Term 4, Week 5
Vision Statement
Inspired by Mary MacKillop, we strive to achieve excellence in education and pastoral care, foster well being, develop strong values and include all cultures and community members.
Mission Statement
Following Jesus' example, we support all cultures and needs by building trusting relationships and fostering high expectations that inspire and empower our children to be compassionate, lifelong learners.
PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGES
Dear Parents and Guardians
As our year is coming to an end, we are well underway with planning for 2025.
We are very conscious of making sure the costs for your child’s education are limited as much as possible and staff spend a lot of time looking at the highest possible educational gain from activities and events with the lowest cost in mind. We have also begun our annual review of the School Business Plan and other planning documents.
We value your feedback on the direction of the school and also to celebrate the many successes we have at St Joseph’s School. If you have any comments to make, please let the school know through the Advisory Council, the P&F, classroom teachers or the administration team.
Our end of year formal reports are well under way. More information to come about how to access your child’s report online.

Grade 5/6 have been extremely busy recently. They attended an excursion as part of their humanities and social science unit focusing on economics and business. A great day was reported by all. Well done! To add, 5/6 were also involved in interschool sports afternoons, another huge success with EKC. Well done to all those who participated and thank you to Ms Silvia and 5/6 who participated and supported the students in shared community activities.
On Friday 25 October we celebrated a very special day. I want to express my heartfelt appreciation to our incredible teachers in honour of World Teachers’ Day. Our teachers are extremely dedicated and passionate in nurturing our students and I am sure you will agree that this makes a huge difference in their learning journey.
At this time of the year, we are beginning to think of the organisation and structure of classes for next year. If you have any class requests for next year, please forward them to the principal as soon as possible. As always, we will try and accommodate these requests as best we can, although this is not always possible. The organisation
of classes is dependent on student numbers, for each year level and class decision/sizes are based on industrial agreements between the Catholic Education and the Teacher’s Union. Each year there are different scenarios. When it comes to forming groups for different classes, teachers are consulted closely to form the most effective learning groups, and we take a wide range of factors into consideration including complexities within our lived community.
As part of our bushfire action plan the school will participate in bushfire drills soon. It is necessary to know that our school is well prepared in the event of a bushfire in our area. Keep you posted on the outcome.
To refresh our faith cups - All Souls Day, also called The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed, is a day of prayer and remembrance for the faithful departed and reminds us of our core purpose the active and Sacred Heart in our community. Thank you to Sister Julianne, for leading us in a beautiful Liturgy.
It is going to be a jam-packed run to the end of the year with some very exciting events. I hope you share this excitement, and I look forward to seeing you around the school. As always, thank you for your ongoing support.
Have a blessed weekend and hope to see you at Mass this weekend. To officiate our Eucharist is Father Steve for the following two Sundays.
Join us Saturday night 5:30pm or Sunday 8:30a.m.
Blessings,
Cindy Ahearn
Principal
Dates & Reminders
Term Dates 2024
Term Dates 2024
Term 1: Wednesday 31 January - Thursday 28 March
Term 2: Tuesday 16 April - Friday 28 June
Term 3: Tuesday 16 July - Friday 20 September
Term 4: Monday 7 October - Friday 6 December
Public Holidays During Term Time 2024
Monday 4 March: Labour Day
Friday 29 March - Good Friday
Thursday 25 April: ANZAC Day
Monday 3 June: Western Australia Day
Pupil Free Days 2024
Monday, 15 April
Wednesday, 24 April
Monday & Tuesday, 24-25 June
Monday, 15 July
Monday, 26 August (Catholic Day)
Monday, 4 November
Assemblies
Our Term 4 assemblies are every second Monday morning at 8am.
- Monday 28 October
- Monday 11 November
- Monday 25 November
Kindy Days
Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday
7.50am - 2.00pm
Description Title
We are ready to collect your recyclable containers. Our drop off point is located in the staff carpark, just inside the fence. Money earned goes towards Mini Vinnies.
If you change your phone number, please tell us. We many need to contact you if your child is sick or doesn’t get picked up after school.
