2024 Week 2 Term 4

Prayer for Term Four
Dear Lord
We ask you to be present in this space. Lord, as we prepare for the coming of a new Term make us ready, attentive, and available to hear you.
Thank You for the gift of being able to rise each day, with us, the assurance that You walk through it with us.
Thank You for the gifts of creativity and uniqueness, and the energy to put them to good use.
May all that we are today, all that we try to do today, may all our encounters, reflections, even the frustrations and failings be placed in your hands.
May the work we do and the way we do it, bring new hope, new life, and courage to all we come in contact with this Term. We thank you, Lord.
We make this prayer through Christ Our Lord,
Amen

Dear Parents

Welcome, everyone to our final Term for 2024 - where has the year gone! I hope you all had time over the holiday to rest and relax.

Through Compass you should have received, from our teachers, the Term overview, sharing with you all the great learning and activities in place.

This Term we welcomed another new family to our school – Harper who has joined Year 1 and Maddison, Year 3. The girls and their parents are very excited to join our amazing school. I know our school community will make you feel very welcome

Every Day Counts

Every child matters, every day.

Every day counts — is your child at school today?
Attending school every day counts. If your child is absent consistently one day per week, this quickly adds up to two months of missed school in a year.

Did you know your child’s best learning time is at the start of the school day?
Does your child have a chance of being successful? One or two days does not seem much, but…

Partial Absences

• Students who leave school premises during normal school hours and,
• those who are late arriving at school.

If bringing a child to school after the 9:00 am commencement time, parents are required to attend the front Office before the child enters the classroom.

Punctuality adds up

Supporting your child's attendance at school

Develop good routines:
Children NEED routine. These habits are a good foundation which will help children throughout their school life and into the future;

• Organise uniforms, school bags and all school requirements the night before
• Bedtime at the SAME reasonable time each night
• Wake up and get out of bed at the SAME time each morning
• Eat a healthy breakfast at the SAME time each morning
• Depart home for school at the SAME time each day (be on time!)

Be positive

Discuss our school in a positive way in front of your child. If you have any concerns, contact the school to discuss the issue rather than create a negative image for your child. You will create problems for yourself and your child if you teach them to be negative regarding school.

Building Works - Commence Sunday 1 December 2024

We are thrilled to announce that, following extensive preparation, the major building works are set to begin! Stage 1 will kick off on Sunday 1 December 2024, transforming the MacKillop Room into the main school toilet block and restrooms, a sporting room, and storage space. This work should be completed prior to the beginning of the 2025 school year.

This phase will also include the decommissioning of the old toilet block in anticipation of Stage 2, planned for 2025.  Stage 2 works will focus on the areas surrounding the Speech and Counselling rooms, as well as the old toilets and storage spaces off Stage 3. We look forward to these enhancements for our students and improvement to our school’s educational environment. We will continue to inform families of the works progress.

Staffing Updates

Ms Teghan Houghton - AEW (Aboriginal Education Worker) 

Mrs Nerine McGrath - Speech Therapist

I wish to extend my heartfelt congratulations to Ms Tegan Houghton and Mrs Nerine McGrath on their new positions within the Wauchope community, commencing next year. Ms Tegan Houghton - Director of Pre-schools and Mrs Nerine McGrath - Speech Therapist with Community Health. Your dedication and commitment to supporting our students have made a lasting impact.

I also want to express our sincere gratitude for the time you spent with us at our school. Your work has not only enriched the lives of our students but has also fostered a supportive and inclusive environment. We appreciate all your efforts and the positive influence you’ve had on our school community.

Wishing you both all the best in your new endeavours!

St Joseph's Positive Behaviour Structures -

Star Student Award

We are pleased to introduce an exciting new way to celebrate the positive behaviour and achievements of our students. Commencing this Term, we will be using Compass to notify you when your child receives a Star Student Award.

The Star Student Award recognises students who demonstrate outstanding positive behaviour across the school. When your child receives this award, you will be notified via email. The information will also be available via your Compass portal. These notifications will allow you to stay informed and celebrate your child’s success.

I wish everyone at St Joseph's School an amazing Term 4. We know it is always busy and we look forward to all the learning and school happenings we will undertake together. Be sure to look after yourself and your family during this busy time.

