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Dear Parents,
Welcome back to Term 2. I hope you had a lovely Easter and had time to connect with family and friends. It is wonderful to come back to a term where Covid restrictions have been lightened and we can fully focus on the term’s learning and community events. This term is turning out to be an extremely full and busy one already.
Mother’s Day
What a glorious Mother’s Day liturgy and morning tea we had today. The sun was shining, the sky was blue and the Year 1 team led us in such a beautiful way to celebrate the incredible people our mothers and grandmothers are. We thank Fr John Lovell, our new parish priest, for joining us and for Ms Renata Powell’s reflections on motherhood. Following our very special liturgy our mothers and grandmothers enjoyed the opportunity to chat with one another over morning tea. We thank the Year 2 parents for helping to set up and for Mrs McMillan in sourcing our raffle prizes and a big thanks to Mrs Angela Samuels for organising the morning tea. It was the largest event we have had in a ong time and it was a great success!
Thank you also goes to all those who provided us with raffle prizes:
Rydges Newcastle, Clay Room Tighes Hill, Home & Afar, The Hood, Salt Property, The Junction Hotel, Jewellery Affair, Charcoal Chicken, Cellabrations Georgetown, Two Hands Cafe and Lila Rose Designs.
Whatever you have planned as a family this Mother’s Day I’m sure it is going to go into your memory bank to look back on fondly, down the track. You do an amazing job, mums, and we hope your children will always let you know this, both in their words and their actions. I wish all our mothers and grandmothers a fabulous day on Sunday.
ASPIRE
On Thursday evening several members of our staff had the pleasure of hearing Ava Kent sing the song she composed for the Aspire competition at the Magical Melodies song writing competition. Ava’s song was “I wish to do the Impossible”. It is a song about wishing for things that are impossible and using your imagination on what is possible. It is about encouraging people to make a wish, even if something is impossible because you never know. Your wish may come true if you believe you can do anything.
Congratulations go to Ava on such a terrific achievement and the judges were very impressed with her, considering she’s only in Year 3. You should be very proud of yourself Ava just as I know your family and your St Joseph’s community are with you.
School Upgrades
We are very excited about the various upgrades around our school site that are occurring, or have occurred. In the holidays we were able to get the remainder of the outside benches, bike shed, hall eaves and main door, door touch-ups and stairwell painted. We are really pleased with how the school is looking and with the respect being shown by the children towards our environment. We are well on the way to having all the windows on the playground side of the infants classrooms being upgraded along with security screens being placed on the windows allowing for greater ventilation to occur. This project will be undertaken in the next holidays.
The next exciting development is that we, as a leadership team, spent time last term and time in the holidays looking at furniture in other schools and have just made the final decisions for the furniture, colours and fabrics for Year 6. We can’t wait to see the looks on our Year 6 students’ faces when they walk back into class on the first day of Term 3.
We will continue to work with the furniture company to finalise the pieces for our other classes. It certainly is exciting times around here at the moment.
Parent Workshop
This coming Tuesday there is a parent workshop being facilitated by Andrew Fuller. Andrew is a Clinical Psychologist who is both entertaining and informative. I have been fortunate enough to hear him speak on a couple of occasions and have walked away on both occasions with practical ideas but very easy to implement, and feeling as though he doesn’t talk down to anyone and that he just ‘gets it’ for both children and adults and this is very reassuring. I encourage you all, if you’re able to, to make it to his workshop this coming Tuesday 10th May.
Uniforms
The official change over date to our winter school uniform will be Monday 16th May. If the weather is cold before this date and your child would like to wear their winter uniform, that is perfectly fine. It is acceptable to continue to wear the summer uniform with the school jacket until the changeover date. Many students like this option as currently it is cool in the mornings but warms up a little later in the day.
Please ensure, however, that the uniform your child wears is not a ‘mish-mash’ of a uniform; for example, it is not a mixture of a girl’s summer tunic combined with navy winter tights, or that it is not a boy’s winter shirt with summer shorts.
Staff update
This term we welcome back Mrs Tania Vervaart. Tania resumes her learning support assistant role after gallivanting all around Australia for the last 12 months.
