Term 1 - 2022 - Week 5

Principal's Prayer

"Dear Lord, we give thanks to those who work in the medical profession and for first responders.  Help the importance of their work to be more valued." Amen.

Dear parents, carers, teachers and students, 

A positive start to 2022

Thank you for the positive feedback from students, their families, and teachers.  I would like to congratulate the students who have embarked upon the academic year with a sense of purpose, enthusiasm, and fun.   The students will participate in a simple online Classroom Pulse Check-In in the next few weeks.  This check-in has been developed to ascertain how students are currently feeling about their experience in school.  It is tailored to allow teachers to check-in and provide immediate feedback and support to them.  Students will each be asked some simple questions about; Identity, Learning, Relationships and Belonging. 

Pray for Others

Please join us in praying for those who are enduring the pain and sorrow of the invasion of Russia into Ukraine. May all leaders look for ways for peace and justice to become a reality for the people of Ukraine and for all the world.  Please also pray for all the people in the Eastern states, particularly in Queensland, who are enduring a challenging time with the current and ongoing flood situation. 

Teacher/Parent Partnership Meetings

Due to restrictions, teachers will contact parents through an online Teacher/Parent Partnership Meeting, held during Week 8 of Term 1 via the Microsoft TEAMS platform.

The booking form will be accessed during Week 7 from Monday 14th March until 3 pm Friday 18th March.

To make a booking, please go to https://www.schoolinterviews.com.au

Click on 'Make a Booking', enter the code 3txhv and follow the prompts.

After booking and before your meeting time, an invite link will be sent via email, enabling you to join your meeting at the booked time.
If your child has two teachers, the teacher in the classroom on the day of your booking will be the teacher conducting the Partnership Meeting. 

Updates

Our new Middle Years (7-9) building is in the final stages of completion.  While our students are able to use their new learning areas we are just as eager to begin tours when the current restrictions are lifted and the landscaping and paving near the Florence Street entrance are complete.  I believe it will be well worth the wait.  The community will be informed as soon as we are safe and ready. 

When the school administration staff is notified of a positive PCR Covid case by parents, the children in their class will be notified via email.  Please read carefully and follow the advice set out by SA Health in the letter.  Appropriate cleaning occurs daily in the school, and staff who are close contacts will RAT test daily for seven days.

People who have recovered recently from COVID-19 are back at our school.

A reminder that people who have recovered from COVID-19 will not be considered a close contact for 30 days after they are cleared.  This is because the virus can sometimes be detected on swabs after the infection due to the shedding of the virus.  The SA Health process is such that a person who has been COVID-19 positive will be sent a clearance SMS from SA Health after ten days of isolation to confirm that they may leave isolation.  For 30 days after the SMS date, that person will not be considered a close contact.

To be clear, the person who has recovered from COVID-19 cannot be a classroom contact or workplace close contact during those 30 days, and they do not need to test to stay if they would otherwise be defined as a classroom contact.  

If your child is home learning, our teachers will do their best to provide as much learning continuity as possible for each child's circumstances.  Please allow a reasonable amount of time to enable teachers to contact you and set any work if necessary, as they still have daily teaching to attend to with the class.  The two main online communication tools are Seesaw and Microsoft Teams.  Parents can also access the Supporting student learning and wellbeing online.  https://www.cesa.catholic.edu.au/learning-online

State Election

With the State Election fast approaching, Catholic Education SA has been actively engaging with the major political parties to ensure they are aware of and commit to matters of importance.  I have also written to our Local MPs about these crucial issues, including student funding for Catholic Schools, Capital Funding, COVID 19 responsibilities and more.  To read more, go to https://www.cesa.catholic.edu.au/news/state-election

Mrs Ros Oates

Principal

“What can we do?”

How can we  be actively involved:

1. Pray: Continued prayer for peace in ther region.

2. Be Informed: Inform yourself about the situation so you can converse with others. We should not look away.

 3. Support: Support humanitarian efforts in the region including the work of Caritas

On Wednesday our whole school celebrated a special Mass for the first time this year in the Auditorium celebrated by our new Parish Priest, Fr Philip Marshall.  This Mass was celebrating Ash Wednesday which begins the church season of Lent.  On this day we received a sprinkling of ash on our foreheads to remind us that as believers of the Good News we are going to try to live out Jesus message of love and forgiveness.  The ashes come from the palms used at last year’s Palm Sunday celebrations.

Lent goes for 40 days, from Ash Wednesday to Holy Week, the beginning of the Easter celebrations.  The number 40 is very significant in the Bible:

• The rain lasted for 40 days in the mighty flood – Noah (Genesis 6)
• Moses stayed on Mount Sinai 40 days (Ex 24:18)
• Jonah gave the people of Ninevah 40 days to repent (Jon 3:4)
• Jesus, before beginning his ministry, spent 40 days in the desert in prayer and fasting (Matt 4:2)

I remember Lent as a child as a time of fasting and going without.  We fasted as a way of helping us understand some of the suffering Jesus went through when he fasted in the desert and as a way of focussing the mind on holy thoughts.  In some ways it was quite exciting because it was one of the few times we had ‘takeaway’, as on Fridays we were only allowed to have fish and no meat.  The local fish and chip shop always did a roaring trade on Fridays.

Fasting is common among many religions.  The Jews have Yom Kippur, a solemn time to show a need for forgiveness of sins through fasting and praying.   The Muslims have Ramadan, a month when they fast from before sunrise to sunset.  The Hindus fast at festivals and at other times to show devotion to the Hindu deities.

Strict fasting is no longer imposed but we are encouraged to try to overcome our faults by our good deeds and to try to put aside more time in praying so that we can really let God into our lives.  Another way is through our giving to Caritas through Project Compassion.  On Ash Wednesday every family would have received a Project Compassion Box for you as a family to consider giving what you can to support the communities Caritas will be supporting this year. These can be returned to school in Week 11 of this term.

