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1 July | Last day of Term 2 |
18 July | First day of Term 3 |
20 July | Family Movie Night |
21 July | NSW Netball School Cup - Years 3-6 (selected students) |
28 July | ASPIRE Performance - Years 5 & 6 |
3 August | Diocesan Athletics Carnival |
4 August | NAIDOC Celebrations |
8 August | Mary MacKillop Feast Day Liturgy |
10 August | Young Mary Performance (incursion) |
18 August | School Musical |
22-26 August | Book Week |
23 August | School Photos |
2 September | Father's Day Breakfast & Liturgy |
Dear Parents,
We have made it the end of another term. As I look back on it, it amazes me to think that along with all the teaching and learning that goes on we have also managed Catholic Schools Week activities, Mother’s Day and ANZAC Day ceremonies, athletic carnivals, Futsal tournaments, diocesan carnivals, sports trials, excursions to Canberra and Tocal, NAPLAN, school musical practice, music performances, a disco, school tours and interviews for Kinder 2023, reports and 3- way conferences. What a list! I thank all the staff for the extra lengths they go with these additional types of activities and a thank you to all the families for your support of, and encouragement, in these activities.
Musical Soiree
On Wednesday afternoon we were treated to a magnificent musical performance by our guitar players, ukulele players, keyboard players and violinist.
Walking into the hall and seeing such an immense gathering of guitarists in one place was amazing and to hear this many young players perform with such keenness, intense concentration and talent, was superb. We thank Ricky and his team for the skills they have in making such a performance possible. Our newly formed ukulele group also dazzled us, particularly with a beautiful singing accompaniment provided by Juliette from Year 3. Juliette‘s voice, and the ukuleles, together were magical. The violin is one of the hardest instruments to learn to play and Harrison is going along nicely with this, as we heard, and his performance was enhanced with the accompaniment of his mother on the keyboard. What a great duet they played. And finally, our keyboard players. Playing solo up on that stage in front of everyone can be a daunting prospect but our musicians overcame any nerves they may have had, and each performed an item for us that showed both skill and enjoyment for what they were doing. It was a wonderful afternoon and a great way to round off the term. We thank Cherie and Peter Waters-Cowan for their tuition and preparation of the students for this event and to Mrs Emily Butler for forming the ukulele group and for putting this event together. It was a great success and we can’t wait for the next one.
Parent – Student -Teacher conferences
This semester’s reports and related conferences have gone down a slightly different path to normal. By now most of you will have had the opportunity to speak with your children’s teachers alongside of your children. We decided to introduce the three-way conversations for several reasons:
- It came to our attention that ever since reports have been going home via Compass, rather than printed out, a lot of children were not seeing or discussing their reports with their parents.
- To involve the children in recognising what their strengths are and in what they need to work on, and how to go about this, can help in bringing about greater motivation and awareness that they are not alone and that we are all there to support them.
I spoke to some of the children after their conferences and asked them their opinions about them. The children have really enjoyed them, and the only slight hesitation a couple had was that they had to find the confidence to speak up. However, they also commented that they felt it was important that they be put in this situation. Those I spoke with have all said that they would much rather this style of conference compare to the traditional one with just parents and teachers. The reasons they gave included being proud of their work and wanting to share it themselves with their families. They felt they understood what was expected of them, and how they could go about improving, much better in this conversational setting. As one young student told me, “it’s all about me and my work, it's not my parents work, so I should be involved in the talking.”
We would love to hear your thoughts on the reports and three-way conferences as well in order to review our practices and make decisions about going forward.
Congratulations to Remi
On Tuesday afternoon Remi, our school support dog, was put through her paces and sat her school support dog accreditation test. We are very pleased to say that she came through it with flying colours and even the trainer was amazed at how, in the ‘leave it’ task, she ignored a container of warm fried rice with chicken and bacon in it. That is a big feat for any dog! Remi was given a large, tasty bone to celebrate, and we are all very proud of her. She certainly was very tired after her big day and slept from 9 o’clock that night until 7 o’clock the next morning. A big thanks go to the support we have had from Kaysadale Farm, our trainers, and to our Learning Support Team who have been brilliant with the training and engagement with Remi and the way they includer her in supporting our students.
