VALE MR SMITH

It is with much sadness that I announce that Mr Smith will not be working at St Joseph's Warialda next year. Shayne has been appointed to the position of Assistant Principal - Primary at Holy Trinity.

Shayne joined the Armidale Diocese this year, accepting the role of Leader of Pedagogy at St Joseph’s Warialda. During this time, he has been a great support to me and has made a significant contribution to learning in the Year 3 to 6 classroom.

Shayne has overseen the collection and tracking of reading and writing data across the school and has been instrumental in the improvement of learning, well-being and faith outcomes of all St Joseph’s children.

The opportunity for Shayne to step into the Assistant Principal's role at Holy Trinity is a significant accolade for him and he will bring a wealth of experience in literacy and numeracy to the Holy Trinity Leadership Team.

We wish Shayne all the best and congratulate him on his appointment.

A change of principal and a senior teacher is a major change for any school. There are several excellent applicants for my position and the interviews will take place on November the 15th. I expect the announcement of the incoming principal to be made shortly after this and welcome a visit from them to meet the community, see the children and spend time with us to learn how we operate.

Shayne's position of Leader of Pedagogy and class teacher is being advertised and the Human Resource Team at CSO Armidale will recruit a highly proficient teacher of Shayne's calibre.

Parent Feedback on Changes at St Joseph's

Our School Performace Leader, John O'Connor, will be visiting us this Thursday.

He will be available to speak with parents from 11:10 am to 12:45 pm.

Shayne and I have completed the 2023 School Annual Improvement Plan. This will provide direction for the incoming leadership team to move the school forwards. I will share this with our community once Shayne and I present this to CSO.

Regular Attendance - "Every day Counts"

We remind parents to notify the school when their children are absent from school. Our school roll is marked electronically at 9 am each morning through the COMPASS portal.

It is important that you add an 'attendance note' on Compass or contact us if your child is absent from school. The CSO follows up on unexplained absences and it is vital to keep this to an absolute minimum.

Our attendance rate has increased to 78 % and the diocesean attendance rate is 88%.

21 students are currently at risk due to poor school attendance.

A day away from school here or there doesn’t seem like much but absences add up.

When your child misses one day per fortnight,

they miss upwards of 4 weeks per year which equates

to one year missed over their school life.

from NSW Government - Education

End Of Year Mass and Presentation

The staff has been planning for the End of Year Presentation. We have chosen Thursday the 15th of December with events being held during the day to accommodate families and staff who live a distance from Warialda.

At this stage the day will be:

11:30 am Graduation and End of Year Mass in the Church

12:30 pm Presentation Lunch under the COLA

1:30 pm Prize Giving, Speeches and Presentation Performance

3:00 pm Home

Further information will be in the next newsletters regarding invitations, catering and costumes for the children.

Hall Stage Curtains Repair

The curtains that hide the under-stage floor are in need of some TLC. There are magnets that attach the black cloth to the steel frame and someone in their wisdom in times past used Blu-Tak as a solution. This has become tacky. We are looking for someone to unpick the hem, add stronger magnets then restitch the hem. Please call Lisa if you can help.

Brain Olympia Wrap Up

Last Week Hallie, Jada, Lauren, MacKenzie, Isabel, Harrison and Winter represented St Joseph's in the Brain Olympia at Holy Trinity Inverell. This was a first-time experience for all and Mr Smith was proud to announce that our team came 3rd. Congratulations to all and thank you to Lisa for assisting in the day.

God bless,

Joe Dimech

Principal

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