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29 August | Newcastle City Council - Water Safety Talk |
2 September | Father's Day Breakfast & Liturgy |
7 September | Indigenous Literacy Day |
8 September | Regional Spelling Bee - St James Kotara |
9 September | Polding Athletics |
10 September | Spring Ball |
12 September | Year 5 & 6 Science & Discovery Day |
12 September | Regional Maths Bee - St Patricks Wallsend |
13 September | Central Region Netball Gala Day |
21-23 September | Year 5 - Great Aussie Bush Camp |
22 September | Diocesan Spelling & Maths Bee - Southern Cross Hall |
23 September | Last day of Term 3 |
Dear Parents,
Joyous, brilliant, colourful, alive, dynamic, brilliant, heart-warming, amazing, fabulous, sensational, incredible, stupendous, magical…
All these words have been used to describe two truly sensational events that have occurred over the past fortnight, namely our school musical and our book week parade and family day.
School Musical
Though the musical was three years in the making, due to Covid, it was well worth the wait!
To see the joy, self-confidence, talent and growth in our children that was evident in the two performances of “An Unexpected Night at the Zoo” was one of the most satisfying experiences as an educator.
The many hours of behind-the-scenes preparation and the hours of practising to pull it all together, were all worth it. What a truly incredible and dedicated staff team we have here at St Joseph’s. We are also truly blessed to be able to work and learn from Michael Nolan, in this performing arts area.
I hope you felt immensely proud of your children along with being proud to be part of such a wonderful community.
I think the following feedback we received sums it all up, really.
I just wanted to personally thank you so much for giving us all the experience of this morning.
Despite having seen glimpses of the dance choreography as it was practised in our lounge room almost every morning and afternoon for the past few weeks, the entire performance just blew me away!
Not only do I now understand the song choices of our kids for the past few weeks (I couldn’t understand why they were keen to learn the lyrics of all these songs that I now see made up the whole playlist of the musical) - but seeing the smiles and the utter enjoyment the kids showed in their performance – another mother was sitting next to me and at one point we were both in tears!! It was just beautiful!
From a super proud mum who is truly grateful our kids get to be a part of such a special community. Kudos to you and your team!
See you in 2024 with yet another stupendous performance!!
Book Week
‘Dreaming with Eyes Open’ has been the theme of our Book Week celebrations this week. As part of our Book Week launch, Ms McCalden enthusiastically shared with us an extract from Roald Dahl’s, “The BFG.” The BFG was a big friendly giant who went around at night-time blowing happy dreams into the rooms of children as they slept. Along with the launch all classes received a gift of a book to add to their class library. Why not ask your children about this special gift? Over the course of the week the children also got to read with teachers other than their regular class teacher and engaged in a fun activity related to the book they shared.
In all classroom blocks there are walls and windows adorned with hundreds of unique dream catchers all created by the students themselves. For our younger students, help to complete these came from many of the more senior students, who all showed great patience and guidance.
The highlight of the week was the traditional book character parade on Thursday. The sun was shining, the sky was blue and the myriad of costumes and colours were intoxicating. There was an immense display of creativity and an abundance of enthusiasm. Following the parade it was touching to see the mixture of generations reading together. I hope there will be lots of fond memories for many years to come for all those who joined with us on this day.
As I write this, we still have to come, our Book Cover competition and the teacher’s trivia quiz on all things book related. I’m crossing my fingers that my knowledge of children’s literature is an asset to my team!
Huge thanks go to our families and friends who joined us for Book Week celebrations, for the purchasing of books from our book fair and for the amazing staff who decorated the Library, put this week together and helped with ensuring students had costumes to wear.
Thanks also go to all our families and friends who joined us in the celebrations. Our community is certainly a very active and positive one and it is a pleasure to be part of it.
