School Newsletter

This week we recognise both the liturgical season of Pentecost, and National Sorry Day. Whilst two very different observances they do share some common threads. Pentecost is said to mark the beginning of the Christian Church.  This event, described in the New Testament, depicts a new beginning for the disciples of Jesus.  Upon receiving the Holy Spirit, they began to speak in languages that others could understand and share the Good News of Jesus.  This event helped people understand and come together in unity. 

So too does our commemoration of the Stolen Generations, the many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children who were forcibly removed from their families over many decades. This part of Australia’s history is remembered with sorrow especially on May 26 when the first National Sorry Day occurred in 1998.  In 2008, former Prime Minister Rudd’s apology, formally given to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, did much to build understanding, bringing people together in unity for reconciliation, hope and healing.

Each year schools are required to provide a written report to parents/caregivers two times per year, which, in plain language, describes the student’s achievement in relation to the curriculum.  For students from Year 1, this must include an A-E grade for each learning area. This semester, for this first time, your child’s school report will be generated through SEQTA, a new learner management system which all Catholic Primary Schools have been required to implement.  Eventually, SEQTA will provide parents/caregivers with online access to learning plans, assessment information and semester reporting. For the time being though, we will print and distribute student reports as the parent portal has not yet been made available to us.

Currently, teachers at St Joseph’s School are uploading information into SEQTA in relation to assessment tasks, rubrics and results so as to generate a Semester 1 report for each student.  Via this system, the format of the St Joseph’s School report will be quite different to what families have received previously. It will provide a grade for each learning area (a worded description for Reception students) and a general comment which will incorporate information about student achievement in general and in particular for English, Mathematics and Religious Education. The report, for the first time, will also include a sliding scale assessment for the way your child demonstrates our Five Respects – that is respect for Self, Others, Staff, Learning and Property/ Environment.

Written reports are only one way that schools report to parents about their child’s learning.  Opportunities for Learning Conversations that are provided in Term 1 and Term 3 is another formal mechanism for reporting.  We also have more informal mechanisms for sharing learning achievements such as scheduled or impromptu meetings with teachers, communication via Seesaw, the school Newsletter and class assemblies.

Several of our families and staff took advantage of the recent Motivate Kids Parent Workshop focusing on regulation. Rochelle Mutton, the Director of Motivate Kids, spoke with us about how we, as adults, can best respond when children are feeling dysregulated and how we can proactively assist them with tools and mechanisms to stay regulated, and to help them re-regulate when necessary.  Rochelle’s key message, that ‘behaviour is communication’ has been an important anchor on which we have based our ongoing professional learning and our whole school focus on the Zones of Regulation developed through our partnership with Motivate Kids.

Rochelle has made the presentation available for those who were in attendance.  Please send me an email if you would like a copy mfarrugia@sjsh.catholic.edu.au .

Our Performing Arts teacher, Reanna Arthur, will return to us at the beginning of Week 6 after 5 weeks of Long Service Leave.  We thank Loretta De Palma, an experience Music teacher, who has stepped in to teach the specialist music program and our Choir during this time.

Please see information included with today’s newsletter outlining the uniform expectations here at St Joseph’s School.  I ask that you check over your child’s uniform to ensure they are adhering to the expectations each day including wearing the correct footwear for the uniform (i.e. trainers only with the sport uniform), ensuring longer hair is tied up and that jewellery is not worn beyond the types listed. The wearing of the school uniform correctly should be a matter of pride for our students and is an expectation of enrolment at St Joseph’s School.

Uniform Code

Hair
All shoulder length and longer hair must be tied up with a blue, black or hair coloured hair tie.

• Brightly coloured hair, coloured streaking, coloured highlights and coloured hair spray are not allowed
• Uniform fabric scrunchies or sky blue or navy blue ribbons and natural hair clips are acceptable accessories

Make Up
Make-up and fingernail polish are not to be worn by students.

Jewellery
The School accepts no responsibility for any jewellery worn to school.

• Religious jewellery eg chains only to be worn underneath school uniform
• Watches can be worn
• One set of plain (not dangling) stud and/or sleeper earrings may be worn - 1 earring per ear
• Rings and bracelets and other ornaments are not to be worn (medical alert bracelets only) 

This week we celebrate one of the most important feast days in the Catholic Church that concludes the Easter season and celebrates the beginning of the Church.

Pentecost always occurs 50 days after the death and resurrection of Jesus, and 10 days after his ascension into heaven. The name of the day itself is derived from the Greek word ‘pentecoste,’ meaning 50th.

It is the celebration of the person of the Holy Spirit coming upon the Apostles, Mary and the first followers of Jesus, who were gathered together.

