St. Joseph's Primary Penshurst.

At St. Joseph’s Primary School we pay our respects to the traditional owners of the land, the Kolorer gunditj people and pay our respect to their Elders past, present and emerging.

The area around Mount Rouse is the country of the Kolorer gunditj clan of Aboriginal people. Their title is derived from their name for Mount Rouse which is Kolor. The permanent spring that is now located within the Penshurst Botanic Gardens was a traditional meeting place for Aboriginal people in the region.

Congratulations to our school family for making Catholic Education Week 2024 such a success. The activities our school committed to within the diocese and in the classroom were wonderful to see. This effort reinforced  the value we place on belonging and contributing to the greater good of local communities.  May 1, celebrated St. Joseph the Worker. The Feast of St. Joseph the Worker was instituted by Pope Pius XII in 1955 to recognise the dignity of work. Our students and staff worked very hard on making Joseph the Worker proud in their craftsmanship. Ensure you read more  and view the pics about these two wonderful examples of celebrated Catholic School Culture at St Joseph's.

I hope to see many of you this Friday at the M<other's Day Breakfast.

Warm regards, 

Darren.

This week students and staff gathered on the old Sacred Heart convert site of Casterton to celebrate Catholic Education Week in our MacKillop Network of schools. This large group of friends journeyed from St Mary’s Hamilton, St. Joseph's Coleraine, Sacred Heart School Casterton, All Saints Portland, St Joseph’s Penshurst and St. Malachy’s in Edenhope.This Year we celebrate 150 Years of the Ballarat Diocese from the Murray to the Sea. We welcomed Fathers Greg Tait from Portland, Fr Paddy Mugavin from Hamilton/Penshurst and Fr George representing Casterton, Coleraine and Edenhope with guests from the DOBCEL Board and Educational Consultants.A celebration Mass was held in the beautiful Sacred Heart church where members of all schools mingled. As part of the entrance procession, a jar of water was brought forward from each of our towns. We were reminded how precious water is to us because of our health and well being, our crops and our links to the Sacrament of Baptism. We are all connected by this water in each of the six schools in the Mackillop Network represented.Our children celebrated this special event with an active morning of interactive sports provided by Kaboom Sports and a chatty lunch together. Not only was this a diocese celebration of education, it was an outstanding opportunity for our students in rural schools to connect once more from past sporting and camp experiences.

Oh St Joseph, we hope our carpenters did you proud!We had fun trying.May 1st was the Feast of St Joseph the Worker. St Joseph’s Penshurst celebrated our Patron Saint, who is many things. Joseph, the caring partner of Mary, the foster-father and teacher of Jesus, a working man and a faithful man of God. He worked as a humble carpenter and cared for his family as a loving father.The special qualities of Joseph are human qualities that we too can aspire to in our own lives and encourage our students to live.On this day we discussed how Jesus would have learned so much from Joseph, especially how to be humble, just, gentle and honest. We also think of St Joseph as a worker and ask God’s special blessing on workers all over the world.To celebrate we held very entertaining Tradie Safety Relays and tested our own resilience, persistence and hand eye coordination to build timber boxes.With hammer, nail and the odd banged thumb, we constructed some impressive tool boxes and trinket boxes that Joseph himself would be proud of.Thank you to all our very patient and supportive staff including Education Consultant Janet Claasen who picked up tools. A special plug goes out to the Warrnambool Men’s Shed for the pre-cut woodwork kits that engaged our creative students.

On a drizzly ANZAC dawn, it was warming to witness so many Penshurst community members gather to pay their respects to service men and women. A special thank you to the McRae family, especially Maddison and Darcy, for their support at this morning’s Penshurst Dawn Service. It was special to see families present private wreaths to honour and remember family members.

This is a reminder to families that Frank Monger from MSP Photography will visit our school on Wednesday 15th May. Students will be required to wear their Winter uniform.

Photo envelopes were sent home during Week 1. Family envelopes are available for those who would like sibling photos.

You can order online by going to www.msp.com.au or pay by cash.

Please return them by Friday, May 10th.

  Term Two - Special Dates to Remember:

May:

• Friday 10th - Mother's Day breakfast
• Wednesday 15th  - Photo Day.
• Sunday 19th - Pentecost.
• Week 8 (27th - 31st) Swimming Week at HILAC.

June:

• Thursday 6th - Hamilton Whole School Eisteddfod.
• King's Birthday Public Holiday
• Thursday 28th - Last Day of Term (1.40pm Lunchtime finish).

Trauma in children significantly disturbs their sense of safety and normalcy, leading to substantial emotional and behavioural changes. Such disturbances often result from exposure to traumatic events, which may be exacerbated by continuous media coverage. This exposure can trigger stress, anxiety, and trauma, with varying recovery timelines due to the unpredictable nature of trauma's impact. Observing young people grappling with these effects can be highly distressing for parents and caregivers.

It's important to establish a nurturing environment to help restore a child's sense of security to help promote resilience. Active involvement in their recovery is essential, as is recognising the unique, personalised needs of each child in responding to trauma. Depending on their age, children may present with different symptoms, such as regressive behaviours in younger ones or withdrawal and agitation in older children and teens. It is important to monitor and manage the type of information children may access to reduce their emotional distress.

The brain stores traumatic events as powerful emotional memories, influencing behaviour through mechanisms beyond a child's conscious awareness. By providing young people with support and equipping them with coping mechanisms to handle uncertainty, parents and carers can greatly enhance a child's capacity to recover and build long-term emotional resilience.

This Special Report will help you identify a child experiencing trauma and how you can support them to overcome it.

Here is the link to your Special Report 

https://sjpenshurst.catholic.schooltv.me/wellbeing_news/special-report-trauma-recovery