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Last week the Maitland-Newcastle Diocese celebrated Catholic Schools Week. As a Diocese we reflected on the significance of Catholic Schools in Australia. 'Catholic Schools are a major part of Australia's educational ecosystem. They are the equal of other schools regarding educational programs, student achievement, teacher professionalise, facilities and innovation. They have provided high quality education to generations of young Australians, now numering in their millions. They stand as a beacon in our society, for their contribution to the common good and to the nation's social capital. They have helped nurture a more just tolerant and cohesive society. Catholic education is determined in its committment to excellence and equity'. A Pastoral Leter from the Bishops of Australia to the leaders, staff, students and families of Catholic Education in Australia, 2021.
During Catholic Schools Week, our enrolments for 2022 open. If you know of any families interested in enrolment please ask them to contact the office for an enrolment pack and more information.
This week our Years 3 & 5 students sat the National Assessment Program - Literacy & Numeracy (NAPLAN). The majority of the tests were online this year. These results will be made available to schools and parents later this year.
I encourage any of our families who are interested in hearing about our Successful Foundations for Learning project to come in on Thursday 20th at 10am. The project outlines the importance of play and how this will look for Kindergarten 2022 at St. Joseph's. Kim Moroney, Education Officer for Early Learning from the Catholic Schools Office will be discussing the project. Clare MacGregor, local speech therapist will also be speaking on the development of langauge and play.
Peace & Best Wishes
Amy Maslen
Principal
K/1
K1 have continued to work fantastic in the classroom this Term. In literacy this week, first thing every morning both Kindergarten and Year 1 have been completing a modelled handwriting sentence. This has been a great activity where they can look back and see the improvement in their formation of letters. Kindergarten have also been looking at the 'c' sound this week and made some fantastic cows that are displayed in our classroom. Year 1 have continued to focus on writing super sentences and have been picking 3 words each day from their spelling list to put into a sentence. We also looked at compound words where they were able to give me examples of some compound words and pick out the two smaller words that make up the compound word.
In numeracy we have been working on whole number as well as looking at multiplication and division.
The students have also had a wonderful time participating in Athletics for sport over the past few weeks. They have enjoyed learning new skills and will hopefully be able to put these into play at our upcoming athletics carnival.
2/3 and 4/5/6
Congratulations to our Year 3 & 5 students on completing NAPLAN for the first time this week. They all did a fabulous job in the tests giving their best efforts in Writing, Reading, Language Conventions and Numeracy. This past week you have all demonstrated a positive attitude to succeed and no matter what the result, you have all applied yourselves well.
We have had a big focus on our reading fluency each day at school. All the students in the school have a reading buddy in which they practice their reading fluency each day. Each student has a reading fluency passage (or sight words and book) that they are timed each day to see their improvement. At the end of the week they should be bringing home this passage to hopefully demonstrate their improvement they have gained throughout the week. It is quite amazing to see the improvements that the students are making.
Again I would like to congratulate all the students in both 2/3 and 4/5/6 for the wonderful attitude that they bring to school each day. It is certainly a great school to be at.
We are all glad to have Mrs Moore back in our office after her sad time. Mrs Moore is a big part of our family and we all grieve with her. We are here to support her in any way we can.
The P&F Mother’s Day stall was a great success. Students really enjoyed the variety of gifts to choose from and lots of Mums (and some Grandmothers) received some lovely gifts as a result. It was nice to hear so many of the children say “Thank You” to the parents for arranging the stall.. and without any prompting from their teachers. Some of the children even asked the parents for advice on what they thought their Mum might like..
Thank You to the students who have been helping Loretta Heffernan from Pastoral Ministry when she visits our school each Monday. Thanks to their efforts, our gardens and planter boxes now have new life. You may even have noticed the new frangipanis in the front garden.
The Vinnies Winter Appeal will be starting soon and we will be asking for donations of blankets, rugs and winter woollies so that these can be shared with less fortunate families. Our Mini Vinnies will be arranging this and more details will be provided soon.
An interesting snippet for you to consider: Recently some sprigs of Rosemary were placed in our classrooms. In ancient Greece and Rome, rosemary was thought to strengthen memory and brain chemicals important for thinking, concentration and memory. Some scientific research suggests that it may improve brain function by 5-7%.. Something to think about.
Stratford Coal Community Support Grant 2021
This year we were successful in gaining a grant from Stratford Coal for our Safe School Access Project, our safety gate and fencing at the entrance to our school. This was identified as a need from WHS due to the entrance for students also being a driveway. We would like to extend our thanks to Stratford Coal for their support for this project.
On Monday 17th we will be holding our Parent Engagment Meeting at 4pm in the School Library. Part of the educative component will be focusing on our school goal around Mathematics and supporting parents with Mathematics at home. A survey went out to parents this week regarding any information you would like to support your child at home with Mathematics. If you have not had a chance to complete the survey it may also be a discussion point for Parent Teacher Interviews, Week 6. We look forward to seeing you there. There will be a copy of Mathematics presentation for parents and carers unable to make the Parent Engagement Meeting.
Thanks to Julian Schnieder who has been working with our students as part of Athletics Training during the past four weeks. Students have had the opportunity to work on Track & Field events including, long jump, shot put, and 50-200 metre races and techniques. Our Athletics Carnival will be held on Thursday 27th May at the Kay Green Memorial Oval.
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. |
Volunteer Induction & Guidelines
The Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle has an absolute and abiding commitment to promote the safety, welfare and wellbeing of children. As a volunteer working in a Diocesan school, you should be aware of your obligations and responsibilities in protecting students from abuse or neglect.
Becoming a volunteer To be able to volunteer within a Diocesan school you are required to read the Volunteer Induction Handbook and complete all necessary checks, inductions and safeguarding training relevant to your volunteer role. This may mean that you will be required to obtain a Working with Children Check and/or National Police Check. All paperwork and checks are to be completed and verified before you can commence in your role. Safeguarding training must occur within 6 months of your commencement as a volunteer.