Dear Parents,

Welcome back to 2024 and all that is has in store for us as a community.  At our Diocesan ‘Called to Serve’, staff Mass on Tuesday evening, the Bishop commissioned the staff for the year ahead and gave a blessing that it would be a good one for all our communities.  As a St Joseph’s staff we are very excited about what this year brings forward and all in our community have started off well, with lots of smiles, enthusiasm and engagement, be they students or staff. 

The Bishop also mentioned that this year has been Pope Francis has inaugurated a Year of Prayer ahead of next year’s 2025 Jubilee. The Pope is calling on the faithful “to intensify prayer to prepare us to live well this event of grace and to experience the power of God’s hope.” Pope Francis has said that this Year of Prayer is dedicated “to rediscovering the great value and absolute need for prayer, prayer in personal life, in the life of the Church, prayer in the world.”  We are asked to intensify our prayer life to help us experience the power of God’s hope.  This could be as simple as praying the Our Father as  family together on a regular basis or introducing Grace  before Meals or just saying an internal prayer on your way to school drop off or pick up.

Figure https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_IJHBnXWjo 

Kinder’s First Day 

Kindergarten has been buzzing with excitement as our newest students embark on their educational journey! It's been a smooth transition for all, with our little ones settling seamlessly into the Kinder space. We extend our heartfelt thanks to all parents for their unwavering support and diligent preparations leading up to this significant milestone. Together, we're providing a nurturing environment where every child can thrive and grow.

School Holiday Upgrades

Once again, over the school holidays we continued with our school revitalisation project. The upstairs area of the administration block, the external areas of the old boys’ toilets, the low wall on Union St and the entrance area of the school area were all painted

I also received a phone call on our first day back that we had been assigned a project manager for the successful diocesan grant we have been given for improving the Quad and Library spaces.  I have already met with him, and St joseph’s is the first school on his list, so stay tuned for regular updates as to what is to come over the next 18 months or so in these areas. 

Student Absences 

Don’t forget that it is a legal requirement to inform the school, in writing, of your children’s absences.  This can be done via Compass or a written note; either way, please outline what the reason is.  Please explain whether your child is sick, in isolation, attending an appointment, on holiday, refusing to come to school, a family emergency etc. Even on Compass it doesn’t suffice to just indicate they are absent – a detailed reason is required.  

Families are encouraged to travel during school holidays. If travel in excess of 10 school days is necessary, an Application for Extended Leave needs to be completed. Absences relating to travel will be marked as leave on the roll and therefore contribute to your child’s total absences for the year. Please contact the office for details about these leave requests.  These requests need to be made in advance of the requests leave in order for us to fulfill our mandated requirements around this. On a number of occasions last year we only received the requests a couple of days before departure.  If this occurs we will not be able to issue you with a leave approval certificate and this will be reflected on your children’s attendance records. This is also significant as legally you are meant to carry with you the school issued certificate and can be asked for it at airports, ports etc. 

Canteen

Canteen will be open from this coming Monday 12th February.  Mrs Anna Aird, is our canteen manger and she has been busily getting the canteen ready for the children this week.  Anna has met with both Gina Pringle and Donna Mansour to get familiar with  our canteen operations, to ensure that there is consistency of practice but we are also looking forward to Anna gradually putting her own stamp on things as well.  As usual, we need volunteers to assist, both for lunch time preparations and for sales at recess. If you have been cleared as a volunteer and have some time on your hands on a Monday, Wednesday or Friday, please sign up to assist either for lunch time or recess.

Volunteers

We love to have our families involved in the various services and activities we provide here at St Jospeh’s, so if you would like to assist with activities such as excursions, carnivals, canteen, uniform shop, classroom activities and any other activities that may come up, please ensure you have completed all the necessary Volunteers documentation so that you can go on the approved list.

What you need to do: 

• Go to Volunteer Registration Form 

There is no longer any need to print off and complete any forms that are in the Volunteer Policy or the Code of Conduct resource that are included on this page. 

• Answer the questions, then you will receive an email explaining about the police check with Verify Now. Complete this process.
• Once we have been informed that your police check has come back, we are able to enlist your services.  We have been told this process can take up to 3 weeks and our past experiences have been even longer (3 months at times). So, if you think you might like to volunteer for something this year, even if is just one activity, we strongly encourage you to start the registration process as soon as possible.

