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- Sharing Our Learning - Kindergarten
- 2021 Student Residential Address and Other Information Collection
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- What's On Next Week ...
- Advance Dates for Your Diary
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Parent Partnerships
I had the great pleasure of sitting with Peta Rourke, who works with the Catholic Schools Office and Steve Robinson, who is our parent representative for Parent Partnerships. This is a Diocesan structure that we have for finding ways to engage with parents in a variety of ways to build the connections for our community and ultimately for student success. Some examples of this are providing parent education opportunities both in person and digitally, seeking to understand the needs of families and finding ways for families to be involved in the life of the school.
This also works well with the focus of our P&F, which is not just to fundraise for school needs and build community, (which was put on hold during the 2020 COVID-19 period) but to look strategically at where we want our school to be now and in the future. Our meeting this week was a great opportunity to work with parents on these two areas. We looked at some possible opportunities for fundraising and gathering in community, and talked about the big picture items for the school in 2021. In brief, for further engagement are:
- Spending time knowing about St Joseph, the foundation of our school.
- Focussing on our Parish and School Vision, Mission and Values through the example of Jesus and St Joseph.
- Sharing learning with our parents and carers through innovative platforms.
As always, we welcome parents to our meetings to assist us in building our community. The next meeting is at 5:30pm on Wednesday 24th March in the school staff room.
Meet and Greet Interviews
Our teachers are very much looking forward to being able to meet with you for our Meet and Greet interviews. Parents and carers were sent an email in the past week with details for booking, so please remember to check the email address you provided for school communication if you haven't received it. There are some specific instructions around these, so please check these to be prepared, keeping everything running smoothly. Kindergarten interviews will run across Weeks 6 and 7 (1st - 12th March) and Years 1 to 6 across Weeks 7 and 8 (8th - 19th March). Availability of individual teachers will vary, so when you are booking online, you will see the choices. Please note, if you met with the teacher recently for a PP interview, you will not need to book a Meet and Greet.
Principal
Incitare
Sacrament of Reconciliation
Workshops
Family Workshops for Reconciliation are held at the following locations:
Wednesday 3rd March @ St Peter’s Primary School - 6:00pm-7:00pm
Thursday 4th March @ St Agnes' Primary School - 3:30pm-4:30pm
Tuesday 9th March @ St Joseph’s Primary School - 3:30pm-4:30pm
Wednesday 10th March @ St Agnes' Church - 6:00pm-7:00pm
Cermonies
The Reconciliation ceremony will take place on the 23rd, 24th, 25th and 31st of March. Families will be able to select their preferred date after the Workshop for Reconciliation listed above.
Project Compassion
It is during the Lenten season that Project Compassion is run by our Mini Vinnie students. Each classroom have received a Project Compassion box and several boxes have been placed in the staffroom and front office if you would like to make a donation.
Nathan Porter
Assistant Principal Mission
Support your child in Mathematics
Engaging with your child’s Mathematics’ learning in these simple, everyday ways will provide them with more and more mental images of Mathematics. They will have more images and memories to recall when they are doing Mathematics in their head. These images and memories will be linked to fun learning conversations with you that will make them easy to remember and bring a positive feeling to Mathematics learning.
- Notice the Mathematics in everyday life in the things around you - counting when climbing the stairs, measuring ingredients, sport scores, giving directions, noticing patterns in everyday things around you.
- Take the opportunity to count anything you can - Ask your child: What is one more or one less? Or ten more or ten less? Remember to count backwards too. Don't be afraid to play with big numbers either.
- Always ask your child how they worked it out - What did they see in their head? Tell them how you worked it out and notice that you are both right. If they struggle to explain how they worked it out give them some materials to show you eg. lego, paddle pop sticks, a bead string etc.
- Find arrays in everyday life - An array is an ordered collection of similar objects, usually in rows and columns. They can be used to help imagine groups. Ask your child questions like ‘How many rows are there? How many in each row? How many groups are there?