Most school age children are eligible for free dental care in Kununurra School Dental Clinic.
Primary School children become eligible to attend the School Dental Service in the year they turn 5.
High School children are eligible to attend the School Dental Service until they complete Year 11 or the day they turn 17 (whichever occurs first).
If you changed your address or phone numbers, please advise dental clinic staff. Missed appointments may result in suspension from the School Dental Service.
We are located on the hospital grounds in the Dental Health Building, 69 Coolibah Drive and are open Monday to Friday 7:30 to 3:30.
Please feel free to call us on 0419 939 179 or email: kununurramobile@dental.health.wa.gov.au to organise an appointment.
Please note that our fortnightly assemblies have been rescheduled from Friday afternoon to Monday morning at 8am. For more details, please refer to the school calendar.
Upcoming Events
Monday 11 November - Remembrance Day Liturgy
at 11.11am.
Wednesday 20 November - Coin, Can and Juice Box Line
In the morning , we will line up our coins, cans, plastic bottles and fruit boxes on the basketball court.
After lunch we will have our reward, with a visit from the Fire Brigade.
Children are encouraged to bring bathers/old clothes/thongs and a towel to participate in the water fun. We will allow time at the end of the day for children to change back into dry clothes….. or just run around the oval and dry off!
So get going, and start collecting the cans, coins and fruit boxes to bring along on Wednesday 20th November!
(Should the brigade get a call out, we will need to defer the date)
Christmas Hampers
We will once again be preparing Christmas hampers for families in our school community in need.
Donations of non-perishable items can be left at the school office in the next few weeks …. Can food, toilet paper, gifts, toys, pasta, toiletries, sauces, detergent, soaps, tea towels, spray and wipe, cleaning products glad wrap, biscuits etc
Kindy
In Kindy, we recently designed a pizza face and then made it and ate it (see photos). We have also been learning about different types of transport and had fun making some transport methods and testing items that would sink and float while also learning about Noah's Ark. We have been focussing on initial sound and have focussed on the letters s, a, t, p and made ants, turtles, snakes, sunflowers (and pizza!) so far.
Marion Roberts
KindyTeacher
Year 5/6
The Year 5/6 students are focusing on Economics and Business as part of Humanities and Social Sciences this term. We had the great opportunity to visit the Nexus Airlines last Wednesday and learn about how a regional aviation company operates and their development in the past years. It was fascinating to learn the economic and community benefits the airline brings into the many regional destinations they service, as well as the different type of resources (human, capital and natural) they use. It was a privilege to go into different types of aircrafts and helicopters. What a fantastic experience!
Miss Silvia
Year 5/6 Teacher
Royal Australian Air Force Incursion
We recently had the Royal Australian Air Force help us learn about oral health. It was great to learn about healthy diets, general health and oral hygiene.
Marion Roberts
Specialist Teacher
All Saints and All Souls Day
On the 1st of November we celebrated All Saints and All souls day.
The children made flowers for the Mary MacKillop garden to remember family and friends who had passed away.
After lunch we celebrated the feast with a liturgy.
Sr Julianne
Sacrament Coordinator
The children had a photo taken with their favourite Saint.
Creativity in Art
This term, students across all year levels have been embracing their creativity in Art! Our Kindy and Pre-primary students drew inspiration from artist Pete Cromer, using bright colours and bold shapes to create playful animal collages and paper jellyfish. Year 1/2 and Year 3/4 students explored the vibrant, expressive styles of Jean-Michel Basquiat and Takashi Murakami , learning to layer colours and textures in their pieces. Our Year 4/5 and Year 5/6 students took on the challenge of paper mache, creating imaginative fish sculptures with skill and focus. It’s been an inspiring term, and we’re thrilled to see our students’ amazing artwork come to life!
Miss Bec
Specialist Teacher
SACRAMENTS and other matters
Sacraments
As in previous years, all classes will learn about Sacraments and rites of initiation in their Religious Education programs. For students of the Catholic faith, there will also be an opportunity to receive these Sacraments at St Vincent Palloti Catholic Church.
