Newsletter 19 2023
Principal's Report
Hello to Families and all in the St Joseph's School Community,
This newsletter is the final one for Term Two! Term Two has been another busy term at St Joseph's and the end of semester marks our first reporting cycle. Tomorrow afternoon parents will be able to access student reports through SIMON EVERYWHERE. If you have any troubles accessing your child's report please message Mrs Olive for assistance. Please note that students working from individualised learning plans will receive individualised reports which report on the level they are working from at this point in time. Please contact me if you ahve any questions regarding student reports.
During Term Two we have participated in the town's ANZAC Day Ceremony, celebrated the Easter Season, had students compete in Cross Country, juniors visited the Flying Bookworm Performance at the Kindergarten, attende the Charlton College Fete, competed in the Winter Sports in Boort, held a Mother's Day Liturgy and Morning Tea, took part in Walk to School Day, celebrated Catholic Education Week, enjoyed a 'Making Friends' puppet play, senior students went on camp to PGL Campaspe Downs, planted seedlings in the Community Garden and had a Yoga session with Averyl Loft! The yoga sessions today were fantastic! They involved some stretching routines, active participation, partner work and finished with some mindfulness focused on our breathing. No wonder we are ready for a holiday! Best wishes to each family for a safe anf enjoyable semester break. School recommences for Term Three on Monday 10th July 2023.
END OF TERM TWO- TOMORROW
A reminder that students are permitted to wear casual clothes to school tomorrow, the final day of term. Students will be treated to a suitable movie on this day and a lunch of chips and/or potato cakes. Orders have been placed but any students not wanting this lunch are welcome to bring along their own lunch from home.
School finishes at 2:30pm tomorrow.
STUDENT ABSENCE FROM SCHOOL
Under Department of Education Regulations, typically the only acceptable reasons for absence from school are illness and medical or dental appointments that cannot be arranged outside of school hours. In accordance with the Education and Training Reform Act 2006, schooling is compulsory for children and young people aged from 6-17 years. It is a legal requirement that parents contact the school regarding any student absences or lateness.
In the event of any absence or lateness, a note, phone call, text message or email, explaining the reason is required. This must be done before 9:30am on the day of absence.
GRADE 3 & 4 CAMP
A preliminary notice that the Grade 3 & 4 students will join with students from St Patrick's St Arnaud and St Mary's Donald for an overnight camp in Term 4, on November 27th and 28th. They will be visiting the Pioneer Settlement in Swan Hill.
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.
Standard 10: Implementation of the Child Safe Standards is regularly reviewed and improved
In complying with Child Safe Standard 10 an organisation must, at a minimum, ensure:
10.1 The organisation regularly reviews, evaluates and improves child safe practices.
10.2 Complaints, concerns and safety incidents are analysed to identify causes and systemic failures to inform continuous improvement.
10.3 The organisation reports on the findings of relevant reviews to staff and volunteers, community and families, and children and young people.
Important Dates
Friday 23rd June – reports posted on SIMON EVERYWHERE
- END OF TERM TWO - DISMISSAL at 2:30PM
Monday 10th July – Term Three commences
PRELIMINARY NOTICE – August 2nd will be a school closure day at St Joseph’s School.
Please keep on the dates as they continue to populate in each weekly newsletter and aim to avoid appointments on these days so all students can participate.
Mary Hogan
Principal
Student of the Week
2023 Non-Government Schools Census Collection Notice
NCCD Information for parents, carers and guardians
Foundation/1/2 Class Report
Religious Education
This week we are concluding our Unit 'Wonder' This has been a meaningful and relevant focus on reflecting on our Christian call to care for Creation and respect and celebrate each other. Moving from Autumn to Winter, rain, green grass and now white frost our unique environment is all around our daily lives. The students have participated actively in many activities and shown pleasing understanding.
Language
This week we are concluding the term's focuses and after assessments preparing for Term Three. This week's information writing has shown ongoing progress in writing interesting sentences.
Mathematics
After practising throughout the term the students are showing pleasing progress in counting and automatically recalling an increased number of addition and subtraction number facts. Congratulations to all students on your hard work and progress.
I would like to wish each student and their family a very fun-filled and safe holiday. I trust amidst the relaxation everyone has time to sit and read together. Anne Anderson
Grade 3/4 Class Report
This week in Literacy we are continuing to focus on the shared reading text of ‘Waltzing Matilda’ with a focus on text specific language such as ‘squatter’, ‘swagman’, ‘jumbuck’ and ‘tuckerbag’. Students were interested to learn about these terms and enjoyed sharing their own knowledge. It was interesting to learn how our language has changed over the last 120 years and how students perceived these words using a 21st century lense. Understanding what a ‘tuckerbag’ is was an interesting discussion! Students have completed their information reports on native Australian animals. They have worked at a great standard and produced some very informative pieces of writing. Students have also completed their poetry books which are a collection of the poems that they have completed over the course of the term.
In Maths we continue our work on revision. Students have completed a diagnostic review of their learning for the semester and are continuing to work on concepts such as money and subtraction strategies with a focus on the concept of borrowing. Students are counting everyday with a focus on skip counting by 7s from zero and non zero starting points.
In Religion we are reflecting on our learning and completing assessment tasks based on the concept of respect explored during the term.
Homework contract 16 and spelling words are due this Friday please. Thank you.
We want to wish everyone a safe and happy holidays. See you in Term 3!
Grade 5/6 Class Report
As we come to the end of Term Two and the end of the Semester, I can’t help but marvel at how quickly time passes! Over the past week the senior students have continued to complete assessment tasks to assist staff in writing their end of semester reports. This has included writing tasks, spelling, reading assessments, mid-way math check-ups and a number facts & times table check. Students have also reflected on their semester naming their successes and challenges and rated their work habits on a progressive scale. It will be interesting to see if the students’ responses match mine!
Numeracy lessons have focused on revision of topic work as indicated by assessments, mainly centred around the four operations. Data also indicates decimal and fraction work needs consolidating and we will start Term Three with this focus in mind. Literacy work has centred around the completion of animal information reports on an animal of choice. These were researched, drafted, conferenced and edited before publishing as a slide set on our Chrome Books. There are QR codes generated below if you would like to have a look! Students should have shared this on their Seesaw page. To conclude the unit, students took up the challenge of recycling their Chrome Book boxes to create some fabulous dioramas of their animals.
Well done to all students for their efforts and progress over the past semester. Best wishes for an enjoyable semester break – stay warm!
Below are some completed Information Reports that we have generated QR codes for. Feel free to check them out!
Lila Willow Liam Isaac Clancy
Community News
Acknowledgement to 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.