We welcome Joanna Smith into our clerical position in the front office. Joanna will commence with us next week. Joanna is new to Newcastle and our Catholic school system so please bear with her as she comes on board and learns the ropes.
In Year 5 Blue Phoebe Parker will remain the class teacher as Mr Peter Watson will be on leave for the remainder of this year.
Regards
Karen
9 May | P&F Meeting |
10 May - 20 May | NAPLAN - Years 3 & 5 |
11 May | Athletics Carnival |
NAPLAN 2022
Students in Year 3 and Year 5 will be participating in the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) from the 10th – 20th May. NAPLAN is an annual assessment for all students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9. It tests the types of skills that are essential for every child to progress through school and life. The tests cover skills in reading, writing, spelling, grammar and punctuation, and numeracy. The assessments are undertaken every year, commencing in the second full week in May. As the majority of the tests are online, St Joseph’s has developed a timetable which spreads the tests out over the fortnight. Below is a draft of this timetable. Please be aware that it may be adjusted and changed as required. We thank Laura Slattery and Dee Milgate for the coordination of the testing.
Week 3 |
Mon 9th |
Tues 10th |
Wed 11th |
Thurs 12th |
Fri 13th |
|
|
Year 3 and 5 Writing |
Athletics Carnival |
Year 3 Reading |
Year 5 Reading |
Week 4 |
Mon 16th |
Tues 17th |
Wed 18th |
Thurs 19th |
Fri 20th |
|
Year 3 Language Conventions |
Year 5 Language Conventions |
Year 3 Numeracy |
Year 5 Numeracy
|
|
English Syllabus
This week, Miss McGinlay, our Kindergarten, Year 1 and Year 2 staff have been participating in professional learning about the new English Syllabus K-2. This syllabus will be gradually implemented from 2023 onwards. More information will be sent out throughout the year.
Safeguarding
Privacy Awareness Week (PAW) is an annual event that highlights the importance of protecting personal information and helps organisations, agencies and the public navigate the privacy landscape. There are some valuable privacy tips for parents and carers available here
In addition, eSafety’s Term 2 webinar on parental controls helps parents and carers learn about software tools and other strategies for taming technology at home.
The webinar explores the benefits and limitations of parental controls and covers how to safely set up devices and popular games and apps like Roblox and Youtube.
A Blessing Prayer for Mothers
Mother God,
You are the great Creator.
You gave birth to the world and through love brought all things into being.
You are our mother who feeds us; our mother who comforts and consoles us; our mother who defends us; our mother who calms and cares for us.
Before you formed us in our mother’s womb, you chose us
Before we were born you set us apart.
You have carved us in the palm of your hand.
Bless all women who bring life into the world.
Bless all women who cannot give birth.
Bless all women expecting the birth of their child.
Bless all women who mourn the loss of a child.
Bless all women who love and care for their children.
Bless all women who share their love and care with others.
Bless all women who tend the needs of their families.
Bless all women who tend the needs of the world.
Bless all women supported by a partner.
Bless all women who parent alone.
Bless all women of integrity.
Bless all women who struggle with who they are.
Bless our mothers and our grandmothers.
Bless our teachers and our carers.
Bless the dads who also mother
Bless the mums we never knew.
Amen
On Sunday, we celebrate those women in our lives who model God’s unconditional love for us. We also remember, in a special way our mothers who are no longer with us; those who have died and those who are separated from their children. On Mother’s Day this year we recognise and thank all the mothers and mother figures who inspire us, provide care, wisdom and generosity to those in their care. Have a very Happy Mother’s Day!
Month of May - Mary
The month of May has been dedicated by the Church as a time of devotion to Mary, who is honoured as the first disciple, Mother of God and Mother of the Church. Mary is recognized as the one who listened and responded to the call of God.
Christians see Mary as a human being, who willingly allowed grace to work in her. St. Luke tells us that from the moment that Mary was told that she was chosen to be the Mother of God, she expressed her natural feeling: “Mary was deeply troubled by the angel’s message…” and “Mary pondered those things in her heart”. All mothers ponder things about their children.
