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Dear Parents & Carers,
Thank you so much to all of our students who took part in ANZAC March on Sunday. It was fantastic to see so many of our students come along and honour the service of men and women. On Wednesday 21st we held an ANZAC Liturgy at school which was led by Year 6. We were fortunate to be joined by Mr & Mrs Frank McGovern, Mr Dallas Heard and Mr Atkins, all of the Gloucester Soldiers Club. We thank these guests who provide a link to this special day for us.
We were fortunately able to run our Cross Country after the wet weather. Well done to all students who did their best running. Several of our students also qualified for the Diocesan Cross Country at Maitland on Tuesday and did a wonderful job representing our school. Well done!
During the holiday period Mrs Clare commenced maternity leave. Miss Gooch has replaced Mrs Clare in K1. We welcome Mrs Redman and Mr Crowe during this time. Mrs Redman will work in Year 2/3 three days a fortnight and Mr Crowe two days a week in Year 4/5/6. Both Mrs Redman and Mr Crowe are experienced and regular teachers. We are fortunate to have very experienced and committed staff in our school and I thank all the staff for their genuine commitment and professionalism.
I would like to thank all parents and our St. Joseph's community for keeping Lisa Moore in your prayers during the sad passing of Stewart. Lisa has been comforted by the support of students, staff and parents at this time.
Peace & Best Wishes
Amy Maslen
Principal
K/1
K1 have had a fantastic start to Term 2! It has been a busy couple of weeks with Cross-Country in the first week where it was wonderful to see everyone having a go and participating. We also had our ANZAC service where all children were very respectful listening to the stories and participated by laying a special wreath. All students settled back into their routines in class.
This week we have been focusing on Addition and Subtraction in Maths. Kindergarten have been learning about the sounds 'o' and 'r' over the last 2 weeks and have enjoyed participating in the activities based on these sounds.
Year 1 have been working on super sentences this week and can identify that a super sentence needs a capital letter, full stop, it must tell us about something and most importantly it must make sense! We have had a wonderful start to the term, great work K1!
2/3
Welcome back to Term 2. The students once again have come back in a very positive manner and have demonstrated great determination in their work. It makes it so much easier and enjoyable to teach with a bunch of kids that are eager to learn. This term we welcome Mrs Jane Redman to our class. Mrs Redman has replaced Miss Gooch who has had to take over from Mrs Clare who has gone on maternity leave. Mrs Redman is a highly experienced teacher who is also currently working at St. Joseph’s at Bulahdelah. Jane will take our class Friday on odd weeks and Thursday and Friday on even weeks. With NAPLAN soon approaching for the Year 3 students we have been doing some practice for these tests in Writing and Numeracy. I have just been exposing the students to some of the styles of questions that they may come across in NAPLAN. My main focus is to make sure that the students completing these tests feel comfortable going into the tests and for them to know that all they have to do is try their best.
In Religion, we have been studying the structure of a Mass and looking at the Eucharist in more detail. We studied the painting of ‘The Last Supper’ by Leonardo da Vinci and looked at some facts about the painting. If the students haven’t already talked to you about the painting, ask them to tell you about it. They have some wonderful information and insights into the painting that they can share with you.
We have been focusing on narrative writing in English since the start of the term. I have been providing the students with a picture stimulus for them to start their writing. We are focusing on giving an interesting start to their piece of writing. We are trying to incorporate descriptive language and letting the reader know the true feelings of the characters. We are trying to get quality pieces of writing not quantity. I have been very impressed with the language that the students are able to use in their writing.
4/5/6
In English, we have been focusing on improving our writing by doing daily editing challenges. Students have had the opportunity to co-edit a variety of writing pieces. They worked collaboratively with their editing partner to read, discuss, identify and correct errors such as; punctuation, spelling mistakes, paragraphing and grammar. Students have already become more confident with identifying errors. The overall aim is for students to transfer these skills into their own writing.
