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.
As we approach the end of the school year, it's a pleasure to share that the dedication to academic growth is evident in impressive student progress of both Mathematics and Literacy. The recent end-of-year assessments have highlighted significant achievements, indicating the effectiveness of the school's commitment to learning.These achievements reflect the dedication and hard work of both our students and their teachers.
Our teachers are working on providing insightful and personalised reports that capture the unique strengths and achievements of each child. These will
be coming home to families Wednesday 13th.
Additionally, we're preparing for an exciting end-of-year wind-up, filled with special activities and moments of joy. We look forward to singing together this Friday at the Penshurst Christmas Party in the park.
Our End of Year Mass and Gr 6 Graduation is on Wednesday 13th December. Our end of year Whole School Mass will be held during school hours at 2pm for any family and parish members to attend.
Beware, Buddy Mac Jingle St Joseph's school Elf is back for the festive season and having fun with our student's imaginations each morning.
Have a great week everyone.
Darren.
The first Sunday of December marks the first day of Advent. Advent is a time when we reflect on how we can prepare our hearts and homes for Jesus' birth.
During this week we light our first purple candle on the Advent Wreath.
The Graduation Ceremony will be Wednesday 13th December at 6.30pm.
We will celebrate our graduates, farewell some families and enjoy a BBQ meal together back at school directly after the celebration.
The Graduation Ceremony is a significant and very special celebration in our school and we expect that students and families will attend this gathering. Students are asked to wear their summer uniform and sit with their families in the church. More information will be shared as we get closer to the date. Pop it on your calendar!
Next week we dive into our final week for the year. Yes we do finish at 3.20 on Friday 15th December instead of our usual early finish. We have a busy week jam packed with Christmas creative fun, Mass, Graduation, cooking, Bike Ed town ride, swimming fun day and much more. Please be on the look out for our swimming day permission form.
Our senior students are learning that the Catholic Church has identified a special time of the year where Catholics prepare their hearts and minds to celebrate the gift of Jesus coming into the world. This celebration is called Advent. The colour associated with Advent is purple. We show this in our classroom by changing the cloth on our prayer focus area to purple and using an Advent Wreath during Prayer focus in the mornings.
Using an Advent Wreath is a formal Advent tradition. The wreath is circular and made of evergreens. Each Advent Wreath contains four candles, one for every week of Advent. The candles on the Advent Wreath are three violet ones and one rose one – exactly the same as the colours of the four weeks of Advent. Some Advent Wreaths also contain a fifth white candle symbolising purity – the Christ Candle – that can be lit during the Christmas Season.
Our Juniors had quite the outing on Thursday with and inspiring time with author Paul Venzo, sharing wonders and learning about the Great Southern Ocean. Our students enjoyed collecting rubbish on the beach and searching for ocean treasures before having lunch at the Lake Pertobe park.
Gauging by the sleeping students on the trip back to school, it was a fun filled experience. Thank you Brendan and Alice for providing such a great time for our much deserved students.
Term Four - Special Dates to Remember:
December
School Wide Positive Behaviour Support is: A multi-tiered framework for establishing the social culture and behavioural supports needed for a school to achieve behavioural and academic outcomes for all students.
At school we are working with our students on the following:
RESPECT - Remembering to allow others their own space.
SAFETY - Remaining in our seats and allowing the driver to concentrate when travelling in a vehicle.
RESPONSIBILITY - to play an equal role when working and supporting a team.
It’s almost Christmas! It has certainly come around quickly this year. No doubt, your children will be busy making their Christmas lists for Santa and there could be a bit of technology on those lists! Not just the ones we immediately think of either; eg: gaming, tablets, phones, but also things like drones, robotic toys and more. This link from www.esafety.gov.au will give you more information on the different tech that may be on those lists and provides great information about them. It’s a great site to forward on to the North Pole too!
We have now broken down all eleven Child Safety Standards in our newsletter. If you have any questions about any of the standards, please ask, or more information about these standards can be found here: Child Safe Standards
