Dear Parents,

What a term this one has been! There have been many challenges, new experiences, moments to laugh at and others to feel despair with. Let’s hope that we have all grown and learnt something from these experiences but that we also don’t have to repeat such a term ever again.

Thank you for your amazing generosity for our St Vincent to Paul COVID winter appeal. It was truly magnificent. In addition to our Wild Woolly Wednesday, this week saw our first ever ‘Skip Off’. What a great craze to take hold of our children in these times. On a daily basis there are more and more children coming in with their own skipping ropes, and every break time the children are eager to show you what they can now do and there’s lots of encouragement heard between the children  urging each other on to go faster, to do more and wanting each other to do their best. We have enjoyed seeing the joy that this craze has brought to the children.

This week we have sent out offers of places for Kindergarten next year and it has been interesting to get to know our new Kinder families in a different way this year, rather than face to face interviews. We hope to offer school tours next term and our regular Orientation program in Term 4.  If you have a child ready to start school next year and have not yet completed or submitted your enrolment form please do so as soon as possible. Also, for any of you that are aware of friends who have a child starting school next year, perhaps in your child’s sporting group or in your local area, you might like to encourage them to consider St Joseph’s and to get in touch with us for an enrolment pack.

Reports

At the moment teachers are in the midst of writing reports for your children. As a previous letter explained, this semester’s reports are a modified version created by the diocese, taking into account the changed nature of learning that occurred throughout this semester. A number of parents have been enquiring about parent-teacher meetings. We would encourage you to wait until you receive your child’s report before contacting your child’s teacher for an interview. We will not be holding the regular parent teacher interview night as it is still not possible to bring that many adults onto a site. If, however, you would like to meet and discuss the report once you’ve read it please contact the office to let them know and your interview could take place via phone, zoom or in person depending on the arrangements made between you and the class teacher.

COVID Update

In order to follow COVID-19 regulations and provide a safe environment for the children and staff we are:

• continuing with our twice a day cleaning and sanitising practices
• regularly reminding children to wash their hands with soap, use sanitiser and to cough into their shoulder
• encouraging all visitors to the site to use sanitiser upon entering the school
• providing soap and sanitiser in all classrooms and sanitiser on the playground near the play equipment
• continuing to not have whole school gatherings and maintaining ventilation in the classrooms, weather permitting along with open air learning on occasions when it lends itself to the activity and the weather

Responsibility

Over the last few weeks it has been disappointing to see the lack of responsibility children are showing in regard to their school uniform. Both office staff and teachers are spending a lot of unnecessary time picking up clothing, sorting through lost property and finding the owners of the uniform items. Without exaggeration, on a daily basis, there has been between $1 000 and $2 000 dollars’ worth of uniform items in the lost property baskets or lying around the playground. Often when the children know that they have multiple items they do not see the need or feel the pressure of ensuring they return to class after a break with their jackets. We ask that you both encourage and expect a greater sense of responsibility from your children in regard to their personal property. Thank you for your support in this area.

Champion of Parents

Michelle Mitchell is an educator, author and award winning speaker. But most importantly, she considers herself a champion of parents. 

She believes that your relationship with your child is the most beautiful, powerful and dynamic relationship you will ever have. Several of our colleagues who are both teachers and parents have found her resources, advice and ideas very pertinent to them in their role as parents.  If you are looking for practical articles and videos on topics such as friendships, social media, communication, self-harm, anxiety, resilience and more you might be interested in going to her site Michelle Mitchell.

She also has a free eBook that can be downloaded at ebook.

This book is a quick read that explains 6 simple strategies that can be used as a starting point to champion resilience in your home. Each of these has the capacity to shape your daily parenting decisions, and not only boost your child’s long-term strength, but immediate feeling of wellness and connectedness with others.

Finally, just before I finish off, I would like to express my absolute immense gratitude to our staff for all that they have done this term.  The have all gone above and beyond and we are so lucky to have such a magnificent group who are both wonderful professionals and wonderful people!

Hopefully the next two weeks will be filled with many sunny days and that you and your children enjoy a well-earned break from formal learning. Stay safe and healthy and we will see you in Term 3.

Karen McGinlay