Mathematicians work together to find solutions to problems. They can explain their thinking …. and sometimes they question it and change to new thinking. Working and discovering solutions together develops your child’s Mathematical thinking.
“Talking to children about how Maths is important in their everyday life makes it relevant and real.”
Assoc. Prof Janette Babis, University of Sydney
Jeannine Ucdereli
Assistant Principal Learning and Teaching
KBC | Lacey Lawrence | Alexander Searle | Oliver Hardy |
KSC | Lily Hillier | Zane Mitchell | Ayla Pipes |
1B | Braxton Beresford | Karla Lucas | Jacob Wittenberg |
1R | Emmett Riske | Ethan Tony | Nyah Watson |
2S | Elsie Enriquez | Archie Rex | Brayden Johnson |
2T | Bronte Wood | Kooper Salan | Patrick Sleeman-Duncombe |
3H | Jessica Dennes | Taz Gawith | Toby Smurthwaite |
4F | Aislinn Suveesh | Finlay Toole | Lucas Lynch |
5S | Imogen Mulligan | Oliver Hanks | Amelia Thompson |
6H | Chaise Winn | Matilda Kos | Bronte Hood |
Creative Lunch Clubs
Check out our Creative Lunch Clubs at Lunch 1.
All new and old members welcome!
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
Primary Art Club Mrs Howard |
Primary Drama Club Infants Drama Club |
Infants Art Club Primary Dance |
Junkyard Beats
Our Stage 2 (Years 3 and 4) students are very fortunate to be going to see a performance at the Glasshouse called ‘Junkyard Beats’ on Thursday 18th March.
Students will learn about sustainability with this high energy, imaginative music-in-education performance combining drumming, dance, theatre and comedy.
In the hands of Junkyard Beats, ordinary household items are transformed into extraordinary musical instruments and unwanted junk comes alive in exciting and surprising ways! They will follow four characters during their daily activities in a world made of cardboard boxes and junk. The contents of an abandoned kitchen and wheelie bins become the greatest drum set in the world; Plastic bags are an amazing musical instrument and the human body becomes a unique sound machine.
Yours in Creative and Performing Arts
Leah Toole
Creative Arts Coordinator
With the weather getting cooler you are all probably thinking about getting the warmer uniforms out again. If you don’t want to buy new, consider popping into the second hand uniform pool and see if there is anything there that can meet your needs. There is a large selection of boys and girls items including shirts (long and short sleeved), shorts, tunics (winter and summer), sports uniforms, socks and jumpers. To access the clothing pool, please see the Office Aunties between 8:30 and 3:30pm Monday to Friday.
Birthday Buckets
What are they?
Birthday Buckets are a great way for your child to celebrate their birthday at school and share a treat with their classmates. Each bucket will contain a Quelch ice block for every student in the class (and may be even the teacher!)
Quelch ice blocks are 99% fruit juice which means they are great for children with allergies so everyone in the class can enjoy them.
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.
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.
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 under Canteen.
Don’t forget you can place your online orders days or even weeks in advance, making the morning rush even easier!
Kim Goldie
Canteen Coordinator
Winter Sports Trials
Best of luck to the Year 5 and 6 students who are participating in the Winter Sports Trials on Monday 1st March. Students are trialling in Netball, Rugby League, Rugby Union and Soccer.
Diocesan Swimming Carnival
Congratulations to the following students who were selected to attend the Diocesan Swimming Carnival in Murwillumbah today.
Gemma Cooper - 9 Years Girls Freestyle
Lailah Watson - 10 Years Girls Freestyle and Breaststroke
Tori McGrath - 12 Years Girls Breaststroke
Penny Little - 12 Years Girls Butterfly
Evie Johnson, Lailah Watson, Zada Robinson and Charli Robinson - Junior Girls Relay
We wished them the very best of luck!
Netball NSW Schools Cup
Boys and girls in Year 5 and 6 are invited to represent St Joseph’s Primary School at the Netball NSW Schools Cup which is to be held on Wednesday 17th March at Hastings Valley Netball Association – Grant Street, Port Macquarie. Please see email for further details.
