Newsletter 21 2023
Principal's Report
Hello to Families and all in the St Joseph's School Community,
As staff and students of a Catholic School Community, we are called to come together to learn and play, being mindful each day of the vision and mission of our school. At St Joseph’s School our statements are:
Vision
With Christ as the foundation of all our teaching, we will educate all to live life to the full.
Mission
Based on the teachings of Jesus we will work collaboratively as a team to encourage the total growth and care of all in our community.
Throughout his life, Jesus gave the example of inclusion, empathy, kindness, love, forgiveness and hope. Our mission encourages each of us to work together caring for and nurturing one another. As educators of St Joseph’s School, staff aim to develop skills within students to enable them to problem-solve, wonder, think deeply, reflect and act justly, enabling “fullness of life for all.”
I feel it is important to revisit our Vision and Mission regularly and remind ourselves why our school exists and what qualities make it a safe and special place for our students!
This week, Year 5 student, Rosie Fitzpatrick decided to join many within the Charlton community and act to support teenager, Maddi Fitzpatrick, who is undergoing cancer treatment. Rosie witnessed many community members shave their heads or donate hair at Charlton Park’s fundraiser on Saturday evening. On reflection, Rosie made the decision to donate her long locks in support of this very worthy cause. Rosie told me she felt inspired by the actions of others and committed to act on her feelings. Well done, Rosie! We keep Maddi and her family closely in our daily prayer at St Joseph’s.
FORTNIGHTLY EDITION
A reminder that we have transitioned to a fortnightly edition of our school newsletter. Reminders, new dates and important information will be shared via Simon Everywhere in the off weeks. Staff can also continue to share information and learning via the class Dojo or Seesaw apps.
WELLBEING
Yesterday I attended a professional learning session relating to the Smiling Minds Program which is designed to nurture well-being in students. Their research shows that the program improves students’ perseverance and optimism at school. Also, students who participate regularly were more likely to feel connected, engaged and optimistic about the future. Students surveyed found Smiling Minds helped them to be more focused, calm their worries, recognise their emotions more readily and manage their emotions better. As a staff, we look forward to learning more and beginning to implement the program at St Joseph’s.
Tom Ayars, well-being chaplain who works at Charlton College, has started visiting St Joseph’s each Wednesday this term. He is spending some time in the yard during lunch break and briefly in the classrooms. The aim is for all students to become familiar with Tom and for the Senior students to get to know him well. My hope is that this will give them a familiar point of contact when they begin secondary school and help with the transition process. There may be opportunity for individuals to chat with Tom more formally if the need arises. Obviously, discussion with parents and permission would be undertaken before this could occur.
STRUCTURED LITERACY
On Monday Mrs Armstrong, Mrs Byrne and myself, travelled to Mildura to witness Structured Literacy in action at St Paul’s School. St Paul’s is one of the two founding schools of this program. We were fortunate to see the program in action across all primary grades and found it a very worthwhile journey. It was great to see what we have been learning about in action! The day solidified the many benefits of the program and also provoked further questions and wonderings. We continue to explore the program and implement some of the practices we are learning as this year progresses, in preparation for the future. Stay tuned!
WELCOME MS STANLEY
Next week we will welcome Ms Jane Stanley to our school. Jane will spend four weeks with us on her final teaching placement, as she studies to complete her teaching degree. Ms Stanley will spend time in each class room, with her main focus in the Senior Room for Literacy and Numeracy and the Junior Room for Religious Education.
Calder Athletic Sports
The Calder Athletics will be held at Charlton Park next Thursday, 3rd August. Children will be transported to Charlton Park on a Starts bus and return to school for normal pick-up. Parents are more than welcome to come along and support their children. If you choose to take your children home from the sports, please let their classroom teacher or Cate know before you leave. Thanks.
100 DAYS OF PREP
On Monday, August 7th the Junior Class will be celebrating Ivy, Sally and Sam's first 100 days at school.
On this day students in the Junior Class are invited to dress up. Ideas could include dressing as a student from 100 years ago, dressing as a 100 year old person, dressing as you may in 100 years or include a 100 themed costume. Other ideas related to 100 welcome. On this day students will be participating in activities related to 100.
