Principals' Message

Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome to Week 8. It is hard to believe that there are just three more weeks of school before the end of term holiday break! Tomorrow, the Transition Program begins for the 2025 Kindergarten class. We look forward to welcoming our new students and their families to St Joseph's as they prepare for their official start to 'big school' next year.

Learning Together - Clarity Suite

Next week, on the 17th & 18th of September, St Joseph’s will host the next Clarity Suite Professional Learning Workshop which will involve presenter Dr Lyn Sharratt from Canada, Armidale Catholic Schools personnel and approximately seventy Principals and teachers from across the Armidale Diocese. This Armidale Diocesan initiative revisits the work done with Dr Lyn Sharratt over the past eight years in our system of schools.

Teacher Aide Appreciation Week

Last week, we enjoyed a special assembly and morning tea to celebrate Australian Teacher Aide Appreciation Week and say a big thank you to our wonderful Education Assistants; Mrs Kim Wadwell, Mrs Sumudu De Silva, Miss Taylor Bruce, Mrs Lisa Vile, Miss Jade Hewitt, Mrs Stephanie Simmons, Miss Kim Taggart and Mr Alex Taggart. We are extremely blessed at St Joseph's to have such an amazing team of dedicated adults working in our learning spaces each day. 

Arrival of the Message Stick  

The Message Stick is currently journeying throughout the Armidale Diocese in preparation for the 2024 Catholic Schools NSW Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Conference to be held in Tamworth next term. Yesterday, Father Sabu welcomed the message stick to our Parish and handed it onto St Joseph's today.

The message stick conveys the message of unity, education, and communal joy. Historically, these sticks were exchanged among various clans and linguistic communities to communicate important information and relay messages. They were commonly utilised to extend invitations to neighbouring groups for gatherings, initiation rites, access to territories, and participation in spiritual practices.

As the Message Stick continues on its voyage across our Diocese, we remain mindful of the conference theme for this year: "Spirit on Country: Collaborative Learning, Past, Present & Future." The message stick will play a significant role in our momentous educational gathering, where we will celebrate the diverse cultures, achievements, and aspirations of our students, while also fostering stronger educational alliances with our schools, communities, educators and parishes throughout the diocese.

Today, the entire staff and student body actively engaged in a liturgy enlightening everyone about the history, meaning, and importance of a particular item. As a result, all the classrooms have an allocated time during the week to proudly display the message stick and learn more about its significance from Miss Taggart.

The Message Stick is set to leave our school on Friday as it journeys on to St Nicholas Parish, Tamworth. 

Wishing all members of the St Joseph's School community all the best for a great week.

Maree Holland & Greg O'Toole

Co-Principals

St Joseph's School - a Faith Filled Community Where Learning Matters