Uniforms

Wearing the school uniform is part of our Positive Behaviour for Learning framework, where the children show care and pride in both themselves and their school.  The adherence to a uniform policy is very often mentioned in enrolment interviews by prospective families as something that they are looking for in a school.  We believe that over the years the St Joseph’s community has worked hard at establishing a comfortable, practical and smart looking uniform for all our students and that it helps in connecting all the students to our community

Key Points regarding Uniforms:

• Black school shoes (not sports types shoes, without embellishments and of a ‘smooth’ surface)
• White, or predominantly white, trainers with white laces

• Shoulder length, or longer, hair is to be tied back and hair needs to be cut in such a way that it does not hang in children’s eyes or is fastened back with appropriate hair accessories. This applies to both boys and girls.
• Jewellery may include plain ‘sleepers’ or studs, without gem stones. Necklaces, friendship bands and anklets are not part of the school uniform.
• Hair accessories that are only in school colours of blue and/or gold are acceptable.
• Temporary tattoos, nail polish and make-up are also not part of our uniform.

In the case of your child not being able to wear the full school uniform at any stage, please follow our policy requirements of providing your child’s class teacher with a brief explanation through a note or email to school admin. Thank you for your support in helping us to encourage and maintain your children’s pride in our school.

P&F 

Our first Parents and Friends meeting for 2024 will include our Annual General Meeting (AGM) and will take place on Wednesday 28 February with ‘wine and cheese’ in the Staff Cafe.  We would love to see as many of you as possible at this.  This first meeting will be in person only, rather than a hybrid one with the option of Zoom.

Pick Up Arrangements

In order to avoid costly fines please ensure that you follow the traffic rules for Kiss and Ride Zones. The rule is that you cannot park and get out of your car to walk your child in or to collect them. You are also not allowed to wait in a line of traffic to pick up, if you are blocking a parked car.  You are required to drive around the block and keep the flow of traffic happening.  We understand how frustrating this is, but we cannot do anything about this.  Our suggestions are:  

1. Do not all come right on bell time. If you delay your arrival the cars will flow smoothly through Kiss and Ride and you will not be held up, timewise, any more than you would be, sitting in the queue.  Teachers will not leave students on the footpath on their own, they will be cared for.  
2. Use the services of our school crossing supervisor and let your children walk across the crossing and then down one of the side streets where you will be parked.  They don’t need to cross any major roads on their own and you don’t get stuck in a traffic jam.  This is a particularly helpful practice if your children are in Primary.

Remember to use your laminated name cards – place them on the visor of your car, which is to be pulled down as you approach Kiss and Ride. If you need any more of these cards throughout the year or for extra family members, contact the office.

Pedestrian pickup is in the school playground or at the parish car park gates.  We are continuing to use the one-way system: Enter via the Union St main gate and exit by the parish car park gates.  This system ensures a safer afternoon departure practice for both students and families. We ask that you do not take offence if a staff member asks you to exit via the appropriate gates if they notice this practice is not occurring.

2024 Staff

Our staff for this year is:  

Thank you for the preparations you have made to send your children back to school happy and organised. I hope the year has got off to a good start for you all.

Shine your light,

Karen

Greetings for 2024! 

Welcome back to what promises to be a busy and exciting year. A special welcome to our new families, you now belong to our St Joseph’s school community and we’re very pleased that you’re here journeying with us. Our children are exceptionally fortunate to be part of such a special environment. We look forward to a successful and happy year of learning and fun together. 

Semester One Student Council 

In Week 3, Students in Years 2-6 will have the opportunity to nominate themselves for the Semester One Student Council. Student Council members represent the peers in their class and bring suggestions forward on how together we can make St Joseph’s an even better place. The council meets each fortnight with Mrs Charnock. Students who were part of the Student Council in 2022 and 2023 are ineligible to put themselves forward for the council in 2024. This is one way we try to ensure that students across each of the classes have as much opportunity to develop their leadership skills as possible.  

We will announce our Semester One student council via Compass and in our Week 4 Newsletter. 

Celebrating Birthdays 

At St Joseph’s we value recognising and celebrating children’s birthdays.  Turning a year older is significant and acknowledging this as a school and/or class is important.  The ways we do this are at Monday morning assemblies where students receive a card at the beginning of their birthday week. Classes may also have different routines such as singing ‘Happy Birthday’ at the beginning of the day or the child wearing a special birthday badge. A gentle reminder to parents that we do not celebrate birthdays at school with food.  Please save these scrumptious delights for the special events you may have planned for at home.   

Water Bottle and Food Safety 

We also request that students do not bring glass water bottles to school. Plastic or metal drink bottles are a much safer option as we know that drops can accidently happen and shattered glass on the playground is very dangerous. Another point we ask parents to consider is not sending in tinned food which have ring pulls. Often opening these cans is very difficult for students and once opened, the metal edge is sharp and unsafe. Opening these food items at home and packing them in a small plastic container is a better option. Thank you for your understanding. 

