Newsletter 19, 7th November 2024
Principal's Report
Hello to Families and all in the St Joseph's School Community,
Well, hello November! My how the year is flying by! I hope all families enjoyed the Melbourne Cup weekend and the glorious weather over the few days.
This morning we farewelled twenty excited travellers, as the Grade 3 & 4 students were joined by their counterparts from St Mary’s Donald, heading off on an overnight camp to Billabong Ranch in Echuca. Mrs Armstrong has organised a fun couple of days and we look forward to hearing of their adventures.
Yesterday we welcomed Sophia Ride and her grandmother, Michelle, to St Joseph’s School. Sophia has joined the Grade 2 Class and I know they will feel the warm welcome from all in our community. Sophia was greeted enthusiastically by her classmates who look forward to getting to know her!
We offer congratulations to Mrs Armstrong & husband Justin, who are expecting a new baby to join their family 2025! As a staff and school community we are thrilled for the Armstrong Family and happy that Mrs Armstrong will continue to teach as the 2025 year commences. Class groupings and staff are being finalised for 2025. We hope to advertise for a further teacher to join our team and encourage you to spread the word to anyone you think may be interested!
Finally, we are again grateful to the Community Bank Charlton & District Bendigo Bank for grant funding to add some outdoor seating and a couple of tee-pees to our playground. Thank you to Nick Thompson & Hugh Sait for assembling the items and to Danny and Kelly Wright for positioning the tee-pees in the yard. Helping hands are always greatly appreciated!
With commitment to our shared journey,
Mary Hogan
Transition Programs
The transition process for both our Grade 6 students and the Kinder children is about to get underway. If parents have any questions or concerns as the transition progresses, please don't hesitate to make contact the School Office.
Grade 6 to Year 7
- Wednesday 13th of November, 1pm - 3:15pm (lunch provided)
- Wednesday 27th of November, 1pm - 3:15pm
- Wednesday 11th of December – Year 7 Orientation Day (lunch provided)
- Headspace are offering a parent session at Charlton College on November 27th at 6:00pm if there is enough interest. Please RSVP by text message, to Mary 0419137966, by November 20th if you are keen to attend. See flyer below.
Kinder to St Joseph's Prep - Little Joeys
- Friday 15th November, 10-11am
- Friday 22nd November, 10am-2pm
- Friday 29th November, 9am-1pm
- Friday 6th December, 9am-3:10pm
Important Dates
Dates not to be missed!
Prep/1/2 Excursion to Bendigo November 13th
Charlton Community Carols - December 8th
End of Year Celebration Mass and Graduation - December 17th at 6pm
Foundation/1/2 Class Report
Hi St Joseph’s families
We are already in Week 5 and we have begun our assessment and reporting for the term.
Literacy
Phonics groups are working on -ie, -ay and -air. All the students are working so well and should be very proud of themselves.
Our new students have adapted amazingly to our program!
Great work P/1/2s.
Numeracy
We have been looking at arrays and where students may see these in our school.
We went on a nature walk last week where the students had to look for arrays, odd numbers, even numbers, pairs and much more!
We welcome a new family to our school this week - the Ride family.
Sophia joined us today for her first day today in Grade 2 and all the students and staff were very excited to meet Sophia and welcome her into our community.
We hope Michelle and Sophia enjoy their time at St Joseph’s School.
We have our excursion to the Discovery Centre on Wednesday 13th of November next week - more details will be sent home later this week.
Enjoy the rest of your week.
Miss Brown
Grade 3/4 Class Report
What a busy term we have had so far! Just shy of seven weeks until Christmas by my count!
Students have been busy revising skills learnt over the year in Maths and Literacy this past fortnight. We have focused particularly on revising the four processes, our reading skills and comprehension and completing some testing in all areas in preparation for reports.
Students have been very excited by two new members of our class that joined us last week- our budgerigars, Lady Gaga and Patricia. They are a welcome addition to our classroom and students have been very attentive and excited by their presence. Naming them was certainly a hard choice!
This week sees the Year 3 and 4 students go on school camp with the St Mary’s Donald students. We are at Billabong Ranch at Echuca and I am sure that the students will be having a wonderful time.
No homework or spelling words this week.
Grade 5/6 Class Report
Congratulations to the Grade 5&6 students for the World Mission Month fundraising activities they organised last week. They were committed to their group activities and ran them responsibly. In total, $167.30 was raised to send to the Caring Centre in Mongolia. Well done everyone!
Tomorrow, representatives from the Victoria Police are visiting our classroom to conduct a session about Online Safety. This is a hugely important topic and I embrace every opportunity to educate students in this field. Remember to ask them what they learnt about!
In class we have been completing the assessments that are required for this time of year. A number of online assessments, in both literacy and numeracy, have been completed and we are also working through some written and oral tasks. Assessment at this time of year helps to inform our reporting and to see any areas of need to address before the end of the school year.
We are revising place value, decimals, fractions and the four processes. We have also revisited doubling and halving and mental strategies we can use to assist these processes.
Students have completed a narrative writing task this week and I was impressed with the ideas, creativity, vocabulary and entertainment they provided! Well done, everyone!
We have been revising spelling words, skills and strategies and with the shorter weeks I have not set homework or spelling. Students have been encouraged to focus on their home reading. Spelling words and a homework sheet will begin again next week.
St Joseph's School TV
This week's information is all about the transition process!
Whether it is starting school for the first time, moving up to a higher grade or embarking on a journey through secondary school, there is no doubt that any school transition is a very exciting time for children and parents. It means that the children are growing up!
However, for many it may also be a very anxious and stressful time for both parents and children. Parents need to be aware of their child’s feelings during any school transition and minimise anxiety so the process is an enjoyable experience for all. It is important for children to attend transition or orientation programs offered by schools. Familiarisation is often key to reducing stress levels. It is also important for parents to talk to their children about their expectations and being more responsible for their own needs.
Start exploring SchoolTV today! https://sjcharlton.catholic.schooltv.me/
Child Safety
The care, safety and wellbeing of children and young people is a central and fundamental responsibility of Catholic Education. St Joseph’s School is committed to strengthened practice for the protection of children in line with the Victorian Government child safety reforms.
Child Safety - digital images
Taking Photos/Video Footage
As we begin a new year a reminder to parents and family members to please ensure, when at school events, to take photos or video footage of your child/ren only. Please do NOT post photos of children, other than your own, at school events or wearing school uniform, on personal social media pages other than your own. Thank you for your cooperation in using social media respectfully helping to keep everyone in our school community safe online.
Community News
Junior CWA
will be held after school
at the Travellers Rest BBQ area
on Friday 15th November
for the Christmas break up.
Acknowledgement of Country
We acknowledge the Dja Dja Wurrung people as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of this land. We pay respect to Elders past, present and emerging. We thank them for sharing their cultures, spiritualities and ways of living with the land, in this place we all now call home.