eNews Term 1, Week 9, 2023

It’s Not the Persecution - It’s the Response
Next week we celebrate what the Church calls, “HOLY WEEK”.  It is during this week we remember the journey Jesus took over 2000 years ago when he entered Jerusalem for the last time to his Crucifixion on the cross, ‘The Passion of Jesus’.  I would like to share with you a reflection I found about the Passion of Jesus that really resonated with me.

EASTER PLAYS
Mrs Lynne Liebich has been working with our Year 5 teachers and students in preparing to present to our school community a re-enactment of the First Easter.  This dramatisation explains the journey that Jesus took when he entered Jerusalem for the last time; Palm Sunday to his Last Supper with his Apostles, his arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane, his trials before Herod and Pilate and finally to carrying his cross to Calvary and his death.

We extend an invitation to all in our community to join us as we make this journey with Jesus around our school yard as our Year 5 students present little plays sharing what happened at that first Easter.  The plays will be presented on THURSDAY, APRIL 6^TH at 9:30am.

Our Year 5 children will lead us in Community prayer on Friday, April 14^th at 8:45am to pray and explain the great joy Jesus apostles and we feel after the pain and suffering Jesus went through and the joy and amazement when he rose from the dead. Our Sports Day captains will also be announced.  Please join us if you are free.

EASTER EGG RAFFLE & PROJECT COMPASSION
You may be wondering why it is that we are doing the Easter raffle after Easter this year and not as in past years on Holy Thursday.  As Easter falls outside of the holidays it is a great opportunity for us to celebrate the great news (and the reason we call ourselves Christians) of Jesus resurrection through the giving of Easter eggs after the resurrection.  In this way we hope the children will understand that the giving of Easter eggs is a sign of the New Life we have been given through the death and resurrection of Jesus. 

Project Compassion boxes can also be returned to school now as this money will also support the work of Caritas in Australia and throughout the world.  If you would like a receipt please fill in the slip at the top. Raffle draw will be Tuesday April 11 at 2.30pm in the Auditorium.

Holy Week Ceremonies in Murray Bridge.
Holy Thursday, The Lord's Supper April 6^th at 7pm.
Good Friday, Stations of the Cross April 7^th at 10am.
Good Friday, Passion of the Lord April 7^th at 3pm.
Saturday, Easter Vigil April 8^th at 7:30pm.
Sunday, Easter April 9^th at 11am.

Dear parents, carers, teachers and students,
I trust this fortnight's edition of the newsletter finds you and your family well as we look towards the end of the term. Just over one week, and we will be sharing in the Church's most important time of the year, that being Easter.

A big thank you to everyone who shared with the school community the feast day of St Joseph's/St Patrick's and our recognition of Harmony Day. The students attended Mass, and it was a wonderful way to share this important day while remembering the school's patron saint.

MANNUM BUS SERVICE – Florence Street Parking


St Joesph's School bus has an allocated parking space on Florence Street to collect and pick-up students to and from Mannum. We ask parents not to park in this space and be aware of buses, especially at the 3.05 pm pick-up time. Thank you to the families who consistently use the car park with care and consideration for others. We appreciate your patience while dropping off and picking up your children.

SCHOOL BOARD ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 
On Monday night, March 27, we held our School's Annual General Meeting. The AGM provides an opportunity to reflect on our previous year and hear the reports from several key school community members. It is also a time to share some of our plans going forward. The School's Annual Report to the Community is presented, and a copy will be uploaded to the school website shortly. At the AGM's completion, we also allow new members to volunteer to be on the School Board. Our School Board has an advisory role in supporting the Principal in planning and implementing the overriding direction of the school. We formulate and approve policies, hear updates from many staff, and this year will be devising a new strategic plan.

We thank our outgoing School Board members - Mr Scott Pearce (Chairperson), Mrs Amy Sobels, Mrs Rebecca Schutz and Mrs Analise Gates (Parent Representatives). Their contributions and voluntary time to partake in the discussions and decisions are most valued and appreciated.

The 2023 School Board welcomes several new members.

Executive Officer: Mrs Ros Oates
President: Fr Philip Marshall
Parish Representative: Mrs Deb Holland
Chair of Finance: Mrs Kelly Gravestocks
Staff Representative: Mrs Nicki CliffordBoard Secretary: Mrs Leesa Angove
Existing Parent Representative: Ms Megan Olive
New Parent Representatives: Mr Josh Strauss, Mrs Leanne Maxwell, Mrs Linda Ross, Mr Darren Hollitt and Mrs Sean Ching

The Chair of Finance, Mrs Kelly Gravestocks, has spent many years on the school board presenting financial reports and working with our school Executive Finance Officer, Mrs Carol Rowland. Kelly's tenure is to conclude soon. As we also move into a phase of significant capital works in the school, it is an exciting time to be a part of our Board. If you have any expertise in finance and would be interested in working with our School Board, please contact Leesa Angove via leesa.angove@stjomb.catholic.edu.au.