Fr Vinu is available for Baptisms at any time throughout the year. Baptismal forms can be collected at the school office and returned to Sr Julianne with a preferred date during the week, or by contacting Fr Vinu directly on 0475 846 331. Please also let family and friends know about Baptisms, if you aware of Pre-school children needing to be Baptised.
Other Sacraments will be celebrated as per below:
- Confirmation, Term 3 - Year 6 children (date to be advised)
All classes will complete a unit of work on Sacraments in the term they occur. This will then be followed by the celebration of the Sacrament, if requested by family, at St Vincent Pallotti Church with specific dates to be advised. We are aware that some children have missed sacraments in previous years due to sickness, absence etc, and we can make arrangements for those celebrations also.
Religious Education
As we have had many new families arrive throughout this year, there may be some families who would like their children to receive the sacraments, that have already been celebrated at St Joseph’s..
Please contact Sr Julianne to make arrangements.
Baptism – as requested
First Reconciliation Year 4
First Eucharist Year 5
Confirmation Year 6
Mass Times
Mass is held each weekend, at St Vincent Pallotti Church on Saturdays at 5.30pm and Sundays at 8.30am. Weekday masses are held from Tuesday to Friday at 5.30pm. On Sundays, we have Children’s Liturgy during mass.
Fr Vinu is available for Reconciliation on any day, usually from about an hour before mass.
Juniper Aged Care Facility Visits
Each week a class visits Juniper Aged Care Facility and share an activity with the residents eg singing, lego, painting, reading etc. A permission form, and other information, will be sent home prior to the visit.
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Please don’t hesitate to contact me, through the school office, at any time if you have queries or questions about our Religious Education program.
Sr Julianne
Sacrament Coordinator
Congratulations Miss Ellie
Clementine May Jennings was born in the early hours of Monday morning.
Healthy Eating
~ Please send your child to school with a lunch box full of healthy foods ~
These foods help your child to learn and remain calm These foods reduce your child's capacity to learn and
and focussed in the classroom. can
contribute to anxiety and behavioural disorders.
Welcome to our new Canteen Manager, Mr Vincent!
School Bus Pick-ups and Drop-offs
Streamlining the Bus Run
This year we've had extraordinary numbers for the bus runs. One day we did two full trips, plus one in the school car. On the bright side, it is a credit to our families that they're being so diligent in regularly sending their children to school. THANK YOU!
However, because we have so many children on the bus, some of them don't get home until 3pm and some of them arrive at school too early. To make their day easier:
- If you are able to bring your child to/from school by car it would be appreciated.
- Please be out the front of your house ready for the pick up:
- Town run - 7am – 7.30am
- Community run - 7.30 am – 8.00 am
Just waiting an extra 1-3 minutes at every house can extend our trip by half hour. Unfortunately we cannot toot the horn, due to complaints from neighbours.
- At the end of the day, please be visible outside your house and wave to us as we drop off your child. We need to be assured that someone is home. Having to stop, take the child to the door, knock and wait for a response, extends the trip by half hour. This is unfair on those children waiting in the heat on the basketball court for the second bus run. If a family member is not at home, it is our policy to bring a child back to school and ring you. We are unable to make another trip to drop them off.
While we learn the 2024 bus route, which is still changing as new families continue to enrol, we may forget to stop at your house. Please call the school office, and we can collect your child on the next run.
Dropping off Your Children
For the safety of our children, we would like to remind parents that children catching our white Coaster school bus will be dropped off in the afternoon ONLY at the address from which they are picked up in the morning.
Attempts to accommodate parents who ring during the day asking that their children be dropped off elsewhere have resulted in an number of confusing situations, whereby children have ended up going home to an empty house or to a house where they are not expected.
Children who live in Lakeside or out of town may not catch our bus home to a different address.
Your child can only be dropped off at a different address if it is an emergency situation (eg you have an emergency visit to the hospital and an arrangement has been made for your child to be cared for by another family member or friend).
Many thanks for your cooperation.
