Dear Parents & Carers 

This past fortnight has been for us the busiest of the year so far. The events that have taken place have ranged from ones filled with happiness and delight along with ones of sadness and loss. Excursions, band concert, school and regional athletics carnivals, Pyjama Day, First  Holy Communion, NAIDOC Week celebrations, Police Highway Patrol visits, school reports and parent-teacher conferences celebrating achievements, have all brought delight to us over this time. However, the passing of Carole Houston, Mason’s (Year 2) mother and her funeral on Thursday have also affected us in a deep and sad way.

One thing that has been apparent in all of these events is how supportive and strong our St Joseph’s community is. It really has been evident, over these last two weeks, that we are a group of people that care about each other and feel we belong together. Personally, I feel blessed and very grateful to be part of such a community.

One of the most moving experiences I have been part of was our parent prayer service for Carole last Friday morning. Together a group of people came together in their grief, including members of Carole’s family, to pray and share memories and thoughts of her. The Spirit that was present in the room amongst everyone was so real and powerfully connected all those who were present.

Carole’s family were very touched by this gathering and by the many ways that the families of St Joseph’s have been in their support of them. In the office foyer area is a card of thanks from them to all the parents, saying:

“ The Parents of St Joseph’s,

  We appreciate your support and endless gestures such as meals and kindness.

 Thank you.

 From Carole Houston’s family  xx”

As we continue to move forward in our own lives, take with you Carole’s philosophy of ‘go out and make memories for your family’ and follow her mantra - ‘Live and love life’.

Vale Carole.

School Band

The Saint Joseph’s School Band entertained us all on Monday when they performed a great repertoire of musical items for us. The concert began with the tune of Hawaii Five-0 and the band members getting into the part wearing colourful leis and sunglasses. Not only were we entertained by the band but several Year 2 students also gave us a laugh when they attempted to play the trumpet for the very first time. The band performed in tune, in time and with great enjoyment for what they were doing. The audience were very attentive and showed great appreciation for what their fellow classmates were able to do. If your child would like to be part of the band please contact the office for further details. We can’t wait to see and hear what the band have in store for us in their next concert.

Aboriginal Sacred Space

On Thursday, as part of our NAIDOC Week celebrations we blessed and launched our Aboriginal sacred space. We were very honoured to have the two people whose talents have created something very unique and special for us, Richard Campbell the Aboriginal artist and Julie Squires a parent and sculptress, be present for this. Richard and Julie were part of the launch ceremony and then they stayed on for the day to meet with each grade and explain the symbolism within the Stations of the Cross and Brolga art works. We were also fortunate to have Louise Campbell, our Diocesan Aboriginal Education Officer;  Suzanne Fern, Head of Teaching and Learning and Catherine Murray  a past Assistant Principal of St Joseph's and Education Officer,  from the Catholic Schools Office join us.  We thank Fr Peter for blessing this space and we are looking forward to using it. 

This space is intended to be one of calmness and stillness in the busy life of our school.  A quiet place of rest and reflection, where those in our community can come to pray, think, meditate and connect with the spirit. It is a place for both individual and group contemplation and we hope that all those who choose to come to this sacred place will feel Christ’s presence and guidance.   We hope this sacred space is one of sanctuary to all, and a place that inspires us to live out our faith.  We pray that our presence in this space leads our hearts to be kind and our spirits emboldened to act.   

As we are on Awabakal Land we wish to recognise this connection and so have chosen an Awabakal word by which to name this space. We believe that this space is one where we can come to be guided to live the truth, so, in keeping with our school motto we have named this sacred space, Tokooliba, meaning ‘place of truth’.   

Please feel free to enter into this space next time you are on school grounds and remember that it is space for you as parents to also use for prayer, contemplation and reflection.

Raising Boys

Recently I listened to a podcast with Maggie Dent, an Australian counselor, teacher, celebrant and author, talking about raising boys. Taking into account her professional experiences, as well as personal ones, considering she has raised four boys of her own, you realise she is quite qualified to talk on this subject. The podcast was both interesting and humorous and filled with lots of practical tips and ideas for both parents and teachers. Besides being relevant to those who parent or teach boys it’s also highly relevant to those with girls in helping you to understand the differences between the two sexes.

The link to the pod cast is: 

Maggie Dent’s website (https://www.maggiedent.com/ )is also worth bookmarking for all parents, I believe. There are lots of resources here on so many topics including, anxiety, family breakdown, grief, bullying, behaviour …

Parish Feast Day

Today, for the first time, the two primary schools in Saint Benedict's Parish came together at the Cathedral to celebrate mass for our patron saint Saint Benedict, who's feast day occurs on July 11th. This was a fabulous way for our schools to celebrate our faith together. The Mass was beautiful, the reverence and singing of the children was commendable and we hope that the two schools can continue to work and socialise together over the coming years. We pray for Saint Benedict's guidance over us.

On our return to school we continued to celebrate Saint Benedict, the patron saint of students, with the school cake and some extra play.  

Term 3

We return to school on Monday 22 July. This is not a pupil free day. The children return wearing their winter school uniform. You might get your children over the break to look for lost ties, polish shoes and empty out whatever may be floating around in the bottom of their bags.

Enjoy the holidays and the lack of routine and the company of one another. Stay safe and we look forward to seeing you in the new term.

Reports

If you have not managed to have a parent teacher interview this week with your child’s teacher please contact them early in Term 3 to arrange for a meeting to discuss your child’s progress and goals for the new term. We apologise for the glitch when the reports were sent out last Friday. It appears that a gremlin got into our system. The report that you can now see on Compass is the correct and final report for Semester One.

Congratulations

To finish off this term I would like to share with you some happy news. I’m delighted to inform you that Mrs. Renata Powell will continue in her role as Assistant Principal at St Joseph’s. Ren is Acting AP for the remainder of this year and her permanent appointment will commence in 2020.  We are thrilled for Ren and the school.  We know she will be superb in this role and are very fortunate to be the recipients of all her skills, expertise and care.  Congratulations Ren!

NAIDOC Week Colouring in Competition

Important Dates