Principal's News
It's with great pleasure that I can announce that the Catholic Schools Office Armidale has extended my contract as principal at St Joseph's Warialda for another five years. Adding to this, I also welcome Kahlia Whalan as our permanent Aboriginal Education Assistant for 2022 and beyond. I wish to thank our School Performance Leader, Justin Matthews, Head of Human Resources at the Catholic Schools Office, Kate Kenny, and Manager of Indigenous Education, Karen Tighe who gave a glowing report after her visit last week to officially welcome Kahlia to her role. Justin and Kate have been instrumental in supporting me in building staff capacity and it's fantastic to end the year with the knowledge that we are fully staffed with everyone on permanent contracts.
Welcome to Our New Students
We welcome Jaxon and Isaac Moore to St Joseph's. The boys have been transitioning during Term 4 and have started full-time with us this week. They have settled in well. We also thank their parents Jo and Brad for choosing St Joseph's and welcome them to our school family.
More Good News
Thanks to our parents and friends for supporting and promoting our school. We have a number of new enrolments for 2022 and our numbers for the start of the year will be in the 20s! Keep passing on the good news and sharing our new Facebook page.
Welcome Back Parents and Friends of St Joseph's
We are very excited to end the year with activities that will allow parents to join the children on the school grounds.
Fully vaccinated parents and carers will be allowed on-site to support curriculum delivery, vulnerable students or students with a disability, student wellbeing activities and school operations. You will need to show your vaccine certificate upon entry to the school, sign in using our QR Code and wear a mask when indoors.
We also are putting out expressions of interest for parents to form a P&F. A description of the roles of members will be in our first newsletter for Term 1 together with nomination information. We have not been able to form this vital parent body this year and we are keen to set up a P&F to build community, raise funds and promote our school.
Blessing of our St Joseph Statue
We will unveil and Sister Petra will bless our new statue of St Joseph on Tuesday the 7th of December at 9.30 am. This marks the end of the celebration of the Year of St Joseph for us. This will take place around our rose garden.
End of Year Presentation
We will be holding our End of Year Presentation on Tuesday the 7th of December under the COLA at 10:00 am. Those presenting will be contacted by Lisa in the coming days.
Swimming Program Showcase and EOY Treat
The children will take part in a Swimming Showcase session on Thursday the 9th of December from 11:00 am. It will give all the students the opportunity to see the progress that their classmates have made. Congratulations to Mrs Brooks for running our program. As we can't take the children away for an end-year treat, we will "shout" them a slushie and hot chips after the showcase and they will be able to have some free time in the pool.
The children need to wear their summer uniform as we begin the day with Mass.
The children will change into their swimmers after this.
After School Meet and Greet with Mr Smith and Visit from Kate Kenny, Head of HR CSO
Come and meet our new teacher Shayne Smith and his wife Chloe on Thursday the 9th of December. This will take place at Captain Cook Park from 4 pm. BYO drinks, chairs and nibbles to share.
This event is open to all ... you just need to sign in with our QR Code upon arrival and maintain social distancing.
Work Experience Visitors
We welcome Alyssa Collins to St Joseph's as part of the work experience program for the role of teachers aid. Alyssa is currently completing her coursework and is volunteering to gain practical classroom experience.
We are also grateful for Maddie Findlater for choosing St Joseph's for her high school work experience placement. Maddie is spending this week with us with an ongoing placement in 2022.
We thank them for their voluntary work and wish them all the success as they work towards their career goals.
Semester 2 Reports
The Semester 2 Reports will be sent out through COMPASS on Friday the 10th of December.
Return to School 2022
The staff will return to school on Friday the 4th and Monday the 7th of February for Professional Development and the children will return on Tuesday the 8th for the start of the new school year.
Annual Improvement Plan 2022
Here's is our Annual Improvement Plan - our roadmap for 2022 ...
We'll unpack this with our School Advisory Council and community next year.
Wishing you all the best for the week ahead.
Joe Dimech
Principal