2024- 12 Newsletter - Term 3 Week 2

Principal's Report

As we continue to navigate this term, I would like to take a moment to reflect on our recent post-review meeting and the steps we are taking towards our school's future growth and improvement.

We were privileged to have Mr. Vince Connor join us for this important meeting with the school staff. His expertise and insights have been invaluable as we assess our current progress and strategies for the future. Vince guided our staff through a comprehensive review, offering constructive feedback and helping us identify key areas for development. His input will significantly shape our future School Improvement Plan (SIP) and Annual Improvement Plan (AIP).

As we move forward, we are excited to implement the strategies discussed and work towards our shared goals. The input and participation of our entire school community—teachers, parents, and students—will be crucial in making these plans a reality. We look forward to sharing more details about our SIP and AIP in the coming weeks.

Congratulations to our students who will soon receive the Sacrament of Confirmation. Thank you to Mrs Nicholson for all her work with these students to prepare them for this important event in their faith journey. I would like to invite all students and their families to this Sacrament next Sunday, celebrated by Fr Reynold and Bishop Michael McKenna. Thankyou to those student who have offered to serve on the altar for this celebration.

I also want to extend my heartfelt thanks to everyone for making Principal's Day 2024 such a joyous and memorable occasion. Your kind gestures and celebrations made me feel very honoured and proud to be the Principal at St. Joseph's. It is a privilege to serve such a wonderful and supportive community.

In Faith & Truth

Simone Taylor 

Reflection - St Mary MacKillop

Next week, we celebrate the feast day of St. Mary MacKillop (8^th August 2024), a beacon of faith, hope, and service. As Australia's first canonised saint, her life and legacy continue to inspire and guide us in our journey of faith and education.

St. Mary MacKillop, born in Melbourne in 1842, dedicated her life to the service of others, especially the poor and marginalised. In 1866, alongside Fr. Julian Tenison Woods, she co-founded the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart. Her unwavering commitment to providing education to those in need established a lasting impact on the Australian educational system, with schools dedicated to her mission still thriving today.

Faith in Action: St. Mary MacKillop’s life reminds us that faith is not merely a belief but an active force that drives us to serve others. Her famous words, “Never see a need without doing something about it,” challenge us to respond to the needs around us with compassion and dedication.

Perseverance and Courage: Despite facing numerous challenges and opposition, St. Mary remained steadfast in her mission. Her courage to stand firm in her convictions is a powerful reminder that we, too, can overcome obstacles with faith and determination.

Education for All: St. Mary’s commitment to education for all, regardless of background or circumstance, aligns closely with our school's mission. As we educate our students, let us remember her dedication and strive to provide an inclusive, nurturing environment where every child can thrive.

Living the Legacy:

As a Catholic school community, we are called to embody the values that St. Mary MacKillop lived by. Let us reflect on how we can contribute to our community in meaningful ways, inspired by her example. Whether through acts of kindness, dedication to learning, or reaching out to those in need, each of us can make a difference.

Let us honour St. Mary MacKillop by committing ourselves to living out her values in our daily lives. May her life continue to inspire us to be people of faith, hope, and love, dedicated to the service of others.

Join us on Wednesday 7^th August 2024 at 9:30am for our school Mass celebrating St Mary MacKillop.

Australian Primary Principal's Day

The first Friday in August is Australian Primary Principal’s Day. Today, we were able to show appreciation for our Principal, Mrs. Taylor, and all that she does for us at St. Joseph’s.

Mrs. Taylor enjoyed a day filled with flowers, poetry, cards, and plenty of pampering. I suspect the children may at times have enjoyed rolling out the surprises even more than Mrs. Taylor did receiving them.

Thank you Mrs Taylor!  Below is a poem written by the senior students of St Joseph's

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Confirmation 2024

We are excited to announce that Bishop Michael will join us on Sunday 11th August 2024 for the Confirmation, 8am at St Vincent's Church. This special event will see three of our students, Sophie, Parker, and Logan, receive the Sacrament of Confirmation. This is a significant milestone in their faith journey, and we look forward to celebrating this momentous occasion with them.

Important dates:

• Sunday 4th August 8am - Enrolment Mass - St Vincent's Church Portland
• Thursday 8th August 4pm - Confirmation Practice with sponsors at  St Vincent's Church Portland
• Sunday 11th August 8am - Confirmation with Bishop Michael McKenna at St Vincent's Church Portland. This will be followed by the cutting of the Confirmation cake and some light refreshments in the school Art Room. 

School Improvement

School Improvements:

In response to the feedback from the review, several improvements have already been made around the school:

• Playground Upgrades:
• Removal of the loose stones on the asphalt areas around the school.
• The construction of a Yarning Circle and Bush Tucker Garden is near completion as part of two successful grants of funds along with school contributions.
• Facility Enhancements:
• During the September holidays our front office and staffroom spaces will be painted  and the office area will have walls upgraded to reduce noise into office spaces.  
• A new awning will replace the awning over the front entrance of the school.
• Enrichment Programs & Projects
• Enrichment programs will continue throughout the rest of the year offering students experiences outside of the classroom. This will complement the activities and initiatives in the area of Wellbeing.
• Project based Enrichment Groups have begun this week, with a number of students joining Mrs Taylor to work on some interesting events this term.

What's Happening in K/1/2

Term 3 brings new units and activities to the K/1/2 room that will promote creative and critical thinking, group discussions and teamwork.

The units we are working on this term include the following:

Religion: Reflecting God’s Goodness and Caring for all Creation. These units explore the concept of living as a follower of Jesus and following the commandment to Love. We will listen to the parable of the Good Samaritan and explore the beauty and wonder of creation. 

