School News

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:

Be responsible! Use your words or ask for help. Physical contact is not okay!

Happy Birthday

We wish the following students a very happy birthday who celebrate their special day during the the past 2 weeks.

21 June - Maya B Year 6

22 June - Oscar M Kinder, Gracie O Year 3

23 June - Xavier C Year 3

24 June - Charlotte B Year 1, Abigail C Year 2 and Clara A Year 2

25 June - Spencer V Year 1 and Madeline B Year 3

27 June - Ella G Year 3, Quade S Year 4 and Chase L Year 6

30 June - Lexie M Kinder

1 July - Mya T Year 1 and Ella R Year 6

3 July - Sophie G Year 4

4 July - Carter L Year 4

What have Year 5 been learning about this term?

“May the force be with you” 

This term, Year 5 students have been learning about different types of forces. They have enthusiastically researched, tested and discovered many interesting findings about contact and non-contact forces.  Students were asked to design, make and test out a model car and describe the forces that have been applied to the car. The challenge was to make the car go the furthest, and the furthest distance recorded was over 5 metres (500cm)! 

Students' knowledge of forces and how they impact movement grew deeper as the term went on. They stretched their resilience and thinking as they needed to problem solve, stick to a budget.and respond to questions such as:

• I wonder what would happen if the force of gravity on the car was stronger/ weaker?
• I wonder what surface has the least amount of friction?
• I wonder how you can decrease air resistance and what effect this will have on the car?
• I wonder whether the angle of the ramp affects the speed and distance the car travels?

Students not only learned about Science and Technology, but integrated their learning with Mathematics, as they needed to add up the cost of their materials, measure and record distances accurately, convert lengths, record data, create appropriate graphs and interpret the data to come up with a conclusion.

No doubt each student (and teacher) had lots of fun learning! 

Lunch Time Activities - Term 3, 2024

Once again we will be running lunchtime activities for the students in Term 3. These structured activities give students the opportunity to join in play where they feel connected and part of a group that share similar interests. We are blessed at St Joseph’s to have such dedicated, enthusiastic and talented staff at our school willing to share their time, skills and expertise with our students. 

There are a number of activities and clubs on offer for students to participate in during Term 3. These activities will be facilitated by classroom teachers and conducted across the week, some open for specific levels of children others for anyone who is interested from Kindergarten to Year 6.

If your child would like to take part in these lunchtime activities during Term 3, please complete the form attached by Friday 26 July. Please note that not all activities will run and that there is an expectation that your child will commit and attend the activity(ies) he/she has been allocated, as these will be part of our lunchtime teacher supervision roster. If you have any questions please contact Mr Aguilera.

(If you have more than one child at the school, please complete a separate form for each student).

What Should I Do If My Child Is Returning To School With A Significant Injury?

The care and safety of a student with a significant injury while at school is important. 

Parents of a student who has sustained an injury such as a broken or badly sprained arm,  leg or leg or foot injury requiring a boot or crutches, and cannot participate in normal school or sports activities, must present the school with a Medical Certificate signed off by a third party Medical Practitioner prior to returning to school.

The certificate must state that the student is medically fit to attend school, the activities he/she is able to participate in and the activities the child should not participate in.

Once the certificate is received the school will conduct a risk assessment for the student before the child can return to school. Until the risk assessment is completed, injured students as described above will not be able to attend class.

The Risk Management Plan will remain in place at school until a further medical certificate is provided clearing the student to resume normal school activities.

I ask that parents adhere to this process as school staff must adhere to Work, Health, and Safety requirements.

NAIDOC Week at St Joseph's 

NAIDOC Week (7-14  July)  is a time to recognise and celebrate the history and cultural contributions of First Nations peoples in Australia. In the lead up, students at St

Joseph's have been reading picture books from our extensive selection in the school library.

Kindergarten have read "The Eagle Inside '' by Bronwyn Bancroft and "Silly Birds" by Gregg Dreise. They have created some art works as a result.

Year 1 has been reading "The River" by Sally Morgan and Johnny Warrkatja Malibirr as well as doing some mindful colouring.

Year 2 have been reading "The Ooh in Uluru" by Judith Barker and also creating some artworks.

Year 3 has been reading "Your Dreams" by Sally Morgan and completed some craft activities about the stars in the story. They have also participated in some mob style dancing!

