6 February 2024 (Week 2 Term 1 2024)

Principal's News

Dear St Joseph’s Community

It is so wonderful to be back at school for 2024 and to welcome our students and families back this week. Our staff have been working incredibly hard to prepare for the return to school, and we are excited to start the year with a strong focus on building relationships with our students and setting high expectations in regard to student effort as we continue to implement the new NSW curriculum. 

The Fig trees have been pruned, Mr Wardrop has done an amazing job in maintaining the grounds, carpets are shampooed, we have new blinds in most classrooms, the school has been professionally pressured cleaned (though the red dirt never really disappears), and we have taken delivery of some beautiful new desks and chairs to ensure all students have a comfortable place to focus on their work. We have also installed hand dryers in the student bathrooms to ensure they can dry their hands well and maintain our strong sanitation practices. This week you will see the addition of our digital sign out the front of the school. This will be a great way to communicate with the community about the happenings of the school (and no one will miss changing all the letters on the current sign!)

A huge thank you to our families for your support in conducting the MAI Maths interviews. We have been celebrating the strong growth we are seeing in students already, and this is helping us to refine our approaches to teaching Mathematics throughout the year. 

AMENDED BELLS TIMES

As we shared at the end of the year, we have amended our bell times to better suit the learning needs of our students. This does not alter the start and end times of the day, just student break times.

FRUIT BREAK will be first thing in the morning while teachers mark the role and take students through the routines of the day. This is important when many students eat breakfast quite early.

LUNCH will be slightly earlier, with designated play and eating time as we have always done. 

RECESS will also be earlier with time to eat and time to play. We ask parents to please ensure their children have food available to eat at recess time. This is important brain fuel for the final session of learning for the day!  

OUR STRATEGIC DIRECTIONS

As you know, in 2023, we developed our 2 Year Strategic Plan, aligned to our system’s 5 key focus areas of Mission, Learning and Teaching, Catholic Leadership, Pastoral Care and Family School and Community Partnerships. In an effort to make our focus areas more meaningful for our community, we have visualised the Strategic Plan as an infographic. We have added this below for families. 

SCRIPTURE REFLECTION 

This Sunday’s Gospel (Mark 1:29-39) offers us profound insights into balancing the acts of service with moments of quiet reflection. In this passage, we witness Jesus tirelessly healing and teaching, yet also prioritising time alone in prayer. This story beautifully mirrors our journey as we return to the rhythm of school life. It reminds us that amidst the excitement of learning, making new friends, and engaging in various school activities, finding time for quiet reflection is essential. It teaches our students the importance of caring for others while also looking after their own spiritual and emotional well-being. Let's embrace this new beginning with enthusiasm, inspired by Jesus' example to serve and love those around us. Yet, let’s also remember to find our quiet moments, where we can connect more deeply with ourselves and with God. These moments of solitude are not just pauses; they are opportunities to recharge and gain clarity, enabling us to give our best in every endeavour. As we embark on this school year, may we all - educators, parents, and students - find a harmonious balance between action and reflection, ensuring a fulfilling and enriching year ahead.

You are invited to listen to Bishop Greg’s Homily from Sunday’s Mass.

UNIFORM EXPECTATIONS 2024

As parents and carers prepare for a return to school in 2024, a reminder about the school’s expectations in relation to uniform, jewellery, hair and grooming. This is particularly important as parents purchase school shoes and organise return-to-school haircuts. Please ensure these align with school expectations. Details can be found in the Parent Handbook. 

Note particularly the expectations in relation to schools as shown in the image below.

BIKE RIDERS

We have a number of students who ride their bikes to school, which is fantastic. If your child rides, can we ask you to please reiterate the following expectations, which we will reinforce at school:

• Helmets must always be worn.
• We ask students to walk their bikes to the crossing at Main Street with the bikers and walkers.
• Students should ride at walking pace, mindful of pedestrians, when riding on the paths.
• Students should not engage in any unsafe riding behaviours. 

STUDENTS’ PERSONAL DEVICES - PHONES & SMARTWATCHES

Please remind your child, if they bring a phone, smartwatch or other device to school, to bring it to the office in the morning and collect it at the end of day. No device is to be left in a school bag or on a student. These will be confiscated if found. School cannot accept any responsibility if these devices are broken or stolen. If your child uses this device at school without permission there are consequences in place. There really is no need for a student to bring a phone or smartwatch to school.