Mary, like us, had to strive to understand the mystery of the revelation made to her with regard to her Son, Jesus. She had to make her personal journey of faith as we now make ours. St. Bernard called her “Stella Maris” the “Star of the Sea” our guide and our assurance, as we journey on the stormy tossed waves of our lives.
Mary, we ask you to obtain for us the strength to lead a life offered to God in thanksgiving and praise. Be present with us at all times. Guise us safely into the presence of your Son, Jesus, so that we may, with you and all the Saints, share His life, happiness and love. Amen
The Resurrection
Year 4 led our school community to celebrate the feast of the Resurrection. We celebrate that Jesus, who was dead, now lives again! We celebrate his risen life, his new life, our new life. We can rejoice because He is risen from the dead. Jesus shares his new life with us and we are full of joy.
What a beautiful way to start Term 2.
ANZAC Day
Our staff and students from St Joseph’s attended the ANZAC Day Commemoration Service at Townson Oval, Merewether. This service was organised by the Merewether-Hamilton-Adamstown RSL Sub-Branch.
Members from our School Leadership Team participated in the service by reciting the Epitaph and laying a wreath. As a community, it was an opportunity to honour and pray for those who died and suffered in the many conflicts that Australia has been involved in over the years. We thank our students and families who attended and dressed in their full winter uniform to represent our school.
ANZAC DAY School Liturgy
We gathered on Tuesday to commemorate ANZAC Day. We had a very beautiful, moving and respectful liturgy. We sincerely thank Wing Commander Mrs Aleisha Broadhead, from the Australian Defence Force, for her presence and her insightful reflections. We also thank Mr Ward and Joey Leis for their tremendous effort to make our liturgy so special by playing the Last Post and The Rouse. To our Year 6 students and teachers we are so grateful for your wonderful guidance and leadership during our 2022 commemoration.
SAVE THE DATE!!
Pope Francis has invited all faith communities across the world to participate in World Meetings of Families. We are excited to gather with our families for a picnic at Dixon Park on Saturday 25th June 2022 from midday to 2pm.
This will be a wonderful opportunity to socialise with families in our community and share a cuppa and a game on the grass. BYO food, drinks and any sport equipment.
Drop in anytime throughout the scheduled two hours to have a chat and for the children to have fun with friends in the open spaces.
Mrs Helene O’Neill- Family Ministry coordinator and Donna McMillan-REC St Joseph’s Merewether.
Music Room Cross
Dorothy Woodward is a Josephite sister who has artwork hanging on walls from one coast of Australia to the other. Here at St Joseph’s, we are fortunate to have many of her hand painted crosses decorating our classrooms and enriching our sacred spaces.
To acknowledge the creative endeavors that permeate our learning from music, creative arts, drama and dance, Sister Dorothy graciously hand painted our artist Music Room cross and delivered it to our school this week.
Our creative cross reminds us that in all our activities from sport, classroom work to the stage we all try to learn, love and live the truth.
Aboriginal Education
How wonderful to be back at our lovely St Joseph’s for Term 2. I’m looking forward to working with all our students for what is set to be an action-packed term.
5th April: Bringing Them Home Report
Recently, the annual, ‘Bringing Them Home’ Stolen Generations report was recognised on 5th April. In 1997, the landmark Bringing Them Home report was tabled in Federal Parliament. The report was the result of a national inquiry that investigated the forced removal of Indigenous children from their families. This marked a pivotal moment in the healing journey of many Stolen Generations members
26th April: Anzac Day
Recently, our community commemorated ANZAC Day -a celebration Australian’s have proudly participated in since 1916. Indigenous Australians continue to make large contributions to Australia’s war efforts, as seen in the statistics below.
- At least 50 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people served in the Boer War (1899-1902)
- Over 1000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people served in World War I (1914-1918) and around 70 fought at Gallipoli
- At least 3000 Aboriginal and 850 Torres Strait Islander people served in World War II (1939-1945)
- In both World Wars, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people had the highest participation rates in the military as a proportion of their population in Australia
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have participated in all military conflicts since the World Wars, including in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan and in peacekeeping operations including in Somalia and East Timor
- In 2011 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 1.7% of the Australian Army.
