Filter Content
- PRINCIPAL REPORT
- P&F NEWS
- BOOK WEEK AND BOOK FAIR
- MILL VALLEY CAMP
- SCHOOL ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING SUMMARY
- 2021 NEiTA AWARDS
- LIONS CLUB PUBLIC SPEAKING COMPETITION
- WHOLE SCHOOL APPROACH TO POSITIVE BEHAVIOUR SUPPORT (WSAPBS)
- SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT AND STRATEGIC PLANNING
- CODE OF CONDUCT
- OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH and SAFTEY
- MINI VINNIES TEAM
- R U OK? Day
- CHILD SAFETY
- DATES
Dear Families
I’m sure you’ve already heard that lockdown has been extended. Oh dear, how we would all really like to be back at school, but I take comfort in the fact that we are really well set up to continue remote learning through Google Classroom. And I know that the teachers are continuing to contact you and work with you to help our children with their learning. Please remember you are not expected to run a scheduled full class day at home. I think if you are able to get say 2 hours a day done, with some reading and writing and some number work in there, you are doing really well. Do what works for your family. This is a time to be kind to ourselves and not put too much pressure on each other. We will all get through this. Our recent NAPLAN results show that our students are no worse off, even though we have had a number of days of remote learning. This proves you are all doing a great job!
Tonight there is an important live webinar on cyber safety presented by Susan McLean, an Australian expert in the field. I urge all families to participate in this vital event. It is so important that we are armed with the necessary information to guide our children in this space. Please read the attached flyer for booking information.
This Sunday we celebrate our Dads. We thank God for our Dads as they are so important in our families. Janet Poelsma has organised an activity for your family to help you celebrate this important occasion. You can find it on School Story on Class Dojo as well as in your child’s Google Classroom. I’d like to encourage you and your family to find the time to sit together and do this activity. It is part of our regular school practice to highlight what we are grateful for, and presently we are grateful for our Dads and the role they play in our families. Thank you Dads!
UNIFORM ORDERS
Uniform shop is stocking new green school Tshirts. All uniform orders available on CDFPay.
P&F would like to thank the families who purchased Father’s Day Gifts & hope all the dads & special persons appreciate their unique artwork they receive as gifts from their talented children. And a big thanks to Kathy Grass for her support & guidance. Unfortunately, Father’s Day Breakfast will not be going ahead.
Reminder- P&F are holding another Special Lunch on Thurs 21st Sept. Let's hope we're back at school.
Hot dogs $3.50 and Primas $1.00. Orders can be made through CDF Pay by 4.00pm Mon 18th September.
Upcoming Fundraiser in Term 4 - Cookie Dough Fundraiser
St Joseph's use CDF Pay for accountability & auditing purposes. This includes for P&F fundraising & events. Please see instructions if you do not have access to CDF Pay, or see a committee member for help.
Next P & F Meeting: Thursday October 7th at 6pm at the Thai Restaurant in Trafalgar. Everyone welcome.
We invited families to send in photos of children who dressed up for Book Week. Kathy Grass has put together a clip from our celebrations. You might like to view this with your family. You can find it on School Story on Class Dojo.
We had planned for the Gr 4 students to go to Mill Valley Park next week but unfortunately due to lockdown this is no longer possible. We are looking at possible alternatives and we will let you know if we can arrange something else.
SCHOOL ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING SUMMARY
Our School Advisory Committee met on Monday August 16th starting with revisiting the Code of Ethics. A number of regular items on the agenda were discussed, such as Uniform, Child Safety, and P&F. Staffing was discussed with reference to our new counsellor, Gavin Chatelier. Gavin has put an introductory clip on our website and on School Story on Class Dojo. We talked about the Review process and Promotion of our school. Ashlee presented her initial data on interest in a before and after school hours care program through Camp Australia. Ashlee will continue to investigate this idea on behalf of our school. The committee also talked about the impact of COVID and suggested ideas on how we can further support our students and families
The National Excellence in Teaching Awards acknowledge exceptional educators across Australia and New Zealand. This year two teachers from our school, have been nominated for these awards. We congratulate Ms Kathy Grass and Mr James Simon. The process now is that both Kathy and James fill out their self portrait and then a judging committee decide who will be the finalists and then the overall winners in each state. We wish Kathy and James every success and we will let you know as the judging continues.
LIONS CLUB PUBLIC SPEAKING COMPETITION
On Friday August 20th we ran our school’s Lions Club Public Speaking Competition. Six students took up the opportunity to plan, practise and present their speech to the school community. We invited Ms Lucy O’Connell and Mrs Glenda Mynard to come and judge the competition together with Rhonda, a representative from the Lions Club. Pat Tatterson from the Lions Club organised the activity. Sabrina Shaw, one of our Learning Support Officers helped to prepare and support the competitors. We were especially proud of the students who participated. Congratulations and well done for putting your hand up and having a go. Congratulations to Thomas Kennedy, Remy Shelfout, Kirah Shields, Summer Parise, Charlise Eerhard and Ethan Paul.
