St Joseph's Newsletter

We are absolutely blessed here at St Joseph’s School to have a wonderful community garden and equally blessed to have Deidre Knight, an educator for sustainability, working with us. On Saturday morning a dedicated crew of school and Parish families, as well as local residents, met to engage in some tilling of the soil.  Much was achieved including tidying of overgrown plants, much needed pruning of our fruit trees and planting of some fresh seedlings, propagated by Deidre. Many of our students choose to work in the garden during lunchtimes with Rose and many others enjoy the tranquil space to reset or calm their senses.

Our staff will engage in professional learning as a part of our Clarity project on Monday 17 October meaning this will be a Pupil Free Day.  As you may be aware, we cancelled the Pupil Free Day which was scheduled for the beginning of Term 3 due to the changeover of Leadership personnel.  OSHC will be available on the day for those who would like to access care.

National Child Protection Week took place from 4-10 September, with the theme of ‘Every child, in every community, needs a fair go’.  Here at St Joseph’s School, we believe that children and young people thrive when they grow up safe, connected and supported, in their family, community and their culture. We take seriously our part in partnering with families to help children thrive.  This is evident by the way teachers dialogue with families about the learning that is taking place, children’s progress and their wellbeing.

As a part of our mandated curriculum, we teach the Keeping Safe Child Protection Curriculum, which provides the framework to teach children and young people from age 3 to Year 12, in an age-appropriate way, to recognise abuse, talk to trusted adults and understand ways to keep themselves safe. Our staff, volunteers, and allied health professionals are all cleared to work with children through stringent processes in accordance with CESA Child Protection Policies.  For more information regarding Catholic Education’s commitment to Child Safety please visit the CESA website: https://www.cesa.catholic.edu.au/our-schools/safe-environments-for-all

The Parents and Friends Committee met on the evening of 12th September. The group reflected on recent events, including the Father’s Day Stall and Grandparents/Grandfriends Day.  The Father’s Day stall was once again a success and a huge thank you to volunteers who facilitated this event. Food was abundant for the Grandparents/Grandfriends Day morning tea thanks to the generosity of families, however it would have been good to have more parent volunteers to manage the set up and clean up.  In future, we will be more explicit about asking for volunteers.

The Parents and Friends group will facilitate a BBQ at Sports Day and have organised for a coffee van to be onsite. Orders for sausages will take place via QKR.  Volunteers are also working to provide children with the option of purchasing a team colour biscuit to help celebrate our Sports Colour day which is the day after our Sport Day.  Orders for these can also be placed on QKR.

All are welcome to attend any Parents and Friends meeting.  Our committee is currently quite small and any contribution is welcome to help us build strong community at St Joseph’s School.

To celebrate Footy & Team Colours Day the P&F are hosting a fundraiser. Sugar cookies with coloured fondant icing will be available for purchase via Qkr! in the students house team colours.

Head to Qkr! to place your order (Qkr! > School Events tab)🍪 Preorder your cookie today - $3.00 each

During Week 9 and Week 10 of this term, the Year 5/6 students will be operating their 'small businesses' as part of our Business and Economics learning for HASS. In previous years of this project, students have been marketing their businesses with poster advertisements around the school community.

This year, in the interest of trying to limit litter in the yard (and trying to remain ecologically aware) we have instead linked this unit with Digital Tech. and students have created their own WEBSITES to market and advertise their businesses! Our 5/6's have been working with Maria A every Monday using the program WIX to plan, design and create their very own websites. We can't wait to share them with you once they are all completed/have a look at some of the completed websites by clicking the links below!

Flowers blooming in the garden were inspiration for art celebrating the beginning of spring.   Oil pastel drawings washed over with water paints were used for this art activity

Engaging with science starts in early childhood as young children explore and play in their environment and start to make sense of the natural world.

We introduced the story of the Avocado baby to promote the benefits of eating green fruits and vegetables. We  cut and mashed  avocado, added some lemon juice and invited the children to taste it spread on pita bread. It was great to see so many children eating and enjoying this delicious and healthy snack.

Last chance to register your child to represent our school in this years HotShot Tennis Carnival!

📅 When: Week 2, Term 4
📝 Who can attend: Year 3 & 4 Students 

More information coming soon! 
📍 Location: TBC
🕕 Time: TBC
🚌 Transport: TBC

👉 Follow this link to Register your interest Simply follow the link below and select the SACPSSA HotShot Tennis Carnival 'Register' button.

Bookings for Vac Care OPEN Monday 5th September.
Please return printed booking and consent form to secure your place. Bookings will not be available online during Vacation Care.

📅 Vacation Care Dates: Tuesday 4th October - Friday 14th October

😎 Public Holiday: Monday 3rd October

🤩 These holidays we have lots of FUN activities planned:

🍿 Movie Day at Arndale Cinema
🚲 Wheelie Fun & Electronics Day
🍫 Melba's Chocolate Factory, Big Rocking Horse & Wildlife Sanctuary
🏃‍♀️ Mini Sports Day

🎳 Zone Bowling
🎨 Plaster Fun & Creative Day
🦎 Animals Anonymous
⛹️‍♀️ Mega Courts Indoor Sports
🎩 BINGO Jack Magic Show

📝 Return your Booking & Consent Form to OSHC
Bookings are available by filling in the form and returning it directly to OSHC in person or via email (bookings via our online system will not be available).

Please remember that term time bookings do not roll over into Vacation Care.

🆕 Using Vac Care for the first time?
Families using our service for the first time will need to complete an OSHC Enrolment process before care can be provided or bookings accepted. Haven't created an account yet? Simply follow the step by step information sheet below to enrol your child/ren.

🤔 Have a question?
Get in touch with our OSHC team, call 0408 809 107 or email oshc@sjsh.catholic.edu.au