Principal's News
Dear Parents and Carers,
Wow only 4 school weeks to go! What a journey 2020 has been. A lot has been happening at St Joseph's Primary School lately, as you will see listed below. Thank you to all of our families who have been so supportive throughout this year, this is very much appreciated.
Staffing 2021
Unfortunately at the end of some school years, we have to say goodbye to some staff members, and unfortunately, this is the case this year. However, as it may be sad to see some staff go, it is an exciting time in their lives.
Olivia Robertson will be leaving us at the end of the school year. Olivia has been a Leader of Learning in Stage 3 during 2019 and 2020. Olivia successfully led our school in 2020 as our MaST (Mathematics Specialist Teacher) and worked closely with Stage 1 to change the way that mathematics is taught at St Joseph’s Primary School. Olivia is relocating to Queensland in the new year to take on a position in Toowoomba and be close to her partner, Chris. We wish Olivia all of the best in her future endeavours.
Laura Chapman will also be leaving us at the end of this school year. Laura has been an Education Assistant in Stage 2 during 2020. Laura has worked successfully with students in Stage 2 and helped them achieve their learning goals. Laura is returning to Tamworth to be close to her partner Josh and their family, as Laura is pregnant and they are expecting a baby boy early in 2021!
We have been blessed to have both Olivia and Laura in our school and we wish them both well for their futures. Please pray for Olivia and Laura as they head out on their new journeys.
Staffing of a school can be a long process and we have been blessed with the staff that we have at St Joseph’s in Wee Waa. Soon we will be able to announce who will be taking on new roles, and who will be teaching each stage at our school.
Confirmation
Congratulations to the following students who received their Sacrament of Confirmation on Sunday 8 November.
NAIDOC Week Celebrations
Last week students enjoyed NAIDOC Week celebrations by participating in a range of activities, such as group discussions about cultural understanding, eating Johnny Cakes, and playing games Emu Run, Emu Run, Catch a Kangaroo, Buroinjin, and Koolehee.
As a school, we also contributed to a mural, which will be completed in the next few weeks.
Thank you to Darcy Lang, Denise Galagher, Colleen, Debbie, and Teresa Combo for leading and supporting these sessions.
Dress Up Day
We have had to, unfortunately, postpone our book week dress up event that would have been tomorrow until Tuesday 1st of December. As stated last week, we discussed with students that the dress-up day will have a more open theme. 2020’s theme is ‘Curious Creatures, Wild Minds’, however with 2020 being such a different year, we discussed how we can open up the theme to incorporate “Saints, Superheroes, and Marvelous Creatures”. Throughout this year, we have had the opportunity to challenge the idea of Superheroes. Students came up with ideas that superheroes, do not have to come from comics, or movies, we have real-life superheroes in our lives each day. They listed a number of different people, like nurses, doctors, paramedics, farmers, supermarket workers, bakers, rubbish collectors, their parents, and teachers (shameless self-promotion of our staff!). So on 1 December, students are asked to come dressed in a way that celebrates someone that they look up to, these can come from books, movies, sports, or as stated, everyday heroes of 2020. Let’s celebrate our theme “Saints, Superheroes, and Marvelous Creatures”
Celebration of Learning Presentation
Thursday 10 December we will be holding a Celebration of Learning Presentation. This will be held on-site and parents are welcome to attend. Guests will be able to come onsite from 1.45 pm and the ceremony will start at 2.00 pm. This event will celebrate the learning of all students, and celebrate the successes they have had as a student body throughout a difficult year. This will not replicate the traditional speech/presentation evening that we have had in past years. There will be some awards, and we will be celebrating our Year 6 graduates, more details will be sent to you in the coming days.
This will be an event that will be ticketed, and you will need to RSVP prior to acknowledging who will be attending. Unfortunately, there will be restrictions on how many family members that can attend as we need to abide by all CovidSafe regulations and submit a plan for this event. The presentation of awards and celebration of learning will be live-streamed for those that cannot be there.
We are lucky that we can hold an event like this, and we are working with the Diocese of Armidale and Catholic Schools NSW to ensure that we are meeting all obligations. More details and information about registering to come to this event will be released soon.
School Closure Day
As we did last year, the Friday of Week 9 (11 December 2020), will be a school closure day. This is a staff development day, with no students attending. We will be offsite planning for 2021 and participating in a Religious Retreat.
Good luck to all of the Year 3-6 students attending the Gala Sports Event in Tamworth tomorrow. Have fun and represent yourselves and our school with pride.
Yours sincerely,
Alistair Stewart