Summer Parise was the winner for the Gr 3/4 competition and Charlise Eerhard was the winner for the Gr 5/6 competition. Yesterday Summer and Charlise participated in the local final for the competition. And I am particularly excited to announce to you all, that both Summer and Charlise won their local final, so that Summer and Charlise will now go on to the next level, which is the regional level. We are so proud of your work girls and good luck for the next level.
WHOLE SCHOOL APPROACH TO POSITIVE BEHAVIOUR SUPPORT (WSAPBS)
St Joseph’s School promotes and values positive relationships. Our Whole School Approach to Positive Behaviour Support (WSAPBS) focuses on this. WSAPBS is inclusive of all members of our school community including teachers, students and families. We have established four School Wide Expectations (SWE) and these are Respect, Resilience, Inclusiveness and Teamwork. We understand that these SWE are expected from all members of our community 100% of the time.
Last year, during Lockdown, we created an amazing banner demonstrating our SWE in The Front Door Project and it stands proudly in the Mary MacKillop room reminding us of the positive community that we have here at St Joseph’s.
This year, we are inviting you to create your own family poster showing the SWE. We suggest that your poster could include your family name and all 4 of the SWE. Liza Marino has put together a poster showing examples of how the teachers live out the SWE. Her poster includes a combination of photos and writing. You can present your poster however you like.
We invite all families to participate in this activity. We have plain A3 paper and/or a template available at the front office if you would like to use this. We also thought it would be appropriate to include our Japanese focus, so we have included the 4 SWE in Japanese as well.
We are hoping that some of the final results can be used to promote our SWE around our school and would like to have some of the posters printed professionally.
SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT AND STRATEGIC PLANNING
As you are aware, 2021 is our school’s year for Review. This is part of our ongoing 4 year cycle of school improvement. We have completed our 2 day review, where reviewers visited our school and investigated our processes to see where we have had impact and where we haven’t had impact. This information drives our Improvement Agenda. We have also completed our Registration Review just this week. This review was checking our policies and procedures and looking for evidence that these policies are enacted in the school. The leadership team (Trish, Taryn, Katie and Cat) were involved in zoom meetings all day on Tuesday to facilitate this process. It was a BIG day, and also a productive day. You will be pleased to know that the panel was particularly pleased with our participation and we only have a few minor things to attend to.
Safety is paramount at our school. In these days of remote learning it is especially important to remember our cyber safety rules. Teachers will be making sure that there is an adult around when your child is in a google meet. Google Classroom will only operate between the hours of 7am to 5pm each week day. This does not mean that you have to be participating all this time, we are trying to accommodate some families who like to do their work early and then go outside for the day. Teachers are monitoring communication on this site.
OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH and SAFTEY
Thank you so much Mark Withers for fixing the door to the big school shed. It is now safe and usable. Arrigato!
We have a very positive and active team of student leaders who work hard in our school as Mini Vinnies.
We have rescheduled our participation in the art/craft stall at the Yarragon Market. We now plan to have the stall on Saturday October 23rd. We have already prepared lots of fantastic things to sell at the market. The funds raised on the day will go to the ‘Save the Church’ fund. We are very proud of these students and their work. Congratulations! We hope you will all visit our stall at the Yarragon Market.
R U OK? Day Thursday 9th September
This year our message is R they really ok? Ask them today.
Because when it comes to our friends, family and colleagues, do we really know how they are doing? As close as we might be, sometimes it is hard to tell. So, stay connected and make asking R U OK? part of your everyday.
That way, if they are struggling with something big or something small or maybe nothing at all, they’ll know you care. Are they really ok? Ask them today. Learn how to ask at ruok.org.au because a conversation could change a life.
May God continue to bless and guide us in our learning.
Trish Mulqueen
Principal
As always, Child Safety is paramount on our school agenda. Our Child Safety Team members for 2021 are Trish Mulqueen, Katie Balfour and Taryn Maxwell-Garratt. Our Child Safety Standards are always visible in our school and are on display in the reception area as well as in the Mary MacKillop room. These Standards were rewritten by the students and use child –friendly language. They have illustrated these to reflect the message of each of the Standards.
We celebrate National Child Protection Week in week 9 (Monday September 6th to Friday September 10th). Each class will engage in Australia’s Biggest Child Safety Lesson on Tuesday during this week. This lesson serves to refocus our attention on Child Safety and serves to remind us of its continued importance in our school. We all need to feel safe.
September
Mon 6th to 10th NATIONAL CHILD PROTECTION WEEK
Thurs 16th Sports Dress Up Day
Fri Sept 17th Last day of term 1pm finish
October
Mon 4th First day of term
Tues 12th School Advisory Committee Meeting 5.30pm
Thurs 28th SCHOOL CONCERT at Lowanna College
Fri 29th World Teachers Day
Day for Daniel (wear red)
November
Mon 1st Assessment Day (Pupil Free Day)
Tues 23rd Foundation Orientation Program 9.15am to 10.45
Tues 30th Foundation Orientation Program 9.15am to 10.45
December
Wed 1st Japanese Day
Tues 7th Foundation Orientation Program 9.15am to 10.45
Fri 10th End of Year/Graduation Mass 9am
Mon 13th Last day for Gr 6
Gr 6 Graduation
Wed 15th Last day for students 1pm finish