School Newsletter

On Monday, our Year 5/6 students and teachers departed for their three day camp at Woodhouse Activity Centre where they took part in such activities as Challenge Hill, Geocaching and Laser Skirmish. School camp is an important part of the upper primary curriculum supporting our Health and PE program. As well as the opportunity for physical education, camps also provide many opportunities for students to develop their self-awareness, social adeptness, and collaboration skills.  Through the varied activities, they can also develop as effective communicators and innovators, and build their ecological awareness. These skills, unpacked in the CESA Key Capabilities, are skills for life, crossing all curriculum areas and helping students develop as people, leaders and learners.

I had the opportunity to join the campers for the majority of camp, and I would like to thank all the other staff members who, as usual, went above and beyond to ensure students had the most rewarding experience possible.

On Tuesday we celebrated Harmony Week by wearing a splash of orange to show our support for cultural diversity and an inclusive community. At St Joseph’s School, we have students, families and staff from many different cultural backgrounds and we celebrate the rich diversity and opportunities for intercultural understanding and respect this creates in our community. The theme this year is ‘Everyone Belongs’ and we remember that, as a Catholic School, we know that God’s plan is that we all live together in respect and harmony.

On Friday afternoon we will get involved in Earth Hour by ‘switching off for our Earth’ for an hour. Students will take the opportunity to reflect on, or engage in our natural world, reminding us that we can each play a part in using the resources of our planet more wisely. Did you know that 200,000 trees are bulldozed in Australia every day? Though trees are the lungs of our Earth, Australia still contributes to deforestation at an alarming rate, causing environmental degradation and contributing to climate change. Find out more here.

Please use the booking link that has been sent to you to arrange a time, along with your child, to meet with the classroom teacher for a learning conversation.  These opportunities are just one way we build partnership with families to ensure we are all working together to enable your child’s learning and wellbeing to thrive.

👉 Book an appointment here

It is not too late to support this event by distributing some promotional postcards to friends and neighbours in the area.  We have a beautiful school of which all in the community should be very proud. 

This day is an opportunity to showcase our stunning new adventure/nature play space to our wider community who may have been watching from afar as the project progressed.  Thank you to all our wonderful volunteers who will provide refreshments to those who are visiting! 

Please collect a stack of postcards from the office today if you would like to assist by distributing them.

On Friday, 10th March the staff came together at Oceanique, West Beach for a Staff Reflection Day. This was an opportunity to share with them the work I have been doing with the students in Our Sacred Ground Lessons. This day was so important as it allowed the staff to learn about Pope Francis’ Encyclical ‘Laudato Si’ and develop an understanding of what the students are learning and why. It also gave the staff who attended an opportunity to reflect on their own actions and think deeply about how they can make a difference in caring for our common home.

Last week we celebrated St Joseph’s Feast Day (19th March) with a whole school Mass led by our 3/4G class. It was very special to come together and celebrate the faith and strength of Joseph and remember the sacrifice and commitment he made to God. As St Joseph was a carpenter, we will be having a blessing of the new play space, on this day we thought it will be fitting to celebrate St Joseph’s Day as a school. More information to come about this soon.

This year, there will be special family Masses held at Sacred Heart Parish. These Masses are an opportunity to attend Mass with your family and hopefully other families from our school community. The Masses will be hosted by St Michael’s Primary School, Immaculate Heart of Mary and our School. It would be great if you could mark these dates in your diary and attend these special Masses. If your child is celebrating their Sacraments this year, we ask that you make a commitment to bring your child to these Masses.

The dates for the rest of term 1 and term 2 are:

Roll up roll up our first SJSH Parents & Friends Fundraiser for the year is live!

👉 You can now place your orders via Qkr! for some award winning Kytons Bakery Australia hot cross buns!

Orders can be placed up until 9am Wednesday 29th March 2023 and your orders can then be collected on Monday 3rd April (front office lawn near the flag poles).

There are several options available - check it out and place your order.

PS Buns and lamingtons freeze super well.

Thanks in advance for your support.

If you have any questions, head on over to our Facebook Community page where our P&F team can't answer any of your questions.

Savva from 5/6BD and his sister Nayia, have just completed the World's Greatest Shave - here are some before and after photos

You can still donate to Savva by clicking here