Term 3 - 2022 - Week 5

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

This fortnight's highlights have been Book Week celebrations, Catholic Education Open Week and great success at the District Athletics Day, all of which you will read about in this newsletter. 

I want to thank the many "grandparents" and family members who attended Grandparent Day on Wednesday.  I was genuinely overwhelmed by the response.  From the comments received on Facebook, it was certainly evident that you all enjoyed the morning and could see what an outstanding school we have.  Nothing is more wonderful than the love and guidance a grandparent can give his or her grandchild.  I know the students are very excited and took great pride in sharing with you their achievements.  Grandparents are a treasure in the family and play a vital part in a child's learning.  Thank you to Mrs Deb Holland, Choir and our teachers for all their preparation for the day. 

Thanks again for visiting our school.

Our school library renovations are almost completed, and this week the library has come alive with many activities carried out each day around the theme of 'Dreaming with Eyes Open'.  Thank you to our new full-time librarian, Mrs Pamela Holmes and Leader of Learning, Mrs Margherita Pardoe, for organising all our Book Week activities.  Parents, friends and carers are most welcome to visit our library to see the incredible work students have completed in our space. 

Staff Updates

As of this Friday, Mr Josh Law will be on long service leave until the end of Term 3.  Mr Cooper Skinner will teach the Physical Education curriculum across the school as his replacement, and Miss Jane Lane will teach the Year 6S class for the remainder of this term.  Mr Skinner will also be attending the Year 6 camp in Week 8. 

CESA Community LLL Perception Surveys
We can only advance if you affirm what we are doing or share your thoughts about improvement.
By today all Catholic Schools in South Australia will complete the CESA Living, Learning, Leading Perception Surveys.
You can access the survey through this link:  https://www.nsipartnerships.com.au/
Enter the code SJMBLLLP in the 'Start Questionnaire' field.
Each survey has been trialled, refined and piloted in various CESA school settings.  Schools will derive helpful information for planning and improvement.

Screen Time – Do you know what it is doing to us?
I came across a great Facebook post by Mark LeMessurier, an Adelaide-based teacher, counsellor, author, public speaker, and South Australian Senior of the Year.  He works in private practice as a mentor to children and adolescents and as a coach to parents.  His post refers to screen time and its impact on families, a global issue for many families.  Please read this important information. 

When it comes to the impact screens have on our children's sleep, emotions, behaviour and lives, I need to be clear.  Our children are the victims.

These tempting games, platforms, apps and devices have been purposely designed.  Billions of dollars have been invested by psychology and big, big business to snare users.

And this leaves us to assess our own screen habits.  What is it we're modelling to our children?  What is it they see us doing?  Is it hours positing 'insta-worthy' updates, Facebook fantasies, or is it gaming?  The most powerful thing to shape a child's habit is their parent's habit.

And this utter confusion comes to our children at a time when their 'self-regulatory on/off switches are a long, long way from being, neurologically, wired up.  As parents, you are the first generation to parent and educate children growing up with this irresistibly built technology.  This is why managing screens is the basis for a perfect storm in so very many homes.  And, to intensify the issue - most video games have functions where friends come together and rely on each other to play.  There are no end or save points.  So when a parent calls out, "Hey?  It's time to leave your game and come to dinner" – no wonder the inevitable happens!  They don't know how to leave.

This is a global issue.  It is not confined to your home.  On this - our kids need us on their side – not fighting against them.  Never attacking the enjoyment they receive from screens.  When we fight them, we are more likely to turn their natural desire for screens into a crazed chase for forbidden fruit.

Yes, limits on screens are necessary, but the goal, the method and the talk must be about managing 'TIME' – and this will take time, patience and continuing management for a long, long, long time!  Mark LeMessurier

In All Things Kindness

Mrs Ros Oates

On Thursday, September 8th, from 6 pm until 7 pm, we invite our community and any interested families and students in the broader community in Years 4,5 and 6 to explore and learn about the teaching and learning opportunities and facilities at St Joseph's School. 

As the main educators of your child/ren, we understand that you will be thinking about the future of your child/ren's education now that they are in years 4, 5 and 6.  St Joseph's School is excited to provide you with the opportunity to look at what we have to offer in Years 7, 8, and 9 starting in 2023.   Please click on the link below or use the QR Code to register for this event to be held in the Middle Years building.  Students, parents and guardians are invited to attend.  Any questions or queries, please contact the administration office on 85342000.

https://forms.office.com/r/a52xhTzUip

“Happy Fathers’ Day!”  But what is Fathers’ Day?  According to one astute 8-year-old, “It’s a bit like Mothers’ Day, only it doesn’t cost as much!”  A more advanced concept of Fathers’ Day would be that this special day is an opportunity to celebrate the important role that father figures play in the lives of children; a role that cannot be played by any other person.

Both mother and father figures are of vital importance to a young child’s development.  Studies have shown that when father figures engaged with young boys in a physical, affectionate and stimulating play they were found to have good social skills and score higher on tests involving thinking and problem-solving skills (Radin.  The Influence of Fathers).  Studies have also shown that when father-figures are emotionally involved, so that children’s emotions are acknowledged, this then helps the child deal with bad emotions and have better relationships with children outside of their family and behave less aggressively. (Gottman, Katz & Hooven.  How Families Communicate Emotionally)

Father figures with a strong commitment to their family provide a model of responsible behaviour for children.  As a consequence, children tend to take more responsibility for their actions and rarely blame others for their mistakes.  Father figures also influence children’s moral development by being good models for children to admire and desire to resemble.  This results in children developing a strong respect for rules and authority figures. (M.L. Hoffman.  The Role of the Father in Moral Internalization)

Adolescence is often a time of increased conflict between parents and children. Although teenagers rely more upon their mother figures for emotional support, the relationship with father figures continues to be important.  Teenagers rely more on their father figures for conversation, advice and just ‘being there’.  Adolescents who felt their father figures were ‘available’ to them, had fewer conflicts with their friends. (Lieberman & Doyle.  Associations with Peer Relations)

We cannot take the father figures in our lives for granted, so I wish you all a very Happy Father’s Day on September 4, and hope and pray you know you are an extremely important and treasured part of all our lives.

