31 October 2023 (Term 4 Week 4)
Principal's News
Dear St Joseph’s Community,
Last Friday, our staff celebrated World Teachers Day with some cake and some warm acknowledgements via video from our parents. A huge thank you to those who were able to share their thanks to all those who teach our students in our school. Our staff work incredibly hard, and we thank them for the work they do each day to ensure our students’ grow in all aspects of their lives through their love.
SCRIPTURE REFLECTION
In Sunday's Gospel, Matthew 22:34-40, Jesus imparts the essence of God's law with elegant simplicity, encapsulating all commandments into two: Love God fully, and love your neighbour as yourself. This profound message resonates deeply within our school's ethos. We encourage our children not only to excel academically but also to grow as compassionate individuals who look after one another and recognise the presence of God in their daily actions. Let us take this message to heart, fostering a community where love is the cornerstone - love that is patient, kind, and without bounds. We see this love in our students' and staff members’ faces, their acts of kindness, and their respectful interactions. In order to love the ‘other’, however, we must also learn to love ourselves… This isn’t a selfish or arrogant love, but rather a recognition that we are loved and forgiven by God and have a friendship with Jesus. If we allow ourselves to be loved by God, we will have love enough to share with our neighbours. As Fr Max reminded us this Sunday in his homily at Mass, we can’t share the warmth of our own internal fire unless we work to stoke and feed this internal fire. May we all strive to live out these commandments, creating a ripple effect of love that extends beyond our school and into the wider world.
PRIME ENERGY DRINKS AND BOTTLES AND STUDENT LUNCHES
Recently, we have had some students bringing Prime energy drinks to school or using these bottles as their school water bottle. These drinks are not appropriate for school, and we ask for parent support in ensuring these are not brought to school. They are also not an appropriate substitute for a water bottle as we do not want to promote these energy drinks. We thank you for your support to ensure we are promoting healthy drinking habits.
PARISH SCHOOL FORUM (PSF) EVENINGS TERM 4
We have two upcoming Parish School Forum Evenings for 2023.
The first, on 7 November, will focus on feedback and parent engagement with our Strategic Plan for 2024-2026. We invite our parents and carers to join us to discuss our key goals and how parents and community members can support this work.
The second, on 15 November, will be facilitated by Janita Thomson from the Catholic Schools Office and will be focused on discerning the new model for parent engagement going forward. This continues the conversation that began last term. You can share your thoughts on the two models which are presented in the image below. More information can be accessed about the two models below. Parents and carers are invited to indicate their preference for the new model via this survey link.
Please indicate your intention to join us for either or both of these nights by completing this Google Form.
GOLD AWARDS PRINCIPALS MORNING TEA
On Wednesday of Week 8, November 29, I look forward to hosting our 2023 Gold Award recipients at our Gold Award Morning Tea. This is an opportunity to recognise those students who consistently demonstrate the school values and I look forward to this shared meal.
ALSTONVILLE SHOW SUCCESS!
Congratulations to Tex and Harry Hosking on their success in the Alstonville Show! Between them, they submitted 40 entries in various categories. Tex received six first-place awards and six second-place awards. Harry received three first-place awards and three second-place awards. Well done, boys!
Learning & Teaching News
EMU - EXTENDING MATHEMATICAL UNDERSTANDING
Check out some of our Stage 2 EMU students working hard to improve their understanding of mathematical concepts and skills . These last couple of weeks our focus has been on multiplicative thinking, using flexible strategies with single digit numbers. Student understanding about how numbers and operations work is a critical part of developing deep, meaningful mathematical skills, understanding and confidence. We have been exploring efficient strategies using arrays to help us solve multiplication and division problems as well as developing multiplication facts. We are fortunate to have three specialised EMU trained teachers in our school.
MULTIPLICATION TOSS
Here is one multiplication game you can try at home.
