St Joseph's Primary Schofields Newsletter

Term 4 Week 1

Principal's Letter - Mrs Lesley Studans

Dear Parents, 

Welcome back to the new term.  I hope you were able to have a good break from school routine. The children are brimming with great stories about their holiday break. They are very lucky to be so loved!

Fourth Term is traditionally a busy term. We will end it on a high note with our Christmas Concert. This year we will use the grass area we call Area 3 at the back of the school. 

As well, this term, we elect our student leaders for 2020 from Year 5, welcome our Kinders for 2020 and their families into school, develop further our Year 6 students in their transition to high school. Of course, at St Joseph’s there is always much much more. Another highlight will be a twilight markets fundraiser happening on Friday November 22nd. 

This term we are focusing on the Catholic value of,  “Accepting and Valuing each other”. The lead up to Christmas for children is a time of expectation around the birth of a baby- baby Jesus. This term we will be emphasising the dignity of all.  Jesus would have been seen by society at the time of his birth as poor, born with animals in a dirty stable, from an oppressed people. He showed us how to give dignity to all regardless of their birth or circumstances. Along with this emphasis we are also focusing on using manners. Its not just about saying please and thankyou. It’s a way of showing respect – saying excuse me, using a friendly tone of voice and facial expression, greeting others in the morning, paying compliments. This should be done to all our classmates and teachers as we all have worth and dignity. 

Building News

We now have a second floor slab that joins the 2 buildings together. The mystery unfinished building at the front of the school is not a bus shelter but a pump room to ensure water pressure is suitable for the height of the new buildings. 

Lastly, thankyou to all for your efforts to get the children to school on time in the morning. 

With Kind Regards,

Lesley Studans

Principal.

Mrs Delvecchio - Assistant Principal

The last term of 2019 is upon us  and there is so much learning still to happen before we celebrate the end of year mass.  I have been working with the year 2 students during their writing time and have loved to see the joy as they share and bounce ideas with each other and seek ways to improve their writing - as one student said “I upsized my writing”. 

Over the next two weeks the students will be engaging in an online reading assessment called PAT-r from Year 2-6. This test has a similar format as NAPLAN, however the data is only used at a school and diocesan level. Over the coming weeks, the teachers will be using this data as well as NAPLAN data to determine our successes and our next steps for the rest  of the year and our focus in literacy for 2020. 

ATTENDANCE

Hopefully the flu season is over and students are able to successfully get back into school.  Remember being at school contributes to your child’s learning and building relationships. Every minute missed of learning adds up.  Mrs Bourke and myself are here if you need support.  

If your child is away from school, it is important that you provide the classroom teacher with a note outlining the reason that your child was away within 7 days.  The teachers are required to mark on the roll the reason for the student’s absence. If not note is given then no explanation can be provided for the absence.

Religious Coordinator - Mrs Anne Watson

St Joseph’s Busking Day

Pope Francis has chosen the theme 'Baptised and Sent: The Church of Christ on Mission in the World'. The Extraordinary Missionary Month (this October) is an invitation for all to join in and do something extraordinary for mission. Catholic Mission is the international mission agency of the Catholic Church in Australia. Compelled by the message, life and love of Jesus Christ, Catholic Mission forms Australians for mission and raises funds for mission—in Australia and around the world.

“I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” — John 10:10

Tuesday 29th October (Term 4 Week 3) St Joseph’s will be joining together to celebrate Mission Liturgy followed by our fundraiser “St Joseph’s Busking Day” from 11:00am – 1pm.  All parents, families and friends are invited to come along and support our Buskers. 

What is a Busking Day?

Students have been invited to be a Busker, either as a group or individual item. This is open for all students of St Joseph’s. There could be musicians, singers, dancers, magicians and many more busking items to watch. 

Each Busker is required to purchase a $2 busking licence from our Mission Team, Week 1 Thursday and Friday (recess and lunch)

The Busking day will operate in three sessions. First session starts at 11:45 – 12:05. Second session will begin at 12: 05 – 12:25. Third session will begin at 12: 25 – 12:45. Our Buskers will be allocated one session to perform their item. 

Buskers are allowed to bring along a change of clothes that they need to perform in. Buskers will have the opportunity to change into their outfits at recess time, ready for their Busking Session. If the buskers need music, they will need to bring along their own music and device to play their music on. 

How do we support our buskers? How is this a fundraiser?

All students are asked to bring along silver or gold coins to drop into the busking hats while the Buskers are performing. Parents, families and friends can help by dropping coins into the busking hats of the performers as well.

There will also be packets of chips and Zooper Doopers on sale (50c) throughout the busking sessions. 

The Purpose of the Fundraising is to raise funds for Catholic Missions.