Get Vaccinated!
Community Health offers free vaccines for:
- COVID-19 Boosters
- Japanese Encephalitis - Residents of Kununurra & Wyndham only
- Influenza - all children 6 months - 12 years; all Aboriginal people 6 months or older; all people with a chronic disease; all people 65 years and older.
Call Kununurra Community Health on 9166 4321
Send Your Kids to School
Send your kids to school - it is the best possible way they can get a good education.
If your child misses one 1 day per week of school,
by the time they are in Yr 4 they will have missed 1 whole year of school.
Already they will by 1 year behind expected learning!
It may take some tough love, but it is worth the effort to make your child go to school every day.
Set a good routine from Kindy, don't let them miss a day.
It will give them the best start in life.
Containers for Change
Thank you to those generous families who have donated their recycling money to our school through Containers for Change!
School Recycling Bags
CHECK FOR THE 10¢ MARK
We've ended up with a lot of non-recyclable containers in our school recycling bags.
Which means we have to sort through the bags to remove them.
It's easy to save your 10¢ containers from landfill so they can live another life — just check for the 10¢ mark!
Most aluminium, glass, plastic, steel, and liquid paperboard drink containers that are 150ml to 3L are accepted.
This includes:
- Most single-serve water and fizzy drink containers up to and including 3L.
- Most single-serve alcohol containers, like beer bottles and pre-mixed spirits.
- Flavoured milk containers that are 150ml to 999ml.
- Coconut water, pure fruit, or vegetable juice containers that are 150ml to 999ml.
~ Make sure you take off the lids ~
~ Bring the lids into the school office and we'll recycle them separately ~
Items that we don't accept include:
- Glass bottles or jars of any sort - too many get broken when dropped into the recycling bag
- Plastic milk bottles
- Unflavoured, plain milk cartons
- Cordial bottles
- Non-food plastic containers (eg laundry detergent)
- Steel food cans
St Joseph's School Calendar Term 4 2024
School Bus Contact Details
The School Bus Contractors are Dylan and Chelsea Lodge.
Chelsea: 0450 250 691
Dylan: 0415 945 330
Please note that cash payments for Book Club are no longer accepted at St Joseph's. All orders should be placed through Book Club Loop.
See: https://www.scholastic.com.au/book-club/book-club-parents/
St Joseph’s Student Code of Conduct
The St Joseph’s Student Code of Conduct was developed by the students of St Joseph’s.
At St Joseph’s School, Kununurra we want to feel Safe.
1. In order to feel Safe we will follow school rules.
When someone isn’t feeling this way, or there is conflict, we will ask an adult for help.
2. In order to feel Safe we will listen and follow instructions.
When someone isn’t feeling this way, or there is conflict, we will ask an adult for help.
3. In order to feel Safe we will help and care for others.
When someone isn’t feeling this way, or there is conflict, we will ask them why they are feeling that way.
4. In order to feel Safe we will keep our hands and feet to ourselves.
When someone isn’t feeling this way, or there is conflict, we will ignore them or walk away.
5. In order to feel Safe we will treat others the way we would like to be treated.
When someone isn’t feeling this way, or there is conflict, we will remind them of the golden rule.
At St Joseph’s School, Kununurra we want to feel Happy.
1. In order to feel Happy we will smile, laugh, sing and dance.
When someone isn’t feeling this way, or there is conflict, we will ask them if they are alright.
2. In order to feel Happy we will be kind to others.
When someone isn’t feeling this way, or there is conflict, we will ask an adult for help.
3. In order to feel Happy we will make friends and play with them.
When someone isn’t feeling this way, or there is conflict, we will play with and include them.
4. In order to feel Happy we will come to school everyday.
When someone isn’t feeling this way, or there is conflict, we will look after them.
5. In order to feel Happy we will listen to the teacher and other adults.
When someone isn’t feeling this way, or there is conflict, we will try to make them feel happy.
Our Code of Conduct prohibits bullying, harassment and other forms of peer-to-peer abuse and we require respect for the privacy and human dignity of other students.
