2024 Week 1 Term 2

Dear Parents

We trust all our students and families enjoyed the glorious autumn weather over
the school holidays and are refreshed and ready for a big Term of learning, growth
and connecting at St Joseph's School.

ANZAC DAY LITURGY

On Tuesday afternoon the whole school came together to commemorate an ANZAC Day Liturgy. Mrs Ninness and our school leaders organised the Liturgy which reminded us of the sacrifices made for our country. We were lucky enough to have Mr Chris Stafford and Mr Mick Brownlow from the Wauchope RSL Sub Branch talk to the children about the reasons for us to remember soldiers and those who served in wars. It was a poignant moment as we listened to them speak and be reminded that we still have service people deployed to different countries around the world. How lucky we are to live in a country of peace and freedom. We thank both service men for continuing to answer our children's questions long after the Liturgy had finished.

Mother's Day Stall

Mothers Day is fast approaching. Our P & F have organised a Mother's Day stall for Thursday 9 May 2024. Gifts will be available for the children to purchase from $1.00 to $10.00 per gift. Ensure your child secures their money in a wallet or zip lock bag to spend on the day.

Tell Them From Me Survey

Absences and Holidays

Holidays: If you are heading away on holidays during school Term, please notify the school Office, seek Principal approval and complete the exemption form for leave. This can be completed at the front Office.

Leaving: If your child is ceasing enrolment at the school, please notify the Principal through an email or completing a Termination of Enrolment form from the Office. Children by law cannot be enrolled in two schools at once.

Late: If your child is late to school please inform the Office prior to the COMPASS notification and text message being sent out.

Unwell: If your child is sick, please notify the school prior to the COMPASS notification and text message  being sent out.

(PBS) Positive Based Structures - School Rules

School rules are a very important part of what makes St Joseph’s school the great place it is.

Please note that our school follows a series of rules: The students at St Joseph’s are: Respectful, Responsible and Resilient Learners.

This mantra was developed by our teachers and students six years ago in order to make our school a happy workplace for our students to learn, play and be safe.

We encourage our students daily to “use their words”. We also encourage our students to ask questions and discuss issues with their peers, in a polite way, to solve problems that inevitably arise between students. If students need more support to sort these issues they are encouraged to speak to teachers enabling problems to be solved as quickly as possible.

All issues brought to teachers attention are dealt with on the day and parents will be contacted at an appropriate time.  This will also apply when a reflection is given to students who do not follow our school rules. We appreciate the support of our parents who continue to reiterate the high expectations we expect of our children and adhere to, including important school rules.

KEEPING YOUR CHILD SAFE ONLINE

We have noticed an increase in discussions amongst chldren about gaming at home.  They also tell us about the late and early hours they access devices. I have provided below some Government links for parents with helpful information regarding safety online, recommendations for online screen time per day for primary aged children and information regarding setting parental controls.

I hope these may be helpful to some parents -

https://aifs.gov.au/resources/short-articles/too-muchtime-screens

https://www.esafety.gov.au/kids

Please contact the school if you would like any help accessing this information

Have a lovely weekend ahead. Best of luck to anyone who has entered into the Port Macquarie Ironman this weekend.

Peace be with you

Brendan Kiely

Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on

School Students with Disability

Every year, in Term 2, all schools in Australia participate in the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD). The NCCD process requires schools to identify information already available in the school about supports provided to students with disability. These relate to legislative requirements under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and the Disability Standards for Education 2005, in line with the NCCD guidelines (2019).

Information provided about students to the Australian Government for the NCCD includes:

• year of schooling
• category of disability: physical, cognitive, sensory or social/emotional
• level of adjustment provided: support provided within quality differentiated teaching practice, supplementary, substantial or extensive.

This information assists schools to:

• formally recognise the supports and adjustments provided to students with disability in schools
• consider how they can strengthen the support of students with disability in schools
• develop shared practices so that they can review their learning programs in order to improve educational outcomes for students with disability.

The NCCD provides state and federal governments with the information they need to plan more broadly for the support of students with disability.

The NCCD will have no direct impact on any of our children and no child will be involved in any testing process. The school will provide data to the Australian Government in such a way that no individual student will be able to be identified – the privacy and confidentiality of all students is ensured. All information is protected by privacy laws that regulate the collection, storage and disclosure of personal information. To find out more about these matters, please refer to the Australian Government’s Privacy Policy (https://www.education.gov.au/privacy-policy).

Further information about the NCCD can be found on the NCCD Portal (https://www.nccd.edu.au).

If you have any questions about the NCCD, please contact the school on 6585 1745.

On Wednesday 1 May 2024 we held our competitive school Cross Country carnival at Andrew's Park. Students showcased their athleticism and determination while running through the wet and windy conditions.

Age champions: 

8 Years: Jake W and Gracie W

9 Years: Hudson B and Pippa F

10 Years: Jace C and Ruby W

11 Years: Owen W and Abigail S

12 Years: Livio S and Tara W

House Champions: Waugh

The following students will compete at the Zone Cross Country Carnival in Kempsey on Wednesday 8 May 2024. We wish them all the best as the race against the other schools from the Hastings Zone. 

Staff V Year 6 Basketball Game

Friday 3 May 2024

Anzac Day Liturgy - Tuesday 30 April 2024

Mick Brownlow and Chris Stafford from the Wauchope RSL Sub Branch spoke to the school about the reasons for us to remember soldiers and those who served in wars.

Anzac Day - Thursday 25 April 2024

Wauchope Show Art Prizes

St Joseph's School entered many pieces of art to our recent Wauchope Show. The students were recognised for their creativity, skill and artistic flair a large number of entries receiving First, Second and Third place ribbons. We were also awarded first place for our group Lasiandra banner and a wonderful Kindergarten colouring of The Last Supper. 

Welcome to baby Harry who was born on Wednesday.  Harry is a beautiful little brother for Audrey in Y1 Bago.

If you are intending to enrol a sibling/siblings for Kindergarten at St Joseph’s School in 2025, it is important that the enrolment application is completed promptly and all necessary information is conveyed to the school ASAP.  That way we can have a position available for your child in Kindergarten.  We have already received applications from new families through our online enrolment process. Existing Families can begin their enrolment online through our schools website or through Compass App. 

Existing Families - St Joseph's Primary School Wauchope (wauplism.catholic.edu.au)