Aspire
Anna Kerrigan, the director of the diocesan Aspire program was very impressed with the talent of our students when she came along to the matinee performance of our musical. She strongly encouraged us to promote the Aspire program with our students and very much welcomed applications from them. Please click here for further information regarding Aspire.
Aspire Concert Band
Who is it for?
The Aspire Concert Band is a Diocesan ensemble for students in Years 5-12. It is suitable for students who can at least play at a 1st grade (AMEB) level as well students of more advance ability, 4th grade (AMEB) and above. The ensemble is not suitable for beginner students.
Instruments include: Flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, bass clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, trombone, french horn, euphonium, tuba, mallet/auxiliary percussion and drum kit. The band is not suitable for string or piano players.
Students must know how to read traditional music notation.
The concert band will be playing a variety of repertoire including traditional concert band music, music from television and film, rock and pop music and music specifically composed for concert bands. There will be performances and events the concert band will be part of.
When are rehearsals?
There will be 3 rehearsal per term (total of 11 hours per term):
2 regional rehearsals- (Central, Lakes, Upper Hunter OR Manning)
1 whole day rehearsal at St Pius X High School Adamstown
Regional Rehearsal:
You will be able to attend rehearsals at your closest school- St Pius X High School Adamstown, St Paul’s Catholic College Booragul, St Catherine’s Catholic College Singleton or St Clare’s High School Taree.
These rehearsals will be after school hours, 4-6.30pm and will only involve the students from that area.
Whole Day Rehearsal:
Once per term, held at St Pius X High School Adamstown. All students are to attend this rehearsal.
Term 3 | Term 4 | |||
Mon 4.00-6.30pm | Wed 4.00-6.30pm | Mon 4.00-6.30pm | Wed 4.00-6.30pm | |
Week 1 | 10 October Central St Pius X High School Adamstown | |||
Week 2 | 19 October Manning St Clare's High School, Taree | |||
Week 3 | 24 October Lakes St Paul's Catholic College, Booragul | |||
Week 4 | 2 November Upper Hunter St Catherine's Catholic College, Singleton | |||
Week 5 | 7 November Central St Pius X High School, Adamstown | |||
Week 6 | 16 November MANNING St Clare's High School, Taree | |||
Week 7 | 21 November Lakes St Paul's Catholic College Booragul | 23 November Upper Hunter St Catherine's Catholic College, Singleton | ||
Week 8 | 28 November Whole Day Rehearsal St Pius X High School, Adamstown 9.30am-3.30pm | |||
Week 9 | 12 September Whole Day Rehearsal St Pius X High School, Adamstown 9.30am-3.30pm |
Kindergarten 2023
We have a couple of available spaces still left for Kindergarten 2023. If you know of anyone who is looking for a spot for a school age child, please encourage them to contact us for further details.
Parent Workshop – ANXIETY and RESILIENCE IN CHILDREN
Dr Justin Coulson is back! 31st August and 1st September 2022 …to share with us his wisdom and advice about the issue of Anxiety and Resilience. Please see the flyer for further details. There are two sessions – one for primary aged students and the other for secondary students.
Karen
Tell Them From Me Survey
In the coming weeks, we will once again be asking parents, students (Years 4-6) and staff to complete the Tell Them From Me survey. This survey provides the school with valuable information that is used for ongoing school improvement. The survey will open on the 5th September 2022. Please click here for more information.
As mentioned above, we invite students in Years 4-6 to complete an age-appropriate version of the Tell Them From Me survey. The link below provides more information about this process. The next stage of our preparation is to provide parents with students in Years 4-6 with the option to opt out. If you do not wish for your child to complete the survey, please complete the appropriate section of the attached note here and send it back to school by 2nd September 2022. If you are fine with your child completing the survey, there is no action required.
Childrens Mathematical Mindset
As part of our school’s Strategic Improvement Plan (SIP) we have placed great focus on reshaping the teaching and learning of Mathematics across the school.
