St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Handbook

2024 Bus Timetable (Premier Charters)

PB4L (Positive Behaviour for Learning)

Ask your child about the weekly focus for students.

This week's focus:

Be Respectful - Respect self and others!

Happy Birthday

We wish the following students a very happy birthday who celebrate their special day during the week.

16 March - Arabella P Year 2

17 March - Zane M Year 2, Harry M Year 5

21 March - Emma H Year 5

Parent Talk Newsletter

Parent Talk newsletter aims to provide parents and carers with relevant and timely information about parenting, education, wellbeing, upcoming Council of Catholic School Parents (CCSP) events and webinars for parents, and significant Catholic news and events.

The Council of Catholic School Parents NSW/ACT represents all parents and carers of students in our Catholic schools. We value and promote the critical role that parents play in the education of their children, and provide leadership, advocacy and support for parents and carers of children in almost 600 Catholic schools. Parents and carers are invited to subscribe to CCSP’s Parent Talk newsletter to receive future editions and keep up to date with how our Council supports Catholic school parents to support their children’s wellbeing, faith journey and academic outcomes. Click here to subscribe.

The Council of Catholic School Parents NSW/ACT is conducting a survey to gauge parental involvement in their child's school including their learning. They are looking to receive feedback on areas that are really important to parents. Participants have the option to receive a 2024 Faith Diary as a token of appreciation by providing their name, address, and mobile phone number at the end of the survey.

The survey link is provided: CCSP Survey.

Get ready for The Big Vegie Crunch!

On Thursday 21 March at 10am our school will be joining hundreds of schools across NSW to break the record for the most students crunching vegetables simultaneously.

But we need your help to make it a success!

On Thursday 21 March, please pack your child a container of vegetables (not fruit this time) for them to crunch on.

Need some ideas?

carrot, celery, cucumber – cut into sticks or left whole
capsicum – cut into sticks or wedges
corn – raw baby corn spears or a cooked corn cob
broccoli or cauliflower florets - raw or lightly cooked to keep their crunch
tomatoes – small cherry tomatoes or a large tomato that can be eaten like an apple
beans or snow peas - raw or lightly cooked to keep their crunch
mushrooms – sliced or left whole
if fresh veg isn’t possible, try canned or frozen vegetables instead

Corn on the cob will be available for purchase ($1.20 each) from the canteen on Thursday 21 March 2024. Please note that these small cobs would only be sufficient as a snack; they would not be big enough to replace a lunch meal.

Students are invited to create their own ‘Vegie Mascot’ to encourage others to eat vegetables. Students wishing to participate in this initiative will be given poster paper this week to work on their Vegie Mascot at home. These are due Thursday 21 March 2024.

Last year, Noah D came 2nd place with his ‘Garret the Carrot’ entry in the ‘Healthy Kids Association’ Vegie Mascot Competition and the school received $250.

We look forward to seeing what wonderful creative mascots St Joseph students can come up with in 2024! For some inspiration, see the 2023 Healthy Kids Association Competition Winners below.

Book Club - 2024 Issue 2 - CLOSES 28 MARCH

Students received our Book Club 2024 Issue 2 this week. Issue 2 will close Thursday 28 March 2024.

Books will be delivered to students in the week commencing 8 April (it may be sooner than this, but with the Easter long weekend it is more likely in final week of term).

ACTION REQUIRED - Online Forms & 2024 Parent Input Forms

Please ensure the forms below have been completed by Monday 1 April. These are compulsory form that all parents need to complete via the COMPASS Parent Portal through Insights.

2024 CEDoW Consent for the use of student’s image and/or work
2024 CEDoW Acceptable Use of Technology
2024 Local Excursion and Incursion Consent

Please read the attached Parent Guide on how to access this forms.

NAPLAN 2024

This year our Year 3 and 5 students will sit NAPLAN from 13 March 2024. Information in regards to NAPLAN 2024 Parent and Carers Information was sent out last week through COMPASS. Students will sit the test on the dates below:

Conventions of Language	Wednesday 20 March
Numeracy	Thursday 21 March

2025 Online Enrolments are Open

Our online applications are now open.

You will be required to use our new online enrolment platform, called Funnel, removing the use of all paper forms. Please take note, particularly for sibling applications. The online application form will be accessible from the home page of our school website

Additional School Tours

If you missed our open day, please feel free to join us at one of our additional open days being held until the end of Term 1. Please complete the google form below and we look forward to seeing you on your selected day.

Library News

Premier Reading Challenge

Our SJB Premier Reading Challenge has begun.

In 2024 St Joseph's will be running a school wide challenge. All students will participate.

Kinder-Year 2 books will be lodged by Mrs Pirie. Years 3-6 students will log books they have read, both class reading and home reading will be included, during library lessons

Sports News

Sports Uniform Days - Term 1

Students are required to wear sports uniform as outlined below.