Family Fun Day
Last Saturday was a beautiful day, weather wise and company wise. Donna McMillan and I spent a lovely afternoon with a group children and their families at Dixon Park. People came and went, over the course of the afternoon, as it fitted into their schedules, and it was lovely to see a range of children of different ages mixing with one another, and the parents getting to reconnect with parents they knew and also forming connections with those they didn’t. Thank you to all those who came along and managed to fit it into your busy weekend – one family had managed three sports matches, two lots of canteen duty and our family gathering. What great community support! We hope to offer more events such as these in the future and look forward to seeing you there. The more the merrier!
Book Week Preparations
In Week 6 of next term, the week after the school musical, we will be celebrating Book Week. This year’s theme is: “Dreaming with eyes open …”
You and your children might like to do some dreaming over the holidays and dream up and begin creating a costume for our Book Week parade.
Reminder
Don’t forget to book your Movie tickets for the St Joseph's Family Movie Night - Minions The Rise of Gru to be held on Wednesday 20 July at Hoyts Cinema Charlestown.
Tickets are now on sale via QKR, along with an option to purchase a food & beverage deal.
Your support of this event is appreciated.
I wish all our families a wonderful mid-year break. Whether you are taking a winter escape or just having some relaxing, ‘chill out at home’ days I hope you enjoy each other’s company and have a restful break.
Karen
Semester 1 Student Council
We would like to acknowledge and thank our members of the Student Council for Semester 1. These students have done a fine job representing their classes and we are very grateful for their time and effort. The initiatives that these students have discussed have been varied and their feedback on how we can improve practices across the school have always been very beneficial. Thank you once again to the students below.
Semester One |
|
Year 2 Gold |
Finn C, Indiana W |
Year 2 Blue |
Matisse S, Joseph D |
Year 3 Blue |
Iris S, Evan T |
Year 3 Gold |
Digby W, Bonnie M |
Year 4 Blue |
Aria F, Xavier C |
Year 4 Gold |
William H, Clara P |
Year 5 Blue |
Katarina T, Gus M |
Year 5 Gold |
Darcy W, Ella W |
Year 6 Blue |
Evie B, Christiaan E-C |
Year 6 Gold |
Hannah M, Teddy P |
NAPLAN - Change of Date
NAPLAN, which has always been held in the second week of May, will move to mid-March from 2023. It is anticipated that the earlier test window will facilitate a quicker turn-around of student results available to schools, which teachers can use to immediately support individual student learning needs.
NESA has advised each school of the following significant changes to NAPLAN from 2023:
- NAPLAN will be held in Term 1 from Wednesday 15 March to Monday 27 March 2023.
- Dates for NAPLAN from 2024 onwards are available on the NESA website.
NESA will provide schools with further information at the start of Term 3 to help them prepare for NAPLAN 2023.
Positive Behaviours for Learning (PBL)
Students continue to be very much engaged with our PBL Dash tokens. It’s great to hear children pleased with how their positive behaviour is being acknowledged. It is wonderful to see the PBL containers in the classrooms filling up over the past 5 weeks! Students may receive tokens in class or on the playground. Staff are rewarding for positive behaviours across all four expectations:
- Act Safely
- Be Respectful
- Care For All
- Do Your Best
Congratulations to the Green Sports Colour House for achieving the most tokens in the second half of this term! Students in this sports house will meet early next term and decide what their reward will be.
Safeguarding
Beyond Blue - Healthy Families
Beyond Blue has produced fact sheets, booklets and other resources to support everyone in Australia achieve their best possible mental health. The downloadable resources for families cover topics such as anxiety, depression, building resilience in 0 -12 year old’s.