One of our key learnings has been how much a child’s mindset and attitude towards Mathematics impacts on their success and self confidence in this Key Learning Area (KLA).
With this in mind it is important to consider the role that teachers and parents can play in this mindset. Some adults have had bad experiences with Maths at school and have genuine anxiety about Maths (approx. 20% of the adult population experience Maths anxiety). While others have developed a real LOVE of Maths.
Despite our own feelings and beliefs around mathematics, it is so important that we ALWAYS remain positive about Maths. There can be negative implications of using throw away lines like “I was no good at Maths” or “I didn’t like maths”. This can lead to students switching off or thinking- “mum/dad were never good at Maths so it’s ok for me not to be too”.
Success in Mathematics is more than half about mindset, so having a positive attitude is a HUGE advantage for every student. We want to encourage all children to build resilience and a positive mindset, so they can believe in their abilities and say they LOVE Maths! Leading by example and sharing our positive experiences and successes with Mathematics is one simple way we can all make a difference.
Positive Behaviours for Learning (PBL)
Congratulations to the Gold Sports Colour House for achieving the most tokens in the first half of Term 3! Gold house will enjoy their reward for this achievement next Thursday. We will continue to give tokens out for this second half of the term to support our focus on our four PBL expectations
- Act Safely
- Be Respectful
- Care for All
- Do Your Best
This term our major focus has been Care for All, with 2 specific areas of need identified:
Care for belongings and equipment. This continues to be a major focus area as we still have lost property bins filled with belongings such as hats and jackets. Please support your children to make these positive changes by ensuring all items (hats, jackets, lunch boxes and drink bottles) are clearly labelled. If items do get lost or left at school, please encourage your children to go and collect them from our lost property boxes.
Care for the place you are in. We have seen positive improvements in this area. Students have more regularly been demonstrating that by caring for the places we are in, we show love, respect, gratitude and appreciation for the gifts we have been given.
Upcoming event: National Child Protection Week 2022
This will be acknowledged across our diocese between the 4th – 10th September. The theme for this year is:
Every child, in every community, needs a fair go
More information will be shared in our next newsletter.
Interrelate - 20 October
Interrelate is a not-for-profit provider of relationship services that specialises in supporting parents and children. St Joseph’s has benefited from their service in the past and we have now secured a date for two evening sessions this year (20th October, 2022).
The two sessions are:
Session 1: Where Did I Come From?
Audience: Year 3 and 4 students and their parents/carers
(Students from Year 5 and 6 are welcome to this if they have not particpated previously)
Program focus:
• Discuss the male and female reproductive systems, foetal development and the birth process
• Personal safety and protective behaviours
Session 2: Preparing For Puberty
Audience: Year 5 and 6 students and their parents/carers
Program focus:
• Discuss the physical changes of puberty, emphasising that it can be different for everyone
• Develop students’ understanding of periods and sperm production, as well as the physical, emotional, social and intellectual changes associated with puberty for both boys and girls
• Enhance awareness of children’s personal safety and protective behaviours
Note: Younger students are welcome to attend at the discretion of their parents/carers.
These sessions will take place in the evening on 20th October. More information and booking information will be available closer to the date.
A PRAYER FOR GRANDPARENTS FROM THE ST JOSEPH’S CHILDREN
Dear God,
Please bless our grandparents.
Thank you for the life they gave my parents and for the life they give to me.
For the ways they helped me and made me strong, I give thanks.
For the ways they love me no matter what, I rejoice.
For the ways they have paved the road that leads me here, I am grateful.
Let them grow in wisdom and joy in life.
Let them find peace and rest from their work.
Let them be healed of every sickness and pain.
And let them see with their own eyes the glory of your Son, Jesus, in the love of their children and grandchildren.
Bless them always until they come to rest in you.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen
Grandparents Day
Father in heaven, you have blessed us with generations of love. We pray for our grandparents and that their presence be a sign of your love that is with us always and everywhere. Today we give thanks for the gift of our grandparents and their love and care for us. May they know we love them very much and we keep their love in our hearts on this special day.
