Dear Parents,

The theme for National Reconciliation Week in 2022 is 'Be Brave - Make a Change'. A challenge to all Australians - individuals, families, communities, organsiations and government - to Be Brave and tackle the unfinished business of reconciliation so we can make a change for the benefit of all Australians. As a school, we recognised National Reconciliation Week during our Catholic Schools Week Liturgy. 

Thank to all parents who made time to meet with classroom teachers to support our partnership on assisting our students reach their goals. Teachers appreciate your support and partnership. This term Semester 1 reports will also be given out in the final week of Term 2. 

What a great day we had at our Athletics Carnvial on Thursday. We were very lucky with the weather. There was some fantastic sportsmanship and leadership on display from students. Well done to all students who participated, cheered on their class mates and participated to have a wonderful day. Many thanks to staff, particularly Mrs Clare for her organisation. 

At this stage, our playground upgrade will be occuring over the July School Holidays. This will include sandstone seating and an outdoor learning area in front of the hall, and leading out from the new doors installed in the Kindergarten rooms. The vegie gardens will be landscaped into the current gardens in front of the hall and old toilet block. New play structures including a teepee dry creek bed will also be built.

On Wednesday 15th June we will be holding an information session on Kindergarten 2023 and the Successful Foundations for Learning project. This project has been extremely successful and we look forward to holding this session, regarding the value to play and the transition to Kindergarten. This session will be held at 10am in the Library. A light morning tea will be held following the session. 

Peace and Best Wishes, Amy Maslen

During our Catholic Schools Week Liturgy, Mr McCann was presented with a Service Award for 25 Years Service for in the Maitland-Newcastle Catholic Diocese. Mr McCann has worked at St. Mary's Scone, St. Joseph's Taree and St. Joseph's Gloucester in a number of roles including Classroom Teacher, Acting Assistant Principal and Acting Principal. We are very fortunate to have Mr McCann at St. Joseph's in his role of Religious Education Officer (R.E.C.), Pedagogical Mentor (PM) and Classroom Teacher. Mr McCann is a valuable member of St. Joseph's, knowing all students and supporting them to reach their goals and mentoring and supporting staff. 

Today, Friday 3rd June, students particpated in Catholic Schools Week Liturgy at St. Joseph's. During the Liturgy we also recognised the significance of National Reconiliation Week, 27th May - 3rd June. We unveiled our beautiful artwork of the Bucketts, which all students contributed to under the guidance of Mrs Clare. Students spoke about why they liked attending our Catholic School, St. Joseph's. Thank you to Mr Mcann, Mrs Clare, Miss Jordan and Mrs West  for their organisation of our Catholic Schools Week Liturgy and thank you to our parents who were able to attend the liturgy.

Some of our Year 6 Leaders also attended the Catholic Schools Week Liturgy in Newcastle at the Sacred Heart Cathedral with other schools from across the Diocese. Thank you to Mia Barnes, Nick Maslen and Peta Pettge for the representation at this Mass. 

On Thursday 2nd June we held our Athletics Carnival at the Gloucester Recreation Centre Oval. We were very lucky with the weather. There was some fantastic sportsmanship and leadership on display from students. Well done to all students who participated, cheered on their class mates and participated to have a wonderful day. Many thanks to staff, particularly Mrs Clare for her organisation.

Friday 1st July will be a Pupil Free Day at St. Joseph's. Staff will be participating in Professional Development with other staff in the Manning Region. The final day of Term 2 for students will be Thursday 30th June. 

On Thursday 2^nd June, the Virtual Academy students, Ewan and Cooper, engaged in the Digital Tools Workshop. Throughout the day, the boys selected the workshop they would like to participate in, before watching videos and following specific instructions to learn how to use the technology. Following this, Ewan and Cooper applied their learnings to complete a “digital creation” activity. Ewan learnt how to use Video Editing technology and created a video about sharks, with special effects embedded throughout it. Cooper learnt how to use Photoshop and re-created a movie poster into a new and improved version. He also made a poster about phones taking over the world. The boys engaged in this day so positively and it was so pleasing to witness how committed they were to their learning. I look forward to seeing how the boys use their new skills in their work in the Virtual Academy and share their learnings with their classmates.

We have winter scarves and gloves (smaller sizes) available in stock for winter. We also have a number items in the clothing pool.