Dear Parents,

In my own parish over the coming months, we have been invited to explore our baptismal vocation and responsibility to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ. Each week a chapter from: ‘How to Share Your Faith with Anyone: A Practical Manual for Catholic Evangelisation’ by Terry Barber will be summarised and shared with us.

Throughout this journey, we are encouraged to reflect and discuss these ideas with friends and family.  As my school family, I would like to share with you, at times, some of what we are reflecting on and encourage you to explore your role in Evangelisation.  “Evangelisation... it’s the job description of all the members of the church. That means it will primarily be the work of lay people... who witness to the Faith in the very ordinary circumstances of their lives” (Forward by Dr Scott Hahn (extract). We are those church members, those lay people Dr Hahn is referring to. So let’s all take up the challenge to give witness to our faith in quite simple or ordinary ways and encourage our children to do the same.  It is something that we Catholics are not always comfortable doing, as we can be quite self-conscious, tending to worry about what others will think. The Evangelisation Challenge that has been passed on to us this week is to say “God bless you” when you leave someone. Why not see if you too, can manage this challenge. Perhaps turn it into a family challenge – who can fulfill it the best- the adults or the children?

Traffic concerns

At our recent P&F meeting a number of concerns were raised by parents who are worried about the safety of all our children. These included parents parking in the Kiss and Drop zones and leaving their cars to either go into school or to stand on the footpath talking to friends; parking right by the gate in Union St and causing a queue that goes round into Kenrick St; and coming along too early for afternoon pick up in Farquhar St, queuing around to Kemp St and causing a significant blockage to traffic, which both parents and residents are upset with.

Solutions to these are:

• Ask your children to say their goodbyes whilst they are in the car and then they independently get out of the car onto the footpath side and there is no need for parents to leave the driver’s seat (some practice may be needed for this at home over a weekend, if you don’t think you or your child can quite manage this just yet).
• Park your car and walk your child to the gate where you can then stop and chat with friends.
• Plan on coming to Farquhar St at staggered times – 3:00pm, 3:05pm. There will always be a teacher there with the children and the line will flow much more smoothly and quickly.
• Get your children to walk to school and to get support from Brian, our new school crossing supervisor, to manage crossing the road safely on Farquhar St.

Kiss and Ride Zones are designed for your convenience and for your child’s safety. Designed for quick entry and exit, these zones minimise congestion and risk when used properly by all parents and carers. These zones operate under the same conditions as no parking zones, which means you may stop to drop off or pick up children for a maximum of 2 minutes. You're required to remain in, or within 3 metres of, your vehicle. 

Uniforms

What a great effort our children are making with wearing their uniforms correctly and with pride.  Since the last newsletter, and our request for your support to encourage this pride in our school with your children, there has been a marked improvement.  Well done girls and boys and also well done to our parents for supporting us in this area. 

We are pleased to say that the girls Winter trousers have come into stock at Lowes and over this past week we have had a number of girls wearing them. The trousers have been perfect for this week’s cold weather snap.  The girls look both smart and comfortable in this optional uniform and we look forward to seeing more of the girls wearing them,  if this is what they choose.

Kindergarten Enrolments 

It has been a busy time around here for Renata Powell and I since returning from Canberra. We have been spending many hours meeting with the families who would like to enrol their children into Kindergarten next year.  It is exciting to start to get to know the next ‘batch’ of children who, in the not too distant future, will become part of our St Joseph’s community. I am very proud to say that our numbers for next year are very strong indeed and the recurring themes coming through these meetings are:

• What a magnificent idea it is to be led around the school by the Year 6 students and how proud they are of their school and how well-spoken they are.
• How desirable it is to know that the allocation of which class their child goes into is based on detailed observations of each child over the first few weeks of school rather than randomly assigning them a class.
• The 3 session Orientation program for both the children and their parents that allows for not only learning things about the school but also supports the building of relationships between the parents as well as the children.

Reports and Parent Teacher Interviews  

Next Friday 18^th June you will receive your child’s Semester One Progress Report. The reports will be loaded onto your child’s Compass account where you will be able to access them. We recommend that you also download them onto your computer in a reports folder for each child, just in case throughout their schooling they need to change schools, for if this happens you will not have access to the Compass reports if they no longer are attending one of our Maitland- Newcastle diocesen schools.

The following week teachers are available to meet with parents to discuss your child’s progress (details for how to book your times were posted on Compass on Thursday 10^th June). This is a great opportunity to hear about goals for next semester along with acknowledging the successes of this semester. Taking the time to read through and discuss the report together, as well as engaging in parent/teacher interviews and then coming home and discussing these with your child are all ways of showing your child that you:

1. are interested in them
2. value education and their learning;

and these two things are known to help bring about engagement and growth in children’s learning.

Reading your child's school report together

We encourage you to read the report with your child. School reports are a great tool to help you understand how your child is going at school – and they can be used to start a conversation with your child about their learning.

Here are some tips to you help you analyse and discuss school reports with your child.

Stay positive

When reading your child’s report card, try to emphasise the positive. Praise your child for their improvement and achievements – and try to be specific with your praise. For example, “I’m really pleased with your progress in science. You have been working so hard and have improved so much”. 

Focus on effort, not grades

Try not to focus too much on the grades your child receives. When children are too focussed on their marks they can develop a ‘grade orientation’ rather than a ‘learning orientation’ – and can become less likely to enjoy learning and to challenge themselves. Recognise your child’s hard work even if it is not reflected in their marks. The teacher’s comments can often tell you more about the effort your child is making at school than the results. For example, “Your teacher says you have really been concentrating in Maths this term. I’m proud of you.” 

Every child is different

Try not to compare your child’s report to that of an older sibling or friends. Your child is unique and shines in their own areas. Boost your child’s self-esteem by concentrating on the things they have excelled in, where they have tried hardest and where they have shown the most improvement. 

Talk about it

It is a good opportunity to use your child’s report to talk to your child about how they are feeling about school.  Ask your child what they think about school, their subjects and their report. If your child raises any concerns, offer your support to help make a plan to address them. For instance, if your child wants to improve their Maths skills, you can help them to set realistic weekly goals, like setting aside 10 minutes a day to focus on Maths revision. 

Valuable learning tool

Your child’s report is a great indicator of academic areas your child is excelling at and where they can improve. If you have any questions or concerns about your child’s report or their progress at school, please write them down and bring them along to your parent/teacher meeting. Feel free to take notes when talking with the teacher, especially the suggestions they may offer you, as so often when we do not write things down we have forgotten them by the time we have made it home.

Upcoming Performances

Our school band will entertain us on Monday 21st June at 12:30pm in the hall.  We look forward to hearing what they have been working on and seeing if we can remember all the names of the band instruments.

Then on Thursday afternoon, 24^th June, after recess, our students who have begun to learn guitar this year will also put on a performance for us.  We look forward to hearing this group of students demonstrate their skills as well. Parents and other family members are welcome to join us for these performances.  Don’t forget to sign in with the QR code upon entering the school grounds, if you decide to come along.

Important Dates