Dear St Joseph’s Wee Waa School Community,

Welcome back to St Joseph’s Wee Waa for the 2024 academic year. I hope that all families had an enjoyable summer holiday break. It has been great reconnecting with all students over the last two days. Many students have been sharing with me what they have been doing during the holidays.

This school year, we are pleased to welcome several new families to our school. We hope you will enjoy interacting with our school and the broader community. While educating your children is a significant part of being a member of our school, establishing connections with other families and being part of the larger school community is crucial in creating a safe and supportive environment for your children. This, in turn, creates a strong, connected Catholic community.

I invite all in our school community to join us to celebrate Mass for Ash Wednesday on the 14 February, at 9.30 am. As well as being our community’s Ash Wednesday celebration, we will formally welcome all new students to our school and formally install our 2024 Year 6 children as leaders of our school.

With Easter being commemorated within the school term this year, the start of Lent will begin with Ash Wednesday next week. Some families will be wondering:

What is Ash Wednesday?

The origins of Lent trace back to 325 CE, when it was more commonly used as a preparation phase for baptisms. The holiday's length is a homage to Jesus Christ’s 40-day fast as he travelled through the wilderness after being baptised and before he began his ministry. Christians consider this period to be God's test of Jesus's spirituality and ability to withstand temptation.

Today, Christians use the holiday both to repent and reflect. The ash cross marking observers’ foreheads represents mortality and penance for their sins. It is applied by a priest during a morning mass, often along with a small blessing: "Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return; or, Repent and believe in the Gospels." Many choose to keep the ashes on their forehead all day.

The ash itself is made from the burned palm leaves used during the previous year’s Palm Sunday services, which commemorate Jesus's arrival to Jerusalem a week before he was crucified and resurrected. It’s believed that residents welcomed him by waving palm fronds.

Our staff returned to work at the beginning of this week, and we had the opportunity to gather together with the staff members of St Joseph’s Walgett, St Joseph’s Mungindi, St Joseph’s Warialda and St Francis Xavier’s Narrabri. Members of the Catholic Schools Office Armidale also joined us. During this conference, we focused on strategies to enhance intervention within English and Mathematics, our Living Well Learning Well framework, and various other areas pertinent to the development of our staff members. It was a fantastic way to build collegiality and ensure that the processes that we follow here at St Joseph’s Wee Waa are followed in a systemic way across other schools in our diocese.

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2024 Staffing

Leadership Team

Alistair Stewart - Principal

Kathlene Fenton - Assistant Principal/Leader of Pedagogy

Karlee Hatton - REC & Inclusion Support Teacher

Kindergarten

Zoe Conomos - Teacher

Leanne Schwager - EA

Stage One

Alice Woodhill - Teacher

Jessica Edmeades - Teacher

Elizma Nel (Additional teacher for English & Maths - Starting in Term 2)

Vanessa Constable - EA

Caitlin Smith - AEA (Infants)

Mel Towns - Read 3, MiniLit and Library Administrator

Stage Two

Matthew Hamblin - Teacher

Ruan Coetzer - Teacher

Terleea Crowe - EA

Stage Three

Lucy Suttor - Teacher & MaST (Mathematics Specialist Teacher)

Vanessa Klinke - Teacher

Meg Van Der Merwe - EA

Darcy Lang - AEA (Primary)

Administration & Ancillary Staff

Sarah Phelps - Administration & Finance Lead

Kylie Cruckshank - Administration

Kathleen Coutts-Smith - Canteen

Sara Stewart - Cleaner

Chris Hartnett - Grounds & Maintenance

Swimming Carnival

This is a reminder that students turning eight or older next year will participate in our annual Swimming Carnival on Thursday, 15 February. Please note that all other students will participate in a Water Fun day at school on this day.

Students will arrive at school normally, have their attendance marked, and walk down to the Wee Waa Pool with their Leader of Learning. They will then sit in their designated house areas for the duration of the carnival. After the event, students may leave with their parent/carer after notifying a member of staff or will walk back to school with their Leader of Learning and follow the regular bus/walkers routine.

An entry fee of $2 or a season will not be required. We will provide information regarding a canteen facility closer to the date.

Students will be given the opportunity to participate in the following events:

Junior = 8, 9, 10 years old in 2024, 11yrs = 11 years old in 2024, Senior = 12 or 13 years old in 2024

8yrs - 12yrs Freestyle 33 m (age races)

Junior - Senior 100 m Freestyle

Junior - Senior Backstroke 33 m

Junior - Senior Butterfly 33 m

Junior - Senior Breaststroke 33 m

Individual Medley 4 x 33 m

Novelty Events (for those not participating in races)

If your child is unsure about entering a race, please nominate; it is easier to remove them from the program on the day of the carnival rather than add them on the day.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the school office.

Parent Information Night

We will be holding a Parent Information Night in each classroom on Monday, 26 February.

This is a great opportunity to meet your child's teacher and learn about class routines, homework and organisational expectations.

Kindergarten: 5:30 - 6:00 pm

Stage 1: 5:00 pm - 5:30 pm

Stage 2: 5:30 - 6:00 pm

Stage 3: 5:00 pm - 5:30 pm

Please note that the St Joseph’s P & F will hold their Annual General Meeting following these sessions at 6 pm.

P & F Annual General Meeting

This is a reminder that P&F (Parents & Friends Association) will be holding their Annual General Meeting on Monday 26 February, at 6 pm (following the Parent Information Night).

It would be great if we could have a large turnout of parents at this meeting. Our school’s P&F is a great way to meet other parents, and help to build a more connected community within St Joseph’s. Our P&F helped raise a significant amount of money last year, which is used to support all students within the school. Please consider attending, and help to make this school an even better place.

Shrove Tuesday

This Tuesday, 13 February, we will cook pancakes for the students for Shrove Tuesday. Students will all receive a pancake to commemorate this important day in our liturgical calendar.

Start of Year & Ash Wednesday Mass

This is a reminder that will be holding our Beginning of Year & Ash Wednesday Mass this Wednesday, 14 February, starting at 9:30 am.

As per tradition, each Year 6 will participate in a Leadership ceremony, and each student will receive a 'Year 6 Leader Badge' (in addition to School Captain and House Captain badges). We would like to invite a parent/carer or family friend to help pin these on.

We will also be officially welcoming all of the new students to our school community at this time.

Junior Joeys representatives will be selected later this month, and the badges will be presented during a special assembly. The date of the assembly will be communicated beforehand.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the school office.

Have a great weekend.

God Bless,

Alistair Stewart

Principal

St Joseph's Primary School

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Issue 1 · 09 Feb 2024

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