Sunday, September 4^th will be a Family Mass at 11am in Holy Redeemer Church, Mannum Road, Murray Bridge.

All are welcome to attend and if your child/ren would like to be a part

of the Mass, please contact Deb Holland at school.

During Term 3 the Year one children are exploring Places through their inquiry question, ‘Who Lives Here?’ 

We have co-constructed class meanings for natural, managed and constructed places and explored the features of these areas in our local environment. We have identified where we live, sketched our homes and painted them to create an artwork. The children have begun creating an ozobot hunt where they will share their understanding of the three types of places. This is linked to our Literacy Mentor text, ‘Where Going on a Bear Hunt.’

Later in the Term, the children will further explore habitats and choose an animal to write an information report on. They will observe their animal at the Adelaide Zoo on our Year One excursion and then create a sculpture of their animal and a diorama of its habitat. We look forward to sharing their finished products with you later in Term 3.

Meghan Rowland, Amy Aunger, Sally Nurse and Sarsha Pearson

This year the Middle Years students have been engaged in a Project with Catholic Education SA and Uni SA.  The project is based around mathematical thinking skills and questions have been chosen from the topics students are learning in math. Each week students are given a multiple-choice question or simple question and then are asked to explain either the strategies they used or why they chose their answer.  

It has been exciting to see the reasoning skills our students use in math- an example is given below- how would you answer the question?

Look at the shapes below. 

1. Which shape has the largest area?
2. Explain why you picked that shape
3. Explain the method or strategy you used to decide which shape had the largest area?

We have been learning about the use of drones for businesses such as delivering packages, finding lost people, counting endangered wildlife and taking video footage of house for sale.

This week, 9 schools from the Murraylands District came together for the annual athletics carnival. 26 students from St Joseph’s competed on the day in high jump, long jump, shot put, discus, 100m, 200m, 800m and 4x100m relay. All students participated with great attitudes and efforts. Our school came 2^nd overall – well done team! Congratulations to Hamish Hankin for being awarded age champion 11 year old boy and Sienna March for being awarded runner up age champion 12 year old girl. Students who placed first in their event have earned themselves a position in the Murraylands athletics team who will compete in the State Carnival later in the term.

Mason Rowland – 1^st 11 Boys 800m

Charlotte Ireland – 1^st 10 Girls Shot Put

Charlotte Ireland – 1^st 10 Girls Discus

Kaden Chamberlain – 1^st 11 Boys Long Jump

Hamish Hankin – 1^st 11 Boys 100m

Zihao Liao – 1^st 11 Boys Discus

Sienna March – 1^st 12Girls Shot Put

Sienna March – 1^st 12 Girls Discus

Hamish Hankin – 1^st 11 Boys 200m

The Adelaide Football Club AFLW team and SANFL put on the Crow’s Cup football carnival in Week 3. Several Crows AFLW players attended the day including Anne Hatchard and Sarah Allan. St Joseph’s had a girls team and boys team entered into the 9-a-side competition and played against Unity, Tailem Bend, Mannum and Meningie schools in a round robin format.

Both our teams started well with wins against Tailem Bend and Mannum. The girls team played with increasing  confidence and skill to continue their winning form against Meningie. The girls only challenge was against Unity who were first to the ball most of the game. The boys won one game and lost one game to Unity’s 2 boys teams. After the round robin stage, both our teams sat in second place respectively, putting us into the 1v2 Final. The girls tried hard but went down to Unity to finish the day runners up. The boys had the early lead in their final against Unity who managed to peg the score back after half time. But the boys managed to work the ball out of their back half and kick straight at goals to finish the day as winners.

Last week, our Year 5/6 basketball teams competed in the Murraylands SAPSASA Basketball Carnival. In the lead up to the carnival, 42 students tried out over 5 trial session with 8 boys and 8 girls being selected. Trainings were then held weekly in the lead up to the carnival.

There were 6 competing schools, Mannum, Mypolonga, North, Unity, Karoonda and St Joseph’s. Games consisted of 2x 8minute halves in a round-robin format. Our teams played a fast paced style of basketball with structure and teamwork, great passing and accurate shooting from inside the key. The girls started with a 12-point win against Mypolonga. Followed by a comfortable win against North to set up a final game against Unity who had also won both their games. The girls defended well but couldn’t get their shots in to lose to Unity by 9. Well done girls for being awarded the runners up trophy.

The boys had big wins against Karoonda, Mypolonga, North and Mannum. The game against Unity followed and felt like a grand final! The scores were tied at 8 all with a minute to go. Some tough defence and a rebound followed by a transition layup put the boys 2 points up to win a heart stopper. Congratulations to the boys who won the day and the opportunity to go to the State Basketball Finals in Adelaide on the 21^st October next term.

Thank you to all the parents who assisted with scoring, cheering and transport.

Hello friends and families,

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Kiss and drop of students in cars remains on McHenry Street ONLY.  Florence Street school entrance is open, and we are waiting for the Murray Bridge Council to change the parking signs on both sides of the road.  There is no longer a kiss and drop.  Parents are permitted to park cars on both sides of the road and utilise the road crossing to enter the school.  Please be careful walking on the path nearest the front entrance door to the administration building.  A new retaining wall and the completion of the paving are happening over the coming weeks.