Sadly, after huge sacrifice was made by thousands of Indigenous soldiers in past world wars, many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples returned to a country that continued to deny them even basic rights. Their contribution to service was quickly forgotten
This becomes poignant when we consider a quote from the infamous speech made by Stan Grant in the 2015 IQ2 Racism Debate.
“My Grandfather who served to fight wars for this country, when he was not yet a citizen, came back to a segregated land where he couldn’t even share a drink in the pub with his digger mates because he was black.” (NB: Stan Grant’s grandfather was not yet a citizen as it wasn’t until the 1967 referendum that Aboriginal peoples were granted Australian citizenship and the right to vote)
Educating ourselves about these injustices is a way to honour and pay respect to our remarkable Indigenous servicemen and women.
Lest We Forget
Aboriginal News……. For Interest Sake:
The Awabakal word- kararkarmatara banksia is what early settlers called ‘honeysuckles’. It is a natural resource that has been used by local Awabakal peoples for thousands of years. It exudes a rich nectar from its flowers, and it became a common practice by Awabakal people to run their hand over the blossom and then lap the nectar from their hand.
- The flower spikes are sucked to obtain the nectar
- Banksia trees are a reliable source of insect larvae which are extracted as food.
- The flower-cones are soaked in water in bark or wooden containers to extract the nectar to make sweet drinks. This sweet water, when added to tasteless wattle gum and left to stand, produces an edible jelly like substance.
- The syrup can be used as a soother for sore throats and has been known to ease diarrhoea.
- The bark can be burnt to ash, which can be applied to sores on the skin as a healing agent.
- They can be smeared with fat and burnt as candles.
(Script Courtesy of © 2020 Miromaa Aboriginal Language and Technology Centre)
Danielle Shaw
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Teacher
Musical News!
We are so excited about our musical next term that staff and students have hit the ground running and are well and truly into the height of rehearsals.
Classes have been using their Music lesson times to work through scripts and polish allocated speaking roles. Over the next week voiceovers are being recorded and filming schedules will be begin to take shape in preparation for our stage spectacular.
Students are not only singing and dancing, however in true professional form have started exploring soundscapes and tableaux to create beautiful music sequences for our audiences.
Our lead actors have begun rehearsing their scenes to bridge the show together and after much anticipation our puppets have been freed from storage and are back in action.
Year 4 Musical Preparation and Research
We watched BTN (Behind The News) to research and discover the different creatures in the ocean. We learnt about their methods of communication
Year 4 went on a Journey Beneath the Waves. We experienced an exploration of the marine environment in the waters off the coast of Sydney. The temperate waters around Sydney are home to a variety of habitats including kelp beds and sponge gardens. These are wonderful place to dive and discover the diversity of animals that live there.
We need to know what group of sea creatures can live together so we can finish putting our underwater musical scene together for our production. We've begun to think about the different sounds fish, sharks and sea creatures make to communicate with each other. These sounds will help make our dramatic soundscape.
Year 4 also participated in a Q&A session with Karen the expert diver who answered a lot of our individual questions.
We can't wait to put our underwater knowledge onto the stage in Term 3.
Erica & Audrey (Year 4)
1B News
Each morning in Year 1 Blue we remind ourselves to Act safely! Be respectful! Care for all! And Do your best! We can then launch into our busy day. We thought Kinder was fun, but we are having just as much fun in Year 1 Blue and our days are filled with great learning, activities, fun and laughter.
In Term One, we were excited to be discovering things about Jesus- the teacher, the healer and the miracle worker. We also enjoyed learning about the ways Catholics prepare for Easter during Lent and the practices of fasting, almsgiving and praying. The highlight was when we acted out the events of Holy Week. We were also proud to be involved in the St Joseph’s Day liturgy and the Mother’s Day Liturgy.
We are enjoying reading and writing and each morning. We work in reading groups with our teachers and learning support assistants. We are learning to read with automaticity by using known sounds to read words as well as comprehend the books that we are reading. We are also becoming great writers too. We are focusing on writing sentences with adjectives to make our stories more exciting for the readers. Sometimes we can use up to three adjectives in one sentence! Throughout the rest of this term we will continue to focus on constructing grammatically correct sentences that contain interesting vocabulary to entertain the reader.
