Newsletter Term 4 Week 7
Principal's Report
Here we are at week 7 and you would think we are in the middle of winter with the weather we have been having! Today is supposed to be warm but Viv tells me there is more rain on the horizon. Will harvest ever start this year?
On a brighter note, this week we welcome Cooper McGrath to Grade 4 along with Jess, Tyson, Hudson and their very soon to be born baby. We look forward to getting to know Cooper and his family, and we hope he enjoys his time here at St Joes.
Things have been very busy over the past week. On Friday we had Lila, Mia, Madelyn and Vinny come along to school for the morning. Excitement levels were very high and by all accounts they had a terrific time and can't wait to come back this week.
On Monday I had a visit from the acting Education Consultant Mr Lee Schlooz, on Tuesday we had interviews for the prep/1/2 job and on Wednesday we had our 6 monthly Essential Services audit. Who said fourth term isn't busy!
We would like to congratulate Jason Whatnall on accepting the full time ongoing position that was advertised recently. We are really happy to make Jason a permanent member of staff for 2022 and beyond. If you haven't met Jason yet, pop in and say hello but show me your vaccination certificate on the way through.
We would like to thank Aurelia and Brian Monaghan who have been doing the cleaning at school since March this year. Aurelia and Brian are going to finish up at the end of the school year, so we will be looking for a new cleaner for next year. I have attached the job advertisement at the end of the newsletter. If anyone is interested, or you know someone who might be, please spread the word and ask them to give me a call.
I'd also like to say a huge congratulations to our Technology guru Kelvin Getley. Kelvin has just received notification that he has passed his PhD. What a massive achievement. We will now have to call him Doctor Kelvin!
Yesterday, Mrs Byrne received an email from Delta Ag to say St Joseph's was one of the winners of a recent competition which was run through North West Ag! The prize is a complete event pack valued at $3,000 consisting of a 3m x 6m custom marquee, extra-large Icebox, gear bags and $250 visa card. Congratulations to the children who participated in making the video (Grades 5 & 6). I will attach the video link but something has happened to it and it stops two thirds of the way through. 'Doctor Kelvin' has had a look at it and we can't get the rest back unfortunately.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNKyoqVBlAY
We have had word from the Rotary Club that Carols by Candlelight will not be going ahead this year. Hopefully next year things will be a little bit more normal, whatever normal might be now.
Just a reminder to the Grade 6 students. I need your photos ASAP so I can do the powerpoint for Graduation. We have finally, (after a great deal of debate) chosen a song and Graduation preparation is going along nicely. I am hopeful that restrictions on Church numbers will lift once Victoria hits the 90% double vaccination rate. Watch this space. I think we will still all have to be double vaccinated to attend though. Please let your family and friends know this so there will be no disappointed people on the night.
The Buloke Shire in conjunction with Public Libraries Victoria is running a summer reading competition. Details are listed below in the newsletter. Parents register their own children and it is all completed at home. Children must read at least 10 books and complete some challenges. There are some good prizes to win but you have to be in it to win it! It is also a good opportuity to keep practising those daily reading skills throughout the long holiday break.
Have a lovely week and don't get too wet on the weekend. (Let's hope we don't get as much rain as they are saying we will!)
Cate Olive
Acting Principal
Upcoming Dates
19th November - Transition Day
26th November - Transition Day
14th December - Graduation
15th December - Students last day
16th & 17th December - Staff Planning
1st February - Students first day 2022
7th February - Swimming Programme begins
3rd March - School Photos
Foundation, 1, 2 Class News
This week in the Prep/1/2 class, the students have been exploring a non-fiction text for our Shared Reading session – ‘Clean Water’. This has been a very interesting read and leading on from discussions about the recent rain we’ve had and discussions about ‘where all the water had gone’. The students have been exploring some technical vocabulary this week, learning some really big words for little minds; but they’ve ‘soaked’ them up just like children do! The students learnt that the amount of water on Earth never changes and that the water cycle is ‘Continuous’. We also explored the stages of the water cycle, from Evaporation, to Condensation and then finally Precipitation. Overall, the text has been received by the students who have shown enjoyment in exploring non-fiction texts.
In Religion we’ve been unpacking what it means to have ‘Giving’ hands (physical help), and ways that the students can practically ‘give’ to others. The students brainstormed many different ways that they can ‘give’ – giving help with jobs, giving food or money to the needy, giving someone a gift, etc. We explored ideas in which the students could ‘give’ something back to the community of Charlton and we decided as a group that we would make cards to cheer up members of the public who were currently in the hospital. The students enjoyed writing positive phrases of encouragement and we hope to walk down and hand these over to the hospital some time in the next week.
On Friday we were very excited to welcome our new Preps for their first transition day at St Joseph’s. Madelyn, Lila, Vinny, Mia & Nate will be joining our lovely school community and we look forward to getting to know them better over the next few Fridays and throughout 2022. We began the day with some ‘get to know you’ activities before the students experimented with different forms of text/print by writing their name – they had to stamp it, glue it, write it and draw it. The students then participated in a hands-on experience of the wonderful rhyming and rhythmic book ‘Wombat Stew’ before working in small groups with current preps and grade 1’s to write and draw about their own creative stews. It was a great morning for the new preps and we can’t wait to see them again this Friday!
Grade 3, 4, 5, 6 Classroom News
Literacy: Students have thoroughly enjoyed learning about bushrangers during their shared reading time. On Tuesday students commenced a unit on cooking during the 1800s- including what people were likely to eat, how they preserved food and the types of food available at that time. Students are reading, cooking and writing informative pieces about these concepts. Students are using some produce from their garden to support the idea of foraging and growing their own food.
Maths: students are continuing their work on revision with each year level having a different focus.
Year 3 students are expanding numbers to show place value and consolidating mental strategies (such as the jump strategy) for addition sums.
Year 4 students are exploring the links between addition and subtraction sums and mental strategies to complete these sums. They are continuing to consolidate their understanding of grams, kilograms and tonnes and how to measure using balances and scales.
Year 5 student is exploring measuring in grams and kilograms using balances and scales accurately and how to calculate mass between these two units of measurement. He is also learning how to use databases correctly to interpret information.
Year 6 students are consolidating their understanding of square numbers, converting between improper fractions and mixed numbers and adding and subtracting fractions with the same denominator.
3/4/5/6 Science: students are learning about suitability of materials for various uses. They are concentrating on materials that are porous, including when and where these would be used.
Job Advertisement - Cleaner
Community News
Registrations are now open for The BIG Summer read! Participants must log a minimum of ten books and complete five challenges through the Beanstack app to complete this challenge. The Buloke Library Service will be awarding a prize pack for the participant who reads the most books in three age categories (0-5, 6-10 and 11+). To participate you must download the Beanstack app, login with your Public Libraries Victoria account (you may need to create one) and search for the BIG Summer Read Challenge! Keep an eye on our Buloke Shire Library Service Facebook Group for extra challenges and opportunities to win! Contact Emily at enoonan@buloke.vic.gov.au for more information or questions! #joinborrowplaywin
Humour
Two Irishmen looking for work see a sign that reads TREE FELLERS WANTED.
“Oh, now, look at that,” said Paddy.
“What a pity there’s only de two of us!”