Positive Behaviours for Learning (PBL) 

St Joseph’s is a Positive Behaviour for Learning school (PBL). PBL is a comprehensive, integrated whole school approach to student wellbeing and behaviour. It is a process that supports school leadership teams to create positive learning environments that enable student learning and wellbeing. 

Successful implementation of PBL is underpinned by the support and commitment of the whole school community.  

PBL is based on a three-tiered continuum of prevention and intervention: 

• Tier 1 - Universal prevention: school-wide and classroom systems for all students, staff and settings. 
• Tier 2 - Targeted interventions: small group systems for students at-risk behaviourally and academically. 
• Tier 3 - Intensive interventions: systems for students with high-risk behaviour and/or learning needs. 

From extensive consultation with students and staff, four expectations for positive behaviour were identified.  They are 

• Act Safely 
• Be Respectful 
• Care for All 
• Do your Best 

Dash the Dolphin is our specific school PBL mascot.

Each fortnight specific positive behaviour lessons will be taught in class. The focus area for the fortnight will be shared with parents via the newsletter. We ask that parents reaffirm the message at home with their children. The current focus area is Act Safely: Using safe hands and feet.

Students will continue to receive ‘Dash tokens’.  These tokens will be given out by staff as they see students doing the right thing.  Fortnightly tally updates will be given out at our Monday morning assembly. Twice a term, as the tokens are gathered in sporting houses, we’ll be rewarding the colour house which has the most. These rewards might be as simple as a picnic lunch on the field, extra playtime or an ice block.

Being a PBL school, we have formulated a flowchart to follow if students do not keep to one of our expectations.  This flowchart asks staff to define ‘minor’ and ‘major’ behaviours and details a consistent procedure for all to follow. 

Please take the time to read over the flowchart.

Please find a copy of the school's PBL PowerPoint below for you to have a look at

Safer Internet Day Resources

Connect safely and with purpose – by keeping apps and devices secure and using social media in positive ways.

Reflect before we act – by taking a moment to consider how what we do and say online may affect others.

Protect ourselves and others by taking action – by telling family, friends or colleagues about eSafety and how we can help. 

By doing these simple things, we can work towards making every day a Safer Internet Day.

Please take the time to view these no-cost, evidenced based resources that have been provided for students and their families.

Kids

Young People

Parents/Carers

The Learning Pit

The staff at St Joseph’s are excited about the learning that will occur in our classrooms this year. They are ready to challenge their students and engage in interesting learning activities. We will continue to implement and embed ‘The Learning Pit‘ into all aspects of the curriculum. We want our students to be engaged in rich learning activities where they are challenged and supported by each other, their parents and their teachers. Learning occurs when we are challenged and step outside our comfort zone and as James Nottingham describes it, students enter ‘The Learning Pit’. The Learning Pit is an analogy that illustrates how we learn.

Source: https://www.learningpit.org/resources/graphics/#classic

Curriculum Sharing in 2024

Learning Updates

Following on from the success of our Learning Updates which were distributed in the Class News Feed on Compass in 2023, this practice will continue in 2024 with some slight adjustments to occur. The Learning Update will continue to inform you about the learning your children are engaged in at school. Rather than focus on specific Key Learning Areas the Learning Update will incorporate learning from more than one area and follow this schedule:

Term 1: Weeks 5 and 10

Term 2: Week 5

Term 3: Weeks 5 and 10

Term 4: Week 5

Term Overviews

A learning overview for each term for each class will be distributed in the Class News Feed section of Compass during Week 2 of each term.

Term 1: included in the class information booklets

Terms 2 – 4: distributed in Week 2 of each term

Leanne Skinner 
Primary Co-ordinator and Pedagogical Mentor

As we settle into the rhythm of the new school year, take a moment to acknowledge the incredible support and efforts you have made to ensure a successful start to the academic year for your children. From fostering a nurturing home environment, to actively engaging in conversations about emotions and adjustments with new class teachers, your support has been instrumental in helping our students feel secure, valued, and ready to embrace the new challenges this year is sure to bring. 

Please know that your efforts do not go unnoticed, and we are here to support you every step of the way.  Here's to a fantastic school year ahead filled with growth, learning, and endless possibilities! 

School TV 

The resource, SchoolTV, includes evidenced-based information and practical strategies to build parent, carer and educator knowledge and confidence across a range of mental health and wellbeing topics. SchoolTV features interviews with leading wellbeing experts and researchers from around the world and are presented in a variety of ways including videos, factsheets and podcasts. SchoolTV also includes recommendations for additional resources including books, apps and other websites. Head over to our school website to check it out!

Wellbeing Hub 

Visit the Student Wellbeing Hub website where you can find information and advice about important topics like bullying, online safety, communicating with your child and the school, and much more, to help you make your child’s learning journey a safe and positive one.

