2025 Week 2 Term 2
Congratulations
We are thrilled to share some wonderful news! Mr Inman and his wife Chloe have welcomed their beautiful baby daughter, Olivia, into the world. Congratulations to the happy family!
Annual School Improvement Goals 2025
Following our comprehensive School Review last year, our dedicated staff collaboratively crafted an ambitious three-year plan, charting a clear path forward to elevate student outcomes. Building upon this foundational work, we have now developed our goals for the current year. We are excited to share these with you via this Newsletter. We are providing insights into our key areas of focus and the steps we are taking to ensure every student thrives.
Enlivened Catholic Identity
This year, our focus will be on actively involving all stakeholders – students, parents, staff, Parish, and the wider community – to shape our values. Success in this area will be evident through strong participation and a rich collection of diverse feedback. We will also deepen our understanding and integration of Catholic values through dedicated staff engagement, leading to practical actions within our school. This collaborative process will culminate in a clear and concise draft of our updated Vision and Values, firmly rooted in our Catholic ethos. Our efforts will then shift towards a successful launch of our values with high visibility and stakeholder awareness. Finally, we will actively begin embedding our Vision and Values into the daily life of our school through rituals, environment, language, and extracurricular activities, fostering a strong and cohesive school culture.
Thriving Learners Goal
Through our Thriving Learners goals this year, we are focusing on enhancing student outcomes through collaborative planning, clear learning goals, and targeted support for all learners. Success will look like teachers working together to design engaging lessons with visible learning intentions and success criteria, ensuring all students understand what they are learning and how to achieve it. We will have consistent processes to identify and challenge our academically advanced students. You can expect to see increased use of Seesaw to share learning, a deeper integration of literacy and numeracy across all subjects, and a school-wide approach to using data to track student progress and inform our teaching. Ongoing professional learning for our staff will ensure we are consistently improving our practices in areas like the new Creative Arts syllabus, effective feedback, and catering to diverse learning needs.
Engaged Communities
This year, we continue our commitment to embedding school values by actively involving students, staff, and the community. Expect to see the newly formed Student Council taking shape and contributing their perspectives. Our ongoing professional development will focus on strengthening student wellbeing through consistent classroom practices, mindfulness, and building student voice. We will also be reviewing student and family feedback from the annual TTFM survey to inform you of our progress in these key areas.
Tell Them from Me Survey
Anti-Bully Road Map
Why talk about bullying? At St Joseph's Primary, starting this Term and continuing into Term 3, we are placing a vital emphasis on educating our children regarding bullying. From clearly defining what bullying is to understanding its far-reaching consequences, this focus is crucial for nurturing the well-being of every student and fostering a strong, supportive community where everyone feels safe and respected. Stay tuned for more information on how we'll be addressing this important topic.
Important
Couple of items regularly asked for in the Office:
- spare hats (we had about 20 at beginning of year, not returned)
- drink bottles
- going home arrangements
Please ensure you child has a hat and drink bottle each day. Have a discussion regarding going home arrangements prior to your child leaving home in the morning.
Zone Cross Country - Kempsey
Huge congratulations to our incredible students who represented St Joseph's School at the Zone Cross Country carnival in Kempsey yesterday. We are very proud of their efforts in hot conditions. Special shoutout to our top finishers and those who achieved personal bests. Thank you to our teachers and supportive families for cheering our athletes.
Polding - Bathurst
Mother's Day Breakfast
Anzac Day
Chickenpox
We have been informed of a confirmed case of chickenpox. (Fully immunised child)
The student who has contracted chickenpox is currently at home and will remain so until they are no longer contagious, as per health guidelines.
What to Watch For:
The typical symptoms of chickenpox include:
- A mild fever
- Feeling unwell, tired, and irritable
- Loss of appetite
- An itchy rash that develops into small, fluid-filled blisters.
These blisters eventually crust over.
The rash usually appears on the face, scalp, chest, back, and then spreads to the rest of the body.
What You Need to Do:
- Please be vigilant and monitor your child for any of the symptoms mentioned above.
- If your child develops any of these symptoms, please keep them home from school and seek advice from your family doctor or healthcare provider. It is important to inform your doctor that there has been a case of chickenpox at the school.
- Children with chickenpox should remain at home until all blisters have crusted over, which usually takes about 5-7 days after the rash first appears.
- If your child has already had chickenpox or has been vaccinated against it, the risk of infection is very low. However, breakthrough cases can occasionally occur, although they are usually milder.