When the Holy Spirit descended on Pentecost, the Apostles received the gift of the Spirit. At Baptism, we receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit. These gifts are strengthened during the Sacrament of Confirmation.

🦉 Wisdom – to see the world as God sees it (not from our own perspective)

🤝 Understanding – to recognise that what lies below the surface is sometimes more important than what is obvious

🤗 Judgment (counsel) – to know the difference between right and wrong

✊ Courage (fortitude) – to stand up for what is right

📚 Knowledge – to always seek the truth

🙏 Reverence (piety) – to recognise what is holy and sacred and the divine presence of God

✨ Wonder and awe (fear of the Lord) – to appreciate the mysteries of life.

The Spirit of God enlivens all we do. It breathes new life into us because it is the very Spirit and breath of resurrection, renewal, and new creation. It encourages us to be the body of Christ in this challenging world

This term the Year 1/2s are organising a Pyjama Day to raise money for Catholic Charities Appeal Me 4 U. The Me 4 U campaign’s focus is to assist schools in generating ways to bring students together for an event and/or fundraising activity with the main focus of reinforcing Catholic Charities message ‘Never see a need without doing something about it.’

As a Unit the 1/2s decided to raise the money for this campaign, specifically they have chosen for the money to go to Our Lady of Le Vang and St Patrick’s Special Schools so they can provide specialised staff and programs for their students.

On Friday 9th June 2023, students will be encouraged to wear their pyjamas to school and bring a donation to support this campaign. More information to come.

A reminder the next Community Mass is on Sunday, 28th May at 9am at Sacred Heart Church. This will be hosted by Immaculate Heart of Mary School.

On Sunday, 25th June, 9am at Sacred Heart Parish, St Joseph’s will be hosting the family Mass. It would be great if you could put this date in your diary to attend.

Let's be a 'voice' of respect and commitment this National Reconciliation Week. In support of NRW this year the students are invited to wear indigenous colours for our walk around the school block in week 5.

📅 When: Wednesday 31st May
👕 Wear: the Indigenous colours…red, yellow, black, green, blue or white 
🚶‍♂️ Activity: After Assembly (approx. 9.20am), classes will walk around the school block in an effort to be a 'voice' of respect and commitment between First Nations peoples and all Australians

⬛️🟡🟥

More information about National Reconciliation Week below 👇

In recognition and in support of NRW (National Reconciliation Week) St Joseph’s children are invited to wear the Indigenous colours…red, yellow, black, green, blue or white on Wednesday, 31 May. If your child does not have the appropriate colours, they are permitted to wear their sport uniform on this day.

The focus for assembly on this day will be National Reconciliation Week and it will be hosted by Year 1/ 2 R.

Following Assembly, the students of St Joseph’s School will be walk around the school block in an effort to be a ‘voice’ of respect and commitment to building ongoing positive relationships between First Nations peoples and all Australians. 

⬛️🟡🟥

🙋 Are you able to help? Volunteers needed

We will require a few parents to assist us on our walk by standing at and supervising one of the corner blocks as the students walk.

You are also warmly invited to join your child’s class on our walk.

Students will begin walking from the Bertie Street school gate, walk along Bertie Street, left on Bond Street, then left again on Albemarle Street and enter via the double gates adjacent the school hall.

🕘 We will leave approx. 9:20am and return to school at approx. 9:40 am. Please let your child’s class teacher know if you can assist on this day.

A group of students who were involved in the Kaurna food and fibre project, where given a wonderful opportunity to further develop their understanding of the indigenous culture and the materials they utilized to defend themselves, hunt for food, and provide themselves with comfort in the colder weather, were we also learned about the different indigenous seasons. During this incursion, the students involved had the opportunity to pass around a variety of symbolic objects, photographs and other materials that the indigenous culture might have once used. Our special guests that came to our school also taught us some indigenous language. I am glad that we were provided with the opportunity to be involved in this learning experience.  

by Shalya

On Friday the 19th, the children from the Kaurna Food & Fibre project participated in an incursion hosted by Drew Kilner and Liesl von der Borch. When we walked in, we sat down in front of a bunch of strange objects. Drew talked us through each one whilst Liesl passed around cards with pictures on them. After that, Liesl set up a little scene of what it would have been like before the English took over. Then she took out most of the native plants and animals and replaced them with cows, goats, houses, and things that the Kaurna people did not have. She told us how the new animal’s hard hooves hardened the nice, soft soil. Then, she told and showed us how the English stole the native people’s children because they thought that their parents didn’t do a very good job of looking after them and that they could do a better job themselves! It was all very sad, and Diedre nearly cried! (I don’t blame her.) Towards the end, Liesl gave us some homework. She said that by measuring the circumference of a gum tree in metres, you could tell how old it was! So, we were given the task of measuring most of the trees we find and seeing just how old they were. Drew and Liesl are coming back this coming Friday and I am looking forward to learning more about the Kaurna culture and the history of our country. 