On Thursday we celebrated the gift of grandparents. They have given us the gift of life and continue to give us the gift of love.
We were so excited to provide a very warm welcome to the grandparents who gathered here with us. It was wonderful to see so many of you. It was a very exciting day and I know the children were so excited to see you here. For some of you it was your very first visit to the school, for others it’s a daily visit to collect your grandchild. We also remember the grandparents who cannot be with us, those who could not travel or live too far away, those who are sick, and those who are with God in heaven. We remember all grandparents in our prayers.
Upcoming events
Friday 2 September - Father's Day Breakfast & Liturgy
Breakfast will be served from 7.30am and our Liturgy will begin at 9am under the COLA.
Year 5 will be leading our prayers.
NSWPSSA Event – State Finals for Rugby Union
They may have missed their school photos and Book Week this year, but Spencer S and Sidney M will have no regrets after not only making it to the grand final for Rugby Union, but to actually take away the title of State Champions.
It all started off with trials at diocesan level and progressed from there. These two boys have powered through, showing off their talents and exceptional skills on the field, making it into the Polding team and competing at NSWPSSA level and vying for a position as State finalists.
The boys spent the week in Mudgee, training and competing in several matches, making it to the finals. It was a tough competition with the Polding Team having to compete against CIS in the quarter finals, a team who have won for the past couple of years, and then meeting Hunter in the semi-finals. The semi-finals were such a nail biting, edge of your seat, thrilling game, with the boys just getting over the post, beating Hunter by 2 points, 19-17.
Sid, Spencer and the Polding Team fought hard and dug deep, making it to the grand final and competed against Sydney North. It was always going to be a challenging game with Sydney North beating us 47-7 on Tuesday in the Pool Match. We went in as the underdogs, but our boys came out firing and blasted them off the park early. The score board spoke for itself. Polding came away with the win, 26-10. The last time we have won this title was back in 2011.
This really was a massive achievement by Polding, and we, as the St Joseph’s community, could not have been prouder that two students from our own school not only made it into the Polding team but came out as champions. We are SO proud of you, boys. Ride this high and enjoy the excitement.
Catholic Schools Netball Gala Day
The CSO Netball Gala Day will be held next Thursday 1st September, at the Newcastle Netball Courts. This date has been updated due to a clash in the Catholic Schools Calendar. Parent helpers will be managing the teams with Emma Cook as the supervising teacher on the day.
Permission notes and code of conduct will need to be returned to the office by Monday, 29th August. Students will need to wear their sports uniform, bring a hat, a drink bottle, lunch, snacks and a jumper and a raincoat as needed. It is advised that students put on sunscreen before they arrive to the courts.
If students wish to order lunch from the canteen, they will need to do so before the day. Please use a paper lunch bag with name and order clearly written on the front, along with correct money enclosed. Students are asked to give this lunch order bag to Miss Cook (6B) before Thursday. Paper copies of menus have been given to students, along with this also emailed to parents.
Lunch can still be ordered on the day at the canteen, however, items will not be guaranteed and may be sold out if not ordered early. Students can use the canteen facilities for other snacks.
We look forward to a fun and enjoyable day with team spirit being the focus.
Upcoming events
AFL: Paul Kelly Cup
The boys will play at the Giants Stadium, Sydney, on 12th September. Parents will need to organise transport for their child to the venue and home again.
Athletics – Polding
Archie D, Evan B, Oliver S, Byron S and Felix P will be attending the Polding Athletics Carnival.
Details are below:
Date: Friday 9th September
Location: Hunter Sport Centre, Glendale
Time: All members of the team are to meet the Team Manager at 8:00am. If you are only coming for 1 event and it is after 12pm, you can arrive 1 hour prior to your event. An order of events will be available on the website closer to the event. Please check this before the date.