- If you are unsure about your child's vaccination history or whether they have had chickenpox before, please consult your doctor.
School Procedures:
We are taking the necessary precautions to minimize the spread of the illness. This includes reinforcing good hygiene practices among students and staff, such as frequent handwashing and covering coughs and sneezes.
If there are any further confirmed cases that may impact the school community, we will notify you promptly.
Please see attached NSW Health Chickenpox Fact Sheet
Please do your child's enrolment application for 2026, we are close to capacity.
Thank you for donations
No more donations of materials are needed.
Exhibition dates – 1 July 2025 to 20 July 2025 at Port Central, Port Macquarie
Gowings of Port Central is sponsoring the EcoART Challeng
EcoART works are completed by students from local Port Macquarie Hastings Council schools.
The artwork form is 2D and/or 3
Theme – “Preservation of the Ocean and Marine Life
I warmly invite you to our upcoming May Parent Community Forum meeting next Thursday 15 May 2025 at 6:00 pm in the Staffroom. This is a valuable opportunity for all parents to actively participate in our school community. The forum offers two key components: an informative educational segment and an important consultation session where we will discuss various topics outlined in the attached agenda.
We understand that attending in person isn't always possible. Therefore, we are pleased to offer a Zoom option for those who wish to join us remotely.
The Zoom link for the meeting is: click here
Password: 799194.
To ensure a productive and respectful online environment, we kindly ask that you adhere to the following protocols if joining via Zoom:
- Chat Function for Questions: To maintain a smooth flow during the Meeting, we encourage you to submit any questions you may have via the Zoom chat function. These will be addressed during designated Q & A times.
- Adult Participation: Please be mindful that some topics discussed during the forum may relate to future school endeavours which are still in the early stages of planning. To avoid any potential confusion or premature discussions amongst children, we respectfully request that parents attending the Zoom Meeting do so from a quiet space where they can participate fully without children present. Your understanding in this matter is greatly appreciated.
- Consider Your Background: Be mindful of what is visible behind you. A plain wall or a tidy space is best. You can also use Zoom's virtual background feature if needed.
- Dress Appropriately: While you are at home, dress appropriately (at least from the waist up) to show respect for the other participants.
- Log in on Time: Aim to join the Meeting a few minutes early to ensure you're ready when it begins.
- Mute Your Microphone: Keep your microphone muted when you are not speaking to minimise background noise. Unmute yourself when you want to contribute.
- Identify Yourself: When you speak for the first time, briefly state your name if the group is large or if you haven't interacted much before.
- "Raise Your Hand" (Virtually): If the meeting has a large number of participants, use the "Raise Hand" feature in Zoom to indicate you would like to speak. The host can then call on you.
- Respect the Purpose of the Meeting: Keep your comments and questions relevant to the agenda.
- Be Patient with Technical Issues: Understand that technical difficulties can happen to anyone. Be patient if there are any disruptions.
We look forward to a fruitful discussion and your valuable contributions to the Parent Community Forum. Your voice is important!
Ross (Chairperson) and the rest of the Community Forum.
Child Protection Policy and Procedures
Children and young people have a fundamental right to grow, develop and feel safe in environments which are free from violence, exploitation and harm. The Catholic Schools Office, Lismore has clear expectations that all students within Catholic systemic schools in the Diocese of Lismore will be protected from all forms of harm including sexual, physical and psychological harm as well as ill-treatment and neglect.
The Catholic Schools Office and Catholic systemic schools within the Diocese have certain responsibilities and expectations to ensure the safety and protection of children in their care, including supporting measures to ensure that children and young people will be taught how to protect themselves, and to seek help if they are concerned about their safety. Consistent with its mission and values, and in compliance with its legislative obligations, the Catholic Schools Office Lismore strives to ensure children in its care are safe and secure. Implementing a variety of practices that reduces potential risk forms part of our strategy to build child safe communities.
This policy sets out the expectations required of employees in the Catholic Schools Office and in Catholic systemic schools of the Diocese. This document is to also inform and remind employees engaged or employed in Catholic systemic schools in the Diocese of Lismore of the standards of behaviour, duties, obligations and other requirements that must be adhered to when working with children.
A range of checks and undertakings are required for people who work for or provide services to Catholic Education in the Diocese of Lismore.
Please follow the link to our website to for full information on the CSO Child Protection Policy & Procedures and Mandatory Reporting - http://www.wauplism.catholic.edu.au/policies
For further information, please visit -
https://education.nsw.gov.au/student-wellbeing/child-protection/mandatory-reporting