Schedule and booking system
- Phone the Presbytery on 6583 1024
- Book online via the Parish Website (go to Mass Times then click on the 'Book into Mass here' button and follow the prompts)
If you can't make it to Mass in person, why not join Bishop Greg Homeming who celebrates Mass at the Carmelite Monastery in Goonellabah, at 8:00am each Sunday via live stream on the Lismore Diocese YouTube channel (click here to view the site).
Important change - Week 3
Due to Year 6 camp, after school drama for Year 4-6 will be held on the Monday of Week 3 instead of Wednesday for that week only.
PBS (Positive Behaviour Support)
New Flowchart for Behaviour
Last Term, we introduced a new flowchart to map out the line of consequences for behaviour. This Term, we are officially operating using this new format.
Behaviour Focus
To start our term, we are rewarding students who demonstrate ‘Ready to Learn’ behaviours. These behaviours can get a little dusty after the holidays but it doesn’t take much to refresh ourselves to get back into the swing of things. Ready to Learn behaviours are important to ensure we get the most out of our learning experiences. They include: paying attention, concentrating, watching the speaker, listening, raising our hand to contribute, trying our best etc.
Reward Play
Reward Play is a reward offered to all students who continually follow school expectations and demonstrate our school values. Reward Play will be scheduled throughout the term on a fortnightly basis. We hope to reward all students for positive behaviour choices.
Sports Star of the Week
Congratulations to Laura Sturrock in 6MH!
Laura has been nominated by a fellow student for her involvement and enthusiasm in a Year 6 Oztag game last term.
Tennis Hot Shots
Please note, some classes have changed timeslots for Tennis Hot Shots. The updated timetable is below for your reference.
Yours in Sport
Leah Toole
Tune in to Mental Health Month
The theme for Mental Health Month this year is 'Tune In'. So what does this mean and how can we do it?
Click on the below image if you wish to read more on Mental Health Month.
A successful SPRING!
The Year 6 Garden Club worked hard throughout the last term to plant and tend to these beautiful sunflowers.
For some reason we have a single stem with lots of flowers!!
Heading into the warmest months we have started to dig the spent vegetable matter back into the soil in preparation for planting next year.
The results of digging some tomatoes into the soil earlier this year has resulted in a multitude of tomato plants with baby tomatoes for the club members to snack on!!
Mrs Cate Hearle and Kelly Russell
Shining Star of the Week
And the Oscar goes to…Makayla Johnson in 2T !
For her leadership and performance in 2T’s ‘The Magic Beach’ last term.
Creative Arts Lunch Clubs
The Creative Arts Lunch clubs are back this term. We look forward to seeing all old and new members! The timetable is:
Tuesday Lunch 2 |
Week 1 - Year 6 |
Primary Dance Club |
Wednesday Lunch 1 |
Week 1 and 4 - Year 2 |
Infants Art Club |
Thursday Lunch 1 |
Even weeks - Year 1, Odd weeks - Year 2 |
Infants Drama Club |
Thursday Lunch 1 |
Year 6 only |
Primary Drama Club |
Yours in Creative and Performing Arts
Leah Toole
Infants Art Club
With Sarah McKinnon on maternity leave, Mrs Stapleton will be continuing Infants Art Club this term. It will be held during Lunch 1 starting at 11:15am on Wednesdays in the KS class room. Due to COVID-19 restrictions we will need to have one grade per week. Please see the below timetable.
Week 1 | Year 2 |
Week 2 | Year 1 |
Week 3 | Kindergarten |
Week 4 | Year 2 |
Week 5 | Year 1 |
Week 6 | Kindergarten |
Week 7 and 8 | No Art Club due to Intensive Swimming |
Weeks 9 and 10 | To be confirmed |
Year 2 had a ball during Infants Art Club this week.
Birthday Buckets
Birthday Buckets have been very popular this week with multiple orders and lots of excited children coming to collect them to share with their classmates for their special day.
How much do they cost?
Just $10.00 per bucket.
The bucket will be decorated for your child’s birthday and collected during the day as directed by the teacher to share with their class. The buckets are reusable and will need to be returned to the canteen.
How do you order them?
They can be ordered via Flexischools on the day you would like your child to share them or can be ordered in advance. Alternatively, if you don’t use Flexischools, you can call the school office to order directly from the Canteen.
Term 4 Menu
There are a couple of small price increases on the new Term 4 Menu. These are necessary as some suppliers have increased their prices but I have kept them as low as possible. New items have also been added to the menu. These include a large meat pie and a junior sausage roll which have been requested by many of the children this year. There are also new flavours of Frozen Yoghurts to try out and they are Mango/Watermelon and Blueberry/Cookie Dough. These items can all be ordered through Flexischools.
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.
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
VOLUNTEER NOTICE
We are still unable to have volunteers in the canteen at this stage until further notice.
Kim Goldie
Canteen Coordinator
KM | Jacob Wittenberg | Yzekiel Nieva | Jenson Jarvis |
KS | Jade McGinley | Emmett Riske | Flynn Loosemore |
1R | Leah Donovan | Diane King | Indii Love |
2S | Hannah Tony | Bronte Sprague | Toby Smurthwaite |
4B | Ada Zerafa-Johnson | Lachlan Matheson | Anabelle Hicks |
4F | Isabelle Moane | Lainey Campbell | Amelie Obeid |
5G | Oliver Mat | Amara Crutcher | Sydney Forsyth |
5H | Tori McGrath | Cooper Preston | Tiarna Flack |
6MH | Keira Donovan | Cruz Rebecchi | Darcy McHugh |
Week 2 - Term 4 2020 |
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Monday |
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Tuesday |
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Wednesday |
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Thursday 22nd October |
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Friday 23rd October |
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Week 3 - Term 4 2020 |
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Monday |
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Tuesday |
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Wednesday |
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Thursday 29th October |
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Friday 30th October |
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Week 4 - Term 4 2020 |
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Monday 2nd November |
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Wednesday |
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Thursday 5th November |
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Friday 6th November |
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Week 5 - Term 4 2020 |
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Tuesday |
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Wednesday |
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Thursday 12th November |
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Friday 13th November |
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Week 6 - Term 4 2020 |
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Monday 16th November |
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Thursday 19th November |
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Friday 20th November |
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Week 7 - Term 4 2020 |
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Monday 23rd November |
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Thursday 26th November |
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Friday 27th November |
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Week 8 - Term 4 2020 |
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Monday 30th November |
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Tuesday |
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Wednesday |
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Thursday 3rd December |
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Friday 4th December |
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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.
2020 Year 5 Exuro Retreat - consent, medical information, payment request and gear list
Term 4 COVID-19 School Guidelines