THE GIFT OF FATHERS
The gift of fathers and father figures in the human mystery of love and life.
Every year on the first Sunday of September we celebrate Fathers’ Day. When we look past the commercialism, it is a day when we spoil and try to spend some extra time with Dad or a male who is special in the family as a way of saying, “thankyou for all of the things you do for me.”
Father’s Day is a good time to pause to appreciate a unique person that God has put into our lives - our father or father figures. It is easy to take fathers for granted. It gives us an opportunity to recall and affirm the gifts that fathers bring to families. This includes our personal fathers, grandfathers, single parent fathers and those fathers who are no longer with us.
Father facts and reflections.
The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother.
“The first thing I would say about Dad is that he loved Mum. He just adored her. This has taught me is that first and foremost, a father is a lover.”
“My parents have divorced, but it has not compromised my dad’s love for me. I think Dad realises he made mistakes and is able to understand my own mistakes. Our relationship has grown stronger. Now we can talk about anything.”
Fathers have a particular influence on the formation of their child’s image of God, not only in childhood, but throughout life.
“When I was growing up, Dad would pray with us each day - the family rosary, grace before meals, Sunday Mass, confession. Prayer and sacraments were built into our lifestyle, largely through Dad’s commitment to God and Church.”
“When Dad had a heart attack at age sixty, everybody said things like “He works too hard” or “Stress brought it on” It occurred to me that I had never thanked Dad for “working so hard” for me. When I was growing up, his work - and all the security and education it provided for the whole family - was just something I took for granted”
Father’s and Mother’s Day are very poignant times for me because I no longer have either of my parents to share these special days with. I have wonderful memories though that I try to share with my children. The happy times we spent as a family, the silly things that Dad would do, the time he gave up transporting the netball, basketball teams to every game and the things he was passionate about - hunting and fishing, travelling and his family, especially spending time with his grandchildren.
Every ‘father’ knows that he is human and doesn’t always do it perfectly. He needs to hear all the time from his children that he ‘must have done something right’ – maybe magnificently!
I hope the ‘father’ in your family has a wonderful Father’s Day.
Dear parents, carers, teachers, and students,
Welcome to Week 5 of school, when we are celebrating Book Week 2023 and Open Week in Catholic Education South Australian schools. We were delighted to see so many visitors attend our Grandparents and Friends Day on Wednesday this week. Tomorrow, we invite our community to the school for our Book Week parade. This week, our community has had the opportunity to see the wonderful educational experiences we provide our students at St Joseph's School and to celebrate the importance and love of books in each of our classes.
Books have always held a special place in our lives. They are not just mere objects with pages and words; they are gateways to new worlds, vessels of knowledge, and companions in our journey of life. They can transport us to different times, places, and even dimensions. They ignite our imagination, broaden our horizons, and inspire us to dream big.
As we focus on education this week, we are reminded of the significant role books play in shaping our lives. That's why at St Joseph's School, we have a specialist librarian, Mrs Pamela Holmes, who daily assists teachers and students in finding that special book and in caring for the wonderful resources in our library.
Books are the building blocks of education, empowering us with knowledge and wisdom. They are the foundation for building our dreams, aspirations, and future. They teach us valuable life lessons, instil empathy, and help us understand the world around us. In this digital age, where technology seems to dominate every aspect of our lives, it is crucial to remember the importance of books. They provide a much-needed respite from screens and gadgets, allowing us to disconnect and immerse ourselves in the written word. Books provide us with a chance to slow down and savour the beauty of language and storytelling.
As we celebrate Book Week, we also celebrate the joy of reading and the power of imagination. We were fortunate on Wednesday this week to have a local South Australian author, Mrs Karyn Prior, visit our school to share her novel, Bertie Poshka, with our students. Karyn encouraged our students to explore the vast world of literature to discover new things and perspectives through the reading of her book. Karyn's story about a boy called Bertie is inspirational to all and has helped our students to understand the importance of being accepting of their own and each other's gifts of individuality. Her character, Bertie, also reminds us to be optimistic about our futures, even in times of turbulence.
Thank you to all those family and friends who have joined us this week to celebrate Book Week and Catholic Education Open Week.
School Starting Times
To ensure the safety and well-being of our students, we ask that all children arrive at school no earlier than 8:30 am. There is no direct supervision before this time.
