Dear Parents,

Last week was one of both excitement and reflection at St Joseph’s.  Once again, we continued with our tradition of the annual school wide Easter Egg raffle.  There were so many entries that the tickets barely fitted into the barrel that we had borrowed for the event.  All up, we had 170 prizes which meant that many of our students went home winners - some even double and triple winners! It was a fun afternoon, and we are very grateful to all the families who donated the eggs, purchased tickets, came in to wrap and organise the prizes and to Scott McShane, our P&F president, who drew out the prize winners. We also continued with our tradition of donating to the students of St Pius Primary school at Windale and they were very appreciative of their eggs and of being thought about in such a nice way.

Our week of reflection included each class preparing a display for a ‘station of the cross’ and then taking time in the week to walk around these Stations of the Cross, pray together and reflect on Jesus’ last week here on Earth.

We then held a very moving and powerful prayer experience in the church on Thursday afternoon, called ‘The Red Cloth’.   A group of Year 5 students dramatised the events of Holy Week in actions, accompanied only by a medley of atmospheric music and one red cloth. This cloth, throughout the prayer experience symbolised the clothing placed on the ground to welcome Christ into Jerusalem  on Palm Sunday, the table cloth for the Last Supper, the towel to wipe the disciples’ feet after Jesus washed them, the whip he was lashed with, the clothes he was stripped of, the cross he was nailed to and the shroud that covered him in the tomb. 

The children watched on in silence and made connections to what they had seen and heard earlier in the week when they did the Stations of the Cross.  This experience was one of the most powerful we have experienced collectively as a whole school. We hope that you managed to find some time over the Easter weekend to take some time out for reflection for yourself, as well.  If not, it’s not too late, as Easter lasts for 50 days, since it is the celebration of the Lord's Resurrection from the dead, culminating in his Ascension to the Father and sending of the Holy Spirit upon the Church at Pentecost.

Morning Arrivals

It has come to our attention that an increasing number of students are being dropped off at the school gates quite early.  The gates open at 8:25am and we have noticed lately that there are students arriving as early as 8:00am with no parents waiting with them. We do not believe this is a safe practice to have students waiting for up to 25 minutes on the outside of the school. If students enter the ground before 8:25am there are no staff members on duty and without supervision the likelihood of accidents, injuries and conflicts are more likely to occur.

It has also been brought to our attention that some parents are waiting in the drop off zone, watching to see when their children walk in. Please do not block the drop off points by doing this.  We ask that you drive to the start of the drop off zone and wait there, if you arrive earlier than the gate opening time.

https://tinybeans.com/ohio-elementary-school-car-line-signs/

Thanks So Much

We recently received a very generous donation of $1 000 from Mark Callil, Ray andEvan’s father, and we are extremely grateful for this generosity.  This money will go towards overhauling the equipment in the canteen to provide a safer work space for our workers and volunteers, as well as help with the efficiency of providing food for our students, families and guests.  The P&F are working with the school to bring this about and we will share the details around this project with you, next term.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/thank-you-so-much-your-follow-through-laura-aurora-stopa/

‘Reverse’ Lunch Time

Thank you to all those parents who took the time to complete our ‘reverse’ lunch time survey and share their thoughts with us.  All students from Year 1 to Year 6 also had the opportunity to complete the survey with the same questions as the parents and staff.  We acknowledge that the survey was a very simple one but in consultation with diocesan staff it was decided that this was best as it was a survey for all three groups of stakeholders – parents, students and staff, that could be undertaken quickly and with ease, thus increasing the chance of more respondents.

Before sharing the survey results, I would like to share the following points with you:

• student surveys were anonymous
• throughout the trial period staff were directed not to share their thought or opinions (whatever they were) about the lunch time change, in order to avoid any bias or creating a situation where students felt they had to agree with their teachers
• teachers were asked early in the term to explain the reasons for the trial to their students on a level that was appropriate for them
• staff did not share their views with one another until the survey was completed
• the change of lunch time practice was not decided upon last year. It was something raised at the end of the year but a decision and implementation plans had not been made until the start of this year
• as professionals, we did not base the trial merely on one 20-year old Canadian study, but instead a range of readings or feedback from both overseas and Australia.
• there were 221 parent respondents, with a fair representation across all grades, and of these, 143 provided explanations for their reasons

Survey Results

When analysing the data it was noted that the most preferred option, by a considerable amount, for the Infants students was the new way.

The following graph shows the main reasons parents gave for their lunch time preference

The main reasons students gave for their lunch time preference were:

• they were hungry
• they don’t like change
• they are now more focused/calm in class
• don’t have to rush eating now to get a court or a particular play area
• not enough time to eat
• more time to eat
• not enough time to play
• more time to play
• like both ways.

The main reasons staff gave for their lunch time preference were:

• less unresolved playground issues being brought to class teachers during learning time
• students are more settled coming back into class
• there are pros and cons with both ways of doing lunch
• students are eating more
• gives students a chance to be active rather than sit the whole break time
• gives the canteen more time to prepare lunches

A collection of comments that have been received by the different stake holder groups, can be read here if you are interested, showing you the range of responses received.

