Term 1 Week 2 2023

PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE

Dear Parents

It is with great pride that I write my first principal's message. The community of St Joseph's has warmly welcomed me and I am committed to leading this school with compassion and kindness to all who join our community. I have been around the classes and the students are settled and engaged, which is so lovely to see.  I would also like to celebrate the dedication of our teachers who have worked tirelessly to prepare the best teaching and learning programs for your children. I have never seen a school provide the level of differentiation to meet students' needs as here at St Joseph's, so please thank your childs teacher when you see them for the wonderful education they are providing your child. 

Please remember that it is a legal requirement to have your child at school during the hours of 8.40am -3.00pm.  arriving late or leaving early on a regular basis is very disruptive for them personally and educationally.

We have re-instigated the Parent Forum and invite you all to come along and be a part of the collaborative community building that we would like to provide.  The next Meeting is on Monday 13 February at 5.00pm.

Looking forward to meeting you all and working with you throughout the year.

Kindest Regards

Tracey 

Afternoon Pick up

The pick up issue in the afternoons has brought about some changes to processes to ensure the safety of our students.  We encourage you all to come into the school grounds to collect your child/ren.  We will assemble all the students under the shade sails to make it easy for you to find them.

Please try not to congregate around the front entrance to the school as we need a clear path for students who are being picked up by car. 

If you need to use the pick up area please remember that you can not park and wait in the car before the end of the school day. It is a pick up area only.  The other issue the Police brought to our attention is that it is illegal to wait at the Stop sign until the pick up zone is free. You must continue to drive around the block if the pick up zone is already full.  Please also remember not to double park on Francis or Thompson  Street.  I have attached 2 information sheets that the Police have asked me to circulate to explain the rules and fines.  

Yesterday the sergant mentioned to me that he was very impressed with the way our parents had listened to the advice given and the pick up process was smooth and safe, so I thank you all for working with us to make this process as functional as possible.  He will return to keep an eye on the pick up process so please continue to do the right thing. 

SCHOOL DROP OFF & PICK UP ZONE

KINDERGARTEN 2024 ENROLMENTS

In order to streamline the enrolment process across the Lismore Diocese, the enrolment process for 2024 Kindergarten students is changing.

Student enrolment forms will need to be completed via the school website by April 6th, 2023.

Parents will be contacted when an online enrolment form has been received in order to book an interview. Interviews with our School Principal will then commence early in Term 2.

Acceptance letters for Kindergarten 2024 placements will then be issued by the 30th of July 2023.

Parents of siblings at St Joseph's Primary School wishing to enrol them for Kindergarten 2024, are urged to complete an online enrolment form as soon as possible.

Please direct any enquiries to Sue & Toni in the office (0755362519)

ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL -LEARNING & TEACHING

Dear parents,

What a great start to the 2023 year. The children have settled into school and their routines extremely well. Baseline data for this year is being collected which directs teachers' planning for each cohort. The new K-2 syllabus for Literacy and Numeracy is now being implemented which is available on the NSW Curriculum site if parents are interested in viewing this.  The teachers during the last half of 2022 had intensive training of over 20 hours (most done in twilight sessions) in preparation for this implementation.  This is an exciting time for our infant classes.

K–2 focus areas

The focus areas for each stage support students’ growing knowledge and understanding in the areas of:

• Oral language and communication
• Vocabulary
• Phonological awareness
• Print conventions
• Phonic knowledge
• Reading fluency
• Reading comprehension
• Creating written texts
• Spelling
• Handwriting
• Understanding and responding to literature

SEESAW -  At the moment the teachers are learning to use the new compass system however we realise that still a lot of parents have not registered for compass yet, so to ensure we have effective classroom communication we are going to continue to use Seesaw platform for daily communication with your child's teacher. If you are not already connected to Seesaw, you should have received an invitation to register for Seesaw. Contact me at the office or by email if you haven't got this invitation.        christine.mulherin@lism.catholic.edu.au 

Compass will be the platform we use for all school events and notifications.

Have a great week

Chris Mulherin   

AP Learning & Teaching

PARENT /TEACHER MEETINGS

Over the next two weeks, parent/teacher information meetings will be held in the classrooms. It is so important for parents and teachers to be working closely together to help guide their child's learning. These meetings are a large part of this process. It is expected that at least one parent attends this information session to meet your child's teacher and to discuss the expectations for the year. It is a time to understand what your child will be doing this year.