The gates will close just after 8.45 am. Any students arriving after this time will need to sign in at the front office on Florence Street.
We understand that unforeseen circumstances may occasionally cause delays. However, we kindly request your cooperation in ensuring that your child arrives at school at the correct times. This will help us to keep our attendance records accurate and avoid unnecessary or incorrect texts to parents.
We also ask that you follow all traffic rules and regulations when parking around the perimeter streets. Please park in designated areas and be mindful of pedestrians, students and other vehicles. By doing so, we can create a safe and secure environment for everyone.
Thank you for your understanding and cooperation. The safety and well-being of our students are our top priority. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact the front office.
Three Remaining School Closure Days for 2023
This week the School Board members met for our August meeting and confirmed the final school closure days for 2023 are:
- Friday 8th Sept (Week 7) – Term 3 – Staff Retreat Day
- Thursday 14th December and Friday 15th December – Term 4 (Last two school days of the year) – Curriculum, Data and Handover Day
PARENT SURVEY – LIVING, LEARNING, LEADING
This is the last week to contribute to the Catholic Education SA survey. All responses are confidential and will be used for school improvement purposes. Completion of the survey is on a voluntary basis.
To complete the survey for St Joseph’s School Murray Bridge
Parents go to www.NSIPartnerships.com.au and enter the code SJMBLLLP in the ‘Start Questionnaire’ field. A flyer is attached at the end of this newsletter.
Enjoy your weekend.
Mrs Ros Oates
Principal
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, and Kate Thurston
Design Technology in our Middle Years
This year, the Year 7 and 8 students have engaged in creating 3D works of art using the laser cutter. The students took an original image and broke it down into layers. They then worked out which features were to lie in the background, and which features they wanted in the foreground. As you can see from the gallery (below), the results were amazing!
Middle Years Maths
Our students love using manipulatives when problem solving in math. This term in Year 8 we are looking at growing patterns and how they can be modelled using tiles, graphs, tables, and an algebraic expression. The students were highly creative designing their pattern as you can see. On Friday’s we also have maths game time. This term, we have been solving mystery scenarios such as ‘The Thief at the Chocolate Factory’ using our math skills and playing games likes chess, sequence and dominos.
We Welcome Ms Doherty
Ms Doherty has made a big difference in our Sturt Pastoral Care class already. Whether it’s making us laugh with her funny stories and magic tricks or getting us to wiggle an Oreo down our face, there is lots of fun and laughter and relationship building.
Annette Lamont
Middle Years Leader
Vinnies Uniform Shops are all located within Vinnies Charity Stores and are serviced by appointment only, by making a booking ensures we have an appropriately trained uniform staff member onsite to assist with uniform fittings, selections, and purchases.
Parents can make a booking with Rochelle and the Murray Bridge Vinnies Uniform Shop Team by scanning the QR code or visiting Vinnies - Uniform Shop (simplybook.me)
We encourage parents to contact us by email (schooluniforms@svdpsa.org.au) for consideration of appointments outside available booking times.
For parents who prefer to personally make a selection, or complete fittings themselves, we welcome you at any time during normal Vinnies Shop trading hours (refer to vinnies.org.au for trading hours) – no bookings required. Vinnies Shop volunteers will only able to assist with finalising the purchase of school uniforms, it is recommended parents make a booking if assistance and advice in uniform fittings and selection is required.
This year St Joseph’s is supporting St Vincent de Paul for their annual winter appeal. This year the focus is on the homelessness crisis devastating older women. Any donations to the Winter Appeal are directly supporting those most in need in our local community. Together we can provide basic essentials to resolve dignity in times of need. Your donation can help remove a major stress for families. Your support also helps dedicated volunteers to work with people living in poverty, and provide assistance when life is tough.
A big thank you for your support of our Pyjama Day last term for the Vinnies Winter Appeal. We are pleased to announce that through your generous donations we were able to raise $650.00. This money will go to support those in need in our community as we know there are many who are finding it very hard this winter. This term we will continue to collect any good warm clothing, blankets, sleeping bags etc that you are no longer using. These can be placed in the bins in the office area.
One-on-One tuition for drum and guitar is available at St Joseph's School on a weekly basis.
For more information on lessons and costs please contact Nathan Hill on 0448 426 946
Social