Week 3- Term 1 - 2022

Dear Families

A focus for us all as a community this year is  COMMUNICATION.
With our current school systems (Compass & Tech1) and ever-changing information about COVID, it is crucial that we ensure clear communication with all of our staff and families. With a weekly Newsletter on offer, we hope that we can ensure all families know what is happening and can therefore be involved in all aspects of school.

We don't want the situation where students arrive unprepared for events because families didn’t access the information. It would be more concerning when it involves young students not being ready for excursions or sports events, knowing about fun days at school or not wearing casual clothes on special days.

We all know how busy life can be but we believe if we offer the clearly explained information in the Newsletter, it is crucial that it is read as it supports our students.

Likewise, Compass information needs to be read to stay informed of changes.

Our plea for 2022 is for you to please take the time each week to read the information provided and make notes on calendars or whiteboards at home for the benefit of your child. 

This year we will have our Parent Information night, next Monday 21 February 2022 (Week 4). These meetings give parents the opportunity to hear about what the children will be learning throughout the year and the expectations around
positive behaviour, attitude, goal setting, etc in each classroom. The
meetings will be followed guidelines permitting, by individual parent/teacher
interviews where together goals can be set for the 2022 school year.

I encourage you to join us on these Zooms as they give our parents the opportunity to meet with teachers and to establish a partnership to ensure that students, parents and teachers are all on the same page in regard to each student's educational journey.

In keeping with the current COVID restrictions, our Parent Information night will look slightly different.  Each Stage will hold Zoom meetings that will include information about learning, expectations, behaviour etc and allow for question time at the end of the Zoom. Each Zoom meeting will go for approximately 30 minutes.

As we are unsure of the COVID guidelines going forward, as a staff we felt that it was important for us to connect with you as soon as possible.

The Parent Meeting Zooms will be held Monday  21 February 2022.

• There will be 2 Zooms available for all parents:

       6pm   -  6.30pm

       6.45pm - 7.15pm

The Zoom link will be sent out to parents from their Stage Teachers through Compass. A Term overview has been emailed to all parents 

Our 2022 Leaders and Student Representative Council were commissioned at our beginning School Mass today.  It was a beautiful Mass and a very proud congregation who witnessed the leaders' commitment pledges and the receiving of their badges. Congratulations to our new School Leaders. 

Please continue to use the Rapid Antigen Tests (RATs) twice a week to ensure that we all stay healthy. A reminder that you need to contact the school via phone, text or email if you receive a positive result(as well as a notification to Register a positive rapid antigen test result with Service NSW). We need this advice in writing, please. It also helps for us to then directly reply with the learning link for your children.  It also helps for us to then directly reply with the learning for your children.  

Parent_Information_Sheet_If_my_child_has_COVID_19.pdf

Parent_Information_Sheet_If_my_child_has_COVID_19 _pdf 163.22 KB

care_child_covid19_at_home_2_.pdf

care_child_covid19_at_home_2 pdf 190.25 KB

REDUCE IDENTIFIED ALLERGENS-NUTS

We have some students at St Joseph’s who have a very severe nut allergy. If they are exposed to nuts in any form it may be life-threatening. I am asking parents to ensure that children do not have peanut butter, peanuts or nuts of any kind in their lunch boxes, please discuss with your child/ren the importance of not sharing their food with others. Bars that are not specifically peanut bars but may state that they may contain traces of nuts are acceptable.

Thank you for your understanding and compliance with this request.

The following days have been set down as Staff Development Days for St Joseph's for 2022. We thank you for supporting us in our Professional Development/Learning 
opportunities.

Students do not attend school on these days

Term 1 - Friday 8 April 2022 (Week 10)

Term 2 - Friday 1 July 2022 (Week 10)

Term 3 - Friday 23 September (Week 10)

IN WEEK 3 OF TERM  WE ARE TRULY GRATEFUL FOR:

• All of our school leaders
• A beautiful beginning school Mass, thank you, Mrs Boyd, Ms Nilon and Stage 3. 
• Our swimmers who represented St Joseph's at Zone level
• Learning how to look after our planet- a big thank you to the Newaste group for visiting to support that learning. 
• Our wonderful Stage 2 students for your amazing involvement and support in looking after our environment- Avoid, reuse, recycle and dispose of!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Regards

This year we commenced the term with our Maths Assessment Interview (MAI).  The MAI is an essential element of our school initiative to continually improve mathematical outcomes for students through the development of conceptual understanding of Mathematics. Classroom teachers have analysed MAI data to identify any vulnerable students or gaps in learning to ensure all students are demonstrating growth in their mathematical understanding. 

Next week you will receive your child’s MAI parent letter. This letter provides simple strategies targeted to your child’s learning needs. Each week we are adding activities, tips, and information to help support your child’s maths learning. Click the link below for this week's Compare and Measure activities. 

Congratulations to our squad of talented swimmers who attended the Richmond Zone Swimming Carnival on  Monday 14th February. Ms Wilkins and I were impressed with your effort and determination in your selected races. 

The Richmond Zone Winter Sports Trials were held on 17th February 2022 in Lismore. We will inform you how our selected students performed in next week's newsletter. Our school had student representation at rugby union, girls and boys soccer and hockey.

Cross Country

Our school cross country will be held on the school grounds on Tuesday 22nd March 2022 (backup date of Thursday 24th March 2022). All students in K-6 will participate in this event. More information will be shared closer to the cross country.

Last weekend, Beau Jubber won the grand final for the North East Regional Tennis Competition for the under 12’s. This is an outstanding achievement. Well done Beau!

ROSTER

Please contact the school if you are able to assist in the Canteen on Mondays or Wednesdays 9:15 am - 11:15 am.

THANK YOU!