NAIDOC Week - Tomorrow, Friday 5 July

We are excited to honour and celebrate NAIDOC Week tomorrow, Friday 5 July from 10.30am. We are extremely fortunate to have students and staff from John Therry Catholic College, Rose Meadow join us to share their Aboriginal history and culture and facilitate workshops to teach all of our students the significance of Aboriginal histories and cultures. 

Our celebration will include two parts: 

10.30am - NAIDOC Week celebration in the Hall

11.45am - Students participate in Aboriginal Cultural Workshops

All parents and families will be warmly welcomed. Students are encouraged to wear Sport uniform.

ICAS Assessments

Years 3-6 students at St Joseph’s have the opportunity to participate in the University of New South Wales ICAS Assessments this year.

ICAS is designed to target students’ higher-order thinking and problem-solving skills in English, Mathematics, Science, Spelling and Digital Technologies and is not compulsory.

If your child is interested, parents must register and pay online by Monday 29 July 2024 through the Parent Payment System, NO payment will be taken via the school office.

Access details for parents: 

Library News

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

Book Week Competitions - 19-23 August 

Premier Reading Challenge

Our SJB Premier Reading Challenge has begun.

In 2024 St Joseph's will be running a school wide challenge. All students will participate. 

Kinder-Year 2 books will be lodged by Mrs Pirie.  Years 3-6 students will log books they have read, both class reading and home reading will be included, during library lessons.

Sports News

Sports Uniform Days - Term 2

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.

SJB Athletics Carnival 

Our Athletics carnival was a fantastic day held at Beaton Park on Monday, June 24! We were fortunate to enjoy rotating through athletics events and novelty activities in the sunshine! We were so thankful to the amazing Holy Spirit College students assisting, along with our staff and parents who were working tirelessly to ensure events were efficiently run! It was so lovely to see hundreds of spectators enjoying the day as a school community. We were grateful to the school P & F for ensuring delicious food, drinks, and treats were available and enjoyed throughout the day! 

Thank you to the students, parents and family members for contributing to our 2024 carnival. Once again, the competitors' behaviour, attitudes, skill levels, determination, and athleticism were to be commended. The way students supported and encouraged each other and showed enjoyment was a real highlight for staff to witness, as I am sure parents, carers and spectators. Their energy and passion could be seen right to end as was witnessed during the enthusiastic War Cries! 

An enormous thank you is dedicated to our amazing volunteers who acted in an official capacity. Your support is very much appreciated. Please pass on our gratitude to anyone who assisted in any way, great or small, some for the last time. We also wish to acknowledge our dedicated staff, who started the day extremely early, setting up, supervising and spending the whole day encouraging and supporting students. 

What a great school community we are part of, where everyone goes above and beyond so students get these opportunities! We have appreciated the positive feedback received and as always, we reflect and look for ways to improve our events for the following year. 

THANK YOU! THANK YOU!  THANK YOU!

Overall Winning House BLUE MACKILLOP HOUSE 

Overall Winning War Cry -  GOLD O'REILLY HOUSE

Congratulations to the 2024 Age Champions:

Medals will be awarded at the assembly on Friday. 

School Records 

Congratulations to the following children who broke school records on Monday. 

South Coast Athletics: Tuesday 13 August 2024 

Our Regional Athletics team will receive a permission note via Compass inviting them to compete at the South Coast Athletics Carnival on Tuesday, 13 August 2024. This a reminder the age representation for field events at the next carnival is the athlete who jumped or threw the greatest distance in each division. Juniors are 8yrs, 9yrs & 10yrs combined, 11 yrs and Senior (12/13s). For track events, there are two representatives for the 100m. The 200m event is again divided into Junior, 11yrs and Senior age divisions to align with MacKillop and PSSA pathways. 

Note: 

Diocesan Selection Trials 

Tuesday, 20 August 2024* The top four placegetters from the South Coast carnival are invited to attend.

MacKillop Selection Trials 

Wednesday 25th September 2024 - *The top 2 place getters from the selection trials will be selected in the Wollongong team for the MacKillop trials. 

