Leader's Message
Experimenting
It was amazing to see so many parents investigating on Wednesday as we celebrated National Science Week. What was even more exciting was seeing you all back in our learning environmentss learning alongside your child/ren. We are looking forward to many more opportunities over the next few weeks to share the joy we are privileged to see every day with you.
Stranger Danger
This week we had an incident where a group of students were approached by an unknown male after school, off our grounds. One student was grabbed, however, they were all able to run away. This incident was reported to the Police and has been followed up. The students were also offered support here at school.
Stranger Danger is a very important topic that parents should discuss with their children, especially when approaching the age when being outside and the chance of encountering unfamiliar and new people can occur every day. Could you please take a moment over the weekend to discuss with your child what they should do should they ever be approached by someone they do not know.
School Review
Next week we will welcome the School Review panel, who will visit on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of next week.
The panel consists of:
Mrs Laurelle Allen - Independent panel leader (Australian Council of Educational Research member)
Mr Troy Baker- Lead, School Improvement and Performance, Catholic Schools Office
Mr Kurt Challinor - Lead, Learning and Teaching (Secondary), Catholic Schools Office
The panel will spend three days talking with leadership, interviewing most staff members, family representatives and students.
They will walk through classrooms and have ongoing discussions with leadership and staff to ask questions and provide supportive and constructive feedback.
The Review is a great opportunity to reflect on the qualities and culture that characterise the strength of St Joseph’s as well as assisting the school to consider potential opportunities for school improvement over the next three years.
The Tell Them From Me survey above will also provide our school critical feedback to support this process.
Celebrating Our Faith
Sacrament of Confirmation
A reminder to parents of students who are preparing to complete the Sacrament of Confirmation will need to be registered. A note with further information has been emailed to parents of Sacrament candidates.
Dates for your calendars and parent reminders are:
Workshop 1 - Tuesday 23rd August at 3.30pm - St Agnes’ Primary School
Workshop 2 - Thursday 25th August at 6.00pm - St Agnes’ Catholic Church
Workshop 3 - Wednesday 31st August at 3.30pm - St Joseph’s Primary School
Workshop 4 - Thursday 1st September at 6.00pm - St Peter’s Primary School
If you haven’t registered and still wish to do so, please contact Laura Hatherly, Assistant Principal Mission.
Learning Together
Building a Connected School Community
A connected school community is a group of students, teachers, leaders, parents and the wider school who learn from each other, together in a collaborative environment, inside and outside the classroom.
Building a connected school community enhances learning outcomes and support, collaboration and wellbeing for the entire school.
Week 5 Community Partnership Experiences
- Police Liaison Visit - Constable Wendy Hudson talked to all our students on Monday about personal and cyber safety. She has vast experience in educating and supporting students in proactive approaches to reduce the incidence of concerns in Primary settings.
- National Science Week Open Classroom - Wednesday was a wonderful opportunity for students to explore, test, play and ultimately create whilst working side by side with members of our parent community.
- Life Education Van Visit - Our students visited the van from Thursday at various times for The Life Education program. The program provides valuable lessons exploring healthy eating, personal safety, physical activity, positive relationships, cybersafety and the impact of alcohol and other drugs. All modules are age and stage appropriate and aligned to the NSW PDHPE syllabus and the Australian school curriculum. The remainder of our classes will visit with Harold on Monday and in Week 10 when the van returns for the final visit this year.
All school community members have a role to play in learning, solving problems and contributing to the learning goals of pupils. By being connected, there is shared responsibility and an overall increase in the learning opportunities.
