Kindergarten 2022

It was an absolute pleasure this week to welcome our new Kindergarten friends for 2022 to school for our orientation mornings. We were so proud of the way in which they said goodbye to their parents and carers for the morning so comfortably and joined in with some activities that helped us get to know them and show them some of what school is like.

We are excited to have them back again with us for their transition morning next week, where they will get to see more of the school and spend time with their teachers for next year. Our teachers for 2022 in Kindergarten are Ms Magda Buckley, Mrs Brianne Hoitink and Mrs Kathy Bailey, who will work together to ensure the first year of school is filled with a sense of belonging and great learning.

Kinder Teaching Team 2022

School Memorial Garden

For those who were part of our school community last year, you will remember that at this time of year we lost one of our long term teachers quite suddenly to a short illness. This was a very difficult time for our staff, students and community, as Mrs Rosemary Saunders had been part of our school for over 40 years. As you can imagine, there were many memories and tributes to Mrs Saunders (affectionately known as “Ro”), as not only students but parents of our school were taught by her and had experienced the care she had for them.

During the past year, we have thought about the best way to keep her memory alive in our community, and also how to ensure that other significant people are remembered into the future. After some input from staff and others in our community, we have designed a section of our current prayer garden (between the Kindergarten rooms and the MPA) as a Memorial Garden. Due to the significance of Mrs Saunders to our school, there are some special features that are in memory of her that can also be added to in the future.

We have been gifted a beautiful pew from our Parish and are restoring it to be a special place to sit for a while, which will have a special plaque added and some hand made mosaic tiles by one of our retired Educational Assistants Josie Wilton. We have purchased a rose bush and two apple plants to be potted and placed in the setting.

This additional space within the prayer garden will be blessed by our Parish Priest Fr Paul Gooley in December with some of Mrs Saunders’ family, friends and staff. Once it is possible, we will invite parents of our community to come and visit this space and also give our students an experience to build on. We ask for your prayers during this time of year for Ro’s family and those of us who knew her well.      

The Rosemary Saunders Star of the Year Award

In addition to our Memorial Garden, this year we will be starting an annual award for a ‘Star of the Year’ in each class in honour of Mrs Saunders. Over the 40 years that Mrs Saunders taught at St Joseph’s, she was known for her smile, positivity, friendliness, faith and absolute consistency as a teacher, friend and person. Each week Mrs Saunders awarded a Star of the Week, where every child in the class would write a positive affirmation about that child and the child would receive a certificate laminated with affirmations from classmates.

The Star of the Year will be voted upon by the students and adults in each class to nominate a classmate who has shown consistent positivity, a smile, friendliness and support to others throughout the year. The recipient will receive a medal, sprig of rosemary, and a certificate of affirmations at our end of year Mass for Thanksgiving on Wednesday 8th December (in 2021 this will be a prayer service). We look forward to celebrating the great qualities of the students in our school through this award. 

Celebrating Our Faith

The Feast Of Christ The King

This Sunday 21st November we celebrate the Feast of Christ the King that recognises that Christ is King and Lord of the universe. 

Our Welcome Prayer For Our New Kindergarten Families

Loving God,

You are the giver of all we possess, the source of all of our blessings.

We thank and praise you.

Thank you for the gift of our children.

May our school always encourage them to explore, grow and learn.

May our children come to know you, the one true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

May your Holy Spirit help them to grow in faith, hope, and love, so they may know peace, truth, and goodness. 

May their ears hear your voice.

May their eyes see your presence in all things.

May their lips proclaim your word.

May their hearts be your dwelling place.

May their hands do works of charity.

May their feet walk in the way of Jesus Christ, your son and our Lord.

May our St Agnes’ Parish schools nurture them, support their growth, be blessed with those that sincerely work with parents and children to meet all our children’s needs at the different times of their life.

We ask God’s blessing, for us and our children as they begin their new journey as part of the St Agnes’ Parish Schools at St Joseph’s Primary School.

Amen

Learning Together

UNSW Educational Assessments 

At the beginning of this term some of our students participated in the University of New South Wales Educational Assessments.  The ICAS Assessments series is designed to assess students' ability to apply classroom learning in new contexts, using higher-order thinking and problem-solving skills.  Students who participated chose which assessments they would like to complete.  We had a number of students complete the following:- Spelling, Digital Technologies, Mathematics, Science and Technology, and English.  

We congratulate all students who participated and would like to share some of our results:-

ICAS English

ICAS Mathematics

ICAS Science

ICAS Spelling