Congratulations to the following athletes who will form our Regional Athletics Squad for the South Coast Athletics on Tuesday 13 August:

Relay Teams 

1500M EVENT 

The 1500m event (in boys' and girls' Junior, 11-year-old, and Senior divisions) is included in the MacKillop athletics program for this year, 2024.

The event WILL NOT be added to the regional carnival at this time. However, it will be added to the selection trial day to be held at Beaton Park on Tuesday, 20 August. The event should be for athletes who have run this event before and have proof of time. This is not a 'come and try' event and athletes should meet the qualifying standards listed below before nominating. Please note that the 1500m and 800m events will be run on the same day at the selection trials. 

Qualifying Times 

To nominate for the 1500m event please use this link.   All nominations will be collated in age divisions and your school will be advised. If numbers are low, some of the 1500m events may be combined at the selection trials. The top two (2) place getters in each division will represent Wollongong at the MacKillop trials in September. Nominations for the 1500m event close on  Thursday 1 August, 2024.

Netball Gala Day 2024

Five teams from St Joseph’s participated in the Netball Gala Day on Tuesday 25 June. For some of our students, it was their first experience of playing Netball. This didn’t stop their enthusiasm and willingness to get in and have a go. By the end of the day there were many smiles, lot’s of red faces and some students discovering a new favourite position on the court. The students represented St Joseph’s in the best way possible, giving their all and playing with good sportsmanship.They truly displayed the gala day philosophy to their best - enjoy the sport, try the sport out, have fun and exercise without the pressure of competition and winning.

Many thanks go to the teachers who helped to prepare the students and to the parent volunteers who managed teams on the day. Your support is greatly appreciated!

Mrs Brooks, Mrs Kors & Mrs Vincent

NSWCPS Golf Tournament - Monday 7 August 

Students must have a golf link number and handicap.

The NSWCPS Golf Tournament (MacKillop team to be selected from this tournament) is coming up early in Term 3. If you know of any golfers in your school, please promote this pathway for them. This link will take them to the information and registration page.

There are 9 hole and 18 hole competitions in Boys and Girls divisions.

The 18 hole competition is for students wishing to be selected in the MacKillop team, while the 9 hole competitions are designed to get younger (Year 3-4) or less experienced golfers involved in the process.

NSWCPS Girls 7s Rugby (MacKillop and Polding)

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.

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)

Catholic Care

July Vacation Care 2024 - St Michael's Thirroul

OOSH, Out of School Hours care at St Joseph's 

Email:   bullioosh@catholiccare.dow.org.au

Mobile:  0437 713 067

Booking Information

Enrolment Form

CatholicCare Website

Service hours

Before School Care

7:00am – 8:30am

After School Care

2:45pm – 6:00pm

If you require the use of OOSH for your child/ren you need to be enrolled in the service prior to commencing. 

Casual bookings

If your child already uses the service and you requireacasual booking please do this viathe Xplor app. 

Before School Care: Bookings are to be made no later than 5:30 pm the night before

After School Care: Bookings are to be made no later than 9:00 am that morning

Casual booking must be made as per the times above to ensure enough staff. If notice is not provided within these time frames and the service does not have sufficient staff your child/ren will be sent to the office for collection. This is something that we all wish to avoid, so please keep in mind the time frames to help support the service.

If there is an emergency and care is needed please phone and leave a message and we will see what we can do.

If you do have any questions, need clarification, or have any feedback please feel free to contact the service mobile during operating hours on 0437 713 067 or Jacinta, Team Leader – 0407 759 720.

Catholic Care - Group Programs for Term 3 2024

Our group programs can help adults and parents become the best versions of themselves. We are available to attend your service to provide an overview of the groups we offer, speak in more detail about a particular group, or discuss other service offerings such as our individual groups or professional development sessions. Our range of groups focus on:

• strengthening relationships
• parenting
• post-separation
• supporting parents with children in care
• managing challenging emotions
• grief and loss

Group programs are held in a supportive environment online or in-person at our Nowra, Campbelltown and Wollongong offices, with others who share similar life experiences. 

For more information or to make a booking please contact our Intake Service on 4254 9395 or email IntakeService@catholiccare.dow.org.au

Community Notices

Wollongong Devils Touch Competition

NAIDOC Week Community Event - Friday 12 July

PCYC Bulli - School Holiday Fun

Northern Suburbs Netball Club