The Resources Library includes some of the following online resources:
- Be You School Refusal
- Be You Promoting School Attendance
- Be You Communication Skills for Educators
- Be You Before Recommending Additional Support
- Be You Recommending Additional Support
- Be You Separation Anxiety
- Be You Mental Health Continuum
- Be You Transition from Primary to Secondary School
- Be You Transitions in Learning Communities
- Be You Help seeking for Children and Young People in Schools
- Be You Supporting Young People Experiencing Anxiety
All of this information can be accessed here
Anxiety Disorders
Does your child become very afraid of certain situations or objects, worry about a lot of things, get very distressed, or try to avoid things they fear?
A team at Griffith University is conducting a nationwide study that includes the following services at no cost to families:
• A thorough assessment of your child’s anxiety with a trained psychologist via the telephone
• Your child receiving one of two kinds of home-based treatments delivered on a PC, laptop or tablet
• Two follow-up telephone assessments with a trained psychologist 6 and 12 months after treatment to track your child’s progress.
The study aims to find out if these two treatments are as effective as each other, and which children have the best response to each kind of treatment. This will mean that there are more evidence-based treatments available for helping anxious children.
Download the flyer here to find out more information and for contact details.Prayer of St Benedict
Gracious and Holy Father
Give us wisdom to perceive you
Intelligence to understand you
Diligence to see you
Patience to wait for you
Eyes to behold you
A heart to meditate on you
And a life to proclaim you
Through the power of the
Spirit of Jesus Christ Our Lord
Amen
St Vincent de Paul COVID Winter Appeal
We would like to thank you all, as members of our school community, who generously supported and donated towards our fundraising and food drive over these last few weeks. It is incredible how much we have to give and support the local Vinnies chapter here in Newcastle. These resources for SVdP will make a huge difference for people whose lives are impacted during these cold winter months. It was so special to have Ian here from St Vincent De Paul to formally accept our contributions to the Winter Appeal. Special thanks to our incredible St Joseph’s Social Justice team and for our Confirmation candidates for organising this appeal and for preparing the contributions for collection. We raised over $900.00
Sacramental Program
Many children from our St Joseph’s community and the wider Newcastle Parish over the last two weekends have received the Sacrament of Holy Communion. It has been a privilege to see these students at St Joseph’s Church or Sacred Heart Cathedral make their first Holy Communion and experience this very special Sacrament of receiving the Body and Blood of Christ. Thank you to those in the community who have supported the children and families during the Sacramental Program. We continue to pray for these children as they continue on their faith journey.
Feast of St Benedict
St Benedict is our Inner Newcastle Parish Patron Saint; we will celebrate the feast day during the holidays on July 11.
Who was St Benedict?
St Benedict is also known as Benedict of Nursia; Founder of Western Monasticism. One of the more widely known saints, St. Benedict left behind a legacy in the Church that impacts our world even today, some 1500 years later. The “Rule of St. Benedict,” often used as the basis of constructing religious orders, is the main achievement of St. Benedict still used by religious men and women.
Here are some interesting facts about St Benedict
- St Benedict was a teenager when he became a monk
- St Benedict once lived in a hermit cave
- St Benedict died of natural causes, maybe a fever.
- Scholastica, the founder of the Benedictine sisters, was Benedict's sister
- Some monks tried to poison Benedict
- Saint Benedict is the patron saint of Europe and schoolchildren
- There is a medal named after Benedict
- His teaching methods were very harsh
- He gave up his rich inheritance to become a follower of Jesus
Parents & Grandparents Prayer & Walk
What a beautiful day we had to gather, pray and reflect last Thursday.
We send special thanks to Helene O’Neill and Anne Millard for facilitating this beautiful experience outdoors in our Aboriginal Sacred space.
We were so thrilled to meet Billy's grandparents who travelled all the way from Leura to be with us.
Aboriginal Education
Culture Club
Some Year 3 students recently had a blast at Culture Club. Check out our photos.
1 July: The Coming of the Light Festival in the Torres Strait Islands
Missionaries of the London Missionary Society arrive in the Torres Strait at Erub Island in 1871, introducing Christianity to the region. The Coming of the Light festival marks this important day for Torres Strait Islanders, who are mainly of Christian faith. They celebrate the day with cultural and religious activities.