Fr Philip reminded us at Mass yesterday that God made us all beautiful as we are all made in the image of God.  We may not always be Christ-like in our behaviour though so:

This Lent, fast by listening to others;
Pray by opening your hearts to them;
 Give alms by holding your hands out to them.

School Uniform Update

It has been wonderful to see so many of our students proudly wearing their school uniform, old or new, with many in the new Reception to Year 6 Smart Play, and Year 7 and 8 students in the new Sports and or Formal Uniforms. We appreciate that the unavoidable delivery delays have meant some students are not able to wear a 'school uniform' and thank all families impacted by the delays for your support, patience and understanding. We have been advised late last week that there is plenty of new stock on the way, and it is due to arrive in Adelaide in early March. Once all items have been embroidered, the expected delivery date to Vinnies in Murray Bridge will be shortly after this. 

St Vincent de Paul Society (Vinnies) here in Murray Bridge have also appointed a new store manager to run the St Joseph's School Uniform Shop. Rochelle, the new manager, will be operating the uniform shop on Monday, Tuesday, and Friday from 9:30 – 5:00 pm. Please call Michelle on (08) 8532 6699 if you have any questions. 

Vinnies are expecting 450 new school polo shirts to be delivered on Monday. We hope this helps to fill some of the outstanding family orders.

Allied Health Providers 

The school has welcomed many allied health professionals, including speech pathologists, occupational therapists, psychologists, and exercise physiologists who support students with disabilities to achieve their goals. The school supports all allied health professionals with school appointments, which can be pre-arranged directly with the Deputy Principal, Sonja Smith. We recognise the importance of working together and collaborating as a team to improve how our students can be supported to achieve their learning goals and outcomes. Our teachers also work closely with the allied health professionals and the students' families to ensure they are fully supported with their Personal Plan for Learning. 

The first 4 weeks of this year have seen our Middle Years students commence High school, learn to read and follow timetables, organise their books in lockers with locks and negotiate different classes with different teachers. All this has been accomplished whilst following covid restrictions.

The Middle Years teachers and I would like to congratulate the students for their perseverance and resilience during these times. They have managed a myriad of changes with grace and kindness and have supported each other. 

The students have also created operating norms or guidelines for working as a cohort in the Middle Years building.

1. Be respectful of the shared learning space.
2. Everyone gets the help they need.
3. Respect the bathrooms so all can use them.
4. Care for all furniture.
5. Use respectful, non-stereotypical language at an appropriate volume.
6. Do not eat in the building.
7. Move respectfully and think before you act.
8. Clean up after yourself and practise good hygiene.
9. Use the water-cooler as intended.
10. Only use your own locker and alert others if theirs are unlocked

Reading

Our Reception children have discovered that reading is a superpower that brings joy

and confidence in their learning journey. Every day the children enjoy listening to a read-aloud mentor text enriching their vocabulary and comprehension. Through the discovery of reading strategies such as pointy pig, eagle eye, chunky monkey, and stretchy snake, the children have begun reading words using the first nine sounds of the alphabet. These strategies help the children to point to the word, sound it out and then stretch the word so they can blend and hear the sounds together. The look of surprise and excitement when they discover they can read the word develops self-confidence and a passion for reading.

The challenge of learning to read for many young learners is acquiring the knowledge of high-frequency words. These words make up most of the words we use every day, such as the, my, are, said and you. Daily practice in our learning spaces provides opportunities for children to identify and read these words in everyday texts.

Phonics

For our phonics learning, we have been focusing on alphabet sound recall. We have been looking at new alphabet sounds each week. When introducing a new sound, we have focused on recognising it, hearing it in words, and correcting letter formation. We have engaged in various activities to further our learning about each letter, such as egg carton stamping for the letter /e/! Alphabet sound recall is foundational to literacy learning and is the beginning of our reading, spelling, and writing journey.

Oral Language

In Science, we have been focusing on materials and their different properties. Throughout the week, the children brought in various objects from home to share, discuss and describe what they are made of. Each day had a theme, including hard, soft, stretchy, rough, and see-through objects. The focus for these Science talks was building up students' oral language skills. Oral language involves listening (receptive) and speaking (expressive) skills. For each student to share their object, they needed to include an opening and closing phrase; they practised speaking clearly to their class members; and using detail to explain their object and materials it was made from. 

Reception Teachers

Lisa Watkins, Hannah Martin, and Tori Heinicke

At St Joseph's School, we are fortunate to have our experienced and employed Canteen manager, Wilma O'Sullivan.  Now that our restrictions have eased, we are asking for parent volunteers to ensure the successful daily distribution of orders in the canteen.  Volunteers supporting Wilma, allow us to provide a quality service at very reasonable prices.

Being a Canteen volunteer is not at all hard work, but a great way to meet other parents in the school. 
 

All volunteers at St Joseph's School Canteen need to have completed the following:

▪ Working with Children Check (Free through the school)

▪ Responding to Risks of Harm, Abuse and Neglect – Education and Care (2 hrs online - Free)
https://www.plink.sa.edu.au/pages/externaldashboard.jsf?menuId=1104&locale=enGB&showbundlekeys=false#/?dashboardId=6
▪ Watch Food Handling Clip (Bug Busters) https://youtu.be/6WJXSy4o1tc

▪ Sign and return the Canteen 2022 Volunteer Form previously sent to families.

PLEASE SELECT Read More for the full Term 1 Calendar

We are only a couple of weeks away from opening up the drop-off and pick-up zone on Florence Street.  A reminder to all drivers that you are not to double park before entering the drop-off and pick-up zone on Mc Henry Street and no U-turns on this street. 

Hello friends and families,

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