Happy Birthday

Wishing all our students a very happy birthday who celebrated their special day over the holiday break and the last fortnight

27 September - Lachlan B Year 2

28 September - Chloe M Year 3

2 October - Claudia N Year 6, Leo B Year 6

4 October - Franklin R Kinder, Isabella N Year 2, Max C Year 2 & Jamie L Year 3

5 October - Florence N Kinder, Grace M Year 1 & Harmonie S Year 1

7 October - Aria H Year 3 & Elena R Year 6

8 October - Lylah W Year 6

10 October - Elka R Year 2, Lillian L Year 3, William P Year 4 & Nash K Year 5

11 October - Noah S Year 2

12 October - Hayden K Year 4, Malakai L Year 5 & Flynn W Year 6

13 October - Cassian Q Year 1, Evelyn R Year 2, Riley BW Year 2 & Louie B Year 4

18 October -Dylan W Year 1 & Hannah P Year 2

19 October - Kahu S Year 1

23 October - Xanthe B Year 4

Public Speaking Finals

Many thanks to the Year 4, 5 and 6 audience and to Michael, Louise and Tony from Toastmasters who adjudicated the competition.

Pria and Sophie will compete in the South Eastern Regional Competition tomorrow, Friday 25 October 2024 at St Therese, West Wollongong.

Late Arrivals

A friendly reminder that students who arrive to school after the bell through the school office, must be signed in by a parent/carer.

Christmas Story Art Exhibition & Competition

Each year, the Catholic Education Diocese of Wollongong invites Catholic primary schools from across the diocese to submit artworks from Year 5 and 6 students to enter the Christmas Story Art Exhibition and Competition. This year the students from Stage 3 worked on their artworks with enthusiasm and creativity and when the time came to judge the artworks we were spoilt for choice. This year we are pleased to announce that the SJB finalists were as follows:

Year 5 - Lukas C, Curtis V and Brock C

Year 6 - Jack A, Emily A and Abigail T

These six students' artworks were presented for judging to the Wollongong Catholic Education Office in Week 9, Term 4. During this judging process approximately 50 entries that were deemed to best meet the criteria were shortlisted for exhibition at the Wollongong City Art Gallery. We are extremely pleased to announce that 2 of our students' artworks were selected - Curtis V from Year 5 and Abigail T from Year 6. These students, along with their parents, attended the official opening of the exhibition and awards presentation evening on Wednesday 16 October at the Wollongong Art Gallery. During the evening, major awards were presented including the Bishop’s Choice award, the Director’s Christmas Story award as well as Highly Commended artworks. We are thrilled to announce that Curtis V received a Highly Commended award for his artwork depicting Mary and Joseph on their journey to Bethlehem. Congratulations to Curtis and to all of the students for their amazing artworks this year. 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.

Book Club Issue 7 - Closes 1 November 2024

Students received Issue 7 earlier this week.

Orders for Issue 7 will close on Friday 1 November 2024. Delivery for Issue 7 will be in the week commencing Monday 11 November.

Thank you to SJB families for supporting the Book Club this year. Our school earns 15% in Scholastic Rewards on all book club orders. Due to your support we have raised $776 so far during 2024, to be used towards new library resources, including books and learning materials.

UNSW ICAS

Congratulations to the following students who were awarded Distinctions, Credits and Merits. These certificates will be awarded at today's assembly .

Spelling Bee

CREDIT
Austin P	Year 3
Zachary S	Year 3

Mathematics

DISTINCTION
Ari W	Year 6

MERIT
Henry A	Year 6
Austin P	Year 3

CREDIT
Zachary S	Year 3
Scarlett C	Year 3
Zane C	Year 4
Keon W	Year 5

Miguel Aguilera

Assistant Principal

2024 Grade Spelling Bee Competition

What is a Spelling Bee?

A spelling bee is a contest in which participants are asked to spell words in a round-robin format where each person gets a turn to spell a word.

Students will receive a list of words to practise at home. Students will be tested on these words in a written test to source the top ten spellers per class. Each class will hold an oral competition with their top ten spellers to determine the 3 participants for the Junior/Senior Spelling Bee Competition.

The School Junior/Senior Spelling Bee Competition will be held on Week 5 Wednesday 13 November 2024. An unseen word list will be used for the Junior/Senior School Spelling Bee Competition.

Say it, spell it, say it!

In the Grade Spelling Bee competition, the teacher will pronounce the word and use it in a sentence then repeat the word. The competitor (participant) will then say the word, spell the word, and say the word again. For example, “Snowflakes… S-N-O-W-F-L-A-K-E-S….. Snowflakes.” A scribe will write the letters as the competitor says them.

Rules

A participant is eliminated from the grade oral spelling bee competition as soon as they incorrectly spell a word.
Once the word is said at the end of a participant’s attempt, they cannot go back and self-correct.
Upper case letters are required as in Wollongong – Capital W-o-l-l (double –l-)
If a competitor spells a word incorrectly but “self-corrects” within 15 (junior) or 20 seconds (senior) or self corrects before saying the word the second time that participant remains in the game.
The timing begins once the participant has said the first letter of the word he/she is attempting. If a word is not spelled out within the 15 seconds (Juniors) and 20 seconds (Seniors), that competitor no longer remains in the competition.
It is required that a competitor says the word at the end to show they are finished spelling. For example: “fuel f-u-e-l fuel”
If a competitor spells a word correctly, he or she remains in the competition, waiting for his or her next turn. If the competitor spells a word incorrectly, he or she is eliminated from the competition and the next participant is given a new word from the list.
The teacher’s decision is final.

Spelling Bee Timeline

Term 4 Week 1	Word lists sent home for students to prepare for the class written test.
Week 2	Students participate in a class written test to determine top 10 spellers.
Week 3	Students participate in a class oral spelling bee to select 3 participants for the school junior/senior spelling bee competition.
Week 4	Junior/Senior Spelling Bee Competition finalists published in the newsletter.
Week 5	Junior/Senior Spelling Bee Competition Wednesday 13 November 2024 Junior - 9:30am Senior - 11:30am
Week 6	Junior/Senior Spelling Bee Champions listed in the newsletter.

School Student Travel - Year 3 2025

Students in the Opal network applying for an Opal card (including a Term Bus Pass) for the first time will receive their School Opal card at their nominated postal address from mid-January 2025.Students progressing from year 2 to year 3 and from year 6 to year 7 do not need to re-apply if they:

are continuing at the same school, and
are residing at the same address, and
have not been sent an expiry notification from Transport for NSW.

Where a student meets the new distance eligibility, the system will automatically update their entitlement. If they do not meet the new eligibility, they will receive an expiry notification. Students who change address, school, campus location, have repeated a year or received an expiry notification for their school travel entitlement need to renew or update their details before the end of Term 4. This will ensure that schools can endorse applications, so their travel entitlement can remain valid for the start of the 2025 school year.Students who have an entitlement approved under a medical condition that is due to expire will receive a notification advising them to re-apply.

Library News

MONDAY	Year 1, Year 2, 6M and 5M
TUESDAY	Year 3, Year 4, 5J and 6J

Kindergarten will borrow on Fridays and will be visiting the library on alternating Tuesdays.

Sports News

Sports Uniform Days - Term 4

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	Monday & Friday
Year 4	Tuesday & Thursday
Year 5	Tuesday & Friday
Year 6	Wednesday & Friday

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)

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:

Let’s be stewards of creation and keep our school beautiful!

Community Services

St Columbkille's Catholic Parish Primary School FAMILY FUN NIGHT

AFL Superkick

Lord Mayors school starter picnic