Dear Parents and Carers

As we come to the end of Term 2, I want to take a moment to thank our school community for another wonderful and productive term. There has been so much to celebrate in all aspects of our school life and I would like to thank the staff, students and parents for all their contributions to the success’ and highlights this term.

Parents will be notified soon when student reports will be available to access on Compass. These will provide a detailed overview of the growth, achievements and areas for further development across all subject areas, work habits and social skills. It has been a pleasure reading all the reports and noting that our students have shown enthusiasm, diligence and resilience in their learning. Every report also highlights opportunities where each child can grow further and we see these as valuable next steps on their learning journey.

Teachers look forward to discussing these reports in more detail at our Parent Teacher Interviews next Monday, 30th June. As a school, we are deeply grateful for the partnership we share with our parents in supporting the education and wellbeing of every student. We encourage all families to take this important opportunity to connect with their child’s teacher next week and continue walking this journey of learning together.

Leadership Changes for Term 3

I would like to also take this opportunity to wish Mrs Munn all the very best for her travels and leave over Term 3. We hope she has a wonderful time and comes back to us in Term 4 safe and sound. We welcome Mrs Sonya Buchannan who will assume the role of Acting Assistant Principal for Term 3. As communicated previously, Mrs Buchanan has come to us from Holy Trinity, West Wagga and we are looking forward to her joining our school community.

Next Tuesday, the Leadership team will participate in a Leadership Day and Mrs Buchanan will be part of this and she will also spend Thursday at the school having a hand over with Mrs Munn.

Aboriginal Cultural Day at Holy Trinity, West Wagga

Our Aboriginal students, Ms Moran, Velettah and myself were very privileged to have been invited to a cultural day organised by Ms Glesson and her team at Holy Trinity West Wagga. We all had an amazing day interacting with the students and staff at Holy Trinity. They had so many cultural experiences organised for us to engage in. A special thank you to Aleesha, the Aboriginal Support and Community Worker who led the day, Patrick, who taught us about the Torres Strait Islands and their culture, Ryder for the Smoking Ceremony and Aunty Coleen who came over from Henschke to support us.

The children danced, ate coconut damper (a recipe from the Torres Strait Islands), sang, engaged in collaborative and individual art, learnt about artefacts including a special spear, took part in a Smoking ceremony and played Indigenous Games with fellow Aboriginal students at Holy Trinity.

‘The Rainbow Serpent' Collaborative Art has been kindly given to St Joseph's students to hang at our school. This will serve as a memory of the wonderful day spent together. Aunty Mary, Mrs Steckfuss and Mrs Banks from the Aboriginal Cultural and Education department at CEDWW also visited us all in the afternoon to join in the celebrations.

A special thank you to the parents of St Joseph's who assisted in transporting the students to Wagga and back. We look forward to St Joseph's hosting Holy Trinity next time.

PJ Day for St Vinnie’s Winter Appeal

As a Catholic school community, we are guided by the teachings of Jesus and the values of compassion, service, and dignity for all. We place a strong emphasis on social justice, encouraging our students to reach out to those in need and to make a positive difference in the lives of others.

Tomorrow, everyone will wear their Pyjamas to school as part of our St Vinnie’s Winter Appeal. We will celebrate with a special liturgy in the hall for staff and students and Lincoln, a St Vincent DePaul representative, will speak to us and collect all the kindly donated warm jumpers, blankets and clothing.

Thank you to our very generous families who have contributed to this charity drive. You will make a difference to the lives of those in need this winter.

Mrs Huard’s Big Trek for Mark Hughes Foundation

Last Friday, the school got behind Mrs Huard and wore beanies to raise money for Brain Cancer. Mrs Huard is Day 2 into her walk and the school is going to join her virtually today to encourage her and wish her well as she is walking. As a result of the sausage sizzle and gold coin donations, the school raised $1000 to go towards Mrs Huard’s fundraising. This is a mammoth achievement and we thank families yet again for supporting this very worthwhile cause towards research for Brain Cancer.

Mud Kitchen

As part of the playground upgrade, a solid wooden Mud Kitchen was purchased with funds raised by our parents. This was delivered yesterday and is another welcome addition to the nature playground.

Postponed Trivia Night

The Trivia night that was planned for tomorrow night has been postponed to a date yet to be decided. We look forward to hosting this within the next year at a date TBD. A huge thank you to Mrs Sheree Ballard who has been organising the event.

SJJU Social and Fundraising Committee Meeting

All parents are invited to our next Social and Fundraising Committee meeting to be held on Friday 1st August after the whole school assembly. It will be held in the hall and children will be cared for to allow parents time to be part of the meeting. We thought we would try this time and see how it works given many parents are in for assembly.

Pupil Free Day

Monday 21st July is a pupil free day for all students K-6. Staff will be engaging in a Curriculum Reform Day. The school office will be open if you need to contact Mrs Duck and Junee Buses have been contacted. All students return to school on the 22nd in full winter uniform.

Enjoy the holidays everyone, stay warm and safe. Thank you for all you do to make St Joseph’s the amazing school community it is.

God Bless

Angela Scott

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