St. Joseph's Primary Penshurst.

ISSUE: Term 2 Week 4, 2022.

School Vision

St Joseph’s Penshurst, as partners in Catholic education and with our school community, pursues fullness of life for all.

Acknowledgement of Country

At St. Joseph’s Primary School we pay our respects to the traditional owners of the land, the Kolorer gunditj people and pay our respect to their Elders past, present and emerging.

The area around Mount Rouse is the country of the Kolorer gunditj clan of Aboriginal people. Their title is derived from their name for Mount Rouse which is Kolor. The permanent spring that is now located within the Penshurst Botanic Gardens was a traditional meeting place for Aboriginal people in the region.

Message from the Principal

Dear Parents and Carers,

I wish to say thank you for allowing me to belong to a Catholic learning community such as ours at St Joseph's, Penshurst. Our school, our Parish and our Community has a lot to celebrate when we witness the selfless and generous contributions from community volunteers and parents, our traditions, the wonderful learning that our students are engaging in each day and the wonderful community members our children are becoming.  Students and staff will have the chance to reflect on these concepts this week as we celebrate Catholic Education Week.

We have a lot to share this week regarding our community, some new school enrolments, classroom learning and online connections with a neighbouring county. Enjoy the read.

Have a great week,

Darren Lloyd

Catholic School Culture

Catholic Education Week.

Loving God,

We thank you for our Catholic school community.

We pray that we may 'Share the Good News of the gospel’ together, as we accompany each other in our learning this year.

May the Holy Spirit guide us and give us new eyes, new ears and open hearts, helping us to bring your love to all we encounter.

We ask this prayer through Jesus our Lord and teacher,

Amen.

CATHOLIC EDUCATION WEEK 23rd - 27th MAY


SHARE THE GOOD NEWS! 

This year’s Catholic Ed Week theme is an urgent invitation to our community to comprehend the meaning of Jesus’ life to grasp what this looks like in following and enacting God’s dream for the world. Discussion about enacting God's vision has been strong in our daily prayer, Religious Education and during our Mini Vinnies lessons. The planning and busy preparation for our Mini Vinnies Day on the 23rd of June has been centred around the giving to others for the fullness of life for all.


Learning and Teaching

Inquiry Learning - 'Watch Them Grow'.

Monday morning  we arrived to some new enrolments at St Joseph's! Waiting in their hatchery were five small, chirpy and very cute chicks still damp from from recently emerging from their shell. With assistance from some special helpers the chicks quickly got to know their school mates before transitioning to their brooding pen. More eggs are still wobbling and cracking in the incubator if you wish to visit the school foyer. Our new addition to the school has arrived in time as classrooms are learning about transformation and life cycles. The students are using the first hand experiences of butterflies and now the chicks hatching to research and demonstrate their new learning.

'Watch them Grow'

National Simultaneous Story time.

To promote the fun and reading of books and promote the love of reading our classrooms intend to join the National Simultaneous Story time. National Simultaneous Story time (NSS) is held annually by the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA). Every year a picture book, written and illustrated by an Australian author and illustrator, is read simultaneously in libraries, schools, pre-schools, childcare centres, family homes, bookshops and many other places around the country.

This colourful, vibrant and fun event aims to promote the value of reading and literacy, using an Australian children's book that explores age-appropriate themes, and addresses key learning areas of the National Curriculum for Foundation to Year 6. NSS will be taking place on Wednesday 25 May 2022 at 11am.

Indonesian Friendship Program.

St Joseph's Penshurst, Victoria, Australia with Kusuma Bangsa SD, Palembang, South Sumatra, Indonesia

Tomorrow, Tuesday, we begin an exciting program of forging a friendship with students from an Indonesian Primary School. We have already sent our letters of Introduction and look forward to our Zoom Meeting where we will continue our ‘getting to know you’ activities. Photos to follow! Maybe you could open a google map page at home and discover exactly where the school is! Over the rest of the year we will build a display of all the ‘same only different’ discoveries we make of our two schools. 

Salam hangat. Best wishes, Ibu Maria

St Joseph's Cross Country. Wednesday 25th @ Noon.