Sport Coordinator
Emma Cook
Kindergarten Gold Classroom News
In Kindergarten Gold, we have a wonderful time learning and playing together! Here are some of our learnings and achievements thus far:
English
This term we are continuing to learn new sounds in phonics to develop our reading and writing skills. We are learning both single sounds and digraphs (two letters that make one sound).
English & Science
In Science, we are learning about living things and their needs. We love learning about different animals and writing informative texts.
Mathematics
We love solving problems in Mathematics! We have been learning to make it, build it and write it when proving mathematical problems and explaining our ideas. We have worked with the area of shapes, building car ramps to represent ordinal numbers and represent the place value of teen numbers using tens and ones.
Religion
We have been learning about God the Holy Spirit and the story of Pentecost. We enjoyed listening to bible stories, drawing and constructing our thoughts, awes and wonderings.
HSIE Geography
This semester we are learning about special places and spaces in Geography. Using our handmade binoculars, we went on a hunt to locate our special space at school.
Special Events
We have celebrated 100 days of school, the musical and Book Week.
UoN Holiday SMART Program
Are you looking for something engaging for your child to participate in these school holidays that is aligned with the NSW Science and Technology K-6 Syllabus? The University's SMART program presents exciting Science Shows and delivers hands-on STEM workshops for primary school students!
Click here to explore this opportunity.
BECOME.ME Program: Year 5 and Year 6
For the remainder of the year, Year 5 and Year 6 students are participating in the BECOME.ME program. It’s a fun, interactive way to teach young people the adaptive skills and curiosity they’ll need to explore, design and navigate the fast-changing world of work. BECOME.ME will be integrated with our regular curriculum.
The program isn’t designed to direct them to particular occupations but to inspire them:
- to reflect on their unique and evolving strengths, interests and aspirations.
- to broadly explore the dynamic, exciting world of work, recognising and breaking free of gender and social stereotypes.
- to come up with multiple possibilities for their future that excite them.
- to design and implement experiments that allow them to test out and adapt those ideas.
Research demonstrates that providing the time, tools and space to think about this helps students become more inspired learners today as well as improving longer term academic and career outcomes.
Useful links:
You can read more about the program here.
VA Project Sharing
In Week 2 of this term, eight of our Year 6 Virtual Academy students welcomed parents, mentors, students and Mrs. Karaka from the Catholic Schools Office into the revitalised Year 6 learning space to showcase their learning.
As part of the Agency unit of work, students have created a composition based on an area of passion for them. This opportunity to showcase their composition with an audience was an important part of their projects, as students created something that represents an aspect of themselves that they wish to share with others. This exhibition provided our students with the opportunity to interact with each other, as well as develop their communication skills through discussing their work with peers, parents and mentors.
On Thursday the 28th of July, the Virtual Academy students shared their Agency projects. We all chose a space in the Year 6 classroom to share, and Year 5, Year 6, teachers, mentors and parents all came to see our projects. I loved sharing and explaining my project with everyone and would definitely do it again!
-Lucas P 6 Blue
Aboriginal Education
It has been wonderful chatting with students following our amazing NAIDOC day. They are eager to recount the day to me and share their favourite memory. Students loved learning some Awabakal language on NAIDOC day, and it has been fun continuing this with some classes at school.
Some Awabakal words we have been using are
Kaayi (ky-ee) - Hello
Nginowa (nin-o-wa) – Goodbye
Here is a fantastic website if you would like to practise more Awabakal words at home. Just be sure to select the ‘Awabakal’ language in the tab on the left-hand side.
Newcastle/ Maitland Catholic Schools Diocese Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan
I was very privlidged to participate in the recent Diocese launch of our Newcastle / Maitland Diocese Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan on Thursday 18 August 2022.
Our Diocese Reflect RAP is the start of our more formal reconciliation journey that recognises the work the Diocese teachers and staff as well as their agencies are doing as we journey towards reconciliation.