Please be advised that students will be required to wear their sports uniform the following days.

Year	Days required to wear sports uniform
Kindergarten	Wednesday & Friday
Year 1	Monday & Wednesday
Year 2	Tuesday & Thursday
Year 3	Tuesday & Friday
Year 4	Thursday & Friday
Year 5	Tuesday & Friday
Year 6	Tuesday & Friday

Diocesan Rugby League Trials

Congratulations to Brody N and Nash K who were selected in the Diocesan Rugby League Team and will compete in the MacKillop Trials at Canberra in May.

We wish Brody and Nash the best of luck!

Diocesan Swimming Trials

On Monday, 11 March, several St Joseph’s students were invited to a selection trial at Corrimal Pool.

Congratulations to all these students who swam well and were very competitive in every race. All students should be very proud of their efforts and representation of SJB! Thank you to all the parents and friends who supported the team in the warm weather.

The children below finished in the top two places in an individual event. They were selected to represent the Wollongong Diocese at the MacKillop Swimming Trials at Homebush on 3 April 2024.

Hamish B, Arlo B, Nash H, Sadie J, Owen O, Archer T

Three of our relay teams finished in first place so they will also have the opportunity to compete at Homebush, representing SJB as part of the Wollongong Diocese team!

Senior Girls Relay — Sadie J, Bianca S, Molly P, Sophie P

Junior Boys Relay Archer T Jimmy R, Hamish B, Lucas M.

Senior Boys Relay - Taj, C Nash H, Harry S and Owen O.

We wish all competitors the very best of luck!

Australian Mountain Biking Interschools

The Australian Mountain Biking Interschools at Thredbo is an exciting annual event held in the Kosciuszko National Park. A record-breaking week was had with over 1200 students from 300 schools racing in this year's biggest MTB event. Three of our St. Joey's students competed in this event spanning over 3 days of action-packed riding and racing. Liam T (Y5), Arkie Q (Year 5), and Monte Q (Year 3) were up against some pretty tough terrain and competition in their age groups. Each rider displayed incredible focus, tenacity, bravery and mateship as they took on the mountain.

Well done to the boys who represented St.Joseph's Catholic Primary School at this event.

SJB Cross Country - Whole School Carnival K-6

We look forward to our whole school Cross-Country carnival which will be held in Week 9 on Wednesday 27 March 2024. Please complete the online COMPASS permission for your child/ren. Course maps are located in the "Resource tab of this event".

Head Lice

We have been advised of a number of cases of head lice. Please check your child's hair and treat accordingly.

Please click on this link from NSW Health that you may find helpful.

Canteen

Open Monday to Friday for recess and lunch.

Cash purchases for snacks and drinks can be made at recess and lunchtime. Snacks and drinks can also be ordered via the new platform FlexiSchools.

FRIENDLY REMINDER: PLEASE ENSURE YOU CHANGE YOUR CHILD/S CLASS TO REFLECT THEIR CLASS FOR 2024

Lunch orders

Orders for lunch can only be made through Flexischools. Please note that orders close at 9.15am daily. Orders cannot be placed after this time.

Flexischool Parent Support Line - 1300 361 769 (Hours: 7.00am-12.00 noon)

Catholic Care

OOSH, Out of School Hours care at St Joseph's

Email: bullioosh@catholiccare.dow.org.au

Mobile: 0437 713 067

Booking Information

Enrolment Form

CatholicCare Website

Service hours

Before School Care

7:00am – 8:30am

After School Care

2:45pm – 6:00pm

If you require the use of OOSH for your child/ren you need to be enrolled in the service prior to commencing.

Casual bookings

If your child already uses the service and you require a casual booking please do this via the Xplor app.

Before School Care: Bookings are to be made no later than 5:30 pm the night before

After School Care: Bookings are to be made no later than 9:00 am that morning

Casual booking must be made as per the times above to ensure enough staff. If notice is not provided within these time frames and the service does not have sufficient staff your child/ren will be sent to the office for collection. This is something that we all wish to avoid, so please keep in mind the time frames to help support the service.

If there is an emergency and care is needed please phone and leave a message and we will see what we can do.

If you do have any questions, need clarification, or have any feedback please feel free to contact the service mobile during operating hours on 0437 713 067 or Jacinta, Team Leader – 0407 759 720.

Strengthening Relationships

Community Notices

PCYC Bulli April School Holiday Program

Holy Spirit College

WANTED - School Crossing Supervisor -Dapto (Afternoon Shifts)

School Crossing Supervisor in the afternoons at Parkside Drive at Lakelands Public School – Dapto.

Kind Regards

Louise Borg

Administration & Payroll Support

Safety, Environment & Regulation

Transport for NSW

T 1800 427 677 select option 2

Family Matters

Swap It: Cool Lunchboxes