WEEK 3: 

Wednesday 15th February  - Year 5  - 5:30

Wednesday 15th February - Kindergarten   6:30

WEEK 4: 

Monday 20th February  -  Year 4    5:30            

Monday 20th February  - Year 6     6:30

Tuesday 21st February -  Year 2     5:30

Tuesday 21st February -  Year 3     6:30

Thursday 23rd February   - Year 1   5:30

Hope to see you all there

Chris

ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL - MISSION

Dear St Joseph's Community,
My name is Ryan O'Connor and I have been appointed the Assistant Principal Mission at St Joseph's beginning this year.  I will lead the areas of Catholic Identity, Religious Education and Student well-being at our school.  I have spent the past four years in Charters Towers in North Queensland doing the same role and I have been blown away by the beautiful welcome I have received from all members of this wonderful community thus far.  I look forward to meeting you all over time and working with you and the staff to help continue building the amazing culture and environment at St Joseph's.
At school, we have definitely hit the ground running and are looking forward to celebrating the beginning of the school year with our Opening Mass on Friday.  Year 6 leaders are eagerly anticipating receiving their badges and I am very much looking forward to what will be a lovely celebration.  This morning at assembly, I spoke to the children around expectations of behaviour in Mass and the high levels of respect that are expected.  I have absolute faith that they will meet these expectations based on what I have seen already.  All members of our community are invited to attend our Mass, commencing at 10:15am at the St Joseph's Parish Church.
Our next big event will be our Ash Wednesday Mass, occuring on the 22nd February.  Father Michael is very excited to be able to welcome the school back to join the Parish at their morning Mass and again, all families are invited to mark this solemn day on our calendar with us and the parish.
Our Mini Vinnies President and Vice-President, Mia and Cerah spoke at assembly this week welcoming newcomers in Years 5 and 6.  We will meet shortly to organise plans for Pancake Tuesday and some initiatives for Project Compassion during Lent, so stay tuned for updates.
Again, I want to say thank you for the wonderful welcome I have received and I am very excited to be starting a long relationship with St Joseph's and you all.
God Bless,

Ryan O'Connor

LEARNING & TEACHING

Mathematics Assessment Interviews

Last week, St Joseph's students completed their Mathematics Assessment Interviews (MAIs) with their classroom teacher. These 30-minute one-on-one assessments and the associated Growth Point Framework are based on extensive research. The assessment designed for young children is task-based and interactive. It enables progress to be measured in four whole number domains (Counting, Place Value, Strategies for Addition and Subtraction, and Strategies for Multiplication and Division) against a research-based framework of growth points. 

A critical role for the teacher throughout the interview is to listen and observe the children as they engage with a task, noting their responses, strategies, and explanations. These observations are recorded in detail and then analysed to determine whether or not a response was correct, to identify strategies used to complete a task and to determine the overall growth point a child reached in each domain. This growth point information can be further analysed at a student, class, or school level in order to plan and develop curriculum and instruction, intervention, extension, and to measure student progress over time.

St Joseph's recognises the importance of parents being integral contributors to their student's learning, so within the next week, you will receive a letter outlining a summary of the information your child's teacher has learned about their current mathematical understanding. The letter will also include some ideas of how you can assist them at home to continue developing their mathematical knowledge. In keeping with our usual practice, you are welcome to discuss this feedback with your child's teacher.

NAPLAN

A reminder that NAPLAN’s test window for 2023 is 15th-27th March. Specific test dates for families with students participating in NAPLAN this year (Year 3 and Year 5) are as follows:

• Wed 15/3- Writing
• Thurs 16/3- Reading
• Mon 20/3- Conventions of Language
• Tues 21/3- Numeracy

Mrs Victoria Atkinson (Leader of Pedagogy)

SCHOOL FORUM MEETING

Monday 13th February 5 PM in the staffroom.  All parents are welcome.

BOOK CLUB

 Just a reminder that Issue 1 orders for Scholastic Book Club need to be in by Friday 17th February.

HOW TO NAVIGATE EVENTS IN THE COMPASS APP.

TWEED/COOLANGATTA AFL MEET THE COACHES