Maths is a great time for “hands on” with loose parts from our shelves. We have been investigating counting strategies, making groups, creating patterns, measuring length and area and balancing scales. Our Maths activities involve exploring numbers, addition facts and endless possibilities. We want our students in Year 1 to be risk takers, work flexibly with numbers and develop effective problem-solving skills through open ended tasks and investigations. The students have been enjoying the tasks that they have been engaged in. They are provided with the opportunity to make decisions, make mistakes, make changes to their work and solve problems with a partner, small group or independently.
In History we have been investigating families from the past and present. We loved being historians and analysed photos from the past. We made discoveries about chores that children did after school, family holidays, toys from the past and different forms of communication. This term our focus is on “Celebrations from the Past and Present”. Play-based learning is incorporated into these learning activities. The Year 1 play space is set up to support learning in this KLA.
We are now getting ready for our athletics carnival. We are practicing our starts and learning to run straight! Not such an easy task! During this time, we work with our friends in Year 1 Gold. We have been developing our ball skills such as dribbling, bouncing, rolling skills and throwing and catching. Sport is important because we demonstrate sharing, taking turns and being a good sport.
1 Blue enjoy finishing off a busy week at school with art lessons. Throughout the year they have created artwork using a variety of mediums. Each student is encouraged to put their stamp on their artwork. We use an image or several images as inspiration, but originality is always encouraged and celebrated. This ensures each sample created is unique to the child.
Special Achievements
St Joseph’s has hit the ground running in Term 2 with so many successes already!
Last Friday, Sidney M, Callum V H and Harry H competed in the PSSA Rugby League competition at Polding level. They competed well and with sportsmanship, and they all should be very proud of making it this far. A special congratulations goes to Sidney who was selected as the fullback for the Polding side and will now play for a spot in the NSW team in the next leg of the competition. He will play at Parkes in June, and we wish him all the very best!
Another congratulations goes to Aurelia F for making it through for AFL. It was a difficult decision this year for Aurelia, as she needed to decide whether she wanted to compete with both boys and girls in the PSSA pathway competition or try out for the NSW Australian Football Primary School Girls competition. It proved to be the right decision as she has made it through to the next round, playing in Coffs Harbour on the 23rd and 24th May. Good luck, Aurelia!
Cross Country
The sun was shining, the parents were cheering, and the St Joseph’s students were running! The Maitland Newcastle Diocese Cross Country was held at Maitland Park on Wednesday 4th May 2022. Congratulations to the students who participated
Adelaide F, Vincent M, Riley B, Lucas O, Ava K, Maya V, Archie D, Felix P, Evan B, Lily G, Adelaide M, Callum V H, Jacob F, Stella C, Sofia H, Elliot M, Lucas V, Edward M, Eleonor M, Edie C, Mabel H.
The students ran 2-3km. Everyone tried their best and many of our students were ranked in the top 20 which is an amazing achievement considering there were over 100 runners in each event. We are proud to announce that the following students have progressed to the Polding Cross Country to be held at Eastern Creek in June.
Congratulations to Ava K - 7th Lily G 5th, Archie D 1st, Sidney M 8th, and Eleonor M 4th.
It was an absolute privilege and pleasure to be the team manager for the cross country. The students displayed great sportsmanship and showed great support for each other. Well done team! A special thank you to all the parents and grandparents who came to support the team.
Ms Mantach
Athletics Carnival
St Joseph’s annual Athletics Carnival will be held this upcoming Wednesday, 11th May. It will be held at Fearnley Dawes Newcastle Athletic Track. Students will come to school as normal and we will all walk down together in classes with staff. No student is to walk to the track on their own.
Students are to wear their sports shorts, joggers and are welcome to wear a coloured shirt which represents their house colour. They may bring ‘track shoes’ with rubber spikes, traditionally worn for athletics events (not studded rugby boots). These shoes must be brought in their bag, not worn to school.
