School News

Public Speaking - Years 5 & 6 Only

Public speaking preparation will be take place in classrooms over the next few weeks. The children will work on their speeches in class as part of the English Peaking and Listening syllabus. Speeches will be presented in class Week 8 and 9 of this term. Each class will then select 3 students to present their speech in the finals for Stage 3 Tuesday 24 September (Week 10, Term 4) in the hall. 

Year 5 students are required to speak for 3 to 4 minutes and Year 6 students for 4 to 5 minutes.

One student from each grade will be chosen to represent St Joseph’s at the South East Primary Cluster held at St Joseph’s Primary School, Bulli on Wednesday 23 October (Week 2  - Term 4)

Mrs Fabiola Walls

National Child Protection Week

National Child Protection week occurs between 1 and 8 September. 

You are invited to get involved with National Child Protection Week this year and play your part in creating safe and nurturing environments for all Australian children. Remember…

• By building stronger communities, we can create safer environments for children
• We all have a role to play in protecting children from harm

STUDENT LEARNING

This year at St Joseph's, our focus will be on safe digital communication. Each year within the PDHPE syllabus, students learn about children protection and how to keep themselves safe. In addition, students will next week participate in virtual classroom activities in Year 3-6. 

PARENTS / CARER LEARNING

This is an opportune time for parents and carers to also learn about cybersafety.   The help you, the Australian Federal Police have some very useful information sheets under the 'Thinkuknow' page of their website.  http://www.thinkuknow.org.au/resources/factsheets-for-parents

The Australian Government eSafety Commissioneris another very useful site for you. https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents

BOOK A DATE WITH YOURSELF

Take a minute now to set aside an hour this week to learn more about safe digital communication using the websites above.  You will be doing something very important as you support your children to be safe while enjoying their time online.

Virtual Classrooms Activity - Yrs 3-6

On Thursday 5 September,students in Years 3 to 6 will participate in Virtual Classrooms as part of the celebration associated with Child Protection Week. This presentation will focus on a range of issues related to the responsible use of digital communication and will supplement our Catholic Education (Diocese of Wollongong) Technology Policy requirements.

Mr Nathan Sherry

UNSW ICAS Competitions

Thank you to all Parents who have registered and paid for their child to participate.  Students will complete the tests on the following dates:

Digital Technologies - Tuesday 3 September

Science - Thursday 5 September

Writing - Tuesday 10 September

Spelling Bee - Friday 13 September

Reading - Monday 16 September

Maths - Wednesday 18 September

All login/passwords will be allocated to students on the day they sit the tests by the school.  

CEO article: 10 ways our schools are celebrating Book Week

Here's the Book Week article on the CEO website: https://www.dow.catholic.edu.au/about-us/general-news/reading-is-my-secret-power-ten-ways-our-schools-are-celebrating-book-week-this-week/

Book Week 2019 - Competition Winners

Book Covering Volunteering

We are fortunate enough to have hundreds of new classroom readers which need to be covered before they can get in the hands of our young excited readers. 

Come and pick up or sit and cover in the Library whenever you are available.   All help is greatly appreciated.

Author Visit - Harrison Craig

Harrison's book 'Harrison's Song' is available from the school office if you would like to purchase a copy.  Payment can be made with Cash or EFTPOS.

Paperback - $17 or Hardback - $25

School Photos

School Photos were held last week.  All students had their photo taken.  If you have not ordered as yet, it's not too late.  Please use the following this link  

• Late fees/additional charges (after 31/08/2019)will be applied for purchases after photo day
• Photos will be distributed approximately six weeks after photos are taken.

If your child was absent on Wednesday 21 August 2019 and you require a refund or if you have any queries, please contact Advancedlife Photography at the following email address:

enquiries@advancedlife.com.au

National Literacy and Numeracy Week 2019

Monday 26 August - Friday 30 August

National Literacy and Numeracy Week represents a collaborative approach by the Australian Government and school communities to highlight the importance of literacy and numeracy skills for all children and young people, with a specific focus on school-aged children.

Students will also participate in a fun, challenging maths task in their classroom on Tuesday  27 August. This learning will then be shared during Open Classrooms on Wednesday 28 August. Following Open Classrooms parents are invited to the Book Week Showcase in the hall where each grade will showcase one of the shortlisted books.

St Joseph's Spelling Bee Finalists 2019 - Friday 30 August

In the lead up to Literacy and Numeracy Week, students participated in a class spelling bee. The top three finalists from each grade will this week participate in the School Spelling Bee Finals on Friday 30 August. The words used in this Spelling Bee will be from an unseen list, unlike the classroom spelling bee.

Please see below the Finalists for School Competition to be held on Friday 30 August. 

Junior Final 11:30am (Kinder - Yr2/ Senior Final 12:20pm (Year 3-6)

Coles Little Shop 2 Promotion

If any parents shop at Coles and do not collect the Little Shop 2 Collectables, kindergarten teachers would love to collect these shop items to use in a kindergarten play centre next year. If you receive these as part of your shopping at Coles and do not want them can you donate them to kindergarten. These can be sent to the office or to the kindergarten classroom. Many, many thanks!

Mrs Anne-Marie Clarkson

Happy Birthday

29 August: Jeng C Yr3, Nicholas TP Yr6

31 August: Abi H Yr4

1 September: Lucas B Yr4, Nate B Yr3, Max M Yr6, Finn P Yr2 & Jamie Z Yr6

2 September: Bianca S Yr1, Xavier T Yr4, Sebastian W Yr4 & Addison W Yr3

3 September: Kiara M Yr5

SPB4L 

(School-Wide Positive Behaviour for Learning)

Weekly Classroom Focus

Be Respectful - Wear school uniforms correctly.  After break times check that shirts are tucked in and ties are neatly in place.

Weekly Non-Classroom Focus

Be Respectful - Move around the school quietly in two lines.