School Newsletter

Secondly, Sue Ciampi who works across the Preschool as a Co-educator, as well as in the Primary School and the OSHC service, has decided to resign her position as of later this term.  Sue has worked in various capacities at St Joseph’s School for 15 years - also a very significant amount of time.  Sue’s ‘can do’ attitude, initiative and warm engagement with students, staff and families will be missed in our community.

Finally, I share the news that Julie Bottger, who has been with us since the beginning of the year as Preschool Coordinator and this term as Preschool Teacher, will finish her contract at the end of this term.  Julie has won a full-time position at another Catholic preschool where she has also been working part-time this term. I thank Julie for her wonderful contribution to our service, and to our children, over this time and wish her all the very best for the future.

You may be aware that our new oval is not functioning as it should in regards to drainage, despite being constructed with significant underground channelling in accord with council requirements. Dirtwork are onsite this week working to rectify the problem and I commend them for their quick response following recent rains which made this issue more apparent. We want to be able to use our oval effectively over the wet winter months and therefore it was not feasible to delay this work until the school holiday period. Once again, our students are demonstrating their patience with having this area out of bounds for a while longer.

Last week I was privileged to attend the Catholic Primary Principals’ Conference.  Though difficult to step away from our busy school environment, this was a powerful time of learning and reflection. 

Our first speaker was Kurt Fearnley AO, who, in addition to be an extraordinary athlete and Australian of the Year 2019, is also an advocate for those who are disabled.  Speaking powerfully about his own disability Kurt stated, ‘I was not disabled until people kept putting stairs in front of me’.  He challenged us as school leaders to always strive to ensure our students with disabilities are not dis-abled to access all aspects of learning and belonging by the barriers we unwittingly put in front of them.

We also engaged with Professor Lea Waters who spoke with us about her research in making wellbeing visible and taking a strength-based approach to helping each other to ‘be-well'.  You can hear more at her TED EX talk ‘Being positive is not for the faint hearted!’ .  Other speakers included Simon Breakspear on building healthy teams and Lee Crockett, author, and founder of Future Focused Learning on the topic of agency.

I was lucky enough to win a voucher for a 3 lap Ford Mustang experience at the Bends Motorsport Park whist at the SACPPA Conference last week valued at $129.  If you would like it – make a bid by emailing me at mfarrugia@sjsh.catholic.edu.au.  Highest bidder by Friday 5pm wins.  Proceeds will be donated to Catholic Charities to align with our school fundraiser on Friday this week.

Don't forget it's Pyjama Day on Friday for the whole school (Preschool to Year 6)!

We'll be helping our year 1/2 students to raise money for Our Lady of La Vang and St Patrick's schools through Catholic Charities.

We hope you can join in the fun!

📅 Friday 9th June 2023
👉 Wear your P.J's to school
💰 Bring a gold coin donation

During National Reconciliation Week, our school community united for a powerful journey of healing and unity. 🏫 ♥️ We gathered in a heartfelt assembly, offering prayers for reconciliation, and then embarked on a meaningful walk around the school block. 🙏 ✨🚶‍♂️

🌟 With every step we took, we became the voices of change, committed to fostering respect, understanding, and equality for generations to come. 🌎 🗣️

Together, let's keep striving for a future where every voice is heard, and our nation stands united in embracing diversity and embracing reconciliation. 🫱🏻‍🫲🏿 🌏 💚

🌊🐟 Our 3/4 students had the most amazing day with the crew at the Marine Discovery Centre ! 😄 

They've been diving deep into their studies on sustainability, world climates, and Australia's marine ecosystem in HASS class. And last week, they took their learning to a whole new level! 🌏 🔍

They got to know all the incredible marine life that calls the Great Southern Reef their home.🐋 🐢 Can you believe it? Each student even picked their own marine animal to become experts on for their literacy learning! 📝 🐙

But that's not all! They had a blast beach combing along Henley Beach, finding all sorts of treasures hidden in the sand. 🏖️🐚 And when they hit the Marine Discovery Centre, it was like entering a whole new world! They even got to do all kinds of hands-on activities and experiments. 🧪✨

What a day! Our students are feeling so lucky to have had this fun-filled adventure while learning important stuff about our oceans. 🌊💙 Stay tuned for some amazing marine animal reports from our talented students! 📖 🌟

The Preschoolers learnt that the native hibiscus or desert rose is also known as the sorry day or stolen generation flower. To honour Sorry Day and Reconciliation Week, the preschool children were invited to create a purple flower and add a message about when or why we say sorry to our friends and family. 

Further opportunities were provided for children to examine the Aboriginal flag and replicate the design with paint at the easels.

Children respond to diversity with respect  when they investigate the cultural and linguistic diversity represented in their community through a range of creative expressions. 

We are sharing this post as part of our ongoing partnership with Credit Union SA’s School Community Rewards program. To find out more about how this program benefits our school fundraising activities, please visit their webpage or reach out to Eliza on 0499 772 966