Lunch, fruit and snacks will be provided on this day. Mrs Anderson
SCHOOL PLAY – “QUEST – NEW HERO IN FANTASYLAND”
WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 13th at 7:00pm – LOCK THE DATE IN NOW!
Staff and students are happy to let you know that we will be presenting a play on this night, which the whole school will be participating in.
Once upon a time, the Magic Mirror gives an urgent message. Can Fantasyland be saved?
Students in the middle and senior rooms will have some lines to learn. These may be practised during home reading time. Juniors will learn their lines at school.
COME AND TRY SESSION – KINDER KIDS
Four year old Kindergarten students are invited to attend a COME & TRY session at St Joseph’s on Thursday 10th of August, between 10 – 11am. Please spread the word to any families in the surrounding district who may be interested in attending. See flyer below.
UPCOMING TRAVELS
BADMINTON TOURNAMENT (Wednesday 16 & Thursday 17th August)
This year the Grade 4, 5 & 6 students will be attending the Badminton Tournament in Shepparton.
We will leave the day before and visit Billabong Ranch in Echuca where we will participate in outdoor activities before sleeping over, travelling to Shepparton the next morning for the tournament. Permission forms will be sent electronically. Keep your eye out for further information shortly.
GRADE 3&4 CAMP
The Grade 3 & 4 students will be going on an overnight camp in Term 4. Students will join our cluster schools in St Arnaud and Donald traveling to Swan Hill, staying at the Pioneer Settlement. The camp will take place on November 27th & 28th. Further details will be provided closer to the date.|
F-2 EXCURSION
The Junior Class will go on a day excursion in Term 4.
NAPLAN ASSESSMENTS
Students in Grades 3 and 5 received their NAPLAN Assessment results last week and these have been sent home to families. Information about the new proficiency standards, including the full proficiency level descriptions for each NAPLAN assessment area, can be found here: https://www.nap.edu.au/naplan/results-and-reports/proficiency-level-descriptions
Schools, parents, and carers may find the following video on reading the Individual Student Report useful to understand student-level reporting and the new proficiency standards for NAPLAN.
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.
SCHOOL UNIFORM
A reminder that when all students are in full school uniform each day, it can promote a sense of belonging and pride in our school. Nail polish, jewellery and hair accessories (other than school uniform coloured bands, scrunchies, ribbons, etc) are not part of the St Joseph’s School uniform policy.
LOST & FOUND
An ear-ring, which was found in the church carpark, has been handed in to the Office. Call in and see Cate if you think it may be yours.
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 11: Policies and procedures document how the organisation is safe for children and young people
Minimum requirements:
In complying with Child Safe Standard 11 an organisation must, at a minimum, ensure:
11.1 Policies and procedures address all Child Safe Standards.
11.2 Policies and procedures are documented and easy to understand.
11.3 Best practice models and stakeholder consultation informs the development of policies and procedures.
11.4 Leaders champion and model compliance with policies and procedures.
11.5 Staff and volunteers understand and implement policies and procedures.
IMPORTANT DATES
WEDNESDAY 2nd AUGUST – School Closure Day – staff professional learning
Thursday 3rd August – Calder Athletic Sports
Monday 7th August – Foundation students celebrate 100 days of school
Thursday 10th August – Kinder Kids Come & Try Session (10-11am)
Wednesday 16th & Thursday 17th August – Grades 4-6 Overnight Camp
Wednesday 23rd August – BOOK WEEK DRESS UP DAY
Friday 1st September – Father’s Day Breakfast 8:00am
Wednesday 13th September – SCHOOL PLAY PERFORMANCE at 7:00pm
Friday 15th September – End of Term Three
Please note special dates on your calendars so you don’t miss out!
Mary Hogan
Principal
Students of the Week
Foundation/1/2 Class Report
The Junior Class have been working towards reaching 100 Days of Learning in 2023 and celebrating Sally, Ivy and Sam's first 100 days of school . On Monday, August 7th the students are invited to dress up to celebrate the day. Throughout the day activities will focus on 100. On this day students will not require fruit , snacks or lunch.
Religion
The students are continuing to focus on 'Story'. Presently we are looking at the Old Testament story of Noah. In the coming weeks the class will hear stories of Jesus' life.