Wellbeing Coordinator 

This year, the role of Sports Coordinator will be handled by the dynamic duo of Emma Cook and Shannon Bailey. They'll be jointly managing all sports-related matters, so don't hesitate to reach out to either of them with your inquiries or updates. Here's to a fantastic year of teamwork, achievements, and sporting success!  

Regional Cricket 

At the end of last year, our young cricket enthusiasts in Year 4 and 5 participated in school trials, showcasing their impressive skills along with sportsmanship and enthusiasm. We are thrilled to extend our congratulations to Hamish M, Thomas P, Max D, Rory M, Luca O and Harriet M, who have earned the well-deserved opportunity to represent our school at the Regional cricket level on the 15th February at Lambton. 

We wish them continued success and enjoyment in their cricketing aspirations. May the boundaries be plenty, the wickets be swift, and the joy of the game be unmatched. 

Regional Swimming Carnival 

On Monday, February 12th, Mrs. Mantach will lead our talented swimming champions to the Regional Swimming Carnival at Mayfield swimming pool. 

Congratulations to the following students for making it to the regional carnival: 

Girls - Ava K, Eve D, Clara P, Alice K, Isla G, Zara D, Isla K, Beatrice P, Olivia A, Amelia R, Sophia S, Asha B, Andie L, Katie M, Billie D, Maya V, Adelaide M, Layla P, Claudia S, Heidi M and Matilda F.

Boys - Archie D, Gabe F, Joe C, Christian B, Finn S, Benson T, William de W, Lewis K, Archie B, Finn C, Alexander B, Samuel G, Vincent M, Will S, Thomas P, William H, Hugo S, Felix C, Xavier C, Paxton H, Tom A, Evan B and Anthony H.

We anticipate an exciting day filled with great performances. Stay tuned for some fantastic results!  

PSSA Winter Sports Trials 

The PSSA Pathway Winter Sports are approaching, and we will be trialing students who have exceptional skills at either Soccer, Netball, Rugby League, Hockey, Touch or AFL. Students who are putting themselves forth for selection will have demonstrated skills at a representative level and have previous experience in these sports.    

Netball, Touch and Soccer

Students with experience in Years 4, 5 or 6 are welcome to trial. Please complete the nomination form found on Compass and return to the office by Wednesday 14th February.  

Hockey, Rugby League and AFL

Students with experience in Years 5 or 6 are welcome to trial. Please note that as Rugby League and AFL are contact sports, only students turning 11 years and older in 2024 are eligible to nominate for these events. Please complete the nomination form on Compass and return to the office by Wednesday 14th February.  

These pathway sports are for children who actively play these sports at a very high level.   

Trials for these sports will take place on the 26th March, except for soccer whose Regional trials will take place on 22nd February. School trials for these sports will take place in the coming weeks. 

NB: This is for regional trials in the coming weeks to progress to diocesan trials and further from there. Parents must also commit to travelling with their child to trials at other venues, such as Tamworth or Bathurst, early in Term 2 for trials at the next level. Students will be competing against others from all primary classes and, where selection is close, preference tends to be given to older children. More specific information will be given, depending on the chosen sport, when it becomes available.  

Hi my name is Anna Aird and I would like to introduce myself as the new Canteen Manager at St Joseph’s school.

My family and I have recently moved to Newcastle from Adelaide. We are a Defence family and although we’ve lived in NSW previously this is our first time here in Newcastle.

I have 7 years experience in multiple school canteens and I’m very excited to be joining the St Joey’s community. I will be continuing with the 3-day canteen week of Monday, Wednesday and Friday, starting Week 3 of Term 1. I will be utilising the school vegetable garden and implementing some new lunch items over the school year.

I look forward to meeting students, parents and care givers and encourage anyone thinking about volunteering to please come down and introduce themselves. I am very aware of the importance of volunteers in all school communities and I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Parents & Friends for their invaluable support and efforts. Without them the canteen would not be a success.

Monday, Wednesday & Friday 

School Fees for 2024 will be sent out to families in the coming weeks.

If you have a Health Care Card and would like to apply for a concession on your school fees you are asked to complete the attached application form and return it to the office along with a copy of your current card showing a valid date for this year.  This needs to be returned by Friday 16 February.

Uniform Shop

The Uniform shop will be open Wednesday afternoon from 2.15pm to 2.45pm for the next 2 weeks.

Term Planner

Unless otherwise stated, the advertisements placed in this newsletter are placed by independent third parties who have no legal relationship with the Diocese.  The activities or services of the advertisers are not supervised or controlled in any way by the Diocese.  The Diocese is not in a position to endorse the advertisers or the services provided and makes no representation about those matters.  Accordingly, the Diocese cannot accept any responsibility for the advertisers or the activities or services that are the subject of these advertisements.