School Newsletter

What an exciting week that has seen the opening of our new play space for students to enjoy.  This development has been many years in the making and I am sure you will agree, has completely changed the look and feel of our school. Whilst I have only come onboard during the actualisation stage of the development, I sincerely thank those that have come before me, especially Maria D’Aloia, School Board members, staff and students for doing all the groundwork needed to make this vision a reality. Dirtwork Landscapes, who won tender to construct the space, have been exceptional and they have worked tirelessly since October last year to bring the vision to life. JAA Project Managers have also been exceptional to work with and I think they are as proud as we are to have this project completed so beautifully.

Please support us in reminding children that the play equipment is not available for use before and after school. To ensure safe play, sufficient supervision is required, and this is not possible before and after school. We have created a roster to ensure that all students can access the play equipment across recess and lunch without overcrowding. It is also our preference that non-school/pre-school age children do not access the playground at drop off/pick up times.

We will open the gates to the public on Saturday March 25 from 11am – 2pm for our Come and Play Day. This will provide an opportunity for those in the community who have been watching from afar to come and try out the new spaces and equipment. Come and join us and invite your neighbours.  This is a great opportunity to let others know what a great ‘small but mighty’ school St Joseph’s Hindmarsh is!  Thank you to our school community members who have already volunteered to provide hospitality to the community via a Sausage Sizzle and to provide ice blocks to refresh our visitors.

Last week we farewelled Briana Spencer who has been working with us a Curriculum Support ESO.  Briana has supported the learning and wellbeing of many of our students since she began with us in 2022. We have appointed Caitlin Price to take over this role and we welcomed Caitlin to our staff on Monday of this week.  Caitlin, an experienced Education Support Officer, has already settled into supporting a number of our students and classes.

As communicated in the last newsletter, our School Board are currently exploring models for how we can continue to provide a quality service in a cost-effective way following Helena’s resignation effective at the end of Term 1.

In the meantime, staff shortages mean that we cannot provide a lunch or recess canteen service on Wednesdays for the reminder of the term. All services will still be available on Mondays/Tuesdays/Thursdays and Fridays this term.

Due to unforeseen circumstances we had to postpone our information session ‘The Science of Reading’.  This will now occur on:

📅 Tuesday 14th March
🕗 from 6:30pm - 7:30pm
📍 in the School Hall

This will be facilitated by Linda Clune of Playberry Laser, who is a specialist dyslexia teacher.  This short information session will be of particular interest to parents of early readers, but is definitely relevant for all parents/caregivers. We hope many of you will take the opportunity to find out more about our whole school approach to teaching these important literacy skills.

👉 Please RSVP via this link if you are attending.

The National Assessment Program for Literacy and Numeracy will undergo some changes this year. Most significantly, the assessments, which used to take place in mid-May, will now occur in from 15 March for students in Year 3,5,7 and 9. This will mean that students are tested at an earlier point in their learning and that teachers and schools will receive information about students’ achievements and areas for growth earlier in the year.

The other significant change implemented this year will be the way results are reported to parents/caregivers. Instead of showing a student’s results in relation to the national minimum standard and the school average, results will be shown in relation to a proficiency standard.  Effectively, students’ results in each of the test will be reported as either Exceeding, Strong, Developing or Needing Additional Support making it much clearer to parents and caregivers as to how students are performing in the areas of Literacy and Numeracy.

This Friday, staff will engage in a retreat experience which will focus around ecological conversion and the Pope’s encyclical Laudato Si – Care for our Common Home.  As a whole school, students are staff are exploring what it means to care for the natural environment and for each other.  This is the core message of our new specialist learning area ‘Our Sacred Ground’ and strongly supports our Religious Education program.

During this time of Lent, I pray that we each find times of quiet to listen to God’s voice and to renew our hearts.

Marianne Farrugia

A quick reminder to continue to collect any loose change you have for your Project Compassion box that was sent home last week. The Project Compassion Boxes will be collected in week 10.

Every Lenten season the St Joseph’s Community, led by the Class SRC Representatives raise funds for Caritas Project Compassion. Caritas support communities around the world, including Australia, to upskill people and to create solidarity and dignity of the human person

We are 6 weeks into the term and students have responded well to the Our Sacred Ground Project. They have been interested to learn about Pope Francis Encyclical – Laudato Si and his call to care for our common home. They are very keen to make a difference and put their faith into action and can’t wait to get into the garden next term. Last week they had to choose an action that they would do over the week that would contribute to caring for their school/home environment. Hopefully they have shared this action with you as they are very proud of it and the impact it will have.

We have a number of students who are anaphylactic, have allergies or food intolerances.

We ask for the parents of every child, whether they are allergic to nuts or not, to consider peanut and tree nut alternatives when planning individual packed recess and lunch.

Students are asked NOT to share food. Treats for birthdays or other celebrations cannot be brought to school.

Your cooperation and understanding is much appreciated.

We're looking for some volunteers to cover our library books. If you're interested please get in touch with the Front Office. 

Nearly three years ago Savva lost his grandma to Leukaemia, since then he has been participating in the World’s Greatest Shave. Like last year, Savva is asking if the community can get behind him again.

You can donate to Savva by clicking the link below. 👇

His sister Nayia who attends Nazareth Catholic College will also be cutting 20cm off her hair.