Thank you for your support

Mrs Watson                                                                                                          Religious Education Coordinator   


Sports Update -Mrs Kimberley Turner

Term 3 Sport News

The last day of Term 3 saw our Stage 3 touch football teams venture to the Kingsway, St Marys with Mr Parnis and Mrs Keith. St Joseph’s had two boys and a girls team take part and all children are to be commended on their behaviour and sportsmanship shown on the day . The girls team had a mixture of results but played the entire (warm) day with a smile on their face and grew as a team as the day progressed . Our Year 5 boys team had a tough day results wise, but are one of the youngest teams in the competition. Next year these boys will be stronger heading into the experience. Congratulations to the boys for staying positive and working together as a team. Our predominantly Year 6 team ( except Year Five’s Cameron Grima ) started the day with a tough draw . From then on , the boys didn’t take the foot off the pedal. Leading into the last match they were playing Holy family Luddenham and whoever won , would win the competition. The boys were extremely nervous but they held it together and finished the match with a 4-1 win over an undefeated team and were crowned champions. Congratulations to Cameron A , Andrew , Zane , Isaac , Brock , Casey , Brayden and  Cameron G . You were all outstanding in performance and you showed the ultimate sportsmanship all day . It was great to see you all come together as a champion team . 

2020 school travel applications now open

To assist with any enquiries you may receive regarding student travel applications, we have provided some information below.

 Applications for student travel in 2020 opened on Friday, 11 October 2019.

 Students progressing to year 3 and year 7 no longer need to re-apply if they:

·       are continuing at the same school

·       are residing at the same address

·       have not been sent an expiry notification from Transport for NSW.

 Where a student meets the new distance eligibility, the system will automatically update their entitlement. If they do not meet the new eligibility, they will receive an expiry notification via email.

 Students who have an entitlement approved under a medical condition which is due to expire will receive a notification advising them to re-apply.

 Term Bus Pass holders will receive a notification to re-apply.

 If students need to update their information or re-apply, they should go online to https://apps.transport.nsw.gov.au/ssts/updateDetails

 Applications need to be submitted before 31 December 2019 to ensure student entitlements are updated and their current entitlement/card is not cancelled. If their application is submitted after 31 December 2019, the system will automatically cancel an entitlement/card and a new one will need to be issued.

 Students in the Opal network applying for a SSTS or Term Bus Pass entitlement for the first time will receive their card at their nominated postal address. Cards will be mailed out from January 2020.

 Students residing in Rural and Regional (R&R) areas should receive their travel pass at the commencement of the new school year from their nominated operator, this may be distributed via the school or sent direct to their address. Note: some R&R operators do not issue travel passes. Students/Parents should confirm with their nominated operator if they do not receive a pass.

School travel application endorsements

It is not uncommon for applicants completing the online form to make mistakes, particularly entering their name or date of birth instead of the students. This may be due to an auto-fill function on a device or just human error. We ask that school administrators pay special attention to the information supplied by applicants which come through in the school portal. If the information supplied does not match your records or the student is not yet enrolled, please do not endorse the application. By selecting ‘no’ the application will be referred back to the applicant to correct and resubmit.

In the event that school administrators endorse in error, it would be appreciated if you could advise our SSTS team as soon as possible so the application can be intercepted before an Opal card or travel pass is issued.

To contact us about an endorsement error, please go to: https://transportnsw.info/contact-us/feedback/passes-concessions-feedback and select feedback about: ‘school student transport scheme’ and then select ‘application updates’.

If school administrators require access to the school portal to endorse student applications, please request an account at https://appln.transport.nsw.gov.au/portal/requests/account/school

If you have staff that have left the school recently and had access to the school portal, please let us know at https://transportnsw.info/contact-us/feedback/passes-concessions-feedback and select ‘school/operator portal’ and then ‘remove existing user access’ so their access can be removed.

 


 

School Calendar

For the full yearly school calendar click this link Important-Dates


NEW SCHOOL BUILDINGS

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SCHOOL UNIFORM PRICE LIST & HOW TO ORDER

Second-Hand Uniform Shop

The second hand uniform shop is available each Monday in the community space at 8:30am. Please come to reception to sign in.

Morning Drop Off Thank you

Thank you to parents who have been dropping children off at the Nazarene Crescent gate. We have received very good feedback from the parents that are using this drop off area. If you come from Riverstone,  Marsden Park or Colobee this is a good route to take via Jeralong Drive. 

No Parking in School Carpark

Just a gentle reminder - parents are asked to please not park in the school carpark as access is limited and at peak times the car park is a major thoroughfare for children and parent pedestrians. 

There are a few items of lost jewellery and reading glasses being kept safe in the office. All other lost property such as school clothing is taken to the classrooms from the specific play area of that year where found. There is also lost property left over from children who attend COSHC.