Joining me was Steph Callaghan who was integral to the wonderful success of our NAIDOC day. It was a pleasure to receive a beautiful book donated to our school, authored by Uncle Warren Taggart from Wonnarua Nation.
24th August: The Wave Hill Walk Off
On 23 August 1966, Vincent Lingiari led 200 courageous First Nations stockmen and their families to walk off Wave Hill Cattle Station in the Northern Territory protesting against the pay and work conditions.
The Walk-off took place 80 years after the British took over Gurindji lands, bringing cattle and farming that destroyed water and food sources, and Gurindji People’s livelihoods. These 80 years included massacres and killings, stolen children and other abuses by the early colonists.
The group walked some 30 kilometres from Wave Hill Station to Wattie Creek where they stayed in protest for nine long years. During the years of struggle and protest, which made headlines across the nation, Vincent Lingiari toured Australia to lobby politicians and galvanise support. Victory was achieved in 1975!
The nation witnessed the first piece of land, in the form of soil, being returned to First Nations hands when then Prime Minister Gough Whitlam ‘handed back’ the land to Gurindji People.
In 1976, Vincent Lingiari was named a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for his services to Aboriginal Peoples. He passed away in 1988 and is remembered as one of the "strongest and most inspirational Aboriginal leaders ever."
Script Courtesy of ‘KooriCurriculum’
Wednesday 7th September: Indigenous Literacy Day
Indigenous Literacy Day is an opportunity to fundraise and advocate for remote communities to have equal access to literacy resources. Many remote families own fewer than five books and live nine hours from the nearest public library.
Literacy provides a fundamental step of building context, comprehension and understanding, whether it is written, visual or auditory. For kids who miss that foundational step in their literacy journey, it has a lifelong impact.
ILF’s three programs, Book Supply, Book Buzz and Community Publishing Projects, focus on ensuring access to quality resources, including books in First Languages, publishing Community stories and supporting Communities and families to lead the entire process to ensure leadership, ownership, and authenticity is held with Community Elders and residents.
Script courtesy of ‘Indigenous Literacy Foundation’
St Joseph’s Merewether will celebrate this important initiative in the coming weeks with special in class activities for the children to participate in.
Danielle Shaw
Spring Ball
There have been lots of questions around whether or not the Spring Ball will be going ahead this year - rest assured the numbers so far are strong and the show will most certainly go on!
A few other questions have also been raised:
- Is it black tie/formal attire?
This is not a black tie/ formal event but it is an opportunity to get dressed up and have a night out with friends and family of the St Joseph’s community.Our only goal is for everyone to have a good time – and cover costs, which have already done.
- What if we don’t have a table to book?
Many people have booked one or 2 tickets so far and if you have people you would like to sit with, please email sjpandf@gmail.com and we will accommodate any requests as much as possible, noting that our main aim is to have a great fun night and meet as many new Joey’s people as possible; therefore formalities will be limited, leaving more time to mingle (and dance).
- What is included in the ticket?
Whilst this is not intended to be a major fundraiser for the P&F, we would love to raise some money for the refurbishment of the school library.Having said that, we have kept the cost to a minimum and taken the premium package, meaning you will receive unlimited premium beer and wines and a lovely sit down dinner for 3.5 hours in the best venue in town; sounds like great value to us. Please get in and buy tickets as this is a rare opportunity to have a good time with Family & Friends of our wonderful school. Every extra person takes us closer to our new library and more importantly, an even better night out!!
Father's Day Breakfast & Liturgy
We’re excited to invite our whole school community to come together to celebrate all the fathers, grandfathers and father figures in our lives.
Join us for a Father’s Day Breakfast on Friday 2 September at 7.30am in the school grounds. Breakfast will include, bacon & egg rolls, tea, coffee & juice along with options for those with dietary requirements.
Please complete the here before Tuesday 30th August, so that we can suitably cater for the event.
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