Last week I attended the Term 3 Principals Meeting in Moree. I took part in a Learning Walk at St Joseph's Mungindi and St Philomena's Moree. It was reaffirming to see the agreed practice all teachers in our diocese use in the literacy and numeracy blocks.

At the meeting, our director Chris Smyth launched the Armidale Catholic Schools Data Ecosystem. Schools now have the ability to view all sorts of data on our children from school attendance, Reading and Writing levels and student wellbeing surveys to students receiving support. The information for each school can be viewed by our school staff as well as the CSO Leadership and Mission and Learning Teams.

A major concern raised by the Primary principals is vaping. This has been in the news this week and has been reported on the evening TV news. While we may be sheltered from what goes on in larger towns, it is vitally important for parents to talk about this issue with their primary-aged children. There is a School TV article on vaping on our WELLBEING page.

Regular School Attendance

Our attendance data shows that regular school attendance leads to learning success.

Children who are frequently away, miss important assessment tasks and are at risk of not reaching learning targets.

The Data Dashboard places students on a continuum of risk.

We will be reaching out to the families of students at risk and working in partnership to create opportunities for the children to experience success and for them to reach their full potential.

Staff Professional Development Days

There has been a change to the scheduling of Staff Professional Development Days

(Pupil Free Days) for the remainder of the year.

TERM 3

Monday, September 12 Staff Spirituality Retreat in Bingara

Friday, September 23rd Teachers to attend the Big Write and VCOP refresher course at St Nicholas' in Tamworth

Last day of Term 3

TERM 4

Monday, October 10 Annual CRP recertification /

Planning for the EOY Presentation Night

First day of Term 4

School Surveys

The annual satisfaction survey of parents, students and staff will be conducted on behalf of all Catholic schools in the Diocese this term. The surveys are designed to gather feedback from parents, staff and students about our school and will be used to inform school improvement. Responses are confidential and individuals can not be identified.

The surveys will be launched via email on Monday 22 August 2022 using the email addresses supplied to the school. If you do not receive an email with a link to the survey, you can access and complete the survey via the following link.

https://www.research.net/r/StJosephsWarialdaPARENT2022

The survey closes on Wednesday the 31st of August. We would like to hear from all parents and appreciate you completing the survey before it closes.

Complaints Handling Process

St Joseph's Warialda, like all schools, is committed to providing a harmonious and safe environment for all students, parents and staff. We understand that parents/caregivers can sometimes feel concerned about something that is taking place at the school. It is important that these concerns are raised and responded to in a timely and respectful way. We value complaints and are committed to ensuring that every complaint is handled fairly, effectively and efficiently.

A copy of our Complaints Handling Policy is available from our office and can be emailed upon request.

Minecraft Bees

We invite parents to help us work on the Honey Festival's "Minecraft Bee art installation". Contact me or Lisa if you would like to come up to our hall one afternoon to work with others on this project.

Parents and Friends Committee

Our P&F will meet on Wednesday the 31st at 5 pm. All are welcome to attend.

Head Lice

Unfortunately, the head lice problem has reoccurred

Please check your children's hair and treat if necessary.

We have put measures in place at school to try and keep our children head lice-free. These include:

no sharing of hats (even between siblings)
recommending children with long hair to have their hair tied back
avoiding close physical contact.

Remember prevention is better than cure.

If your child does happen to become infected with Head Lice and you need help with treating your child please contact the school and we can work together to combat the issue.

Headlice Treatment procedures.https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/environment/headlice/Pages/default.aspx

Headlice FAQ

https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/environment/headlice/Pages/default.aspx

School Uniform

The students have the option to continue to wear their winter uniform or wear their summer uniform from Week 7 (Monday the 29th of August) until the end of the term. We ask that you wear either uniform and not a blend of both. We encourage all students to bring their jumper/jacket as the weather has been quite erratic.

Shoes: Children are to wear black school shoes and not joggers as per school uniform policy.

Trellis Removal

The CSO is planning major capital works to improve entry into our grounds and will be re-concreting the area under the COLA. This is scheduled to take place during the summer holidays.

As part of the beautification works, we will need the trellis to be removed. The dimensions are 2.7 m high and 11.8 m wide. There are four posts made of 7 cm boxed steel.

Please call Lisa on 6729 1328 if interested in buying it. Removal will be the responsibility of the buyer.

Here is our Term 3 Transition flyer:

Wishing you a great week.

Joe Dimech

Principal

Term 3 Dates

Term 3