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- PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE
- INDIVIDUAL TESTING DAYS
- PARENT CODE OF CONDUCT
- CAR LINE
- IMPROVEMENTS AT SCHOOL
- OPENING SCHOOL LITURGY AND WELCOME BBQ
- REPORTING
- FOUNDATION STUDENTS
- PARENT BUDDY PROGRAM
- PARENTS & FRIENDS GROUP
- UNIFORM SHOP PROCESS
- INTEREST BASED LEARNING
- SCHOOL REVIEW
- SORTING SCHOOLS PROGRAM
- BISHOP VISIT
- ASSEMBLIES
- DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
- PARENT CODE OF CONDUCT
Dear Families,
Welcome to the 2021 school year! It is great to be back. We warmly welcome our new Foundation students and their families.
We also welcome Anton Istraty in Grade 5.
This year we will have Art on Mondays, Sport on Wednesdays (F/1, 1/2 & 2/3) and Fridays (Gr 4/5 and Gr 5/6). Music will be on Thursdays and Japanese on Wednesdays. We continue to be very excited about our music program. We are asking families to have a look at home to see if you have any pre-loved musical instruments (guitars, keyboards, drums, whatever you have) that you might like to donate to the school. We promise we will put them to very good use in creating ‘sweet music’.
SAFETY
Child Safety is of course our number one priority. To keep all our children safe we:
# Lock the back gates all the time.
# We have installed a new security gate at the front between the building and the front entry pillar, this is to close off access to the yard during the school day. In this way, no one will be able to enter our school grounds without coming past our school office.
# The front gate and the carline gate will be unlocked at 8.30am and at 9am the carline gate will be locked so that there will be one entry to the school during the school day. At around 3pm the carline gate will be unlocked to allow for a staggered pick up at the end of the day.
Individual Testing Days
Last year we trialled having the individual testing days in weeks 2 ,3 & 4 rather than the first 2 days of the school year and this seemed to work well. So this year we will also be doing this. An emergency teacher will take the class while the class teacher completes the initial testing of the students. Then in teams the teachers look at the data and work together to best meet the needs of the students.
Our Parent Code of Conduct is part of positive school practice. Please find a copy attached to this newsletter. We ask that you read it and when you’re next in school, that you sign the registry at the front office to say that you have read it and will follow it. It states very clearly in this code of conduct that school issues are dealt with through the school and not between parents. Please remember parents that if /when an incident happens at school, it is the school’s responsibility (that is, the principal or the teacher’s responsibility) to follow this up and to then communicate information, where necessary, to other parents. You are not allowed to approach another parent about something that happened at school. This is the school’s job.
Our car line operates efficiently and safely. After school, the students will be brought out to the car line from the front of the school. The students line up against the wall and they can only enter their car when it is next to the yellow safety rails. Families will be given their family name labels to put on their visor or dashboard to facilitate the efficient running of the car line. Thank you for using these labels as they really help.
Helpful hint: if your child sometimes goes home from school a different way and you want them to remember how they are getting home today, then perhaps you might like to make a special tag that communicates this, say for example, you prepare a ‘car line’ tag with a picture of a car on it and peg it to your child’s bag that day. This will remind your child how they are getting home and so help to build their independence.
Last year we were successful in receiving a grant from the Bendigo Bank and we purchased and constructed 2 cubbies and built a gaga pit. These are welcome additions to our school yard. We also completed an office refurbishment to ensure that our entry is child safe. We are appreciating our new entry.
OPENING SCHOOL LITURGY AND WELCOME BBQ
Next week on Tuesday February 9th we will gather in our church at 5pm for our Opening School Liturgy. This will be followed by a free BBQ to welcome all our families back. Families BYO drinks and BBQ will be supplied. We will need 2 volunteers to cook the meat at 5pm please. If you are able to help please let Trish know. We hope all our families are able to join with us.
We are presently conducting parent / carer and teacher conversations this week. This is an opportunity for you to meet the class teacher and talk to the teacher about your child. We understand that you know your child best and aim to establish positive partnerships with you. At the end of term 2 we have written school reports and half way through term 3 we have another lot of parent/teacher/student interviews. We conclude our reporting with written reports again at the end of the school year.