Instructions:
- Each player chooses a coloured marker
- Players take turns rolling both dice, using the numbers that they rolled to draw the perimeter of a rectangle or square, for example, if they roll a 4 and 6 they can create a rectangle that is 4 x 6 or 6 x 4
- Players should record the equation in the middle of their rectangle, for example, 4 x 6 = 24
- The game ends when players run out of room to draw their rectangles
- The winner is the player who has covered the largest total area
Mission News
MISSION WEEK
Thank you to all those who participated in our two fundraisers for Catholic Mission as part of Socktober. In total we raised $256! Through these initiatives, students grew in their understanding of social justice and the importance of acting in solidarity with others who are less fortunate. Thank you to all our students, families and staff for your support!
Sport News
PSSA ATHLETICS
Congratulations to Zeke Kubils, who last Wednesday, competed at the NSW PSSA Athletics Carnival in Sydney. Zeke placed 20th in Shot Put with a distance of 10.18m, and 24th in Discus with a distance of 24.14m (hard to believe that neither of these are his personal bests!). Well done Zeke on this huge effort!
ZONE SUMMER SPORTS TRIALS
Well done to the following students who competed at Zone Summer Sports Trials over the last week.
- Tennis - Harry Hosking, Ethan Cox and Neo McElligott
- Basketball - Chloe White, Dannon Pucci-McDermott and Wyatt Burton-Schmetzer
- Cricket - Harry Hosking and Hugh Woolley
From this group, Harry (Tennis) and Dannon (Basketball) were successful at trials and will progress to Dio level in Week 7. We wish Maeve Crook, Lulu Barnes, Maggie Wilkie, Zeke Kubils, Sully Mitchell, Hugh Woolley, Dannon Pucci McDermott and Harry Hosking luck as they compete at Zone Touch Football trials this afternoon.
SURF LIFE SAVING
Congratulations to Brenden Latham, Year 6, for being selected in the 2023 Far North Coast Surf Life Saving Interbranch team! Brenden will be competing in Newcastle, in December against other branch teams. We wish him luck and look forward to hearing how he goes.
SCHOOL SWIMMING
Later this term, all children will be participating in swimming sessions at the Alstonville pool. Kinder and Stage 1 will complete a week of intensive swimming, and Stage 2 and 3 will complete a swim safety session. The events for these have now been published on Compass. Please read the information carefully, and contact us if you have any questions.
Library News
STORY BOX FREE TRIAL
The Catholic Schools Office has arranged for a free trial access for all staff and families for Story Box. See the link below for Story Box. This online collection contains a variety of books read by outstanding Australian’s, suitable for all ages. You can search using themes, year level, title, author, duration, storyteller and much more. It will be a great addition to literacy. Think of the Story Box Library as an online 'reading room'. It’s a place where the wonderful world of Children’s Literature is on permanent exhibit and children can connect, engage and be inspired when they watch a range of celebrated stories read aloud by wonderfully engaging storytellers. Story Box Library provides a vibrant, interactive experience via a diverse range of everyday storytellers - actors, comedians, sports people, musicians, artists, authors, children - with varying accents and from different cultures, each sharing past and present book titles. The result is meaningful, entertaining readings that focus on both teller and tale. I encourage you to get in and have a look and use it!
The login information for Story Box was sent out via Compass today to all families. If you have any questions or can provide any feedback please contact me at rosalind.kingsford@lism.catholic.edu.au
Wellbeing News
Our value for this week is ‘safety’. Safety isn’t limited to physical safety, but also creating a safe environment for our students to take risks with their learning, participate fully in class discussions and put themselves ‘out there’ with others to make new friends or try a different game. While teaching about this value and celebrating it in action, we hope students will become increasingly aware of the importance of continuing to grow a safe environment for themselves and others, not just at school but also in the community and at home.
Around the School
The Alstonville Agricultural Show was on this weekend. Our lovely school display included work from many of our students.
Celebrations
Happy birthday to these students who have celebrated their birthday since the last newsletter:
- Toby Conlan
- Sophie Gonzalez-Yule
- Zac Wilcomes
- Ava O'Bryan
- Caleb Rance
- Lachlan Thorpe
Coming Events
Use the link above to see all of the coming events for Joeys!
Community News