Our school cross country will be running this Wednesday 25th in the Botanical Gardens just after recess. Once recess has finished at 11.40am, staff and students will walk down to the gardens ready to race at approximately noon. The students have be using the Botanical Gardens to practice running for the event so they should be familiar with the track. However, if there are any parents who wish to volunteer as well as cheer children on that would be appreciated. Best of luck runners.

Community Engagement

Mayor Visit. Written by Clancy.

On Friday the Mayor Bruach Colliton along with Cr Mary-Ann Brown came to our school to talk about Penshurst's future.

All the kids were very excited about the real possibility of getting a skate park in our town.

Bruach talked about some issues we raised in our letters and our reasons for wanting a new skate park. He was impressed by our thoughts and said he may open up a Junior Voice Council in the future for more of our ideas. 

                                                                                                    Clancy.


The students held a very positive meeting full of respectful discussion at length regarding Penshurst's future focus. Topics such as play facilities like a skate park and a cricket pitch, footpaths and potential land development for town's growth were voiced. Bruach was interested to hear the student's efforts connected to Mini Vinnies, their reasons behind why Mini Vinnies is important and was eager to promote St Joseph's idea of a Mini Vinnies celebration.

Leadership and Stewardship

2023 Enrolments.

Advertisement in Hamilton's Spectator this week will share the belonging and inclusion that our children experience, as well as the encouragement they receive to grow, explore and excel in our child safe school. This advertisement below will be on print during Catholic Education week along with our radio advertisement of Catholic schools in the Hamilton region. Reminder to spread the word that the school is open for enrolments. The best way to advertise the school is by word of mouth, so let’s get talking and let everyone know about our beautiful school. If you know someone who is unsure about where to send their child next year, let them know that they are welcome to make an appointment for a tour of the school. 

Annual Report to the School Community:

The 2021 Annual Report to the School Community written by Stephen will be printed and shared with the school community this week. Copies will be made available for collection from the front desk.

Calendar Dates

 Term 2 - Special Dates to Remember

  • Sunday May 22nd - Catholic Education Week begins.
  • Week 5 Yrs 3-6 Parent Teacher Interviews.
  • June 1st - School Photos - Winter Uniform.
  • June 3rd - Footy Colours Day.
  • June 6th - 10th - Indoor Swimming lessons in Hamilton.
  • June 13th - Public Holiday.
  • June 23rd - Mini Vinnies Celebration.
  • June 24th Last day of Term 2 (1.20pm finish).

Wellbeing

Mini Vinnies Hot Lunches.

We will be starting our hot lunches again this term commencing on Wednesday the 11th of May and continuing every Wednesday until the end of term. We will send home a list of the food available to purchase with the newsletter each week. We are requesting orders and payment to be completed and at school on Tuesday each week.

Footy Colours for a Cause.

Friday 3rd June will involve a sporting colours day where all students will be invited to wear their favourite AFL or alternate sporting colours to school for a gold coin donation. Money raised will be donated to Cystic Fibrosis.

Not only do the student have the opportunity to cheer on their favourite teams, they will also engage in an AFL schools clinic hosted by regional AFL rep Alicia Drew. 

Mini Vinnies Celebration - Thursday 23rd June.

As a part of our Mini Vinnies Buddies program the students will be working towards hosting a stall on the second last day of term. Students will be doing cooking and crafting to put towards the stall. We are also asking students to bring in any donations from home that could be sold at our stall. If you have any unwanted books, toys, and/or clothes etc please send them to school with your child. We will be sorting and organising the donations ready for sale on Friday the 3rd of June so we would require donations before then. You can start to send these items in as soon as possible. We will send out more correspondence prior to the stall and will be inviting all members of the community.

Child Safety

Covid Reminders.

Please remember to contact the school office if:

  • Your child tests positive to COVID and notify us of the date of your positive test
  • Your child is a close household contact of anyone who tests positive to COVID
  • If your child is a close contact they are still able to attend school but MUST wear a mask at all times when inside (unless they have an exemption). They must also undertake a RAT daily for 5 out of the 7 days.


We thank you for your cooperation and understanding with these matters. It helps us to keep everyone as safe as possible and keep our school open.