Gymnastics
Gymnastics for our K-6 students is an important part of our PDHPE syllabus, developing skills in balance, strength, flexibility and coordination.
Leah Toole
Sports Coordinator
Year 6 Environmental Science Zoom
In Year 6 we are investigating how Australia’s agricultural practices from historical Indigenous farming to the challenges of the modern farmer impact our environment. To help us become experts we spoke with an Environmental Scientist, Lily Howard in a zoom. She spoke with us about native vegetation, seed germination, the impact of introduced species on our soils and rivers. Lily answered loads of questions and gave us an insight into studying at university and why she chose to study Environmental Science. We look forward to hearing from more experts in the coming weeks.
Sharing Our Learning - Kindergarten
Kindergarten students have been enjoying using our brand new whiteboard table during Literacy. It allows the group to collaborate with writing tasks and empowers the children to make their thinking visible.
The P&F Committee held their first Meeting for 2021 on Wednesday evening. We all learned and shared some creative ideas for the year ahead.
The P&F will be hosting an afternoon tea for the Kindergarten Community on Tuesday 16th March. This event has been focused on celebrating and connecting with our new Kindergarten Parents & Friends. More information to follow. We look forward to meeting you there!
To contact the P&F directly, please email your enquiry to stjosephspnf@gmail.com and a member of our Committee will gladly respond.
Expressions of interest are available for the following positions:
Treasurer
Fundraising Assistant
Catering Coordinator
Week 6 - Term 1 2021 |
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Monday 1st March |
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Tuesday 2nd March |
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Wednesday 3rd March |
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Thursday 4th March |
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Friday 5th March |
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Week 7 - Term 1 2021 |
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Monday 8th March |
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Tuesday 9th March |
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Wednesday 10th March |
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Thursday 11th March |
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Friday 12th March |
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Week 8 - Term 1 2021
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Monday 15th March |
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Tuesday 16th March |
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Wednesday 17th March |
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Thursday 18th March |
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Friday 19th March |
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Sunday 21st March |
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Week 9 - Term 1 2021 |
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Monday 22nd March |
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Tuesday 23rd March |
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Wednesday 24th March |
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Thursday 25th March |
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Friday 26th March |
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Sunday 28th March |
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Week 10 - Term 1 2021 |
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Monday 29th March |
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Tuesday 30th March |
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Wednesday 31st March |
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Thursday 1st April |
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Friday 2nd April |
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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 1 2021
Kindergarten to Year 6 last day of classes Term 1 - Wednesday 31st March 2021
Staff Development Day (Pupil Free) – Thursday 1st April 2021
TERM 2
Staff Development Day (Pupil Free) – Monday 19th April 2021
Kindergarten to Year 6 commence classes Term 2 - Tuesday 20th April 2021
Proclaim Lismore 2021
Staff Development Day (Pupil Free) - Wednesday 5th May 2021
Kindergarten to Year 6 last day of classes Term 2 – Friday 25th June 2021
TERM 3
Staff Development Day (Pupil Free) – Monday 12th July 2021
Kindergarten to Year 6 commence classes Term 3 – Tuesday 13th July 2021
Kindergarten to Year 6 last day of classes Term 3 – Friday 17th September 2021
TERM 4
Staff Development Day (Pupil Free) – Tuesday 5th October 2021
Kindergarten to Year 6 commence classes Term 4 – Wednesday 6th October 2021
Kindergarten to Year 6 last day of classes form Term 4 - Wednesday 15th December 2021
Other Holidays in 2021
Australia Day – Tuesday 26th January 2021 (Public Holiday)
Good Friday – Friday 2nd April 2021
Easter Monday – Monday 5th April 2021 (Public Holiday)
ANZAC Day – Sunday 25th April 2021
Queen’s Birthday – Monday 14th June 2021 (Public Holiday)
Labour Day – Monday 4th October 2021 (Public Holiday)
Christmas Day - Saturday 25th December 2021
Boxing Day - Sunday 26th December 2021