Developing Leadership

This week I had the absolute pleasure to spend time with our Year 5 cohort at the St Francis Retreat in Bonny Hills. As soon as I arrived you could feel the overwhelming sense of excitement and pure happiness as the children were all preparing for the afternoon/evening activities. We engaged in a very competitive game of spotlight, roasted marshmallows around the fire and enjoyed watching Encanto. My favourite memory will be watching them all stand up and move to the back of the hall and begin performing their Glasshouse dance performance. Every single child was up and dancing together. It reminded me of how amazing they were as a team all the way back in Kindergarten. I look forward to watching them continue to develop their leadership skills and lead our school in 2023. 

A very big thank you to all our staff who supported the students while they were away. Thank you also to the St Francis Retreat staff for keeping us all beautifully fed and hydrated.

Supervision

Throughout this term we have noticed a number of students arriving at school as early as 7:30am.  We would just like to remind parents that teachers are not on duty until 8:25am. Whilst we do understand some parents may need to drop their children off early, we would like to acknowledge there are a number of before school child care options to ensure your child is safely supervised. If you would like more information about these establishments please contact the Office.

National Day of Mourning

As you would be aware the Australian Government has announced a National Day of Mourning to mark the death of Queen Elizabeth II and have declared Thursday 22nd September 2022 as a public holiday. 

As such St Joseph's Primary School Port Macquarie, will not be operational on Thursday 22nd September. This decision means that the last day of Term 3 will now be Wednesday 21st September as we already have a Staff Development Day planned for Friday 23rd September.

Parish Long Service Awards

This week we recognised a number of our staff who have served our school community for 10 or more years.  Due to COVID-19 restrictions we have been unable to celebrate for the past two years so we enjoyed a morning tea together and presented each staff member with a gift during our Friday Prayer Assembly. 

Congratulations to the following staff members:

2020
25 Years - Susan Cameron
10 Years - Sarah Blundell, Kate Mitchell, Leah Toole

2021
35 Years - Veronica Kiers-Hawkins
25 Years - Robyn Fitzpatrick

2022
25 Years - Cate Hearle
10 Years - Holly Hough, Antoinette Smith

Cyberbullying and Online Drama

The Council of Catholic School Parents has partnered with the eSafety Commissioner to provide a free webinar to parents about cyberbullying and online drama which continues to be an issue for many schools and families. This webinar will be held on Tuesday 20th September from 7:30-8:30pm.

Learning Together

Nothing is more important for our society than the quality of teaching and learning in our schools. 

Students must receive an education that provides them with a solid foundation for life – preparing young people to make a productive contribution to our society. This is why constant curriculum reform is a necessity.

This week in our extended staff meeting teachers began professional learning designed to support the implementation of the new English K-2 syllabus.

The English K-2 syllabus is required to be taught in all NSW primary schools from 2023. Engaging with this new learning will help our staff develop the required knowledge, understanding and skills for effective syllabus implementation.

Celebrating Our Faith

Year 5 Faith Leadership Retreat

What a privilege it has been to take Year 5 on their first retreat this week. The Year 5 Leadership Retreat is built around the themes of Exuro, leadership, team building and fun. Exuro is a Proclaim Lismore Program, which runs with the theme: Set the World on Fire.

It explores the quote from Timothy:

Students explored ways in which they can be a disciple and carry on the mission of Jesus in our world today. 

Students also tested their team work in a scavenger hunt, team building challenges, sand sculpture competitions and in an after dark spotlight game. They had fun in their cabins whilst making new friends and memories.

Thank you to our amazing team of staff and students.

“It was literally the best experience of my life. The food was amazing and the games were really fun.” - Lucy

“It was amazing. All the challenges and adventures.” - Evie

“The wildlife was amazing! I loved to see how they reacted to us being here.” - Joe

“The food was exquisite!” - Eli

“The challenges and games were amazing. Especially the water bucket challenge.” - Lucas L

“I love how we played lots of activities and games morning and night.” - Benji

Exuro Year 5 Discipleship Retreat Day

Year 5 students who enjoyed the themes of Exuro at Retreat are invited to join other like-minded peers from our surrounding schools, in a Exuro Retreat day at the Port Macquarie Youth Hub next term on Tuesday 18th October. An email has been sent home with details on how you can apply. Please note there are limited places available for the Retreat. If your child would like to nominate for this great, faith building experience please complete with them the online nomination form in the email. Nominations close Tuesday 20th September.

Sacrament of Confirmation

Congratulations to our Confirmation Candidates for making this special sacrament this week with their family and parish community. Thank you to our staff and amazing Faith Choir for supporting our candidates on Tuesday night. 

Grandparents Day - Save the Date

Calling all Grandparents and Grandfriends. Save the date for Friday 28th October at St Joseph’s Primary for some fun and love with your grandchildren. Details to follow. We can’t wait to see you!