Dear Parents & Friends of St Joseph’s Wee Waa,

Wow, the end of the 2019 academic year. Time has well and truly flown. It has been a pleasure to be a part of this wonderful school and the wider school community. There is something special here.

On Monday we had a wonderful evening celebrating the Year 6 Graduation Dinner. Our Year 6 parents put on a wonderful evening and we were treated to a wonderful performance by our St Joseph’s Water Ballet team, as well as some great speeches from Miss Robertson and our school captains. It was a fitting tribute to our Year 6 Leavers.

As with any school year, we welcome a number of new families to our school, but we also farewell families too as there time here at St Joseph’s finishes. At our Presentation Evening tomorrow (starting at 6.30 pm at the Bowling Club), we will farewell these families.

As stated last fortnight, we will also be thanking Stacey Vogel and Gail Knight for their services as President and Treasurer of the school’s P&F association. We will be holding our AGM on Tuesday 25 February, there we will be able to elect and welcome a new president and treasurer. If you think this is something that you might be interested in, or if you would like to join our committee, please come to our AGM on the 25th February next year.

Each year our Canteen Manager position comes available. It is a paid position for 3 hours per week. This position will be to help maintain the canteen on a Wednesday, ensure that ordering is done weekly and that it runs smoothly from week to week. Please see the attached advertisement for this position. Applications for this position close on the 18th December.

Next year there will be some changes to the operation of our canteen. We will be going cashless and only accepting orders via the QKR app.

This morning our students spent time in their 2020 classrooms with their new Leaders of Learning. It was wonderful seeing them all go up a level and work with different peers.

Our Leaders of Learning for 2020 are as follows:

Mrs Elise Baird	Leader of Pedagogy & Student Support Teacher
Miss Brooke Theobald	Kindergarten
Miss Elise Vinson	Stage 1
Miss Lucy Suttor	Stage 1
Mrs Karlee Hatton	Stage 2 & Religious Education Co-ordinator
Miss Olivia Robertson	Stage 3 & Mathematics Specialist
Mrs Monique Soutter	Stage 3
Mr Mark Rottger	Personal Development, Health and Physical Education
Mrs Anna Baird	Creative & Performing Arts
Mrs Emily Sullivan	Stage 2 & 3 Release Teacher
Mrs Denise Gallagher	Education Assistant
Mrs Leanne Schwager	Education Assistant
Mrs Mel Towns	Education Assistant
Miss Sarah Phelps	ICT/Admin
Mrs Jill Haire	Admin/Finance

With the ongoing drought, it has become tougher and tougher on families throughout our district. Recently we received a number of gifts that three ladies from Taree have gathered throughout the year. They have donated these to our school for our students to pick out a gift for their parents. Next week siblings will have some time to select a gift for you all. Remember it is the thought that counts. Please see what they wrote below:

On the 22 November, St Christopher’s Primary School Holsworthy, Sydney, held a Dress Like a Farmer day. This was a day where they could raise money for a community in drought.

We were so blessed to receive over $1200 to help us provide fruit and meals for our students and school community. During this day our Stage 2 students had a video conference with the Year 5 class from St Christopher's.

Our students answered their questions in detail and were able to give them a first-hand account of being a child in a rural setting. Our students also asked their students about what it is like to live in Sydney and what sports they played at the weekend. Their principal Mr Anthony Boyd, got in touch with us after we attended a meeting together in Sydney. We were discussing the drought and how it affects our families and the school. It was a long discussion that covered a number of topics, from food security, fee relief for families, lost wages and job security as well as the major Mental Health implications that manifest in children and families. Mr Boyd is a leader of a district of Catholic schools in Sydney, as well as another principal Mr Chris Egan. They both retold the stories of what it is like living in a drought-affected community, through their leadership, a number of schools in the Armidale diocese have been supported by Sydney Catholic schools.

Also through this meeting and other local connections, we have been blessed to be supported also by Our Lady of Dolours Primary School in Chatswood. They are holding a gold coin fundraiser this Friday to help us provide fruit and meals to our community into 2020.

Next Friday 20th December, we will have 2500m2 of turf delivered. If any of our school community are available, it would be amazing to see you down here to help us lay the turf.

This is an exciting addition to our school and one that all students will benefit from. We will be starting approximately at 8 am, and should have it all done by 2 pm. Thank you to our school’s P&F and School Advisory Council for supporting and fundraising this venture.

This is for all of our students, and it would be grand to see as many parents and volunteers here, as many hands make light work.

It has been a pleasure to be St Joseph’s Primary School’s Principal this year, and I am looking forward to an engaging and exciting year in 2020.

God Bless,

Alistair Stewart

Principal

Thursday 12 December	Sports Day (Swimming) End of Year Prizegiving 6:30 - 8: PM @ Wee Waa Bowling Club
Friday 13 December	School Closure Day
Monday 16 December	End of Year Mass & Year 6 Graduation
Tuesday 17 December	Year 6 Pool Party
Wednesday 18 December	2019 School Year Ends

Important Dates & Events

2019

2020