Catholic Identity
Welcome to Term 4, what promises to be another term of incredible growth in faith, learning and wellbeing! We began the term with our annual Feast of St Francis liturgy and awards ceremony.
The Annual St Francis of Assisi Award is presented to one student from each class who shows a great love for and stewardship of God’s Creation both in their words and actions. This student is seen to:
align their environmental beliefs with the Gospel Values through their words and actions, at school and at home
reflect St Francis' devotion to God through their love and appreciation for all of God's creation. This includes showing care and concern for those less fortunate
demonstrate great interest in nature, the environment, conservation, stewardship, ecology and sustainability.
Congratulations to the following students:
Frank T, Maeve M, Charlie L, Jack B, Stella A, Harmonie S, Harry B, Jamie A, Isla J, Andy O, Quade S, Millie M, Harry M and Liam P.
Catholic Mission Launch
On Monday, we gathered as a Catholic School community to Launch Catholic Mission Month. The people of Zambia rely on maize (corn) as their main source of food and income. St Joseph’s has accepted a Mission Challenge to help the people of Zambia by raising enough money to purchase a maize mill. A maize mill will allow families to efficiently grind corn into flour to make products they can sell or eat themselves.
Here’s how we can help to "Sock-it to Poverty":
Bring a Gold Coin Donation & Wear Crazy Socks: All staff and students are invited to bring a gold coin donation (or more) and wear their craziest socks to school on Tuesday 4 November Week 4.
The Soccer Ball Challenge: Classes will collect soft plastics to create their own class soccer balls, representing the kind of ball children in Zambia play with every day. On the crazy sock day, each class will make their ball and participate in a penalty shootout on the grass area.
Well done to the students pictured for taking a leadership role in setting up our prayer space for the liturgy. You demonstrated great student agency!
St Joseph’s Rosary Bags!
It has been incredibly heartwarming to have students at St Joseph’s talk about how they have prayed the Rosary as a family. Well done! Each day, a student in each class will be selected to take home a Rosary bag, inside the bag contains some Rosary beads, an image of Mary, a marker and a booklet on how to pray the Rosary. Families are invited to pray the Rosary and write their families name on the bag and return to school.
Thank you again for your commitment to this initiative!
Upcoming dates in Term 4
Friday 24 October from 11:30am- Grandparents and Great people Liturgy and Open classrooms.
Friday 31 October: All Saints and All Souls day prayer in classrooms.
Tuesday 4 November: Crazy socks and gold coin donation for Catholic Mission.
Thursday 6 November at 9:30am- Year 2 Reconciliation in the Church
Thursday 6 November at 11:50am- Year 5 and Kinder Buddy Mass - All are welcome
Tuesday 11 November at 10:45am - Remembrance Day Liturgy in the Hall - All are welcome
Thursday 13 November at 11:50am- Year 3 Grade Mass- All are welcome
Thursday 20 November at 11:50am- Year 1 Grade Mass- All are welcome
Monday 8 December at 9:30am- Whole school final Mass with Parish: Immaculate Conception of Mary
Wednesday 10 December from 6:00pm- Christmas Concert- All are invited!
Tuesday 16 December at 9:30am- Year 6 Final Liturgy in the Church
Christmas Story Art Competition
On Wednesday 22 October Cristiano H (Year 5) and his parents attended the official opening of the exhibition and awards presentation evening at the Wollongong Art Gallery. It was a great honor to be featured among like minded artists such as Cristiano. A huge thank you to Mrs Brooks for guiding all the students to achieve their best! We will be showcasing the SJB finalist artworks along with their written reflections in our Newsletters leading up to Christmas so stay tuned.
If you would like to see the 48 shortlisted artworks, the exhibition is open to the public from October 4 - October 27 at Wollongong Art Gallery.
Canonisation of Blessed Peter To Rot – First Saint of Papua New Guinea
Blessed Peter To Rot, the first saint from Papua New Guinea, was a dedicated helper and religious teacher born in Rakunai in 1912. He lived a life of kindness, humility, and always helped the poor. During World War II, when the Japanese occupied PNG and put the priests in jail, Peter bravely risked his life to continue guiding the Catholics in his district. He strongly defended the Christian teachings which led to his arrest and his death by poisoning in July 1945. He is honored as a "martyr for the faith" and was recognised as a Blessed Saint by Pope St. John Paul II in 1995.
Mr Alexander Walker
Religious Education Coordinator