Going Forward

Taking into account not only all stakeholders’ preferences but also their reasons we have decided to continue with the ‘reverse’ lunch practice that has been trialed this term.  The preferences alone were too close, particularly with the parents’ responses, to base our decision simply on what the majority chose.

The fact that the most voiced comment from parents was in regard to how their children were eating more and there was less food coming home in their children’s lunch boxes, helped us significantly in our decision making.  The second most voiced comment was in regard to lack of eating time and we have considered this in the practices going forward that are explained below.

From all stake holders’ comments we acknowledge that in the first week of implementation  there was some mixed messaging that went out to children about when they could begin to eat.  We also acknowledge that at the start of the term lunch orders were not ready on time and that this had an effect on children not finishing eating before the bell went (they were, however, always given class time to finish eating on these occasions). Teething problems at the start of implementing this practice did not surprise us, as rarely does change, especially when it involves hundreds of people, go smoothly right from the start.

Considering all stakeholders’ comments received, the following practices will be undertaken:

• We will continue with providing all children with the option to eat when they first come out to play, at 10:50am.
• We will continue to have play first then a designated ‘sitting and eating’ period, however we will introduce a different sounding bell halfway through lunch (11:10am) for those children who are slower to eat or feel they need more time to eat. This bell will serve as a reminder for students to head over and start eating their lunches.
• This additional bell will also indicate to students on lunch order pick up to come and collect the baskets, giving more time for the lunch orders to be distributed and adequate eating time. We will also increase staff support for the lunch order distribution.  If we do not have an increase in canteen volunteers for Wednesdays and Fridays, however, we cannot guarantee food being ready on time so will need to look at capping the number of orders that can be received.
• We will continue to remind children of their options for eating, including reminding them that they can eat if they are hungry at the start of lunch.  We will also remind them to take out their lunchboxes at recess and to eat any leftover lunch they may have.  A fruit break and two 40 minute sessions in a day where students are able to eat is felt to be adequate time for all children to be nourished.
• Just as we make adjustments and are flexible in our teaching and learning practices for those students who may have additional needs we also do so for others aspects of school life.  If you feel your child needs additional support or adjustments around lunch, please speak with their class teacher.

We feel these decisions cater for those children who need an opportunity to play as soon as lunch starts and to release their energy but also are catering for those who would rather spend longer eating and having a more social-style lunch break. We have also opted to keep the new way as there were both students and parents who indicated that traversing the complexities of a playground and social groups, in order to join in games was much easier to do at the start of a break and caused the students less anxiety. Since a number of students also expressed how they were calmer, more engaged and more able to concentrate going back into the classroom after having finished lunch time with sitting and eating, we are addressing their needs and preferences as well.

Thank you for your engagement with the process of this trial and in providing feedback. We look forward to your support in moving forward.

Farewell

Next Friday will be Mrs Tania Vervaart’s last day here at Joseph's. Tania has been here as a Learning Support Assistant for 20 years and has decided that it is now time to retire and do more of the travelling around Australia that her and her husband, Ed, so enjoy.  Tania has always put 100% into everything she does and has been an incredible support to not only the students but to the teachers as well.  She will be greatly missed by all of us and we look forward to hearing all about her travels when she is back in Newcastle. If you would like to pass on any messages to Tania, please do so via the office and we will ensure she receives these.

Class Parents

https://www.bcsdny.org/Page/1214

Thank you to those parents who have kindly volunteered to be our class parents.  We will share their names and contact details with you through Compass in order to keep this information within the St Joseph’s community only.  We are still in need of class parents for Kinder Gold, Year 1 Blue and Year 1 Gold, Year 3 Blue and Year 3 Gold and Year 4 Gold.  If you think you could manage to help out in this way, please complete this Class Parent 2024 Form.  You won’t be alone.  The goal is to have at least one parent for each class so that across the grade you have a partner to work with and we also have a class parent coordinator.  If you would like to know more, please don’t hesitate to call the school office for further information.

Winter Uniforms

With the start of Term 2 just around the corner and the cooler weather that comes with this time of year, we will be transitioning to our winter uniform on Monday 13th May, Week 3. However, if the weather turns colder sooner than this, we will bring forward the changeover date to ensure that our students are dressed appropriately for the weather conditions. 

As we move into the cooler months, it is important that our students are dressed in the correct winter uniform to ensure their comfort and well-being during the school day. We also ask that students wear the correct shoes with both their sports uniform and winter uniform and remind you that skorts are not a part of the girls’ sports uniform.

We would like to remind parents that students are not permitted to wear necklaces or bracelets to school, long and/or ‘glittery’ earrings, and temporary tattoos that are in visible places are also not allowed. Additionally, long hair must be tied back and clipped out of the eyes to ensure clear vision and concentration during lessons, for both girls and boys.

As a matter of courtesy, if your child is unable to wear the correct uniform on occasion, please email the school office explaining this and it will be passed on to the relevant teachers or alternatively send in a written note to the teacher with your child.

We appreciate your support in ensuring that our students adhere to the school uniform and grooming standards. These standards help to create a professional and respectful learning environment that reflects the values of our school community. 

Karen