Tired? Stressed? Overwhelmed? Anxious? If any of these feelings come to mind join the club. It has been my absolute pleasure over the last 8 weeks to be apart of such an amazing team here at St Joseph's. I think it is fair to say that everyone has definitely felt one of these feelings either at school or in their own lives. However seeing the happy students that we have enter and exit the school on a daily basis reassures us that these feelings were worth it.

It is within this acknowledgment of self that we are able to see through difficult and challenging times the positive outcomes all educators, family members and others have in the young lives of children. I encourage you through these times to maintain that end goal and drive to achieve the success you set out for. We try our best to model this to our students and encourage that positive mindset when difficult tasks arise. But at times as adults we need to take that step back for our own health and wellbeing. As the term goes on the school holidays seem like a light at the end of the tunnel however I encourage you to seek help if needed, to take a step back if it seems like too much and to share the success and struggles within our community.

I've never been much for inspirational quotes but here goes one. I think what we try to model at school is a community where conversations to our peers is a regular occurrence. We give each student the best opportunity to reach out to a peer or teacher when something seems a bit off. It is through these conversations where as humans we convey feelings and reasoning which is a vital part of communication. If someone doesn't know how you feel how are they meant to help, say sorry or not do it again? This model seems simple but in practice is something all students at St Joseph's will be working on. Effective communication to our peers will help us in many ways.

Regular Attendance - "Every day Counts"

We remind parents to notify the school when their children are absent from school. Our school roll is marked electronically at 9 am each morning through the COMPASS portal.

It is important that you add an 'attendance note' on Compass or contact us if your child is absent from school. The CSO follows up on unexplained absences and it is vital to keep this to an absolute minimum.

Our attendance rate is still sitting at an impressive 91% well done to all families and students. Lets continue to give our students the best chances for success by attending school as regularly as we can.

A day away from school here or there doesn’t seem like much but absences add up.

When your child misses one day per fortnight,

they miss upwards of 4 weeks per year which equates

to one year missed over their school life.

from NSW Government - Education

Term 1 Dates

Term 1