2023 NAPLAN Testing
Congratulations to all our Year 3, 5, 7 and 9 students who recently completed their NAPLAN tests. Thanks also to their teachers and Nicki Clifford, who did an incredible job organising and supporting the teachers and students over this period.

Reminder MID-TERM ENROLMENTS
In 2023, St. Joseph's School will continue to offer mid-year enrolments. If your child turns 5 before 31 October 2023, they can start school at St. Joseph's in Term 3, 2023, and the school fees are free. Children starting in Reception mid-year will have a minimum of 6 terms in Reception. Enrolments are also open for the beginning of 2024. Please contact the school administration to register your interest and book a Principal's tour. Children who turn 5 on or before 30 April can begin school in Term 1 of 2024. Please let friends and family know that enrolments are open for Mid Year 2023 and the beginning of 2024.

Thank you all for reading the newsletter. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you want to follow up on anything from this newsletter or as a general inquiry.

Mrs Ros Oates
Principal

Footsteps
The Year 3 children have been enjoying the Footsteps dance lessons. So far this term they have learnt 5 dances: Business, Scatman, a Hip-Hop Routine to various songs, Mission Impossible and the Bongo Song.

The dances have:

• allowed the students to explore fundamental movement skills as well as developing balance, co-ordination and body awareness.
• helped the students to begin to understand and describe how their body moves.
• given opportunities for students to use their bodies and facial expressions to mirror the lyrics of the various songs.
• enabled the students to create some of their own choreography.

Here are some of the comments from the students:

Amalia: I like how we get to learn new moves.

Alessandra: I like that there are a lot of movements and I like all the music.

Laker: I like the dancing and doing retrogrades (doing movements backwards).

Last Sunday we were very fortunate to have Archbishop Patrick O’Reagan come to Murray Bridge to celebrate Mass with us and then after Mass he blessed the Presbytery, the house next to the church where the Parish Priest lives.  The blessing occurred as over the last 12 months the Parish has spent time and money renovating the house to make it more comfortable for our Priests.  Currently Deacon Arturo and his wife Mary are living there.  Fr Philip also joined us for the day from his holidays.

A lot was jam packed into a single day as we celebrated St Joseph's Day, Harmony Day and even a bit of St Patrick's Day last Tuesday. There was a School Mass and a day full of activities and colourful projects to reflect our diverse and inclusive community - we even got to squeeze in a few shamrocks.

Sport News
This term, we won a Sporting Schools Grant to run Orienteering. The grant has supported the mapping of the school, the purchase of a school orienteering kit, professional development session for PE staff and 4 days of lessons run by Orienteering SA coach Zita Sankauskas for the Year 5 and 6 students. Mr Cooper Skinner will be the first to test it all out with his Year 9 Outdoor Education classes.

Congratulations to Josh Roberts and Zaxton Sward for being selected in the Murraylands Boys Softball Team. Congratulations also to Emma Roberts for being selected in the Murraylands Girls Softball Team. They will be competing in the SAPSASA State Softball Carnival next week. We wish them all a fantastic experience.

The boys 5/6 Knockout Cricket is on tomorrow at Unity College Senior Campus. They will verse Unity College in the morning in a T20 format. The winning school will play another game in the afternoon against Aldgate Primary. Good luck to Mr McLaren and the boys for some big hits and fast bowls.

For upcoming sports and event, please refer to the dates in the Newsletter Calendar. The following sports are yet to be finalised in Term 2:

5/6 Boys Knockout Football
5/6 Girls Knockout Netball
7-9 Girls Knockout Netball
7-9 Boys Knockout Basketball
Catholic Schools Netball Carnival

Keep an eye out for Year 4-9 Cross Country information and 5/6 Rugby Tackle that will hit your SeeSaw account soon.

Upcoming Sports Events

31^st March 5/6 Boys Knockout Cricket
3-5^th April SAPSASA State Softball Carnival
5^th April Reception to Year 2 Auskick Promotion Football Clinic
11^th April Year 4-9 Internal Cross Country Trail
12^th April Secondary Athletics Carnival, Mile End
9^th May 5/6 Rugby Tackle Carnival
12^th May Whole School Sports Day
15^th May Year 4-6 District Cross Country Trial
22-24^th May SAPSASA State Football Carnival
8^th June State Cross Country Championships at Oakbank
20^th June 5/6 Basketball Competition
26-28^th June SAPSASA State Netball Carnival

Hills-Murray Catholic Schools Partnership
Dear families of St Catherine's School, St Francis de Sales College, and St Joseph's School,

We write to advise of the recent resignation for personal reasons of Rachel Vince, our Occupational Therapist who commenced with us at the start of this year working across our three school communities.

Whilst disappointed to be losing Rachel so soon after starting in our communities, we will be advertising in the coming days to find a suitably qualified and experienced professional Occupational Therapist to work in partnership with our schools' recently appointed Speech Pathologist, Nikki Snell.

Yours faithfully

John Low                          Gavin McGlaughlin                             Ros Oates
Principal                           Principal                                              Principal
St Catherine's School      St Francis de Sales College                St Joseph's School
Stirling                             Mount Barker                                      Murray Bridge