1st week of July: NAIDOC WEEK
NAIDOC Week is in the first full week of July and celebrates the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal people. NAIDOC originally stood for ‘National Aborigines and Islander Observance Committee’, which was responsible for organising national activities for NAIDOC Week. The acronym has now become the name for the week itself.
This year’s theme for NAIDOC week is Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up! The below script is taken from the NAIDOC.org website.
We have a proud history of getting up, standing up, and showing up.
From the frontier wars and our earliest resistance fighters to our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities fighting for change today—we continue to show up.
Now is our time. We cannot afford to lose momentum for change.
We all must continue to Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up! for systemic change and keep rallying around our mob, our Elders, our communities.
Whether it’s seeking proper environmental, cultural and heritage protections, Constitutional change, a comprehensive process of truth-telling, working towards treaties, or calling out racism—we must do it together.
It must be a genuine commitment by all of us to Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up! and support and secure institutional, structural, collaborative, and cooperative reforms.
It’s also time to celebrate the many who have driven and led change in our communities over generations—they have been the heroes and champions of change, of equal rights and even basic human rights.
Getting Up, Standing Up, and Showing Up can take many forms.
We need to move beyond just acknowledgement, good intentions, empty words and promises, and hollow commitments. Enough is enough.
The relationship between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non‑Indigenous Australians needs to be based on justice, equity, and the proper recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ rights.
Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up! with us to amplify our voices and narrow the gap between aspiration and reality, good intent and outcome.
Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up!
In light of the proposed teacher strike on Thursday, our NAIDOC Celebrations will now be held on Thursday 4th August. Parents are very welcome to join us for the morning session of this special day! Children will experience a wonderful morning ceremony before spending the day immersing themselves in exciting cultural workshops.
More information about this day will come through Compass next term.
Danielle Shaw
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Teacher
Library News
School holidays! What a great time to complete your Premier’s Reading Challenge.
Congratulations to these students who have recently completed their challenge: Finn S, Harper W, Luke C, Isla K, Evan B, Amelia C, Dearbhla C, Benjamin F, Levi H, Siena K, Isabella L, Finlay S, Ivy Smith, Audrey O, Daisy O, Evan C, Chester C, Billy R, Ylva M, William S, Rory M, Ashley H, Emma S, Alice D, William D, Emelie B, Sawa H, Lucas K, Max O, Grace W and Leila W.
Great work everyone.
Don’t forget to check out the great activities available at our local libraries during the holidays.
Keep on reading!
School Musical
Due to unforeseen circumstances, we are moving the musical matinee performance from Wednesday 17th August to Thursday 18th August at 11:00am. This means that our matinee will now be held on the same day as our evening performance.
Thank you to those parents who have already returned their permission notes. We will assume that you still give permission for your child to travel by bus, to and from the matinee, on the Thursday, unless you inform us otherwise.
Tickets for both the matinee and evening performances will go on sale via Stickytickets.com early next term.
We are all very excited about this upcoming performance.
Diocesan Athletics Carnival
Congratulations to the successful students who have made it to Dio for Athletics. This event will be held on 3 August. Please see the list below.