English: We continue our spelling, reading and writing programs and will be learning about opinions and perspective, compound and complex sentences, multimodal texts and rhyme.

Mathematics: Place value, grouping objects and mass is a focus this term. We will also look at ways to use number lines and tens frames to help us answer questions. We will continue to look at pattern and problem solving and will be doing lots of “hands on” activities where we can discuss the many different ways maths problems can be solved. 

HSIE: The units this term will begin with us learning about the Olympic games and Paris and end with us learning about people and places closer to home. The students will explore the interactions between Aboriginal peoples and Country and will be able to describe ways people connect to and care for places. 

PD/H/PD: The Second Step Program will continue for wellbeing and Health, and for Physical Education the students will learn about Aboriginal cultural games and net and court games. 

Creative and Practical Arts: During this term we will be learning how to ‘sketch’ and making art inspired by Winter and the books we read in English. We will also continue with percussion, singing and drama. 

Things to note: 

• Library day is Thursday. Students need to bring their library books each Thursday so new ones can be borrowed. Mrs Clancy also teaches Science and Technology during this time. 
• Drink bottles need to be brought to school each day. Water is the best drink to help with learning and attention, please check that your child has a drink before coming to school. 
• PLEASE LABEL YOUR CHILDREN'S CLOTHING AND BELONGINGS as there has been much confusion with children's clothing

What's Happening in 3/4

This term we have started our new unit in English, focusing on the text, Piano Fingers by Caroline Magerl. We have been exploring how authors use imagery and symbols in literature and identify how figurative language can influence meaning.

We created our own examples of figurative language to describe Bea’s music if it didn’t sound as good as she hoped.

In Maths, we have just finished off our first Maths unit for the term on three-dimensional shapes and capacity. We’ve enjoyed this hand on topic, building shapes using playdough and match sticks and our lessons in the art room, using water to measure in litres and millilitres.

Remember cooking offers a fantastic opportunity for children to practice and develop their math skills in a fun and engaging way. From measuring ingredients to understanding fractions, and even doubling or halving recipes, the kitchen is a perfect classroom for hands-on learning!

What's Happening in 5/6

RELIGION – Mary, faithful Disciple and The Bible: Our Sacred Story. The students will also be involved in presenting artworks to the Portland / Wallerawang / Lithgow Social Justice Committee to promote the 2024 theme: Peace and Truth.

ENGLISH: the main focus is a unit on Characterisation based on the novel August & Jones written by Pip Harry. This unit will develop the student’s writing skills as they learn how to build and develop a character so as to engage the reader.

MATHS: Engaging lessons based around problem solving activities and the various components of the Maths curriculum.

GEOGRAPHY: The unit this term is split into two areas: Antarctica and Bushfires. Antarctica is an interesting place with a unique topography and wildlife. The bushfire content will allow the students to investigate the impact bushfires have on the environment and communities – things very relevant to where we live.

SCIENCE: The lessons this term should allow for more hands-on investigations and experiments as they students learn about the forces that are found in the world and how they make objects move and behave.

CREATIVE ARTS: The students will further build on the skills they learnt from the whole school musical last year. The class will rehearse and present a short play “The Musicians of Bremen” at the end of the term. They will also make some props and costumes to further enhance their character.

 HEALTH: The unit this term comprises of many aspects of maintaining a healthy, safe and active lifestyle.

Blessings to Sophie, Parker and Logan who are preparing to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation. Our prayers are with you.

Eastern Region Athletics Carnival

Our school community would like to congratulate and wish our students who will be representing our school all the very best at the Eastern Region Athletics Carnival. This is to be held next Wednesday 7th August 2024 at MacKillop College in Bathurst. Thank you to our team manager Mrs Bettison for her organisation for this event. Good luck to the following students: 

• Amitty
• Grace
• Noah
• John
• Lori
• Isabella
• Callie
• Max
• Blair
• Nash
  
• Parker

K-2 Excursion to The Gruffalo

A reminder that the students in K-2 will be attending an excursion next Friday 9th August 2024 to see a stage show of the popular children's book, 'The Gruffalo' at Bathurst Memorial Entertainment Centre. We look forward to hearing the recounts of their day. Please ensure that permission has been granted through the Compass Parent Portal for this event. 

CSYMI Retreat

This term Year 4-06 will attend CSYMI Retreat Days organised by students and teachers of Lasalle Academy. Staff will transport students to and from these retreat days. Please mark the following dates on your calendars. 

• Year 5 Retreat = 20th August 2024
• Year 6 Retreat = 27th August 2024
• Year 4 Retreat = 10 September 2024

These retreats will focus on themes such as faith, building connections, leadership, and the Sacrament of Confirmation, offering a valuable opportunity for younger students to learn and grow in a supportive environment. They will run from 9:30 am and students will return for normal afternoon dismissal. More information will be distributed through the Compass Parent Portal

Emmanuel Worship - Yr 4-6 Girls Day

Emmanuel Worship will share the Good News in a relevant and meaningful way through the use of prayer, song, music, and reflection. 

• Facilitators Emmanuel Worship
• https://www.emmanuelworship.com/
• Date: Wednesday, 22nd August 2024, Orange​​​
• Venue: Orange Function Centre
• ​Time: 
• Leaving St Joseph’s School at 7:30 am sharp
• Concert - 9.30 am - 1.00 pm
• Returning by 3:15 pm

Mrs Nicholson and Mrs Taylor will be transporting the girls in their cars for this excursion. More information will be distributed through the Compass Parent Portal.

Boys to The Bush Experience Yr 5/6 Boys Day

This term our Yr 4-6 Boys will engage in a day with Boys to the Bush. This is on the calendar for 10th September. More information will be distributed through the Compass Parent Portal at a later date.