2024 DATES

The key dates for 2024 have been scheduled, and we have compiled an overview of these for families. The updated PDF of dates can be downloaded below, add the dates to your calendar or the fridge. We will endeavour to honour these dates as best we can, but sometimes circumstances require some dates to be revised. We will try to give as much notice as possible when this occurs. 

Please note that our governing body, the Catholic Schools Office, determines the number of Professional Learning Pupil-Free Days each year. For 2024, we have 5 Professional Learning Days to support the implementation of the new NSW curriculum. We also have our Staff Spirituality Day and the System Proclaim Mission Day. These are outlined below for families to support in the arrangement of care for their children. We understand that managing Pupil Free Days is a challenge (it is a juggle in my family as well), and we appreciate your understanding of their important role in supporting our teachers with professional learning to ensure your children can receive the best education we can provide. 

I have passed these dates on to Rainbow Region Kids in the hopes that they can offer vacation care on these dates. As an independent company, unfortunately, we don’t have any influence over the dates that Rainbow Region offers each year. I am meeting with the manager of Rainbow Region Kids and will advocate for parents to see if they can support care on our professional learning days. We appreciate parents understanding of the importance of these days to supporting teacher professional learning and planning, especially as we undertake such a significant curriculum rollout.

• Monday, 4 March Professional Learning Day - Pupil Free
• Thursday, 28 March Professional Learning Day - Pupil Free
• Wednesday, 29 May Staff Proclaim Mission Day - Pupil Free 
• Friday 7 June Professional Learning Day - Pupil Free
• Monday 19 August Professional Learning Day - Pupil Free
• Friday 27 September Staff Spirituality Day - Pupil Free
• Monday 14 October Professional Learning Day - Pupil Free

OPENING SCHOOL COMMISSIONING MASS

Our Opening School Mass and Leaders Commissioning Ceremony was to be held on Friday 9th February. But, we have had to push this date back slightly to Tuesday the 20th of February at 2 pm. We wanted to give as much notice as possible for families to attend, especially our Year 6 parents. Apologies for needing to make this change. We do our best to keep the calendar tight, but this is not always possible. Thanks for your understanding. 

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

At the beginning of each year, we send out a Frequently Asked Questions document which outlines some key information for families. This should be read in conjunction with the full Parent Handbook, which you can find on our website via this link. 

STAFF 2024

Below you will see a list of our staff members for 2024. Mrs Wagner will be taking leave for Term 1, 2024. We look forward to her return. Mrs Lewis will return from Maternity leave in a part-time capacity in Term 3. Mrs Patricia Steele returns from Long Service Leave in Term 3 also. 

WELCOME NEW STAFF!

This year we welcome four new staff members to the St Joseph’s Community. Please make them feel very welcome. 

• Mrs Tammy Moran - Year 1 Enrichment Tutor - joining us from St Francis Xavier Primary Ballina
• Mrs Ali Hall - Year 5 Enrichment Tutor - joining us from Bangalow Children's Centre
• Mr Lewis Trickey - Year 6 Enrichment Tutor - joining us while also completing a Bachelor of Teaching
• Mrs Allana Tonkin -  Year 1 Enrichment Tutor - who has been working casually with us at St Joseph’s Primary

WELCOME NEW STUDENTS

This year, we welcome a number of new families into our school! Welcome to our new kindergarten students: Josie Appelkamp, Grace Atkin, Kenita Bolt, Toby Colnan, George Convery, Josie Crook, Piper Crosby, Noah Davis, Otis Eastburn, Bentley Groves, Isla Harper, Elkie Hinton, Olly Howick, Loui Hutley, Kohen Iverson, Will Jones, Ivy McDonald, Ruby Munday, Freddy Plumb, Elsa Schott, Leo Sleigh, Addison Smith, Hylia Stone, Flynn Sugden, Levi Towns, Lucy Webber, Victoria Willacy. We also welcome Elkie’s older siblings, Scarlet (Yr 5) and Halle (Yr 3).  We hope you will find St Joseph’s a warm and rich learning community. 

WELCOME BBQ AND INFORMATION NIGHT

Our annual Parent Information Night and Welcome BBQ will be held on Monday 12th February.

For catering purposes, could you please complete this Google Form by Thursday 8th February. We look forward to seeing you here! 

OUTLINE OF THE EVENING

We will begin with a free community BBQ picnic on the playground with time to catch up with other families and staff members. 