Girls |
||
Name |
Event |
Time/Distance |
Maisie S |
8 Year Olds 100 Meter Sprint |
20.41 sec |
Maya V |
9 Year Olds 100 Meter Sprint |
17.87 sec |
Amalia S |
11 Year Olds 100 Meter Sprint |
16.75 sec |
Violet L |
11 Year Olds 200 Meter Run |
35.67 sec |
Ava K |
8-10 800 Meter Run Junior |
3:22.20 sec |
Adelaide M |
8-10 Long Jump Junior |
2.88m sec |
Violet L |
11 Year Olds Long Jump |
3.10m sec |
Mabel H |
12-13 Shot Put |
7.51m sec |
Boys |
||
Name |
Event |
Time/Distance |
Oliver S |
9 Year Olds 100 Meter Sprint |
16.96 sec |
Archie D |
10 Year Olds 100 Meter Sprint |
16.55 sec |
Jacob F |
11 Year Olds 100 Meter Sprint |
16.18 sec |
Sidney M |
11 Year Olds 100 Meter Sprint |
16.23sec |
Jacob F |
11 Year Olds 200 Meter Run |
32.16 sec |
Archie D |
8-10 800 Meter Run Junior |
2:50.93 sec |
Felix P |
8-10 800 Meter Run Junior |
2:59.53 sec |
Archie |
8-10 1500 Meter Run Junior |
5:50.91 sec |
Evan B |
8-10 Long Jump Junior |
3.74m sec |
Archie D |
8-10 Long Jump Junior |
3.42m sec |
Byron S |
11 Year Olds Long Jump |
4.01m sec |
Jacob F |
11 Year Olds Long Jump |
3.59m sec |
Lukas M |
12-13 Long Jump |
4.42m sec |
Evan B |
8-10 Shot Put Junior |
6.46m sec |
Jnr Boys (8-10yo) 4 x 100m relay Came 1st |
1:07.80 sec |
Basketball
This week we finish up with our basketball sessions in our PE lessons. All students were given one free game pass to a Falcon’s basketball game for their current season. Those students who are interested in taking up basketball as a sport, Newcastle Basketball have offered 1 free session. There were not enough coupons to hand out to all students, but if you would like to take them up on this offer, please email Brett Keeble brett@newcastlebasketball.com.au to request this free session.
Union
Sidney M, Hugh M and Spencer S braved the very, very cold conditions in Forbes on Monday, all vying for a spot on the Polding team for Rugby Union. The boys had a lot of fun and competed extremely well. Congratulations to Spencer and Sidney who made it into the Polding Team. Well done, boys!
AFL – Paul Kelly Cup
Last week on Tuesday, 18 students from Year 5 and Year 6 competed in the Paul Kelly Cup in Warner’s Bay at Feighan Oval. We had a mixture of talent within the team with AFL, league and union players. We played 4 games on the day and won 3 of these games, making it to the next round – regionals. If we could sum up the day with one word, it would be ‘teamwork’. It was instilled in the boys at the beginning of the day that we are a team. We speak positively to each other, we encourage each other, we eat lunch together, we train together – we are a team. The boys embodied this trait and showed such support for each other, and this was evident from their success.
The top two teams made it to the next round, one of them being St Catherine’s from Singleton. They were a tough team and will be hard to beat, but with the skill, talent and teamwork St Joseph’s exhibit, we really are a fighting chance and we absolutely can’t wait to compete at regionals.
The boys really did have such an amazing day.
A HUGE thank you to Dave Flynn and Mark Van Huisstede who gave up their time for the day to help manage and coach the team. They were absolutely remarkable with the boys. Their advice, inspiration and knowledge and skill of the game were passed onto the boys and was definitely part of our success.
Futsal
Three teams from St Joseph’s competed in the State Futsal competition which was held on Monday of Week 9. Our Senior Boys Team came very close to winning their grand final and our Senior Girls team made it to the semifinals but unfortunately missed out on making it to the next round.
However, our Junior Boys Team were extremely successful in making it to the grand final and played very well, ending up as winners of the state finalists. Congratulations boys!
Here is a reflection from the day from one of our Senior Boys Team members – Jacob F
We had a great time at the Northern NSW Futsal Championships. We all travelled to the Maitland basketball stadium to play.
We won our first game 3-2 and our second game was 3-0. Our third game was against Waratah and we were tied at halftime 2-2. The second half was very close with 3 goals scored and the final score being 4-3, Waratah coming away with the win.
Our results put us through to the semi-final.
The Semi was very fast and our boys played well. We were able to take the win 4-2.
It had been a very big day, but we were extremely keen to play in the Grand Final. We knew it was going to be intense and challenging.
During the game, the opposition had scored a couple of quality goals with one sailing in from half court! The pressure did not worry our team with some quality ball and foot skills on show. We were able to take frequent shots on goal with many strong saves and unlucky misses.
The final score was 2-0 with our team finishing runners-up.
Many thanks to Ms McCalden, the student teachers and the parent helpers who gave up their time to make our day enjoyable.
Sport Coordinator
Emma Cook
School Fees
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