Newsletter 17 10th October 2024

Principal's Report

Hello to Families and all in the St Joseph's School Community,

Holy God, you are the creator of the Earth and all that is in it, the whole interconnected web of life of which we are a part.
Thank you for this earth, our home, and for this land we call Australia.
We sing in gratitude for the beauty of our country:
for fresh air, wind and rain;
for wide skies and dense bush; vast deserts; flame red rocks for rivers, oceans and lakes brimming with life.
for the unique animals, fish, birds, insects and reptiles for whom this country is also home.

Welcome to Term Four! What a wonderfully refreshing way to start Term Four with very cold mornings and beautiful sunny days! Term Four, as always promises to be busy as we work our way towards the end of the 2024 school year. Transition programs for both our Grade 6 students and the Kinder students will be an important part of the term as we reflect on the journey of both of these groups of children. 

Best wishes to staff and students for a productive, engaging and fun term ahead!

STOMP DANCING
Kira from the STOMP Dance Studio has been instructing students this week in all things dance related. They are an amazing organisation that really know their craft and how to get the best from their students. It has been fantastic to see the effort and participation from all St Joseph’s students. Students have their final session on Friday which is followed by a presentation of some of the dances they have learnt this week. Please note the information below.

ON FRIDAY ALL PREP – YEAR 6 STUDENTS BEGIN DANCE AT 9:00AM AND ARE TO BE DROPPED OFF/ GET OFF THE BUS AT CHARLTON COLLEGE. ST JOSEPH’S STAFF WILL BE THERE TO GREET THE STUDENTS.  

ALL PARENTS AND INTERESTED MEMBERS ARE INVITED TO WATCH THE DANCE PRESENTATIONS IN THE COLLEGE STADIUM FROM 9:30AM.

SCHOOL CLOSURE DAYS
Please note the following school closure days for Term Four. Students are not required at school on these days.

FRIDAY 25TH OCTOBER – Curriculum Day - Staff will be unpacking the new Maths curriculum

MONDAY 4^th NOVEMBER – Staff Report Preparation Day

TUESDAY 5^th NOVEMBER – Melbourne Cup Public Holiday

KANGA 8s CRICKET
Grade 5 & 6 students will travel to Boort on THURSDAY 24^th OCTOBER to participate in the Kanga 8s Cricket tournament. This year the students from all schools have been mixed together to form 8 teams.  This is a great opportunity for our students to get to meet some new children from other towns.

SCHOOL CAMPS & EXCURSIONS
Next week our Grade 5 & 6 students embark on their school camp to Melbourne.  And what an action packed 4 days it is going to be!  I have posted the itinerary and packing list below.  Mrs Hogan will be back Monday with any last minute details.  The children are visiting the Queen Victoria Market on Thursday.  They will be able to bring some spending money for this visit.  I'll let Mrs Hogan speak to them on Monday about what is an acceptable amount of spending money.  The bus will be leaving at 8:00am sharp so please be at school ready to depart by 8:00.

Grade 3 & 4 students will join their peers from St Mary's Donald, for an overnight camp to the Billabong Ranch in Echuca  on the 7^th & 8^th of November.

F-2 students will have a day excursion on the 13th November
Further details to follow.

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 to the school is required. This must be done before 9:30am on the day of absence, explaining the reason for absence on that day.  

WHOOPING COUGH
I have attached a flyer that has been sent out from the Catholic Education Office regarding whooping cough.  Please read the article and be aware of the symptoms.  Early diagnosis and treatment can prevent the spread.

Important Dates
October 11th - STOMP Dance Concert @ 9:30am
October 15th-18th Grade 5/6 School Camp to Melbourne
October 24th - Grades 4-6 Kanga 8s Cricket in Boort
October 25th - SCHOOL CLOSURE - Maths Curriculum
November 4th & 5th - SCHOOL CLOSURE DAYS - Report Writing and Melbourne Cup
November 7 & 8th - Grade 3 & 4 Camp to Billabong Ranch
November 13th - Prep/1/2 Excursion
November 15th - Transition Day - 10:00 - 11:00
November 22nd - Transition Day - 10:00 - 2:00
November 29th - Transition Day - 9:00 - 1:00
December 6th - Transition Day - 9:00 - 3:15

Wellbeing News with Mrs Wright

Breakfast Program - Change of Days
In Term 4, breakfast will be available on Tuesday and Friday mornings from 8:30 to 9:00 in the multipurpose room.

10:00am Brain Break
At 10:00a.m. each day, all classes have a brain break.  Please make sure your child has a small piece of fruit that they can eat during this time.

Mindful Activity
Your task this week is to sit outside and name 5 things that are round, observe 5 things that are blue and 5 things that are non-living.

Foundation/1/2 Class Report

Welcome back to Term 4 everyone! 

