Greetings for 2021

Welcome back to what promises to be a very 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.

In our newsletters throughout the year we will endeavour to share some of the learning our students are partaking in with you. This is a wonderful avenue to ensure you are included in your child’s development and education and provide you with an insight into what goes on in the learning spaces.

Safeguarding in all schools in the Maitland-Newcastle Diocese

The Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle has an absolute and abiding commitment to promote the safeguarding of children. In 2019, as a part of that commitment, our bishop, Bill Wright, articulated his expectations of all those who work for the Diocese, “I expect you to place the safety, welfare and wellbeing of every child and vulnerable adult at the centre of everything you do in the name of our church.”

Bishop Wright established the Office of Safeguarding, whose director answers to the Bishop’s Office and is charged to oversee the whole of the Diocese’s safeguarding of children, including the students in our system of schools.

As a parent sending your child to a Diocesan school, you are expected to be an active participant in safeguarding your child’s wellbeing. To do so, it’s important that you have the best information available to you. The Office of Safeguarding website offers comprehensive details of the Diocese’s approach to safeguarding children. You are also encouraged to be an active participant in the life of your school.

As a parent of a diocesan school student, if you are concerned for:

• the safety, welfare or wellbeing of one or more children in the school
• the conduct of a member of staff, a volunteer, contractor or other adult associated with the school

you are able to:

• discuss your concerns with a teacher, Assistant Principal or Principal
• talk to an investigator at the Office if Safeguarding (Ph. 4979 1390, during office hours)
• report your concerns to the Department of Communities and Justice’s (DCJ) Child Protection Helpline (Ph. 132 111, 24 hrs/7 days) if your concerns constitute a risk of significant harm
• report to NSW Police if you believe a crime has been committed.

In consultation with the Diocese’s Office of Safeguarding, St Joseph’s is in the process of implementing a school-based Safeguarding Plan. This plan will incorporate the 10 National Catholic Safeguarding Standards. These standards are designed to keep children and vulnerable adults safe from institutional abuse of any form and to develop habits of safety across all levels of the community. Below is a child friendly version of the standards.

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 Ms Powell. Students who were part of the Student Council in 2020 are illegible to put themselves forward for the council in 2021. This is one way we try to ensure that students across each of the classes have as much possibility to develop their leadership skills as possible. We look forward to sharing with you in the next newsletter who are our successful representatives,

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. 

We also request that students do not bring in glass water bottles to school. Plastic 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 Behaviour for Learning (PBL)

St Joseph’s has been on a journey of becoming a Positive Behaviour for Learning school for a couple of years now. Unfortunately due to the events of 2020 our implementation plan was impacted greatly. This year however, we have fervently recommitted to continuing with PBL at St Joseph’s.

Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL) is a comprehensive, integrated whole school approach to student wellbeing and behaviour.  PBL 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 and in the weeks to come we’ll be organising special Dash signage.  This signage around the school is to promote positive behaviours, but also to prompt conversations if a student isn’t keeping to the expectations.

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.

This term you will also hear of your child receiving a ‘Dash token’.  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.  We’re hoping that this creates some excitement amongst the students as it is another opportunity for students to be recognised for following our four school expectations. Later in the year we also have the plan to reimagine our school merit award system so it aligns with our PBL structures.

Being a PBL school, staff and a previous Student Council reflected on and formulated a flowchart to follow if students do not keep to one of our expectations.  This flowchart asks staff to define ‘minor’ and ‘major’ behaviourss and details a consistent procedure for all to follow.  Please take the time to read over the flowchart.

If a student happens to break one of the expectations, we take that opportunity to reinforce the positive behaviour. As mentioned in the flowchart, this may take the form of reminding, redirecting or reteaching. The flowchart details how minor and major misbehaviours are recorded on the student’s file in Compass. The purpose of this is to have a consistent way of keeping track of student behaviour and identifying ways we can support students in developing positive behaviour. For minor misbehaviours, teachers use their professional judgement in deciding if parents need to be informed or not. Be assured that teachers will communicate with parents about their child’s behaviour if required.

It takes time to implement such a school wide initiative and having the support of all members of our school community is crucial to its success. On Friday students assembled and were re-introduced to Dash and the four expectations at a school level. They were very excited to hear about the tokens and the different types of rewards on offer! Below is a copy of the PowerPoint for you to have a look at

Powerpoint

Powerpoint 564.94 KB

We also recognise that PBL is something new for the community and there may be implementation challenges.  Together, through the partnership between staff, students and parents, we have this great opportunity to focus on the positive behaviours children display. This is something we really wish to celebrate as a community.

Cybersafety Agreements

Earlier this week all students received a Cybersafety User Agreement. These forms need to be updated annually. We ask that parents take the time to read and discuss the cybersafety guidelines with their children. These discussions are also complimented with lessons that students receive in class. We ask that all agreements are returned by the end of Week 3 (12/2/2021). Students who do not return the form by this day will not be able to use ICT devices until they do.

Safer Internet Day - Tuesday 9 February 2021

Start the Chat

To mark Safer Internet Day, the Office of the eSafety Commissioner is releasing new research, Digital Lives of Aussie Teens. They are also launching two new resources for young children, the Swoosh, Glide and Rule Number 5 picture book and My Family Rules song by Lah-Lah.

The eSafety Commissioner is also kicking off new Virtual Classroom webinar for primary schools, Be an eSafe kid: Fake news, real harms and their new Webinar for parents and carers. Students in Years 4-6 will be taking part in the webinar at school. Click here to find resources, activities and tips to help you start the chat about online safety with your children at home.