We have taken on board feedback from families from 2023 to try to make this evening easier for parents. After the BBQ, we will move straight into two consecutive rotations of Parent Information Sessions in the year-level classrooms (K,1,2,3,4,5,6) with some moving time between the first and second session; we hope this provides families with an opportunity to engage with most of their child's teachers. We ask parents to take their children with them to the classroom for the information sessions as there is no supervision. 

• 5:00 - 5:45 - Free Sausage Sizzle on the playground
• 5:45 - 6:00 - Moving to the first classroom for the information session
• 6:00 - 6:25 - Session 1 - Held in the year-level classes 
• 6:25 - 6:35 - Moving time to Session 2 (for parents with more than one child)
• 6:35 - 7:00 - Session 2 - Held in the year-level classes 
• 7:00 - 7:15 - Evening close and depart

CLASS PARENTS - EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST

We are hoping that there may be some parents who might be interested in becoming a "Class Parent" for their child's class. This role is not an onerous one but is an important one in that it helps to increase communication and inclusion in our school community.

The Class Parent's role is to:

1. Liaise between parents and teachers:

• Serve as a point of contact for parents, and assist in promoting communication between parents and the school.

• Assist the teacher in organising parent volunteers for classroom activities and special projects.
• Facilitate and promote parent involvement in school-wide initiatives and fundraisers.

• Promote parental involvement in classroom activities, field trips, and school events.
• Create a welcoming and inclusive environment that encourages all parents to participate.

• Provide support and assistance to the teacher as needed.
• Foster a nurturing and supportive classroom community for both students and teachers.

If you would be interested in filling this role please complete the Expression of Interest form you can access by clicking this link.

2025 ENROLMENT TIMETABLE

It feels very unusual to begin our enrolment process for 2025’s Kindergarten cohort, but we are aligning our timing with other local Catholic schools and our Open Morning with Catholic Schools Week (Week 11). 

Please see our enrolment timetable below for those current parents seeking enrolment for their children for kindergarten in 2025. You can access enrolment information on our website. 

Our Open Morning will be from 10 am -12 pm on Sunday 7th April. We’d love it if you know interested families and can share this information and timeline with them.

SCHOOL FEE SCHEDULE FOR 2024

The schedule for 2024 school fee payments can be downloaded from the link below.

Learning & Teaching News

KINDERGARTEN KICKSTART: THE ADVENTURE BEGINS 🚀

Check out these series of tips for starting primary school

• Tuning into feelings
• Building healthy habits
• Smooth Goodbyes
• Our Catholic Community

BRAINSTORM PRODUCTION - Zanna & the Lost Code

On Thursday 8th February Brainstorm Productions will be presenting their student wellbeing performance ‘Zanna & the Lost Code’ for all our students in  years 1-6. This live theatre experience inspires and empowers students to be respectful, responsible, assertive and resilient, both online and offline. 

When Zanna and Eddie arrive at coding camp, they embark on a magical journey into the Camp Captain's new online game for kids. Through a series of exciting challenges, Zanna and Eddie experience the power of empathy, respect, kindness and assertive communication. They discover that we all have the power to make the internet a safer and more positive place. 

'Zanna & the Lost Code' is developed in collaboration with teachers and psychologists and aligned with key outcomes from the Australian and Victorian Curriculum. The show is designed to spark conversations about bullying, cyber safety and resilience amongst our students.

Brainstorm Productions is one of Australia’s most experienced and respected theatre in education companies, performing to over 260,000 students every year. Brainstorm Productions are endorsed by the eSafety Commissioner as a Trusted eSafety Provider and listed as an evidence-based bullying prevention program on the Victorian Schools Mental Health Menu. Learn more about Brainstorm Productions by visiting their website (brainstormproductions.edu.au), or following them on Instagram (@brainstormproductions_), Facebook (@Brainstorm.Productions) or LinkedIn (linkedin.com/company/brainstormproductions)

If you would NOT like your child to attend this performance, please contact the office so we can make arrangements.Thank you.*

CLASS REQUIREMENTS LIST

The class requirements list for 2024 can be found here. 

Please don't forget to label everything with your student's name. There are always a huge number of unnamed hats, jumpers, lunch boxes and drink bottles that end up in lost property every week.

Mission News

SHROVE (PANCAKE!) TUESDAY - 13TH FEBRUARY

Traditionally, Shrove Tuesday (or Pancake Tuesday as it is often known) is an opportunity to use up some of the rich food items (butter, milk, egg, sugar and flour) in the house before the fasting season of Lent. Shrove Tuesday reminds us that the Lenten season begins the following day on Ash Wednesday. 

