Term Four, Week Four

November 3, 2020

Message & Notifications From The Principal

Dear Families and Friends

Welcome to Week 4. On behalf of CEWA Executive Director Dr Debra Sayce, it is my great pleasure to announce that Mrs Gabby Franco has been appointed as Principal at St Joseph's School for next year.

Gabby comes to our school community from her current substantive position as Principal at St Joseph’s School, Wyndham. Prior to her appointment as Principal in 2018, Gabby had been the short-term Principal at St Joseph’s School, Wyndham during 2017. During 2021, Catholic Education Western Australia will be advertising for a substantive Principal for St Joseph’s School, Kununurra, to commence in 2022. We look forward to welcoming Gabby to Kununurra in the near future.

It is anticipated that an announcement regarding our new Assistant Principal will be made next week.

All Souls Day

Many thanks to Sr Julianne who prepared a wonderful Mass for All Souls Day at St Vincent Pallotti Church on Monday. Thanks also to Fr Joel for leading us and well done to the students from Years 3-6 for participating during the Mass with great reverence.

Reports

Over the coming weeks, teachers will be finalising end of year reports for students. In recognition of the time required to make in-depth and accurate assessments on each child’s academic and social progress, teachers will be provided with a report writing day. This will not have any impact on regular classroom programs. I commend all teachers for the time and effort they have put into compiling these reports.

NAIDOC Week

An extended assembly will be held at school at 8:00am next Monday 9th November as we acknowledge NAIDOC Week. Families and friends are most welcome to attend.

P & F Meeting

Our next meeting will be held at the Kimberley Grande on Monday 16th November at 5:00pm. All new parents and carers are most welcome to attend.

Swimming

Our swimming lessons will commence next Monday 9th November. Our instructors Mr Jamie Short, Miss Marion Gehrmann and Mrs Laura Christopher are looking forward to seeing the gains students make over the coming weeks.

Children’s Liturgy

A reminder that Children’s Liturgy is available for all children during Mass each Sunday. Thank you to the St Joseph’s teachers who volunteer their time each week to offer this program.

White Gum Park Excursion

Well done to the students in Kindergarten, Pre-Primary and Year 5/6 who recently went to White Gum Park to distribute sandwiches to members of the community. This gesture was well received and it was terrific to see students recognising how important it is to reach out to others.

School Banking

School banking returned this morning and will be offered to students on the following dates:

Wednesday 18th November, 7:40am
Wednesday 2nd December, 7:40am

Thank you to Mr Brock Burston, who has taken over the running of the school banking program.

Enjoy the rest of your week.

Tim Hogan

Principal

Term Dates 2020

Term 4: 12 Oct—11 Dec

Other Important Dates

2 November: All Souls Day
9 December: Christmas Concert, Leisure Centre, 5pm

“Love one another, bear with one another and let charity guide you all your life.”

Mary Mackillop

Reminders

Friday of every even week beginning 1:20pm

Assemblies, Fridays, 1.20pm

23 October, Week 2: Yr 5/6

6 November, Week 4: Yr 4/5

20 November, Week 6: Yr 3

4 December, Week 8: Yr 2

Description Title

Enrolments are now open for VacSwim swimming lessons during the summer school holidays.

VacSwim in January offers fun lessons at beach or pool locations during the long break. Not only are they a great school holiday activity, they teach valuable safety skills to help keep your child safe in the water.

Your children can start as young as five years old.

Don’t wait! Enrol your children in VacSwim now at

Click to find out more

At St Joseph’s School we take great pride in our appearance. The school uniform is also an important aspect of child health and safety. It is a requirement that all students wear a St Joseph’s uniform (including a hat with our logo) that is purchased from our uniform shop. Similar items bought elsewhere may not be worn to school.

Please note that our “no hat, no play” policy is enforced.

See our website for a full range of uniform items.

Uniforms may be purchased at any time from our office.

Sr Julianne is collecting used stamps for the Sisters of St Joseph Peruvian mission. These are put with collections from many other schools and parishes, and sold at auctions. Over $20,000 gets raised each year. Please leave in the box at the front office.

To read more, see: https://www.marymackilloptoday.org.au/how-you-can-help/pray/stamps/

We are also seeking donations of material and scarfs that could be used for classroom prayer tables.

Apply for KidSport funding and help your children experience the benefits of club sport.

Eligible children in Western Australia can receive up to $150 per calendar year to cover the costs of joining any approved KidSport club.

Vouchers can also be used across multiple KidSport clubs, helping more children to get active and connect with community sport.

To be eligible for KidSport applicants must be:

Aged 5 to 18 years

A resident in Western Australia

Named on a valid Health Care Card or Pensioner Concession Card

Registering with a KidSport approved club.

Click to learn more

In Year 1 we are learning about the lives of people in the past and the importance of looking after special places. Here are some of our paintings that show our special places in Kununurra. To celebrate Australian Pollinator Week (8-15 November) and National Recycling Week (11-17 November), we will be joining Year 3 to make bees from recycled materials and learn about their importance as pollinators. We will also continue focussing on ways to keep our school and community clean.

This term we have been busy writing to and receiving letters from pen pals in Fremantle. We will try to convince them to visit Kununurra! We have learnt how to draw portraits and will continue practising our singing and dancing skills in preparation for the Christmas concert.

Miss Marion Gehrmann

Canteen

We have been busy in the canteen this term thinking about how we can reduce our waste. Miss Gehrmann has been assisting with this focus. Kindy and Pre-Primary classes are reducing their use of single use lunch bags by using one sheet and handing out orders to students with great success. This term, we are using this system in Year One. We have also been looking into using reusable lunch bags. Killarney now has one and we are making enquiries into buying some for the school as a fundraiser. By using these lunch bags, we can reduce the use of paper which limits our costs and helps the environment. These will be available at the start of Term 1, next year.

In addition to our recycling efforts, we are encouraging all students to put the following items into the crate located at the lunch shed: juice boxes, milk containers and water bottles. All of these items receive a 10 cent refund and we can continue to reduce the amount of waste going into landfill.

Keep an eye on our Facebook Page - we will be launching a canteen page where you will see the weekly specials and menus on offer. If you would like to see new ideas or products added to our menu, please get in touch with me at the canteen.

We are currently preparing the menu for 2021. I have added more gluten free items as well as vegan white bread. Don't forget that icy-poles ($1) and jelly cups ($1.50) can be purchased each Friday.

A big thank you to the students in Year 5/6 for helping serve at the canteen during their lunch break. Don't forget that we are still collecting bread tags and lids.

Ms Kris