Language
As we continue to focus on handwriting, we are celebrating our mastery of writing the lower case letters correctly. Well done to all students.
Students have commenced using the No Nonsense Phonics which looks at using sounds to decode texts and spell words accurately. Being a new program we are all learning together.
This week we are writing our own fairy tale as well as listening to the traditional tales.
Mathematics
This week's focus is ordinal numbers. Necessary knowledge as we participate in sports, so we know our placings.
Well done Grade 1 & 2 on the mastery of 2 times tables.
The Prep students have continued to practise forming the numerals correctly and learning the doubles.
Looking forward to the sports in the coming week. Stay warm. Anne Anderson
Grade 3/4 Class Report
In the past fortnight students have looked at two different text types in shared reading. Last week students looked at the fable 'HOW THE KANGAROO GOT ITS TAIL'. We discussed how fables and Dreamtime stories are structured and how the authors can interweave a moral or lesson within the context of the story. Students created their own fables with a moral in the structure of a Dreamtime story. This week students have been revising their understanding of what plurals are and the spelling rules associated with these. In shared reading this week we are reading a newspaper article on the cancelling of the Commonwealth Games in Victoria. From this text, students have identified the for and against arguments and have planned and drafted a persuasive text using persuasive language and text structure to show their understanding and opinion of the topic.
Our topic in Maths this fortnight has been multiplication and division revision. Students have been particularly focusing on understanding short division using a variety of symbols for division. Year 4 are extending this understanding by looking at remainders in division sums. Students are revising skip counting by 7s and 8s from zero and non zero starting points. We have been practising our 7s and 8s multiplication facts and looking at the related division facts. Students have been looking at problem solving sums with the teacher everyday and working on identifying the important details and the specific vocabulary that indicates what the question is asking.
In Religion we have been working on the topic of 'Identity'. Students have created an artwork that details their identity as they see themselves. We have begun to link this back into our our scriptural learning. We are beginning to look at Mary's identity as a young woman.
We have been practising our athletics during sport. Students have working hard to master the skills of long jump, shot put, discus, vortex, sprints, long distance running, relays and hurdles.
If students could read daily, practice their spelling words and their multiplication or division focus this would really support their learning. Thank you.
Grade 5/6 Class Report
A huge “THANK-YOU” to the Senior students who have worked hard to help spread the new soft-fall in the playground area. We have demolished one pile and are into the second! A very big job, but when the load is shared, much more manageable. Students have also been enjoying their weekly sessions with Garnet, practising and preparing for the Calder Athletic Sports next week. We continue to learn more about using our Chrome Books for many different purposes. Students are really picking up their digital literacy skills very quickly and applying this in all subject areas.
ENGLISH
In exciting news, this week students have been introduced to the play script, “Quest – A New Hero in Fantasyland.” Performance Art is an important part of the curriculum and is beneficial for all students. The play provides opportunities for oral reading and presentation, learning lines and committing them to memory, singing, presenting to an audience………and having fun!
I have been implementing many of the Structured Literacy resources and approaches to learning. We are focused on perfecting our sentence level writing, punctuation and experimentation with parts of speech. Students continue to have explicit instruction of spelling rules and the correct usage of grammar as they write and speak. Reading tasks have focused on decoding strategies and fluency, remembering it’s okay not to know every word, but how we work them out and find out what they mean is important. Students have been presenting oral fluency passages and doing a fantastic job!
MATHEMATICS
We have been busy working with fractions over the past two weeks. Fraction work can be challenging for many students and the use of concrete materials and drawing/interpreting pictures and diagrams can be really helpful. The main concepts students need to know are that a fractional amount is less than a whole; that a fractional amount is a share of EQUAL parts and that decimals are fractions, too! We have been working to compare and order fractions, place fractions on a number line, add and subtract fractions and find equivalent fractions. Next week we will begin to focus more on decimal fractions – tenths, hundredths and thousandths, and explore how these are used in our daily lives.
HOMEWORK
Students have weekly spelling to learn and a reader for nightly practice. The HOMEWORK HOUND online homework will continue to be available for any students who wish to use this at home. This week I have provided a homework sheet for students, which is due back on Friday. Please prioritise reading, spelling, tables practice and homework sheet, in that order, completing what you are able to.
My New Gallery
Community News
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.