By Ava

These are our ‘Prayer Hearts’ that our students can hold during morning prayer. ❤️

Following the brief, the year 3/4 students needed to design a heart that included a hollow cut out of their name. They used Tinkercad, a 3D modelling program and our Flashforge 3D printer to print the perfect heart.

A great daily reminder of our school motto, In All Things Love.

We LOVE our Catholic school!

This Catholic Education Week, we asked our students to share some of the reasons why they love St Joseph's on our Gratitude Banner!

👩‍🏫 Michaela in Reception said "I like my teacher for teaching me new letters."

🛝 Emily, Ajit and many others love our new playground, especially the swings.

🤩 Others enjoy things like Maths, PE, the staff, their friends and EVERYTHING in our school.

Ella is a fun and easy digital language program for preschool children. The program is an Australian Government initiative aimed at encouraging more students to study language. At St Joseph's we are learning Italian, you can learn more about the program below 👇

The beach is a familiar and iconic place for most Australian children. The Polyglots at the Beach provides a playful environment and opportunities to explore the language of colours. Children also revisit the language of greetings from App 1. While playing above and below the water, children are encouraged to interact with the language of colours, sea creatures and expressions of preference. 

One of the activities involves children feeding fish and focuses on understanding colour words. The children are being invited to play fishing games and match the coloured fish with labels named in Italian to help reinforce the language, concepts and vocabulary introduced. 

National Simultaneous Storytime (NSS) is held annually by the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA). Every year a picture book, written and illustrated by an Australian author and illustrator, is read simultaneously in libraries, schools, pre-schools, childcare centres, family homes, bookshops and many other places around the country. Now in its 23nd successful year, it is a colourful, vibrant, fun event that aims to promote the value of reading and literacy, using an Australian children's book that explores age-appropriate themes, and addresses key learning areas of the National Curriculum for Foundation to Year 6.

On Friday 12th May, Mr Baird accompanied the House Captains and School Captains to a 'Leadership Day' held at St Michael's College.

The purpose of the day was for the students to learn how to develop their leadership skills. This was taught through movement exercises and running games led by some of the teachers at St. Michael's.

During these games, the key was to 'think before acting'. When they arrived they watched a video of senior students of St Michael's who explained to how to play the games. 

They then came together to brainstorm and discuss what programs they were going to bring back to run at our school.

Overall it was a great day and they are looking forward to implementing some of the strategies they learnt in their own leadership practices. 

The 5/6's have been learning about the 'Power of the Sun' in Science this term. Their challenge was to follow the scientific process and design to build a device to cook a marshmallow! 

Devices were made out of boxes, aluminium foil, skewers, black paper and plastic sheets. Students demonstrated the power of the sun by cooking their marshmallow and monitoring its temperature using a thermometer. 🌡

🤔 As groups carried out their experiment, they determined possible sources of errors in methods and findings, formulated questions for further investigation and discussed evidence to support reasoned conclusions.

   This term the inquiry focus in the Reception unit is based around Biological Sciences. On Friday 12th May, 37 very excited Receptions set off for their excursion to the Adelaide Zoo!  🐅 🦧 🦒 🦜

Their excursion was a wonderful way to begin their learning in science this term. At the zoo they saw lots of amazing animals, and visited the zoo classroom where Julie 👩‍🏫 , one of the zoo educators taught them all about the external features of Australian Animals.

During their zoo lesson they were able to feel some different Australian animal skins and also got up close with a blue tongued lizard name Henley. 🦎

The animals at the zoo were very busy during our visit

🦒 we were very lucky to see the baby giraffe following his big sister

🐅 the Sumatran tiger cubs playing their mum

🦭 the sea lions being feed by the zookeeper

🦁 the lions roaring very loudly and,

🐼 Fu Ni the Giant Panda playing while Wang Wang took a nap

🌳 They even saw one of the red pandas playing in the trees and made sure he didn’t escape this time!

🐊 The Komodo dragon Naga even went up close to say hello...luckily he was behind a big glass window! 

They had a great day at the Adelaide Zoo and although most of them were very tired at the end of the day, they haven’t stopped talking about the zoo and the animals ever since their visit! 

When they returned to school they voted for their favourite animal at the zoo and created beautiful artwork of our favourite animals. A big thank you to all the parents who assisted on the excursion.

Please ensure you are up to date with your school fee payments. Statements and reminder notices will be posted in the next fortnight. 

It is not too late to apply for a school card. 

Payments can be made via Qkr app, Direct Debit, BPay, credit card, Centrepay or at the office. 

If needed, please contact Jo Puccetti  accounts@sjsh.catholic.edu.au or 8424 6403.