Peace be with you

Brendan Kiely

Children's Liturgy

All Saints Day

As a school, we will celebrate All Saints' Day on Friday 1 November 2024, with a Whole School Mass at 9.30 am. All Saints' Day is a Catholic celebration that occurs annually. The event gives believers the opportunity to commemorate all saints and martyrs, both acknowledged and unknown, throughout the religion's history. All families are welcome to attend this Mass in Our Lady of Lourdes Church. 

Term 4

Throughout Term 4, students will complete a number of different assessments. These assessments are used to: track student progress after a year’s worth of learning; create a student profile with data from year to year; ‘triangulate’ data for reporting purposes; evaluate teaching programs and teacher instruction; provide information and where to next for individuals and classes for 2025. 

PAT (Progressive Achievement Tests) 

• online assessments
• assesses a year’s learning in Mathematics (Yr 1-6), Reading Comprehension (Yr 1-6), Spelling and Grammar & Punctuation (Yr 3-6)

DIBELS (Dynamic Indicator of Basic Early Literacy Skills)

• evaluates reading skills of students
• 1:1 interview with classroom teacher or AP/Leader of Learning
• Completed by K-6 students

Whole School Write

• evaluates writing skills of students
• independent writing task led by a teacher using a given stimulus eg. Pick a shoe from Term 1

End of Semester Reporting

• formal reports made ‘live’, Friday 13 December 2024 
• same format as Semester 1

Dear Families and Caregivers

The schedule of Tuition Fees for 2025 have now been uploaded to our website for families to access.

Once again we thank those families who have ensured that their current accounts are up to date. 

Fees for Term 4 will be generated by the end of October 2024

Payment options

Payments can be made annually, per term or a monthly/fortnightly/weekly installment. Available payment methods are BPay, Compass Pay, Office EFTPOS.

No cash is possible.

Sibling discounts

NSW PSSA Championship

Congratulations to Owen!

P & F Hastings Co-op IGA Community Chest Grant

Exuro Retreat

School student travel information for parents and students

School Travel Passes

Applications are now open for 2025 School Student Transport Scheme (SSTS) travel. 

Students progressing from Year 2 to Year 3 do not need to re-apply if they:

• are continuing at the same school, and
• are residing at the same address, and
• have not been sent an expiry notification from Transport for NSW.

Where a student meets the new distance eligibility, the system will automatically update their entitlement. If they do not meet the new eligibility, they will receive an expiry notification.

Students who change address, school, campus location, have repeated a year or received an expiry notification for their school travel entitlement need to renew or update their details before the end of term 4. This will ensure that schools can endorse applications, so their travel entitlement can remain valid for the start of the 2025 school year.

Students who have an entitlement approved under a medical condition that is due to expire will receive a notification advising them to re-apply.

Students living in rural and regional areas will receive their travel pass from their nominated transport operator. It may be issued via their school or be sent directly to them at home. Note: some rural and regional operators do not issue travel passes. Students/parents should confirm with their nominated operator if they do not receive a pass.

Access to the TfNSW School Portal

A reminder that multi factor authentication (MFA) is now applied to all access to the TfNSW School Portal. MFA requires user to register with their individual work email address only. Shared email (i.e, school’s email) are no longer accepted. 

If there are more than one administrators requiring access, please apply separately.  If you need help, please refer to the Registration Guide for School Administrators.

Terms of Use

All students are required to comply with the Student code of conduct. The code of conduct aims to ensure the safety and well-being of school children and other passengers. It is important that parents ensure their child is aware of this, as failure to comply with the code of conduct can result in a suspension from travel.

Thank you

The P & F would like to take a moment to express our deepest gratitude for the support of the school and school community. Over the last quarter we have held three fundraising events: Fathers Day stall, Cadbury chocolate drive and Dance Showcase meals and treats. Together, this raised a total of $3605.34.

Thanks to your involvement, we have been able to donate monies towards the School Showcase, assistance to school Camps and World Teachers Day luncheon. We have also been able to contribute white shirts and resources for the Colour Run, decorations for the Dance Showcase and an afternoon tea during a Term 3 Assembly.

We are excited to announce that we have received a small assistance grant from the
Hastings Co-operative, and look forward to discussing at our next meeting how we can utilise this grant.

Thank you again for your support, and please feel free to join us at our next P & F meeting on Thursday 14 November 2024 at 6.00 pm - Staffroom.