Message to families with a foundation student: remember foundation students have the first 5 Wednesdays off as a rest day. The Wednesday of the week following the long weekend in March is the first Wednesday the foundation students will be at school. Parents please make sure these rest days are quieter and slower days for your child, to allow them to rest and feel ready for school again on the Thursday.
St Joseph’s promotes positive relationships and so we encourage our Parent Buddy Program. This is where we partner up an existing parent with a new parent to help the new family to feel welcome at our school. This year we have 8 new families so we are looking for 8 existing parents who may like to support this program. If you are interested could you please contact Cathleen Ryan as she is coordinating this program this year.
We have a wonderful P&F group who plan fundraising and social events for us. Please feel welcome to come and join this group.
Our first meeting is this Tuesday Feb 9th at 9.30am. It is a virtual meeting so you can participate in the comfort of your own home. Just send me an email and I will send you an invitation with the meeting link.
Orders from CDF online payment system are received on a weekly basis and are filled every Wednesday.
The cut off for weekly orders is Tuesday night every week.
Orders can be collected from the office when they are ready.
Many Thanks
Kylee Eerhard, Uniform Shop Co-ordinator
This year we are incredibly excited to introduce this program. It will run for five consecutive Thursdays 2.00pm to 3.30pm starting on the 18th of February. We already have some wonderful opportunities (St Joseph’s Survivor, singing group, sport groups, concert group, animal group, woodwork group, art group) and we are looking for some more helpers please. If you are able to run a cooking group or a craft group then please yell out. You might have a talent that you could share with us. Even if you don’t think you have a talent to share but are available to help on those 5 Thursday afternoons please let us know as we could put your help to good use. Your children love it when you help at school. We are thinking of running a ‘Personal Presentation Group’ including hair, makeup, face painting, henna temporary tattoos and maybe deportment/manners activities, so if you could help with any of these please let us know. The students are really excited and we know that their learning will certainly be heightened. Thank you for your support.
Our schools that work under DOSCEL (Diocese of Sale Catholic Education Ltd) operate within a 4 year review cycle. This year is our year for review, so this means that we reflect on our processes, activities and policies and seek deliberately and strategically to improve. The leadership team, the staff and the School Advisory Committee will engage in this process. By completing the SRC parent surveys (that we send home each year) you will be participating in this review process, and in addition if you would like to be more actively involved in the review then please contact me and I will thankfully include you. It is crucial that we always seek to be our best.
The government supports Physical Education in schools through the Sporting Schools Program. Through this program we are able to supply an expert athletics coach to teach the students over 4 different visits. In addition to this, Taryn Maxwell-Garratt will follow these sessions up in our regular PE classes. Our athletics program will culminate with our school’s athletics carnival at the Joe Carmody Track in Newborough on Friday March 12th. We really need lots of parent helpers to run this day successfully so if you are able to help please contact Taryn.
You will remember that last year Sale Diocese welcomed our new Bishop, Bishop Greg Bennet (the 10th Bishop of Sale). Bishop Greg will be visiting our school on Friday the 12th of February. He will have morning tea with staff at 11.00am and then he will visit each of the classrooms. You might like to ask you child about that visit.
May God continue to bless and guide us in our work.
Trish Mulqueen, Principal
This year assemblies will be Fridays 3.10pm in Mary MacKillop room. Unfortunately, at this stage assemblies are only open to students and teachers as we still need to abide by the 2 square metre density rules and our Mary MacKillop room is simply not big enough to hold students, staff and parents. We will however endeavour to livestream the event if you would like to join us.
Icy poles on sale on Fridays in Term 1 $1.00 each.
Remember school hats must be worn in Term 1 & Term 4.
Remember it is best for students to bring their own drink bottle of water from home.
FEBRUARY
Tues 9th P & F Virtual Meeting 9.30am
Beginning of School Liturgy 5pm church Followed by Welcome BBQ
Fri 12th Bishop Greg Bennet visit
Mon 15th to Wed 17th Gr 5/6 camp to Allambee
Thurs 18th Interest Based Learning Program
Thurs 25th Interest Based Learning Program
MARCH
Thurs 4th Interest Based Learning Program
Mon 8th Labour Day Holiday
Wed 10th Foundation Students first Wednesday at school
Thurs 11th Interest Based Learning Program
Fri 12th Our school’s Athletics Carnival at Joe Carmody Track
Thurs 18th Interest Based Learning Program