We would love some parent and grandparent volunteers to help us on this day. If you are available to help cook and serve pancakes for our students on Shrove Tuesday, please email me at kathryn.jones@lism.catholic.edu.au. Jam or honey will be served as a topping.

Gluten free and lactose free pancakes will be available. If you DO NOT wish for your child to receive a pancake, please email me or let the school office know.

ASH WEDNESDAY CELEBRATIONS

We warmly invite you to join our Parish Mass at 10am for Ash Wednesday with Years 3 to 6. Kindy to Year 2 will be celebrating Ash Wednesday with a liturgy in their classroom and the distribution of ashes. 

This special day marks the beginning of the season of Lent. On this day, a cross is marked on the forehead of those present with ash made from the leaves from Palm Sunday the previous year. This is a prayerful time to reflect on how we grow closer to God during the season of Lent. 

SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION - 12TH MARCH

The Sacrament of Reconciliation will be celebrated on Tuesday, 12th March. Students in Year 4 must receive this Sacrament before receiving First Communion later this year. The information session will be held on Wednesday, 21st February at 6pm in the school staffroom.

Our First Day

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Attendance Matters

Help your child to have a positive start to the year by building the habit of good attendance.

Building the habit of good attendance is crucial for a positive and successful school year. Here are some tips to help your child develop this habit:

Establish a Routine. Set a consistent daily routine for your child, including wake-up times, breakfast, and a specific time to leave for school. Having a predictable schedule helps your child understand the importance of punctuality.

Create a Positive Morning Environment. Make mornings enjoyable by creating a positive atmosphere at home. Encourage open communication and express your enthusiasm for the day ahead. 

Establish Clear Expectations. Clearly communicate your expectations regarding attendance and emphasise the importance of being present at school every day unless there's a valid reason for absence.

Help your child establish a positive and consistent attendance habit, setting the foundation for a successful 2024 school year. 

Watch this clip by Michael Hawker for strategies to help an anxious child return to school.

Library News

Library lessons will commence this week for all classes. Students will need a library bag to take their books home. The library will be open before school and at both play breaks every day. I am looking forward to a wonderful year of exploring reading with our students!

SCHOLASTIC BOOK CLUB

The first Scholastic Book Club brochure for 2024 will be going home today with students.  Please place your orders online through LOOP, instructions on how to use LOOP are in the link below. You can also place orders through the school office if you prefer to use cash. Orders close at 9am on Thursday 15 February. Our library benefits from every sale through bookclub and there are a great variety of books to choose from.

For Your Information

SCHOOL PHOTOS

Our 2024 School Photo Day is scheduled for Tuesday March 26.  Order envelopes (cash orders) have been sent home with the eldest child in each family, and if missed or lost can be collected from the office.  Sibling order envelopes are also available from the office.  Online orders are preferable using the information below, code is FVN BRY PY4.

SAFER INTERNET DAY

FREE WEBINARS FOR PARENTS AND CARERS

esafety provides free webinars for parents/ carers. These live webinars give parents/ carers the knowledge, skills and tools to support their children or young people to have safe online experiences.

Webinars include:

• Understanding how to support your child with online gaming (45min).
• Understanding parental controls to safeguard your child (30min).
• Online safety and social media: TikTok, YouTube and Instagram (30min).
  

To register go to esafety parent webinars.

Celebrations

Happy birthday to all of the students who celebrated a birthday during the school holidays. We hope you had a wonderful birthday!

• Jecht Stone
• Zaydie Zubani
• Harriet Smith
• Lily McVey
• Hannah Young
• Daniel Collins
• Lillian Trollope
• Freddy Plumb
• Amala Chee
• Indy Vu
• Charlotte Bakeberg
• Toby Colnan
• Nate Towns
• Lilly Kubils
• Sonny Appelkamp
• Oliver Adams
• Emma Quinlan
• Eve Aveling
• Beaudie Wilks
• Morris Green
• Henry van Eck
• Addison (Addi) Bambrook
• Bentley Groves
• Annabelle Ryan
• Roman Roberts
• Leo Sleigh
• Quinn Matley
• Noah Colnan
• Olivia Egan
• Tabitha Hollows

Coming Events

Use the link above to see all of the coming events for Joeys!

Parish News

Community News