In Mathematics, we have been discussing our own individual learning goals and have been working on co-constructing success criteria. This has provided students with the opportunity to take further ownership on their learning. It has also been used as a tool to show students what success looks like in a particular area. Using of our success criteria, students have acquired a stronger sense of how to judge their own progress. At the end of our daily math block, students reflected on their individual learning goals for the week. They had the chance to share their achievements and discuss strategies that have helped them reach their goal!
A big congratulations to Toby, Mia, Nick, and Ruby for already reaching some of their Math goals this Term!
I am very proud of how hard all students in 4/5/6 have been working this Term!
Next week, we will be looking at Math choice boards and projects to further build on our strengths and engagement!
Catholic Schools Week 2021 May 3-9th
Next week is Catholic Schools Week. School tours will be run on Monday 9am & Thursday 9am or by appointment for new enrolments for 2022. Please contact the office for more information.
Congratulations to Aiden Blanchard, Cooper Allan, Lola-Forbes Collins, Molly Paynter, Nick Maslen and Xanthe Fenning, who participated in the Diocesan Cross Country at Maitland Park on Tuesday. All students competed and finished the 2 & 3 km course and tried their best. Congratulations!
Term 2 has started smoothly. The students seem to take no time to settle in after the holidays.
We were all saddened to hear of the loss of Stewart Moore and our thoughts are continually with Lisa. The students created a large card for Lisa with lots of individual messages to let her know how much we care. We pray that she will find peace and strength.
Mini Vinnies had a busy time in the week prior to Easter, with the Easter Egg Hunt, Mufti Day and the Easter Card Making for older persons. As usual, they did a great job and the Easter cards were very appreciated by the residents at the Aged Care home. The Mufti Day raised $35.00 for Brain Cancer Research. We will soon begin working on our projects for Term 2
Canteen is operating as usual on Fridays with lunch orders and counter sales of Ice-creams and Ice-blocks. During Term 2, the Canteen will not open on Mondays for “over-the-counter sales”.
Our Garden projects are coming along nicely. Thanks to the assistance of Loretta Heffernan from the Myall Deanery, some of the students have planted a variety of plants in the front garden, in the planter boxes and in the raised garden beds. Let’s hope that all the new plants grow and grow.
Quote: “To do more for the world than the world does for you – that is success.” Henry Ford
After discussion and information on the new Parent Engagement Model, it was voted at our last P&F that we would transition to this format. Parent Engagement Meeting's will be held once a term and may include a presentation on education and learning, wellbeing and new initatives, guest speakers and reports from parent fundraising groups. Our first Parent Enagement Meeting will be held on Monday 17th May at 4pm. In repsonse to parent feedback at our last meeting we will focus on Mathemtatics, as this is a whole-school focus, and how we teach students various strategies in Maths. Teachers will go through some of these strategies during the meeting, so we encouage parents to come along to learn and support your children in this area. A survey will be emailed out in the coming weeks to identify any specific questions regarding the teaching of Mathematics strategies including number, division and multiplication.
In Week 4, Years 3-5 will participate in NAPLAN. NAPLAN will be completed online this year. It is important that all students are in attendance on these days.
8:30am | Students arrive at school. Please ensure that students arrive after 8:30am to ensure their safety and supervision. |
8:55am | Morning bell |
11:10-12pm | Lunch |
1:30-2pm | Recess |
3pm | School finishes |
June | |
Friday 25th | Final Day Term 2 |
July | |
Week 1 - Monday 12th | Pupil Free Day |
Tuesday 13th | Students return |
Thursday 15th | Library |
Friday 16th | Sport |
Week 2 - Monday 19th | Shared Table - Chicken Fried Rice |
Thursday 22nd | Library |
Friday 23rd | ASPIRE K-6 Excursion to Newcastle |
Week 3 - Wednesday 28th |
Diocesan Athletics Kindergarten 2022 Social & Emotional Session with School Counsellor - Alison Perry. |
A Mother's Day Stall will be held next Friday 7th at school. Parent volunteers will be running this at school. There will be gifts available for students to purchase for mothers and grandmothers at a small cost. A price-list will be available next week. Any parents who wish to help at the Mother's Day please contact the office. Volunteers need to ensure they are cleared to work at school under the new Volunteer Safeguarding Policy. If you are not sure please contact the school.