It is always a fun day for everyone and a nice opportunity to enjoy the sporting successes our students. Parents are welcome to join but must stay in designated spectators areas. For the safety of students and organisation of the day, parents are not allowed in the stands and students are not permitted to remain with parents in the spectator areas. We appreciate your support and consideration with this to help keep our children safe.
In the event that bad weather determines the event to be cancelled, a notification will be sent via compass the morning of. It is forecast for rain, so please keep a look out on compass for any information.
Further information regarding this has been emailed via compass and also notes have been given to students.
Upcoming Events
Futsal
The Futsal Competition will be played on Monday, 30th May (Week 6) at Howzat/Gensis in Newcastle. Fiona McCalden will be the supervising teacher on the day, and we have some parent volunteers who will be providing coaching and support on the day. Thank you to Lauren Flynn, Chris and Carly Beacher, Amy Callinan, Vicki chateau and Steve Pasvlosky for giving up your time on the day.
The teams are below:
Boys Jnr Under 10’s |
Boys Snr Under 12’s |
Girls Snr Under 12’s |
Archie D |
Ollie C |
Violet L |
Otis C |
Kalani P |
Rosa L |
Max O |
Christian E |
Frankie L |
Felix P |
Hamish S |
Sophie M |
Evan B |
Darcy W |
Isabelle M |
Antonio C |
Lukas M |
Halle S |
Joseph C |
Edward M |
Edie C |
Harry S |
Joey L |
Aurelia F |
Hayden C |
Theo S |
|
Gabe F |
Jacob F |
|
AFL
The Paul Kelly Cup (AFL Primary Schools Competition) will be held in Warners Bay on the 21st June (Week 9). More information will be provided in the coming weeks. Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough interest to form a girl's team, but we will be taking one Snr boys team made up of Year 5 and 6 students. Information will be provided closer to the date.
The team is as follows:
Mason V, Theo S, Spencer S, Heath A, Hugh M, Lukas M, Elliot M, Harry H, Callum V, Jacob Flynn and Hamish S.
Netball
In Week 5, there will be a Netball Gala Day held at Newcastle Netball courts on the 25th May. This is open to all levels of competitors and is an all-day event. In the coming weeks, we will ask students who are interested to nominate themselves to play in a team. There will be 2 x Yr 3/4 teams and 4 x Yr 5/6 teams. The senior teams will comprise of one competitive team, one mixed team and one boy's team.
Touch Football
In Term 3, we have a Touch Football Gala Day, open to all levels. Please speak to your child to see if they would be interested in competing in this event. At the end of Term 2, we will gain interest and provide further details when it is closer to the day.
Newcastle Primary School Gala Day Year 3-4
Friday 12th August 2022 – Newcastle Harness racing Club
Newcastle Primary School Gala Day Year 5-6
Friday 19th August 2022 – Newcastle Harness racing Club
We pray for good weather, sporting success and enjoyment all round during Term 2!
Sport Coordinator
Emma Cook
P&F Meeting
Next P&F meeting – Monday 9 May
We’d love to welcome you to the next P&F meeting at 6pm, Monday 9 May. You can come in person at the school library or join us via Zoom.
With social gatherings back on the cards and planning for our 2022 calendar of events underway, it’s a great time to come along.
Full meeting details are available on Compass.
Upcoming social and fundraising events
Did you know that the P&F shapes and coordinates many of the social and fundraising events at St Josephs? We have a bunch of exciting things planned for Term 2, including:
· School disco
· Movie night
These events can’t happen without our generous volunteers. If you’re keen to get involved, please reach out at sjpandf@gmail.com or come along to our next meeting on Monday 9th May.
Mother's Day Raffle
Thank you for your support of our Mother's Day Raffle, we were able to raise over $1500 which will go towards the refurbishment of the school library.
Canteen
Now that canteen is back on the menu following our COVID hiatus and reduced operations, we have exciting plans to revamp our canteen and menu!
If you’d like to be part of this, why not volunteer for the shared role of canteen coordinator. You’ll have the opportunity to help to shape and promote our canteen and lead an exciting student-led canteen initiative in term 2. This role does not include stock ordering, rostering or working in the canteen and you can click here to read more about it. Please get in touch at sjpandf@gmail.com
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