I hope you all had a nice relaxing break heading into our last term. 

The P/1/2 students have had a smooth transition back and we are looking forward to lots of exciting things happening in the term. 

Our Literacy block will look a little different for the first few weeks but we will be back on track by week 3. We will be focusing heavily again on our handwriting for this term but our main focus will still be our NNP sessions each morning. 

Numeracy focus for Week 1 and 2 will be revision of addition (counting on and arrays) and subtraction. 

We have our excursion booked for later in the term so our Inquiry sessions will be based around Chemical Science, which will include lots of hands on fun with some science experiments! 

As always, please feel free to make contact with me if you have any questions or concerns. 

Have a great week. 

Ms Brown - P/1/2 

Grade 3/4/5/6 Class Report

Welcome back to Term 4!

This first week students are easing back into the term with the STOMP dance program at the Charlton College. All year levels have had a great time learning new dance moves and are eager to show them off at the presentation on Friday. 

In our lessons this week, the Year 3-6 students have been practicing their reading skills through independent reading and shared reading. Students have also written a holiday reflection on their Chromebooks and shared this with their teacher for feedback. Students have then proofread and edited their work with the teacher feedback in mind. Students have been practicing their No Nonsense Phonics lessons daily. Mrs Armstrong’s group has been working on the split diagraphs o-e and a-e through handwriting, recognising sounds in regular words, spelling strategies, shared and independent reading tasks. Mrs Hogan’s regular group has been working on the ZH phoneme (-s, -ge, -g) and the UL phoneme (-le). They have been highlighting these sounds in lists of words, rewriting these words out, revising known sounds through daily practice, writing sentences and definitions for the words and completing shared and independent reading tasks. 

In Maths, students have been revising their understanding of telling analogue and digital time to the nearest minute. All students have revised 24 hour time and have been learning about bus and train timetables. Students have worked with the teacher on reading and interpreting these timetables accurately, reading through worded problems to find the answers and working out elapsed time. All students have been learning about, and consolidating their understanding of these time concepts. 

There is no homework or spelling words this week for Year 3-6. In place of this, if students could read daily it would be of benefit to all students. 

Year 3 and 4 students will receive spelling words and homework on Monday, Week 2. 

I wish the Year 5 & 6 students the best of luck for camp next week. 

Grade 5/6 Camp Information

Please find following the camp itinerary and the packing list.  Please ensure there are NO electronic devices taken on camp.

Whooping Cough

Whooping cough 

The incidence of Whooping cough cases is continuing to increase across Victoria, particularly among school-aged children.

Whooping cough is a very contagious infection, mostly spread through coughing or sneezing. 

Symptoms include:

• blocked or runny nose
• tiredness
• mild fever
• severe bouts of coughing, often followed by a ‘whooping’ sound on breathing.

Whooping cough can lead to life-threatening infections in babies.

If your child is unwell, they should not attend school. Please see a doctor if you or your child develops whooping cough symptoms. Early diagnosis and treatment will help reduce the spread of the infection.

Students diagnosed with whooping cough must not attend school

If your child is diagnosed with whooping cough, they must not attend school for 21 days after the onset of the cough, or until they have received 5 days of antibiotic treatment.

You must notify the school if your child is diagnosed with whooping cough.

To further reduce the spread of infection to your child and the school community, the Public Health and Wellbeing Regulations 2019 require that some students who were in the same classroom as a student diagnosed with whooping cough should not attend school.

Your child should not attend school for 14 days after they were last exposed to a person diagnosed with whooping cough, or until they have taken 5 days of a course of antibiotic treatment if they are:

• aged less than 7 years; and
• not fully vaccinated with 3 doses of whooping cough (pertussis) vaccine.

This exclusion is required by law – refer to the School exclusion table for primary schools and children’s services.

If your child is diagnosed with whooping cough, please contact the school to let us know.

Your support in keeping our students safe and well is greatly appreciated.

For more information about whooping cough, refer to Whooping cough on the Better Health Channel.

Vaccination is the best way to reduce the risk of whooping cough. The Department of Health recommends staying up to date with immunisations, including booster doses. A free booster dose of the pertussis vaccine is covered under the national immunisation program for students aged 12 to 13. If you are unsure about your child’s vaccination status for whooping cough, please discuss with an immunisation provider, such as your doctor.

Catholic School Parents Australia - National Parent Survey

National Parent Survey

Catholic School Parents Australia (CSPA) is running a parent survey in partnership with the University of New England on Student Wellbeing and Learning and are seeking your perspective as parents/carers of children who attend a Catholic School in Australia.

You are invited to share your views on existing and emerging affirmations and/or challenges in relation to your child/children’s wellbeing and learning.

The survey is anonymous, confidential, and completely voluntary.    

For more information about the study and to participate go here.

Thank you for your support.

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

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.