Dear Parents and Carers,

I hope that you have all had a great first term at St Joseph’s Primary School. It has been a busy term, with lots of events, lots of learning and hopefully lots of fun!

Earlier this week, I met with our School Advisory Council, and we had some great conversations about our school, upcoming plans and conversations about learning and living in a regional area. We are still looking for some extra parents to participate, and I would like to chat with anyone who would be interested in being co-opted into our SAC. This is an advisory council that utilises the members' knowledge of the wider community to help us to make the learning experience for our students the best it can be. Please reach out to the school office if you have any questions.

Another area of discussion we had as was our upcoming Parents and Friends Association AGM. We are looking to have as many parents present as possible on Wednesday, 10 April, at 5:30 pm here at school.

All parents are welcome to join the association as you are the parents of students at our school. During the meeting, we will be looking for some parents to take on roles within the organisation. If we cannot fill these roles, we will need to look at how we can modify them to ensure that we can still have a parent voice in activities around the school.

More details will be shared during the meeting, but it is important to note that the P&F is a crucial part of our school. They organise events that help out students and families. Fundraising funds is one of their outcomes, but ultimately, the association exists to help families feel more connected to our school. Even if you are not able to take on an official role within the association, it would be great to have you attend. We all have a vested interest in the success of the P & F, as it has a strong impact on all our students.

Next Wednesday, we will be celebrating the arrival of the Catholic Schools NSW Aboriginal & Torres Strait Education Conference Message Stick. As a school, we will be making messages that will be displayed at the CSNSW Aboriginal & Torres Strait Education Conference. This conference is being held in Tamworth and a number of our Aboriginal and Torres Strait students will be participating in events at the conference. There are people coming from around Australia to participate in this conference, and the message stick is an opportunity for our school community to communicate our messages to the conference attendees.

As a school, we will celebrate its arrival and then process with the message stick to Church on Wednesday, where we will celebrate the Annunciation of the Lord Mass. Parents and community members are invited to attend our school celebration and school Mass on Wednesday, 10 April. More details about the Mass and the Message Stick can be found below.

With the holidays starting at the end of next week, this will be the last official newsletter for the term. Next week, there will be extra communication via Compass, with reminders about school closure days and information about upcoming events.

One of these events is ANZAC Day on the 25 April. As ANZAC Day falls within the school holidays this term, I would like to remind parents that students are encouraged to join our community's ANZAC Day march and commemoration.

We will be marching in this event, and as in previous years, we will assemble outside of the Wee Waa Medical Centre at 10:30 am sharp before marching down to the Cenotaph. Students marching are expected to be in full summer uniform, with a school hat.

Our school captains, Edee T and Reggie G, will give a talk about the Korean War and participate in the official ceremony. A big thanks needs to go out to Edee and Reggie for participating in this.

To get students thinking about ANZAC Day, we will commemorate this day here at school with our ANZAC Day Liturgy in the Stage 3 classroom at 2 pm Friday, 12 April, the last day of term. Our end-of-term assembly will follow this.

I warmly welcome as many parents and grandparents as possible to join us to commemorate the ANZACs and help us celebrate the end of term with our final assembly.

Easter Hat Parade

Last Wednesday, 27 March, we held our Easter Hat Parade, where students were invited to showcase their creations. It was great to see our community attend and also to see the fantastic Easter hats.

A big thank you to our judges, Cherie Kewley, Ali Smith and Roxanne Whitton, for volunteering their time to help determine the awards and prizes. As you can see, it was not an easy task with so many amazing creations.

Please note that more photos are to come in next week’s paper.

NSWCPS Swimming

On Wednesday, 3 April, Quinn T, James G, Edward C, Charlie W, Florence M, Toby D, Henry W, and Leyton C travelled to Sydney to compete in the NSWCPS Swimming. Well done to the students on their efforts and sportsmanship. We are very proud of your achievements! A big thank you to the parents for your support.

Also, a special mention to Edward C, who qualified for the NSWPSSA Swimming Championships in the 11 yrs Boys Freestyle and Butterfly. Good Luck!

Student Progress Meetings

This is a reminder that Student Learning Progress Meetings are now available to book via Compass.

Meetings will take place from Monday, 8 to Wednesday, 10 April. Available times vary.

Our teachers look forward to discussing your child's learning with you.

For further information on how to make bookings, please go to https://www.compass.education/guide#section-09.

Please note that Kindergarten Student Progress meetings are not required, as Best Start Assessment meetings have already been held this term. Also, if you have had any meetings with your child’s teacher in the past fortnight, you are not expected to book another meeting at this time.

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

Cross Country

This is a reminder that Cross Country will be on Tuesday, 9 April, starting at 9:15 am.

All students are required to be dropped off at Cook Oval from 8:30 am. Forest Coach Lines will also drop off these students who usually catch the bus at this time.

Students are required to wear their sports uniforms and bring a hat, water bottle and snacks for Morning Tea.

At the end of the event, at approximately 11:30 am, a bus has been booked to return all students to school.

A big thank you to all those who have volunteered their time to help as a checkpoint official. All families are welcome to attend.

For further information and to accept/deny this event, access the Events page via the Compass app, or, alternatively, go to https://stjosephsweewaa-nsw.compass.education/Organise/Activities/Events/ as soon as possible.

If your child is selected to attend the ADPSC Cross Country, you will be notified by phone, SMS, or Compass.

The Catholic Schools NSW Aboriginal & Torres Strait Education Conference Message Stick & BBQ

“The Armidale Diocese will be hosting the 2024 Catholic Schools NSW Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Conference, “Spirit On Conference: Learning Together, then, now & always” in Tamworth 22nd - 24th October.

As part of the conference is the important Message Stick that will travel across our Diocese sharing the message of coming together, learning together and celebrating together in a monumental educational event which will highlight our students' culture, success, and aspirations and strengthen educational partnerships with our schools, communities, educators and nation.

The Message Stick Journey will commence at St Joseph's Primary School Walgett, a small school community with a rich history of Aboriginal culture, language and strong family connections within our Diocese.

The Message Stick highlights the journey of the conference from its early gathering of approximately 50 Aboriginal Education Assistants and Aboriginal Education Consultants from across the 11 Diocese as a state meeting in 2003 to grow over the years into a powerful and enriching educational journey for all educators in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Education in Catholic School NSW and beyond.”

This Wednesday, 10 April, we will celebrate this special occasion with a ceremony and BBQ. All families are welcome to attend.

Following the celebration, the message stick will be carried to the church and placed in front of the altar for mass on the Sunday.

ADPSC Cricket & Touch Football trials

Good Luck to Edward C, who will be participating in the upcoming ADPSC Touch Football trials, and Lincoln B, James G and Johno W, who will be participating in the upcoming ADPSC Cricket trials this Wednesday, 10 April, in Tamworth.

Caritas Coin Trail & Free Hat Friday

Please see REC News for further information.

Upcoming Building Works

There will be works around our school over the coming weeks.

Our Yarning Circle and Indigenous Garden Project will take shape next week. We will also have some maintenance work completed during the holidays. These range from new carpeting in some spaces to general maintenance to bigger projects such as replacing the roof tiles with colourbond on the Stage 1 classroom building.

These works are planned for the school holidays and are being completed by a construction company that Armidale Catholic Schools have engaged.

It will be a busy school holiday, and seeing all these jobs completed will be great!

Please note that Term 1 ends on Friday, 12 April. All students will return on Wednesday, 1 May.

Have a great weekend.

God Bless,

Alistair Stewart

Principal

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